• Strine

    Love The Way You Lie

    Kangaeroo got a much better day than expected today, Japan’s National Foundation Day but not a holiday because it fell on a Saturday. Waking, Your Humble Narrator (to borrow a turn of phrase from Anthony Burgess) was greeted by a winter wonderland from the previous day’s snowfall. There would be no customary morning bike ride on this day. Instead, with great community spirit, Mrs. Kangaeroo suggested Kangaeroo get his morning exercise by shoveling the snow off the paths so none of our neighbors slipped and hurt themselves. So, it was out on the shovel and into the snow. And great…

  • Daily Life

    Don’t Think!

    A good mate of mine often quotes William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by reminding me that, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Kangaeroo is prone to over-thinking, and this week is looming as a tough one. There’s plenty on the schedule, both professionally and privately. And it’s still bloody cold and dark. Moreover, riding up some hills yesterday and being easily overtaken and outpaced by another old codger, then hearing my heavy breathing along the river this morning sparked another reminder from Hamlet that I am fat and scant of breath! But in better news, the…

  • Daily Life - Strine Sports

    Wonder Undies!

    Kanageroo hasn’t really won a great deal in lotteries or the like over the years (despite hitting the jackpot in so many other ways), so it was a pleasant surprise last week to win a great prize! That prize was a gift coupon for undies! Kangaeroo won the undies through a website called Miles. Miles is a downloaded phone app (at least that’s how I use it) that keeps a record of all my travel. A bit ominous perhaps, but I have nothing to fear and my phone is tracking my every move and sending all the data anywhere, anyway.…

  • Daily Life - Strine Sports

    Calamity Free Ride!

    After several days featuring a series of stumbles, fumbles, bumps and bruises, it was fantastic to finally have an early morning ride that went without a calamity. Sort of. Riding La Cangura much slower and more cautiously than usual, the morning ride went without a hitch. There were many fears that the guy I crashed into on Friday would hit me up for damages caused in the crash. I think our paths crossed, but no words were exchanged (and no trouble occurred). Of course, it’s still early in the day, so there’s plenty of time left over for it to…

  • Strine

    Costly Bloody Crash!

    Kangaeroo’s accident this week continued to have reverberations. Although both Kangaeroo and the bloke he collided with rode away apparently unharmed from their predawn collision, costs have since mounted. The crash gave greater urgency to updating the chain and gear sprocket on La Cangura, which had been showing signs of wear for a while, and there was also a sneaking suspicion that the gear wire could probably do with replacing. That proved to be precisely the case with a visit to the Y’s Road bike store later in the day. The good news was the sprocket and cassette are still…

  • Strine

    Ouch! Taking a Tamagawa Tumble

    「Ouch!」 「バカヤロー!」 「ごめんなさい。」 「日本は左通行だよ。バカヤロー!何考えてんかよ?バカヤロー!」 Kangaeroo took a Tama River tumble today and it was entirely his fault. Taking his normal pre-dawn ride along the Tama River Cycling Road, Kangaeroo caught a glimpse of an oncoming runner just late enough to be able to swerve away from her and avoid striking her…. ….only to slam straight into another cyclist coming from the opposite direction. The immediate aftermath was the aforementioned conversation. It seemed like the other bloke and his bike were OK. We rode off in opposite directions. La Cangura is scratched and her wheels wobbly. The Wahoo mount destroyed beyond…

  • Daily Life

    It’s All Happening Here!

    Pushed for time and all other sorts of resources, Kangaeroo was surprised to note this morning that it had been almost 10 days since the last post on the site. So much has been going on, some of it pretty crucial, that time slipped away. To borrow a turn of phrase made popular by one-time Australian cricket captain and commentator (and fellow Victorian) Bill Lawry, it’s all happening here. I guess it’s best to go forward by category. Among Kangaeroo’s interests over the past year has been the Aussie garden. A crucial part of that garden is the lawn, traditionally…

  • Strine Sports

    Cold, Wet and Dark

    Doesn’t get any more archetypically Monday than today….cold, wet, dark and bleak. Kangaeroo wasn’t too keen on getting out on the bike with a huge day ahead. But it was precisely because the day promises to be demanding that dragged him out in the end. Rain had been forecast, but the prediction was that it would be intermittent and not heavy. That was exactly what happened. Rather than hit the dark bike path where many people dress in black and are hard to see at the clearest of times, Kangaeroo decided to stay on the main roads, which were hard…

  • Daily Life

    Grass is Greener….Here, And Not On the Other Side!

    Kangaeroo Corner’s garden is about to enter its second spring, and is currently going through its first winter. And its grass is greener than could ever be imagined…literally! Although Kangaeroo comes from a family of avid gardeners, he had never really had a chance to do much gardening. Only an unfortunate attempt at a balcony garden during penthouse living at the turn of the century had afforded itself, with less than promising results that were later to dwindle away to nothing. Until Kangaeroo Corner came into being, and with it a garden. It was an ounce of luck, actually, as…

  • Strine Sports

    Some of the Cycling Camerawork that can be Expected

    These are the types of shots that I’ve been able to take of bikes. Related posts: Rounding Biwa, Japan’s Largest Lake Tour de Kagoshima-Kyoto Day 5: Beppu to Uchiko San-poses! Dekochari, Proud Member of Japan’s Itasha ‘Cringeworthy Cars’ Family Goings On Cheating Death! Well, At Least We Found Out Aussie Kit Maker Perfuro Storming Onto the Scene Nature’s Double Delight and Not a Skerrick of Proof Tripping on the Tama River Powered by YARPP.