Peace Ride 2019 Reflections

• Soya Shinkura

To be totally frank, riding in the rain the first three days was quite a miserable experience. Worst of all were the wet socks and wet puddles in my shoes. The hill up to the Meda Forest Park (the first and second day camp ground) was exhausting enough already, and in fact the toughest yet, but the rain added to the challenge as my tyres slipped and I felt like I wasn’t making any progress. I actually ended up slipping on the way down, mostly due to the rain. Lesson learnt: don’t go over the water drainage diagonally (slippery when wet!)

On the fourth day, we had an extremely refreshing descent where we inadvertently cycled over the speed limit. After strenuously ascending steep hills or winding around tortuous paths in the woods trying to avoid rocks and potholes, descents like these where we could go 40 to 50 kph were some of my favourite moments during Peace Ride, especially as the dynamic landscapes of rivers, mountains and valleys astounded us. We were in the depths of nature where the air was pure, the view was phenomenal and all was carefree (not to mention the moths and caterpillars) Sleeping inside tents, hand-washing our clothes and cooking out in the open were some activities that I enjoyed.

Of course we also had some non-cycling related activities such as two world heritage sites, Izumo-Taisha and Iwami Ginzan. Raeed’s restaurant was also something I looked forward to, despite the thundering rain and Mr Rentoule’s four punctures in a row. Even though it was late and the water was cold, diving in the sea and splashing each other was an incredible relief from the days of cycling. I must also not forget the UNO and card games that we played.

• Kayne Hoy

Well, well, this was my first time to cycle over 400 km in 6 days and to be honest, unlike other people, I was confident to complete the whole ride because I know I practiced a lot during the club time, after school and at home. The practices we had after school were sometimes tough and strict (e.g. The heart-breaking hill) but it really helped me to develop my agility and strength and it was a good preparation for the actual Peace Ride. At home, I cycled every weekend with the course that I made myself. I made the course really strict so I think that also led to the success of the whole ride. If you are reading this and want to join Peace Ride, I recommend you to practice practice after school and at home as well.

For this year’s Peace Ride, the first 2 days started with miseries. Yes, it rained. From this experience, I believe that rain is the brobdingnagian (it means “greatest”) enemy during the ride because when it rained, all of my clothes got wet, including my socks and shoes. When water came in to my shoes, as most people can imagine, it was soggy inside the shoes and that spongy feel. Adding on to that, it was cold as well. At the end of the day, everyone was wet and cold which was terrible. Even though I wore a raincoat, it didn’t work so I’m planning to buy a better raincoat.

Other than these 2 days, the weather and all the other conditions were extraordinary niiice. For me it is: Wet & Cold < Dry so it was fun cycling. The mountains and the beach we went were so beautiful and since our ride went smooth, all of the other stuff went smooth. (I had 2 punctures but nevermind) The food that we made was fantastic, especially the stew we ate last night.

Overall, this 6 days of ride was full of great experience.

• Ryo Kiriake

This year’s Peace Ride was completely different compared to previous rides I have joined in the past 3 years. We cycled over a period of 6 days from Sanbe mountain to Izumo in Shimane prefecture and back to Hiroshima. Although the cycling distance had been reduced in comparison to other Peace Rides, the whole activity of cycling up and down the hills, fixing punctures, getting injuries and bug bites, and camping at night along with the cooking and music really builds up into an amazing memory. Without Yuya in the group I thought the directions and routes may become confusing throughout the ride, but the teachers, parents, and students were well prepared and organized resulting with a smooth ride overall. Every year, the most exciting thing for me in the Peace Ride is to be able to cycle with different people as the cycling and camping creates time and space for each individual to get to know each other even better as it requires a lot of teamwork and communication. One of the main events of this year’s Peace Ride was that we interacted with the NPO ’スサノオの風’ where we exchanged our profiles and mission. Playing volleyball with the Peace Ride members and two local high school students was one of the highlights of the whole Peace Ride as I missed playing volleyball. Another highlight was baking pancakes for breakfast which just made me feel good. Finally, I do not have any regrets for the Peace Ride but I feel sad about the fact that I will not be able to cycle with this group for the coming years as I believe that this team was one of the best in terms of having a good time in general.

• Joe Wheeler

This year was my second time going on the Peace Ride. Compared to last year, I feel that there was a lot of differences. First, I feel like this years Peace Ride wasn’t as tough compared to last year. A few reasons for this was the generally shorter route this year, which went through most of Shimane prefecture, and another reason would be because I have improved in my biking skills and strength compared to last year. This year, we also did a lot more tourism compared to last year. We visited the Izumo Taisha, as well as Iwami Ginzan, which was a nice break from the constant biking. Of course, we also met with the NPO in Sada, where we played sports with some of the NPO’s members, as well as some (2) of the local middle schoolers. Overall, this years Peace Ride was really fun, and I can’t wait until next year.

• Raeed Ahmed

We had peace ride for 6 days and it was not that hard for me, because I trained my leg in the gym a lot and muscle for 6 days. I could improve mental strength because we had a lot of long uphills. We had 2 rainy days and it was very cold. The cold made riding more hard. I had to care about brakes because hard brakes make tire slippery, and actually, I crashed to Monet’s bike. Overall it was very fun and I could get a good satisfaction.

• Lisa Hird

For this year’s Peace Ride, I spent about half of the whole trip on the school van, which was NOT how I planned it to be. I hurt my back on the third day, fortunately not too badly, but I had to ride the van so I wouldn’t make it any worse. I felt guilty sitting in the van watching while everyone struggled up long hills. Compared to everyone else, I have rode much less. Still, I enjoyed the trip a lot.

I think I had the most fun on the last day of the six day trip this year. It was the final ride from the Takamiya Fishing Lake Camping Site back to school. We went over a few mountains, but to my relief, they weren’t too long nor too steep, so I really enjoyed going over them. I’ve had no good memories going up hills from last year’s ride to Nagasaki, but as we were going at a slower speed this year, I could cycle at my own pace and enjoy the nature around me, rather than staring at the ground below and hoping that the uphill road will end quickly.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to join next year’s ride, but I know that if I can, I will enjoy it tremendously, as I did this year.