Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

In The Train

　　I have often rented a bus with my co-workers for skiing. At the moment we got on the bus, the field party started. Freed from daily work, the party was alway boisterous.
　　In the case of this train, the occasion was similar. The maps of the islands on the Shimanami route were delivered to each passenger. These maps were specially designed for cyclists. They indicated how steep the slopes were. The passengers were excited to see these maps and knew each other despite it being the first meeting. All will go to the islands and see each other again somewhere in the islands.
　　Due to the rainy season, the number of passengers was only 11. There was enough room in the train and I relaxed watching the outside passing slowly by. The train car hadn't a lavatory. If someone wanted to use it, the train would stop at a station on the way. How wonderful this train trip was!
　　I went cycling with two friends. The woman in the picture is one of them. The second picture was shot on the first bridge. The weather forecast was getting better, but it was dark and cloudy at that time. The last picture was shot in a small fishing village. It's clearing up.

(Vocabulary from comments)
topographical  地勢の, 地形の; 風景の, 風景画の
a topographical map  地形［地勢］図

 
 
 

Private Train

　　I uploaded a map which showed my cycling route in the last entry. Did you notice that a part of the trace dropped on the map. It was due to an outage of the battery of my GPS receiver which was written about in this previous entry. After one hour's interval, I found it stopped working and replaced the battery.
　　By the way, my house is 50 km away from the starting point of the "Shimanami route" and it has been a problem for me. Surprisingly however, JR (Japan Railway) started a special service once a month. That is, a service for cyclists who live in Matsuyama City. They take up to 30 cyclists to the nearest station of the "Shimanami route" along with their bikes. I applied for this service and could enjoy cycling there.
　　The picture shows the inside of the train. In Germany, the train which accommodates bikes was made for that purpose, but this car is for just normal use. Each bike is simply fixed by a rubber rope to a handrail. In this way, I was transferred to Hashihama Station which is the nearest JR station to the "Shimanami route".
　　It took an hour and ten minutes to move the distance of 50 km. This line was single-track. So, our train frequently had to stop at small stations and let other regular trains overtake or oncoming trains to pass by.

(Vocabulary)
handrail　手すり
(Vocabulary from comments)
dividend  (株式の) 配当（金）
pay dividends  役に立つ, 実を結ぶ

Debut of An Middle-Aged Cyclist

　　The Japan Archipelago comprises of four main islands; Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. I live on one of them, Shikoku. Shikoku and Honshu are connected by three routes which consist of several bridges respectively. The westernmost route of them is called Shimanami Kaido, which means "continuous islands". The distinctive feature of this route is that a bicycle path is made up along with the bridges. You can enjoy the view from a height of 70 meters above the sea while riding your bike there. I'm showing you pictures in my album on the right column of this blog. Please check them. I'll add some remarks in the following several entries about the pictures. When you travel by car on the bridge, you aren't allowed to stop your car on the bridge due to a Road Traffic Law because the route is an express highway. If you are on a bike, you can stop your bike wherever and for as long as you like on the bridge.
　　Cycling is getting popular year by year in Japan. When I visited Germany in 2009, I saw lots of people walking and pushing their bicycles even on a train.  I realized at that time that the arrangements for cyclists were far better than those of Japan. At the same time, I felt sorry about the poor conditions in my country. However, it might be getting better recently.
　　I've ridden my bike for about 70 km today. I'll write about my first one-day cycling in the next several entries.

(Vocabulary)
Road Traffic Act/Law  道路交通法

 

 

Fitting Saddlebag 2

　　I replaced the bag support of the placing-on type with a hang-down type as you can see in the picture. The saddlebag droops from the hook fixed to the column. It was better than before, but the bottom of the bag touched the mudguard. This bag is shaped into a rectangular solid but it has no rigid frame such as an attache case. That's why it is easily deformed.
　　Finally, I gave up using this saddlebag and ordered another one. This bag will be transferred to my friend who has a folding bicycle which has smaller tires. In the case of such bicycles, the space between the saddle and the mudguard is big enough to fit my big saddlebag.
　　In the previous entry, I wrote that the bigger the saddlebag is, the better. I was completely wrong. At first, it must fit the bicycle. I have a plan of going cycling tomorrow. The length of the course will be more than 50 km, which is the longest distance that I have ridden at one time. I have to shoulder my daypack all day long and it will feel muggy on my back.
　　Anyway, tomorrow is the day of my debut as a middle aged cyclist.

 
 

Fitting Saddlebag

　　I was wondering how the saddlebag would fit on my bicycle for the past couple of months. I ordered the biggest bag and the bag support from a British company last March. After only the bag support arrived, I had to wait for the bag for more than three months due to them being out of stock. At last the bag was delivered a few weeks ago. You can see the saddlebag here.
　　The picture shows my bicycle with only the bag support being fitted. I fixed this bag support to my bicycle in April and was waiting for the arrival of the bag. As you see, the gap between the support and the mudguard is so small that both hit and emit an uncomfortable noise when the bicycle goes on the bumpy road. So, I had to raise the saddle and it made me unable to set my feet on the ground. This height of the saddle made me feel uneasy, but I understood the reason why lots of cyclists set the height of the saddle higher than the length of their legs. You can extend your knees while riding and it helps reduce fatigue in the legs.
　　I just placed the bag on the support, but the bag was too big to be fitted on the support. It might be a misdesign.

(Vocabulary)
mudguard 泥よけ