九州一周Quick Update

Hiya,
Thanks to everyone who has donated, we have been truly surprised by the response and are so grateful for all the contributions...度も!
We are currently gathering together all our donations and are now hoping to surpass 140000yen in total. If you have yet to donate but have pledged a sum, then we will add it to the grand total and we will collect the money from you at a later date! If there is anyone out there who still wishes to donate then let us know asap(^O^)／
The Plan Has Changed...
We were initially planning to give all the money raised to the Japan Red Cross, but on hearing of our campaign the Mayor of Saga got in touch and suggested we pool our money together  to supply a gift of much-needed bicycles for Kessenouma City in the Tohoku region! We are still waiting for all the details from the Mayor, but it sounds like an interesting idea. Hopefully we will still be able to make a contribution to the red cross, but if anyone is opposed to the bicycle idea then please let me know so I can sort it out!
ALSO
James and I recorded a radio show last week for NBC Radio. It was a shambles but if you are interested in listening to it then check out the broadcast this Friday from 15:30!
Thanks again for all your support.
Will keep u in the loop!
G n J x

FINAL STATS...

まだ全部集めてないけど、今まで十万円以上あります‼
Here are the final challenge stats, the donations are still being counted/collected, but so far we have amassed over 100,000yen - which was our initial target!! We are still taking donations until the end of this week probably and will update you on the final total asap.
Thanks Update ... Thanks to Marianne for donating from the US and thanks to Asahi Kindergarten for their kind donation also m(_ _)m
ありがとうあさひ幼稚園 m(_ _)m

STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...STATs...
Kilometres covered: 823km
Time in saddle: 52hours approx
Average speed: 15.4kph
Top speed: 45.4kph
Pocari sweat: 15litres (Gareth only)
Mountains conquered: 9
Tunnels: 23
Rainy days: 2
Sunny days: 4
Cloudy days: 3
Punctures: 0
Accidents: 0
Onigiris: 13
Mt Rainier Double Espressos: 14
Rose bush scratches: 4
Times stopped by police: 1
Piss bottles spotted: 9
Roadkill: 13 (cats, birds, a frog, weasels, a small calf and many unidentifiable)
Scarecrows: 4
Radio interviews: 1
Free beers: 6
Times we heard the word "Baka": 18
Times people laughed at our bikes: 7
Nights camped: 2
Worst quote:  "This road has to go down soon"
Best quote:  "Please help yourself to more beer"
Angry Cats: 2
Guys looking like they have just come from a Charlie Sheen/George Best combined stag party: 1
People sick over themselves: 1
No. of bicycles put upside down: 1
No. of volcanic eruptions: 1
No. of times we thought of quitting: 0.5
Bottles of sun-block used: 1

TOP FIVE RANDOM SONGS HUMMED IN MY HEAD
1. I'm gonna be 500miles - Scottish Twin Geeks
2. The Heat Is On - Benny Hills Cop
3. All You Need Is _______ - The Beatles
4. Eye Knows - De La Souls
5. Frank "Jeff" Mills - The Lemonheads

Final Thanks...

The final message of thanks is to all those who have donated, cheered, supported, laughed with/at us, helped us, advised us, and made us smile over the course of the challenge and our lives.
Special thanks to Tom, JoeJen, Jason and The Fowle family for their extremely generous donations from the UK. Diolch o'r calon i ti Gav, soled gwboi. Edrych mlaen tan mis Hydref.
Thanks to everyone from Saga and the area for their amazing donations and cheer!!
Thanks to my nephew Jac for following me every step of the way!
Thanks to Gary in Canadia for inspiration and support.
Thanks to Lee for his cycling advice and support from Taiwan.
Thanks to Eggy Vern for his comments and support.
Thanks to adopted little sister Laura for calling us a pair of idiots.
Thanks to Jim/Sylv for their comments from the US.
Thanks Dragos, you crazy Romanian bear-man.
Thanks Noriko and Keiko.
Thanks Chiyuki, Naoki, Yuji and their families and extended families.

Obviously great thanks to both our families for all of their love and support, we do appreciate you all - honestly!
Thanks to everyone else from Saga, Japan and beyond who have commented, liked etc on facebook, twitter and blogger. There are far too many to mention - but we love you all.
The final stats and many photos will be published asap. We will keep you updated of any developments via the blog.
THANK YOU EVERYONE. We will never forget your generosity and kindness towards Japan.

Thanks - Part Two

宮崎市　－　Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Pref.
居酒屋でんでんでんありがとう！
Thanks to Dendenden Izakaya!

延岡市　ー　Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Pref.
延岡駅の近くに居酒屋呑んのん有ります、皆さんありがとうございました。色々美味しかった！
Thanks to Izakaya Nonnon for some great food, sake and fantastic service from all the lovely ladies. We will never forget the female customer who downed loads of whisky, passed out and then, soon after waking up, was sick all over herself and couldn't stop crying - even after the youngest grandaughter of the owner cleaned her up (she was a boxer too! They're everywhere in Kyushu!). She sounded like a cat being strangled or an erotic trombone! Thanks ladies!!!! 居酒屋呑んのん　NonNon

豊後大野、三重町、大分県。　Bungoono, Mie Town, Oita Pref.
魚レストラン喜久の安田家族は本当に、本当にありがとうございました！
店の食べ物はめちゃめちゃすごかった！皆様は本当に優しかった、ありがとう！！！
Thanks so, so much to Restaurant Kiku in Mie Town. The food was quite extraordinary. I got to catch my own fish (filefish/leatherfish?) from a large tank inside the restaurant, which main man Takeshi then gutted and prepared into amazing sashimi, ably assisted by James! He served the sashimi with an amazing Jalapeno dressing, a recipe that he has perfected since his time working at the Nobu restaurant in London. Not only was the food top class and absolutely remarakable, given the quaint, seemingly uninhabited town it is situated in, but the sake was also pretty damn good too. To top it all off the family invited us to spend the night in the Izakaya and supplied us with provisions for the following day. As has been mentioned, it was not the first time I have fallen asleep in an Izakaya (and probably not the last), but it was the first time I have purposely slept on a bed of izakaya floor cushions surrounded by bottles of booze...great feeling!
The next day we were taken on a brief tour of Mie and then Taketa Town. The waterfalls of Ono Town were breathtaking.

The kindness and generosity shown to us will not be forgotten and it definitely spurred us on for the remainder of our journey - Thank you ever so much for everything!
For Kiku location and contact info check here - Kiku Restaurant

Top photo is of me and Mrs Yasuda. The bottom one is of James and Takeshi, her son and chef that studied and worked for three years at the Michelin-starred Nobu London restaurant, which you can find out about here Nobu London

日田市、大分県　ー　Hita City, Oita Pref
焼とり一幸のマスター、ママ、とお客様はありがとうございました！！！
メニュは本当にオリジナルとうまい！サッポロ生ビールも美味しかった！三九！焼とり一幸日田

Thanks to Yakitori Ichikou in Hita City. We were initially drawn to this place because it had the same name as the fantastic place with "the boxer with the big head" that we had previously got sloshed-up at in Miyakonojou City, Miyazaki Prefecture. We soon realised that this establishment not only had a great name but great food, drinks and customers to boot! Our amazing run of stumbling upon "Izakaya Gold" was continuing unabated until the last evening, Yay! The menu was pretty spectacular for such a humble looking restaurant... I will write more about it in a future food blog, but here is a taster - lovely beef ribs!!

You can find out more info on the restaurant here Yakitori Ikou Hita

The third and final installment of our Thanks will be published tomorrow

The Aftermath and Thanks...PART ONE

まだまだ膝が痛い！！年だからね！
皆様本当に有難うございました。。。
My knees are still sore, but I have finally shaved off my dreadful beard.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who have helped us, by donating, cheering us on, feeding us, lubricating our insides and making us smile and feel proud of our efforts.
Here is a mention/shout out to as many as we can remember - part one only, part two tomorrow.
If you are ever in and around Kyushu/Japan then please feel free to ask us for any information.
****有り難い****
佐賀　－　Saga City
焼鳥なんぶ nanbu-yakitori、酔美バー suivie 、Sports Bar CRON cron blog, 立ち飲みや のん Non、3rd Place the 3rd .... Everybody - 有難う！
Thanks to Yakitori Nanbu - my blog page here nanbu-yakitori, Suivie suivie , CRON cron (Yuji's Bar), the Standing BarNon & 3rd Place Cafe the 3rd for displaying our collection boxes and helping us raise money for the Red Cross - THANK YOUxx
みやきプリントありがとう！あのＴ－シャツはかっこいね！
Thank you MIYAKI PRINT for the cool T-shirts and flag!
西九州大学ありがとう
Thanks to Nishi-Kyushu University
小城市中学校ありがとう
Thanks to James' school - Ogi Junior High!
古賀家族ありがとう。
Thanks to the Koga family for their support and cheer.
寺町家族ありがとう。
Thanks the Teramachi family for their help and support.
東島家族は色々ありがとうね！
Thanks to The Higashijima family for support and inspiration.
Thanks to Junko for helping us with the newspaper interview etc!
Thanks to Noriko and Toshiko for their wise advice!
Special thanks to all of our friends who have cheered us at every step and have probably been as surprised as we have by the fact that we managed to do something worthwhile.

九州の有り難い　－　Thanks to Kyushu
九州の運転者本当に有り難う。何回私たちは死にかけていた。。。
Thanks to the motorists of Kyushu, you nearly squashed us many, many times but we live to ride another challenge. Thanks for your patience and the many waves and cheers that made us fight every kilometre.
出水町　－　新亀屋旅館の人たちありがとう。　兵たん居酒屋もありがとう！
Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture.
Thanks to everyone at the Shinkameya Ryokan and the great Hyoutan Izakaya...very delicious!! You can find the address and phone number here http://rp.gnavi.co.jp/5200819/
- in the photo below you can see some tasty "basashi" - that's raw horse meat to you! The white pieces in the middle are raw fat... 馬刺し

鹿児島市 　Kagoshima City
PiPi Cafeの智美ちゃんと友達は有り難うね、楽しかった！
Thanks to Tomomi and her friends at the PiPi cafe - we had a lovely time! PiPi cafe info here PiPi Cafe Kagoshima
都城市 Miyakonojou City, Miyazaki Prefecture
焼鳥一幸の乙丸家族とお客様達は本当に優しいね、皆様ありがとうございました！！！炭焼き地鶏ときびなご天ぷらは美味しかった！
Thank you so much to Mr Otomaru (The Boxer) and his lovely wife at Yakitori Ichikou for feeding us some fine food and telling us amazing tales of boxing and life in general - we will visit you again I'm sure, we had a good laugh! Thanks also to the customers, in particular the lovely little lady from Watanabe Farms for her very generous donation and for getting all the other drinkers to cough up some cash! Cheers! You can find the place on google maps here Yakitori Ichikou and here is the master below in his prime as a welterweight boxing champ!!


More to Follow in Part Two tomorrow!!

Day Nine - The End 5月7日

金曜日の夕方も楽しかった、日田町の居酒屋一幸の家族と客様ありがとう！！！
今度の週末まで募金が集まります。十万円以上集まりたい‼
今まで九州一周ママチャリチャレンジが終わりました、皆様は本当に、本当にありがとうございました‼
最後の日は日田市から佐賀市まで、全てには810km以上出来ました‼
Thanks to everybody for all of their donations and much-needed support along the way.
It has been a long, arduous trip over countless mountains and hills, across many rivers, through long valleys and past several watering holes.
We met many fantastic people on our travails, and were lucky enough to have so many wonderful people and pets waiting for us back here in Saga! I will go into more depth on our thanks in another blog tomorrow.
In the meantime, our donation boxes will continue to be on display until next weekend and James is still able to receive donations on his paypal account. We are hoping to smash through the 100000yen barrier that we set ourselves at the beginning of this process.
The final day itself was rather easy after we got the last mountain out of the way. Leaving Oita behind we soon re-entered Fukuoka Prefecture and the lovely city of Ukiha. From then on it was flat and smooth until Kurume City. After stopping off for a bite we made swift progress back into Saga Prefecture and from then on into Saga City itself. Thanks to "Manager" Moxon and "Beerboy" Anderson for meeting us at the station and listening to us waffle on about our troubles while the adrenalin was still pumping!
We all had a great night last night, thank you to Nanbu Yakitori for all the sushi and fine booze.
Hopefully the final tally and tale will be printed in a future edition of the Saga City newspaper. Please continue to check this blog for further info on the money raised etcetc
I will be uploading photos from our crazy journey as soon as my crappy laptop stops pissing me about. Final stats will also be published soon, but we managed about 810kms or so overall and are very tired.
Thank you everyone, we love you. Thank you Kyushu for showing us mercy, you mountainous, windy bitch from Hell.
Gareth and James

Day Eight - 5月6日(金曜日)

今日は一番大変な日！ 豊後竹田駅からすぐ山が有りました(~_~;)
久住山は本当に高い！ 最初の2時間半ぐらいは12kmだけ出来た。
その後はすごく早かった、でもあの山の道は危なかった‼ 夕方7：30ごろ日田市に来ました。
今日は93km出来ました‼‼ 今までには730キロ以上！

We always predicted that this would be our toughest day and we were spot on. As soon as we left Taketa Town the mountains started. The Kuju mountain range is pretty high, but when your horizon is green with no sky it kind of sucks all of your hope away and replaces it with awful doubt. This was the one day where we physically and mentally couldn't envisage a favourable outcome. We only travelled some 12km over the first two and a half hours, and most of that was spent pushing our plus 20kg bikes uphill. We hit "the wall" I guess and there seemed little chance of breaking through it. We couldn't stop to catch our breath as time was very much against us. So in a last-ditch attempt to break the back of the beast we put our iPods on for the very first time (at other times it would have been too distracting) and listened to Karl Pilkington to keep us amused! It worked!
After a few more tough kilometres we eventually made it to flatter land - we still had to push in parts though as the mountain road was often narrow, without barriers and we had to contend with large trucks whizzing past us!
And then downhill!!! Hitting top speeds in excess of 40kph I really thought my bike was going to fall to bits or I was going to get slammed into a wall/barrier by the strong wind. At one point near kurokawa onsen town I thought I had lost James, for ever I mean. After a particularly dangerous stretch I waited at the next corner for him to follow behind me to see if he had made it too. And waited. And waited. After 5 minutes I began to worry, and tried to call him - but no answer. After ten minutes, and many unanswered calls, I was really panicking ...but then he called me back!!! It turns out he passed me some 2kms back and was now miles ahead, bloody distracting iPod!
From then on it was all plain cycling into Hita City. We didn't arrive until 19:30, but earlier in the day we didn't think we would arrive at all!
Today we travelled an amazing 93kms - and in total have now covered over 730kms and have spent more than 57hours in the saddle!
Only one more day to go - Saga here we come!!!

Day Eight - 5月6日（金曜日)

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE...
明日は最後の日、だから佐賀駅では16:30pmごろに来たい！
その時は一緒にビール飲みたいね！
We will get to saga train station at 16:30pm tomorrow, if u want to share a can of victory beer with us please come along(^O^)／

Day Seven - 5月5日(木曜日)

今日も山登りました、最近毎日は大変でした！
でも85kmぐらいママチャリを乗りました、延岡市から～豊後竹田町まで！
夜は素晴らしい居酒屋に色々特別な料理食べた、お酒飲んだ、と最後僕とジェイムズは居酒屋の中で寝ました‼
すごい‼ 本当にありがとう安田様達、喜久は全然忘れない‼
Yesterday was great at first, but then we hit a monster mountain. It was a real killer. Right at the start of it we met a fella from Nagasaki, who was also cycling around Kyushu!!! He was using a proper bike and, unlike us, did look like a proper cyclist. Hopefully we will meet Puji again if he pops in to Saga on his way home!
Well, after the horror, the horror, of the mountain we found ourselves in a quiet little town called Mie. We had already planned to meet a restaurant owner there for dinner, but we wanted to cycle on - so went a further 28kms or so up the road to Taketa and then left our machines at the station and caught a train back to Mie.
Takashi met us to the station and then took us to a hotel for a proper bath. On entering his family's restaurant, Kiku, we saw a large fishtank with all types of delicious looking creatures swimming around. Takashi told us about his time in London working at the world-famous Nobu restaurant. He gave us a couple of Nobu recipe books and told us to choose a few recipes and he would replicate them for us! We were too shy to request anything too fancy, but we did eat some amazing dishes, which I will write about in greater detail in my food blog next week!!!
Anyway, not only did Takashi and the rest of the Yasuda family feed us and wash our clothes, but they also let us sleep in the izakaya for the night!
Also, they made us breakfast in the morning and took us on a short sightseeing tour before taking us back to Taketa station and reuniting us with our beautiful bicycles.
Thank you so much to Kiku restaurant and the Yasuda family - we will never forget your kindness! Also thanks to Ryan for his kind donation!!
Thank you so much

Day Six - 5月4日（水曜日）

今日の天気はすごかったです(^O^)／
朝9:30から午後16:30まで110kmぐらいに乗りました！宮崎市から、延岡市まで出来ました‼
夜は延岡町の一番面白いと美味しいな居酒屋に行きました、居酒屋呑んのん！
皆様ありがとう！
今日延岡市から、豊後竹田町までに行きたい～
頑張ります！
Yesterday the sun was smiling and the weather was sweet and yes, I did move me dancing feet. We stormed through 110kms in record time. Pushing an overall pace of about 17kph, even after including a few hills! We arrived at Nobeoka City before 4pm, giving us ample time to sort out camping and finding interesting places to visit. Unfortunately, we had to cycle an extra 5kms to the campsite and the most interesting place was the train station. Even though we were pretty shattered, the sun definitely replaced some of energy washed away by the depressing rain of the previous day - and we hit the izakayas last night with renewed vigour.
Eventually we managed to find a lovely little izakaya called 呑んのん nonon and they gave us a few free drinks and snacks while helping us with our cycling schedule! Cheers ladies!!
Today onwards to Oita Prefecture and many, many mountains!

Day Five 5月3日(火曜日)

雨、雨、雨、雨、雨、が大変でした(~_~;)
今日都城市から宮崎市まで出来ました！ 60kmだけ、でも難しかったよ‼

The rain was awful today and it slowed us right down, every single km was tough going. We only travelled 60ks or so from the outskirts of Miyakonojo City to Miyazaki City - but it was still far more difficult than we anticipated! The rain really crushed our spirits a little... At the end of the day we didn't even feel like having a beer, amazing!
On to Nobeoka! Come on sunshine, make us smile!

Day four - 5月2日(月曜日)

昨日鹿児島市内から都城市までママチャリ乗りました。
都城市ですばらしいな居酒屋に行った‼ 皆さんはすごい優しかった、一万円以上の募金を払いました‼‼(^O^)／
焼鳥一幸 … 本当にありがとうございますm(_ _)m
今まで360kmぐらい出来ました！ 後400km!!

Yesterday cycled from Kagoshima to Miyakonojo in Miyazaki Prefecture. That's 6/7 prefectures visited...only Oita remains! Going was good at first yesterday, the coastal roads were beautiful and we made fantastic time...but then we hit a BIG mountain and the only way to go was up and up. It took almost two hours to conquer the beast, but conquer it we did!
From Mt.Bastard on it was all downhill and then flat into the small little City of Miyakonojo.
There were no campsites in the area, but managed to get a great deal at a cozy business hotel.
The main town itself was jam-packed with izakayas and snacks - and amazingly (thanks James) the eatery we chose turned out to be one of the very best yakitori experiences of our time in Japan!
The place was called IchiKou and is run by a former champion boxer and his cute little wife. They are a really nice couple and regaled us with tales of past boxing glory and filled our bellies with fine food and beer!!
The customers were really friendly too and were soon inquiring as to our visit to their town. As soon as they learnt of our challenge they organised a whip-round and we soon made over 10000yen - absolutely fantastic!!!! We had an amazing time in Miyakonojo - thank you to all those in IchiKou m(_ _)mm(_ _)mm(_ _)m

Day three

鹿児島市内に着いました！
明日、都城市に行きたい‼
Made it to Kagoshima City, seemed like the mountains were never going to end. Tomorrow heading towards miyazaki, but might stay the night half-way in Miyakonojō if the going is tough again!
Distance travelled so far: 285km
Top speed: 38.8kmph
Hours cycled: 19.8hrs
Still far to go, but we are feeling fit and determined!!