CYCLETHON MEGAJOURNEY | Day 10 | $516,000 raised!

Hello again folks,

Day 10 was one of the days I was looking forward to the least, for one simple reason: Nagoya, the infamous mega-city that I've ranted about endlessly over the last decade.

My first ever experience of the city was getting stuck in a traffic jam for almost three hours during my first year living in Japan. My second experience in Nagoya involved switching trains at the train station and eating some chicken wings, the local dish, which admittedly wasn't too bad. But, to be fair, I've never really explored Nagoya.

It's a mega-city with few discernible features, and rather than cycling through the centre of the city, which likely has some nice sights and scenes, such as the castle (at least I think there's a castle), we got to cycle through the industrial zone for almost six or seven hours straight. Yes, that's right, six or seven hours. The city's simply that big.

As we got underway, Natsuki joined us for the first leg of the journey, albeit his time on the cycle was somewhat short-lived. After just one hour, we hit a hill, and the man, the myth, the legend — puffing, wheezing, panting — relented and ended up going into the van, probably for the best. Towards the end, he was swaying a little bit, and I was worried that he would swerve straight into the front of a truck, which would probably bring an end to both Natsuki and the cyclethon.

Still, we're really glad to have had Natsuki on board. He brought a much-needed morale boost and it was a ton of fun as expected. As always, I'm proud and impressed that Japan's most unhealthy individual, who lives off a diet of coffee and cigarettes, was able to get from A to B unscathed and have some fun along the way.

As we cycled into Nagoya, it wasn't all bad. We had our first bowl of miso ramen on the trip, and it was simply delightful. I stuffed myself with miso cha-han rice, and gyoza. Best of all, after making a bet with viewers of reaching $500,000 in donations, we succeeded, which meant we got the ultimate prize - to go to Legoland.

I haven't been to Legoland since the year 2001. Even though I love Lego, I don't go out of my way to find the stuff. But, when we saw Legoland along our path, we had to make a pitstop. And oh my god, it couldn't have been more fun than it was.

Not only was Miniland incredibly detailed and spectacular, but on one ride - the Pirate Ship Adventure - bystanders get to squirt passengers riding on the pirate ship with a powerful water pistol. And boy, I really went ham with that water pistol, drenching families, loved ones, friends, individuals — nobody was spared from my treacherous soaking. That'll teach them to go on the pirate ship ride. They experienced the true meaning of Soak for Hope.

After Legoland, though, the fun was promptly over and it was back on the bike. For the next two and a half hours, Connor and I battled through endless industrial estates and tedious concrete jungles to reach our final destination on the far side of Nagoya.

Would I recommend Nagoya? Absolutely not.

Legoland might have been great, and the ramen was delicious. But my thoughts and feelings on Nagoya remain unchanged. I won't be back in a hurry.

Looking forward to the days ahead…

They're going to be tough, but I've always wanted to cycle through Shizuoka, as it's one of the few places in Japan I've truly yet to explore. And we're not far off the miracle of seeing Mount Fuji.

Fingers crossed for good weather,

Chris