Adventure 2

Alright.

Since I'm sorta not insured right now... I decided that unless the doctor was really insistent, I wouldn't take any X-rays.

The doctor was cool, talked some English, and a bit of french and German and was very understanding of my situation and I got quite a deal for just above 40$. I'm sure that normally it would have cost me more like 120$.

Seems its a medium sprain/strain, so it hurts when I move, and he suggested i take a day or two off biking...

So basically, I need to go to a big town to get my bike fixed, and also need to take a break of sports. Its a shame since I wanted to do the whole trip on my bike, but I think it would be a bigger shame to miss out on stuff because I don't want to take a train, so I decided to head to Hakodate.

I could stay a day there, then take the ferry to Aomori the next day, have a place there take a look at my bike while I make a day trip to Osore-san, the mountain that is said to be the gateway to hell. There are trains and buses going there, and its pretty mountainous regions, so id probably save a day or two off my trip not doing it by bike.
Id spend the next day either in Mutsu or Aomori, then with a little luck, be back biking from Aomori to Tokyo!

Unexpected occurrences are part of the deal, and making do with them and adjusting the plans accordingly is part of the fun.

I'm just happy I just got a sprain and bruises.

To explain what happened in greater details.. The roads have no bike lanes and are often narrow. A bike must ride on the side of the road, so that 1 metre "lane" between the car lane side line and the railway/forest. The roads are in good condition, but the side lanes aren't always. I'm guessing that when they repair the roads, they sometimes only do it halfway through the side lane. meaning there's a bunch of asphalt ON TOP of the asphalt till halfway through the side lane, often with a good centimetre height difference between the two. That also means that 1 metre strip is often littered with holes, bumps. In this case, it was the former, two types of asphalt, with a 1 inch indent between them, going diagonally along the 1 metre side lane..

Going downhill at a reasonable pace, i noticed that there is a crack in the asphalt that's running along the side lane, growing narrower and narrower and eventually  meeting with the side of the road a few metres downhill; I'll have to go over it eventually. I slow down a bit and go over it..

Humm, it was higher than I thought, but I'm ok..
Oh wait...
The fact that i had packs on my back wheel dawned on me a second too late; my back wheel couldn't get over the bump and instead slipped and followed the edge going sideways. To avoid following through and ending up in the traffic, I tried to adjust my heading, but it was too late, I did manage to fall along the side lane instead of the traffic, though.

After a less than graceful fall and roll, i pulled myself up, noticed I was bleeding from 3 places with chaffed skin, and my back hurt like hell. Also my bike handle was twisted and derailleur sounded funny.
I fixed the handle with my trusty multi-tool, but would have to have a pro look at my derailleur. My saddlebags were also a bit damaged.

That was my day :P
Could have been worst, eh?