Beating Jobsworths with Luck

Waking early gave Kangaeroo a slice of luck this morning, enabling a visit to Yakushiike Park in Machida before the jobsworths arrived there and booted him out for bringing his bike.

The park is a delight, unbelievably located in the Tokyo suburbs.

It has some spectacular wisteria growing on trellises, with a huge pond (the ike of Yakushiike) surrounded by a picturesque garden currently flourishing with bright new leaves.

The wisteria are yet to reach full bloom, so there may be another visit before we’re finished this year.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • Juggling Jobsworths And Feisty Photographers

    Even with a 4:30 a.m. start aimed at avoiding meddlesome obstructionists, I still didn’t get up early enough to escape the scrutiny of the local jobsworth. Riding my bike into Yakushiike Park just as the dawn broke, and entering down a ramp well past the park office, I thought I had escaped any possible officiousness. This park is a delightful oasis alongside a heavily trafficked road, and is surrounded by densely packed suburban housing. Yet, regardless of the time I get there, I have customarily found it to be staffed by jobsworths, who prove time and again that sometimes the worst thing you can do to a person is give…

  • Tiptoeing through the Tulips

    Today was something of a landmark occasion: Kangaeroo made his first century ride on a recumbent bike. Owning and riding a recumbent has been a long-held dream for this blogger. And the dream finally became a reality earlier this year. But the dream turned into a bit of a nightmare as Kangaeroo discovered how difficult it is to ride these bikes. It took over a month of steady practice to learn how to ride. Even then, a sense of unease persists. Early plans to name the bike Lay Down Sally gave way to Death Machine. If nothing else, the recumbent brings back the thrill of being close to death on…

  • Tower of Strength on an Icy Morning

    Today started with a pre-dawn trip to Tokyo Tower. A quick get-together with some mates over coffee and chockies followed. And then it was a ride back home. Now it’s on to familial duties. It was cold and dark heading into town. Just about every traffic light seemed determined to earn its keep by making Kangaeroo stop. Still, Kangaeroo got to ride in with a reasonably quick time. The get-together was over pretty quickly. It was nice to see some old faces for the first time in a while. It also reaffirmed how much the pandemic has changed things. Yet another running race had taken over the Tama River cycling…

  • Rounding Biwa, Japan’s Largest Lake

    Blessed with a long weekend and loads of motivation, Kangaeroo and Mrs. Kangaeroo got out the foldups and built up the resolve to circumnavigate Biwa, Japan’s largest lake. The 235-km shore length is not for the faint-hearted, though plenty make the trip in a single day, courtesy of the almost completely flat course. Nonetheless, it’s a demanding distance for irregular cyclists, so Kangaeroo had cause for concern regarding the missus, who admittedly cycles day, but does so on an e-bike and not an old foldup with no track record of triple-figure journeys. Anyway, putting aside the concerns, Mrs. Kangaeroo remained deeply confident of her abilities and plotted out the trip,…

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    豪の金メダリスト帰国歓迎が「車検切り罰金」だった！

    　2012年ロンドン五輪K41000mカヌーで金メダルを取ったデビッド・スミス氏が16日シドニーに4ヶ月ぶりに帰国し、約80キロ離れて自宅があるウロンゴンへ車で戻る途中警察に止めさせられ、一週間前に車検が切られたことを知らさせて700ドル（約7万円）を即罰金された、と地方紙イラワラ・マーキュリーが17日付で報道した。 　オリンピックで予想されたメダル数が半分にも届けなかったオーストラリア（大会前に金15個の目標に対して僅か7個しか取れなかった）にとってロンドン大会が期待外れの五輪が、有数金メダルを獲得した選手が国民的な英雄扱いより警察の厳しい目にあった。 　これに対して、オーストラリアのSNSが炎上しているらしい。 　一方、スミス選手が受け入れている。 　「ちょっとがっかりしたが、しょうがないよ。法は法だ」とコメントした。「警官に事情を説明しても聞く耳もなかった」。 　スミス氏は、警官に歓迎されなかったかもしれないが、帰国の際、豪首相ジュリア・ギラードなどが選手団を出迎え感謝の言葉を示した。また、イラワラ地域生まれのスミス氏は1972年以降のイラワラ出身メダリストであるため、故郷で暖かく受け入れることを期待できるだろう。 Warilla gold medallist cops car fine

  • Bloomin’ Marvelous!

    For all sorts of reasons, Kangaeroo hasn’t had much of chance to get out and about and cop a look at the cherry blossoms in bloom in Tokyo in 2022. Nonetheless, that hasn’t meant being completely deprived of a sight that possibly makes the Japanese capital the most beautiful city in the world for a week or so every spring. Various restrictions have limited viewing to the area of the Tama river and its tributaries, but even then it has made for some wonderful sights, as this gallery shows.