Sizzling Hot Hits The Spot…Sometimes

Tokyo has been blistering hot for weeks now, with temperatures topping 35 degrees nearly every day now since at the least the start of July. For someone who despises the cold as I do, the heat is welcome, regardless of its energy draining effects. At least, that is for some of the time.

Steamy humidity throughout the night has made sleeping onerous, and I’m not helped by Mrs. Kangaeroo being extraordinarily sensitive to the cold, which rules out my preferred remedy of having a fan going beside the bed.

Fortunately, cycling helps acclimate to the heat, I have found. My experience has been that riding in all weather conditions essentially eliminates climate from being a factor in how I feel.

I’m getting back on the bike for regular daily rides now for the first time in maybe three years and I have realized once again that I don’t notice the extreme heat when riding, despite being grossly overweight, even though fatties like me tend to struggle in the summer.

It’s a bit of a different story off the bike, but the warmth, dry air and sunny skies have been enjoyable and cycling in them a liberating experience.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • Looming Spectre Arises From The Past

    One of my worst fears has come true as the spectre of my past that looms over me has arisen. My mate who found me this job informed me that the guy who fired him is out to get me. That bloke had previously managed the section and interviewed me for this position some months ago, but rejected the application. After I was hired, he informed management of my past and insisted I be let go. Many have swooped in to save me, and I am eternally grateful.

  • Flake News!

    Tokyo, or at least the hillier Tama part of it, got dumped by a heavy snowfall on Friday, turning the place white. Kangaeroo Corner’s trees, never keen on the cold, struggled with the heavy snow clogging their branches. It did look good, to be fair dinkum. But it was another source of worry for the worry wort writer. Amazingly, just a day earlier, Kangaeroo was thrilled when hit by direct sunshine and felt the warmth of the sun, seemingly for the first time in months. And the weekend is set for temperatures in the high teens. Notable performances include some of the lights turning on despite being covered in snow….

  • A Pheasant Makes Things Pleasant

    Late May is nearly always an idyllic time with the glorious weather hiding the impending onset of the rainy season. This morning’s ride was made even pleasanter by getting to spend time looking at a glorious Japanese green pheasant reigning over its territory near the Asakawa River. Pretty much every weekday (when the weather is halfway decent), I get to ride my bike, mostly along the Tama River, and I love it. Returning home today was a delight, though as the grevillea are in full bloom. A row of the gorgeous flowers is simply breathtaking. Only one of the three grevillea in Kangaeroo Corner is blooming. One of the others…

  • A Fern Native Action

    Some massive changes at Kangaeroo Corner this week, which is pretty apt for the early summer, but there has been some man-made actions, too, with a tree fern poised to take center stage. As mentioned earlier this week, the nandina had to go as it was killing all the other trees. We got a bloke in who meticulously removed the tree. He gently cared for the golden wattle and alpine cedar gum located precariously closely to the powerfully spreading endemic plant. And it seems he has saved these two trees. We then had a powerful typhoon that sent ceaseless rain pounding down on us for about 36 hours. It was…

  • Recce Turned Out To Be More Of A Wrecky

    My sense of direction is so bad that even in the simplest of routes where it is nigh impossible to get lost I will invariably find a way. That’s the only way I seem to be able to find. And my talent for doing this is extraordinary. Fully cognizant of this, for some bewildering reason I volunteered to lead a company bike ride along an unfamiliar route following the Kanda River to encourage people to take up cycling. I did this because riding has been so beneficial for me physically, mentally and spiritually. So I was determined to get the route right. I plotted out the route turn-by-turn on Google…