The beginning of the last hard leg

We've generally had it easy the whole trip when it came to terrain. North of Morioka is where the fun stuff begins. From here onwards, it's mountainous all the way up to Aomori. If Aomori is known as the gateway to Hokkaido, then north of Morioka is known as the gateway to torture for scooters.

If you've traversed the land of the rising sun, you would know how hilly it is. But nowhere in Japan is as mountainous as where we are. Settlements are built on all the flat land that exists. The main routes, such as our trusty Route 4, hugs the valley floor between mountains. It runs flat for miles and miles on end until it can run flat no longer. And today was the day we came face to face with our nemesis.

The roads soon started becoming windy and narrow. We passed through what felt like 3 mountain passes. If you think that sounds tame, wait until you try to scoot up a steep slope for 5km and repeat that up and down 3 times. Some parts were so narrow there were no sidewalks and we literally scooted on the road itself. While we weren't in any immediate danger, it kept us on high alert the whole day, tension and stress rising to the max. This is on top of the physical exertion of scooting up hills. At this point I reflected on my answer to Jills about what keeps me going.

It's simple. All good things come with hard work. There is no shortcut to success. There is an immense satisfaction that comes with identifying our boundaries. When we know where our borders lie, physically, emotionally and mentally, we become one step closer to accepting ourselves for who we are. All the "what-ifs" get blown away by the wind and the regrets melt away like snow. There is no questioning who you are because you already know your limits. And the only way to get here, is through honest-to-goodness hard work.