The REAL Tour de Okinawa

DAY ONE: 90 miles DAY TWO: 68 miles DAY THREE: 72 miles

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have one of the greatest experiences ever! Thanks to the great idea of one of our friends we took our own bike trip around the entire island!! Words cannot convey the amazing experience it was. You had to be there to experience the views, feel the wind rushing past, and sense the thrill from making it up yet another huge hill. Tom is making a DVD of the experience and we’ll share that once it’s done. For now, I’ll try to do it justice, but just know, that most of what we saw and did we couldn’t take pictures of!! I wish you could have just come with us!!!

Before I start I must give a special thanks to my amazing friends who made this possible for me. I wish that my friends could have come and biked with me but only one of them is a biker and she has a small baby. I had to leave the kids for three days in order to go on this epic ride so all of my friends (the wives of the other bikers) took over in my absence. One friend watched the girls, another took Hayden so he could still go to school, yet another watched them all on Saturday!! It was awesome to know I didn’t have to worry about them. And the ride would not have been possible without our support driver, another wife who brought all our gear and food for us. She met us each night, cooked us dinner and then cooked us breakfast again in the morning. The food was fantastic and I was so happy to have some female company!! What awesome friends!!!

Here's the team:
Tracey
Tom
Erin
Rob
John
Derek

Day One:
We left from Camp Lester, 6 riders all fresh and eager to get the 90 miles underway. As with all good activities we started with a prayer and then headed off!!
The excitement was so tangible as we started. Within a mile we had our first, and just about only, near accident when Erin's iphone fell off his bike. I was riding behind him and saw it happen. Acting fast I stashed my bike quick, ran out in front of a big truck and snagged it before it got run over. That would not have been a good way to start the trip. Luckily, it was fine and we were on our way again.
About 8 miles down the road we stopped for our first picture at a nice bridge. We were riding toward the city through rush hour traffic so it was a lot of stop and go. The far left lane, where bikes go, is also the bus lane so that was complicated and we continually got stuck behind and next to the big busses. But we maneuvered our way through the city okay and eventually came out on the other side. We crossed some great bridges on the way and then stopped at a memorial for some of the students in the Battle of Okinawa because it caught our eye. It was great not to be on any schedule and to just stop and look and take pictures whenever we wanted. We enjoyed the view as we rode high above the coast for a long time.

By mid afternoon we were all starving, the day had started early with getting the kids all on their way before we even started riding. We really wanted to go to Coco’s for lunch for curry but couldn’t find one. We kept riding and riding and hoping we’d see one and finally we just had to give up. Instead we settled on a Jusco food court (a mall). All the other guys went for Chinese food but I was so hungry I needed some “real” food so Tom and I went to McDonalds. Let me tell you, french fries have never tasted so good! I also got an ice cream cone of new favorite flavor at Blue Seal, it’s called Okinawa Salt Cookie and it’s heavenly. I loved that I didn’t care one bit how many calories I consumed because I knew I still had another 40 miles of riding ahead of me!
We’d been going at an easy pace enjoying what a pretty day it was. We kind of pushed it a little toward the end of the ride when we had some hills. They weren’t huge but big enough to challenge us and make us feel tired. I smiled when I saw Tom with the camera as I came up one of the final hills but I really felt like this:
By the time we reached Camp Schwab, our destination for the evening, I was definitely ready to get off my bike. But I felt great knowing that I had kept up all day and really enjoyed the ride. Ali met us with our suit cases and a fantastic dinner. Then we all headed off to bed to get ready for the big ride the next day!
A few more shots from day one!





DAY TWO:

I think it’s safe to say we were all a little bit nervous for day two. The northern end of the island is beautiful, but very hilly. I knew I could do it beceause we rode it during the big Tour in November but that wasn’t the day after a 90 mile bike ride. We got a start late in the morning, around 10:00, hoping to find somewhere in the hills to stop for lunch. Here we are, ready to start!The scenery is breathtaking, the hills and tunnels were so much fun. The uphills were killer but everyone was awesome and just kept chugging along. From mile 20 to mile 30 in the ride it’s all uphill...it was insane but such an adrenaline rush to know we did it! Check out this shot of the elevation climbs on this ride. Killer.
The down hills were great but had me white knuckled and praying to survive. The views were beautiful, the scenery so peaceful. We saw very few cars and never found anywhere to eat lunch. The last cafe we had hoped for was closed so we never got lunch that day. Nonetheless, it was an amazing 68 mile ride. My favorite bike ride ever. I imagine it will keep that title for a long time to come. Tough day, but really satisfying. The pictures don’t do it justice but they try!













At last we arrived at Okuma, our stop for the night and again met Ali and some great food we were dying for!

DAY THREE:
We slept in the cabins at Okuma and heard the rain pouring down all night. After two beautiful days we knew we were due for some traditional Oki rain and we got it. It couldn’t be a true Tour de Okinawa without at least one rain day. After a filling bowl of oatmeal we reluctantly, yet eagerly, set off for the final adventure. Here we are, the final day. It was cold and wet but we rode strong and had no accidents. As we rode along the coast I kept reminding myself to look through my rain covered glasses and check out the view. When we stopped to refuel we all cooled off and ended up shivering like crazy until we got going again. Thankfully the sun came out about 40 miles into the ride and brought us home warm and dry. We stopped at a beautiful look out point and then at last, nearly 230 miles into our ride we finally got our Coco’s curry. Just a few miles up the road from home, we stopped for a late lunch. It was fantastic. Then off again, we finished up the last few miles, with an additional rider who joined in for the last day, and ended up back at the start. What an amazing experience.... something I’ll never forget!