Hi, it’s Keita.
Happy New Year.
Alley Cat is back to its regular schedule, and I’ve shaken off the holiday brain fog and am finally hitting my stride. Did you all manage to have a relaxing time over the holidays?
As for me, I spent almost the entire break in Izu, Shizuoka. It was what we call the Izu Training Camp. It was a blitz schedule: we finished our year-end party on the 29th, and a few of us staff members piled into a car and drove straight there. We spent the end of last year the same way. The Izu region has so much charm—it’s packed with cultural and natural sights.
There are mountains, and the ocean is right there too. Hot springs bubble up everywhere to soothe your fatigue, making it an environment where you can spend some truly luxurious time. For cyclists, Izu is absolutely the best. It’s been about three years since I first realized how great it is. Wanting to explore even more of the Izu landscape I haven’t seen yet, this year’s " Izu Training Camp 2016 " was held with everyone who signed up.
Our training camp leader, Monja-sensei, told us, "Feel free to play around in my backyard as much as you like." Haha.
There were about 17 participants in total across all the days. There were no set rules, as everyone was free to spend their time however they pleased. If anything, setting too many rules just makes things boring. As long as we could toast together at the inn at night, that was enough.
We had Ebiko-kami, who lives in Ito City, show us around, went on some intense rides in search of gravel, visited hot springs said to have been used by Yasunari Kawabata (famous for *The Dancing Girl of Izu*), and went to the "Yamabushi Trail" in West Izu to enjoy some mountain biking. Every day we played with our bikes, soaked in great hot springs, and enjoyed delicious fish and alcohol. That was all we did, but it was the best.
On New Year’s Day, we were also able to watch the first sunrise from the eastern coast, making for a great start to the year.
I think the photos of the Izu scenery speak for themselves, so please enjoy them (sorry for the lazy approach).
I’m already thinking about where to go in Izu at the end of this year. There are still so many places I want to visit.
2017, the Year of the Rooster. I think it’s going to be a very auspicious year for Early Birds, too. Actually, it will be! We’ll keep working hard to make our shop a place that overflows with smiles and all kinds of people, so thank you for your continued support.
We are open as usual starting at 7:00 AM every morning this year. The mornings are getting bitingly cold, but the air is so clear and crisp. Let’s jump out of bed and head out on our bikes.
Thank you very much.