CYCLETHON MEGAJOURNEY | Day 5 & 6 - Onomichi & Himeji

Hi guys,

Of all the places we've started our morning cycle Onomichi was one of the nicest, with the sea breeze blowing in my hair as I made my way along the coastline with Connor. 

We must have been the only people in the town with bikes who weren't cycling the iconic Shimanami Kaido and I almost felt sad that we weren't, as we passed the bridge that symbolises the starting point of the journey. 

Still, the day took an intriguing turn as we were joined by our second guest - PewDiePie himself. I've known Felix for about two years now and to me he's just Felix the Swedish guy. A nice humble Swedish guy who seems to hate Norwegians. I often forget that he himself is a YouTuber with a massive empire and an incredible career and no sooner did we thrust him onto camera, were viewers delighted to see him back in action after his so called 'retirement' in Japan (though he does still put out videos, particularly ones involving his newfound drawing skills). 

I was worried about Felix joining given he’s annoyingly fit with that bloody six pack that I envy greatly. However, he seemed to be at our level and we made a pretty good trio for our day of cycling as we reached Okayama City. 

Halfway through the day Felix stole Connor's bike and returned with it fully pimped out with elaborate gear including a Welsh flag, a seat cover and some colourful flowers for the spokes on the bike - much to the delight of some passing schoolchildren waving and pointing with glee. 

I won't lie, once again, I was sad that we missed out another iconic place - Kurashiki - the Venice of Japan, which we were lucky to visit on the original journey across Japan. Still we had a lot more time then (46 days compared to 14 days for this). So I can’t complain.

Day 6

Starting our journey from Okayama we found the harsh afternoon sun beating down upon us and burning Connors hands, which he failed to adequately sunscreen. Taking no risks myself, I practically dumped the entire bottle upon my skin no less than three times throughout the day. So far it seems to have done the trick as I'm not sunburned at all. 

In a similar vein to the day before, with Felix pimping out Connors bike, halfway through the day today, he hilariously drenched our bikes in lubricant. 

Initially he did Connors bike, much to my glee, smothering the seat and the handlebars. However, glee turned to dismay rather quickly when I returned to my bike and saw that I had also become a victim of Felix's annoying prank. 

With lubricant all over the brakes on my bike, it wasn’t ideal. Still, karma struck back as Felix soon fell off his bike about 10 minutes later into the cycle and balance was restored. (Don't worry he wasn't injured). 

One of the things I've been looking forward to the most on this cycle was seeing Himeji castle once again, and it certainly didn't disappoint at the finish line today. As throngs of people relaxed underneath the cherry blossom trees and we got swept up in the hanami season festivities, the final minutes of our day we battled through the crowds before reaching the grounds of Himeji castle. 

Practically drenched in Cherry Blossom itself with the visually striking white facade glowing in the afternoon sun, it's been almost six years since I last saw it with Ryotaro when we finished the cycle at the same spot. It was the perfect end to Felix's stint joining us on on the cycle and to our surprise, Sweden's Fittest Man struggled slightly more on his second day, which, in a weird way made me feel good about myself, given I'd been so worried that he would destroy both Conor and I with his rugged six pack and tree trunk arms. Luckily he didn’t leave us in his dust after all.

Sorry to see Felix go, as tomorrow Connor and I cycle alone towards Osaka where, in the evening we'll be joined by Pete, who’ll be taking part in the rest of the cycle to spice things up. 

Whether he gets on the bike himself remains to be seen and there's also one more guest joining just around the corner. 

Let's hope he brings his hot tub.

Chris