Zovirl Industries

Nanoblocks Piper Cub Instructions

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 03:26:46 +0000

Nanoblocks Piper Cub Instructions

Here are instructions for building a model of a Piper Cub airplane from Nanoblocks.

The Cub is a small 2-seat plane that's been around since 1938. Top speed of the original model was 85mph, though later models increased the size of the engine and got the top speed up to 130 for the Super Cub. The body of the plane is incredibly narrow, with one seat in front of the other instead of having the seats side-by-side. The instrument panel on early cubs was incredibly simple: RPM, airspeed, compass, altimeter, oil temperature & pressure, and slip indicator. That's it.

I designed the nanoblock model starting with the wing. The only way to get the wing skinny enough is to build it with the studs facing forward. Studs forward is also useful for attaching the propeller and getting the landing gear at the correct angle, so the whole plane is done with the studs forward instead of up. The size of the model was decided by the number of yellow bricks I had.

Hope you enjoy building it!

Triple Town Economics (How to Never Run Out of Turns)

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:57:47 +0000

Triple Town Economics (How to Never Run Out of Turns)

When I first started playing Triple Town I was annoyed that I kept running out of turns. It felt like the kind of dirty trick a Facebook game would play. Actually, I just wasn't good at the game. It is possible to earn enough coins from each game to pay for your next game. It also makes the game more fun: instead of bears being troublesome creatures messing up your high score, they are profitable resources to be exploited.

Ironically, now that I don't need unlimited turns I bought them anyway because I want the other game modes.

The economics

Turns cost between 0 and 4.75 coins/turn, depending on how much play per day (because you get 150 free turns per day). Example: 150 free turns plus buying turns twice: 550 turns for 1900 coins, or 3.45 coins/turn.
You get paid 1 coin per turn (at the end of the game). You also get paid based on your city's rank, but I'm not sure what the formula is so I don't worry about it.
Mansions pay 100 coins each (at end of game). Castles pay 200 coins, but require 3 mansions, so it is better to just keep the mansions.
Treasure chests pay 500 coins.

For the example 550 turn game, you need to make 1900 coins total. You'll get 550 coins (#2 above). If you can get 3 treasure chests, you made a small profit. Or if you get 2 treasure chests and 4 mansions, you also come out ahead.

Further Nuances

It takes 27 bears to get a treasure chest (bears -> churches -> cathedrals -> treasure), so a correctly-placed bear is worth 18.5 coins.
A crystal used to combine two cathedrals to get a treasure chest is worth 167 coins (1/3rd of 500)
A crystal used to combine two houses to get a mansion is worth 33 coins (1/3rd of 100)
Using crystals & robots to make rocks -> big rocks -> treasure chest requires 7 crystals and 1 robot. 71 coins per crystal. You're better off using crystals to combine cathedrals, except...
At the start of the game you get lots of crystals and sometimes start with a couple rocks. If you get crystals before you have anything useful to combine, the rock -> treasure route is reasonable. This can be a quick way to pick up 500 coins at the start of a game.
All those crystals at the start of the game also mean the early game is more profitable. Once the crystals stop coming and the map is filling up with ninja bears, it is time to scrap the city and start a new one.

(I play the Android version of Triple Town. I don't know if the iOS, web, or kindle versions have different economics, but you could do the same analysis).

Easier Soldering with Improved Third Hand

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:55:03 +0000

Easier Soldering with Improved Third Hand

When soldering electronic parts together, one hand holds the soldering iron and one hand feeds the solder, leaving no hands to hold the parts being soldered. There's a common tool nicknamed a third hand which helps here. The tool has one or two (or three) adjustable alligator clips to hold parts and usually has a magnifying glass to help see the work.

Mine was always a little difficult to use. The clips would fall out of their holders, and the teeth on the clips tended to bite through insulation on wires. I lived with this for years without thinking much about it, but finally fixed it. It took 10 minutes. I should have fixed it years ago.

First, following this advice from Robot Room, I strengthened the base of the clips so they wouldn't fall out. The problem is that there's a screw which clamps down on a flimsy, hollow tube and can easily crush the tube. Solution: fill the hollow tube with metal so it can't be crushed. The article suggested using a brass rod, but I didn't have that so instead I found a bolt which fit, cut it to the right length, and screwed it in.

Second, I put two layers of heatshrink over the teeth so they aren't as sharp. Should help protect wires.

These were both easy fixes. If you have one of these third hand tools, you should take 10 minutes and fix it up!

Attenuating Headphone Cable

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 05:12:34 +0000

Attenuating Headphone Cable

My headphones are too loud. I have in-ear headphones which seal out outside noise and are quite sensitive. I have to keep the volume at its lowest setting, almost off, for comfortable listening. This has two drawbacks: it is painfully loud if the volume ends up at its max setting, and there's usually a hiss coming from my phone or laptop which competes with the music at the lowest volume setting.

To fix this, I made a short headphone cable which reduces the volume. This is similar to the headphones which have a volume knob or slider built into the cable, except that it only has one setting: quiet. The circuit is two simple voltage dividers, one for the left channel and one for the right channel. I found the resistor values through trial-and-error on a breadboard, just trying different values until I found some that gave the ideal volume reduction. The circuit is tiny enough to fit inside the headphone jack and it works well. I can now comfortably use the entire volume range when listening to music, and at the higher volume settings the hiss is drowned out by the music so I can't hear it any longer.

Alpha in WebGL and Canvas

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:46:08 +0000

Alpha in WebGL and Canvas

I've been learning WebGL and have been confused how alpha blending works. Coming from working with the 2D <canvas> API, the WebGL behavior was was surprising to me.

(This post uses some recent HTML5 features which won't show up properly in older browsers or IE. I know Chome and Firefox will show it correctly).

The Problem

The demo below uses WebGL to draw white, gray, and black triangles in a range of alpha values, all with the standard gl.BlendFunc(gl.SRC_ALPHA, gl.ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA). The results are weird. For example, why does the row of black triangles get lighter than the background as alpha decreases? If you change the background to be almost-but-not-quite white, why do the white triangles stop fading entirely?

For reference, here's a version done using the canvas API which behaves as expected and clearly shows the differences in alpha behavior between canvas and WebGL:

The Answer

As I learned from Gregg Tavares, the answer to the puzzle is that WebGL blends the alpha channel differently than canvas does. Using the standard gl.BlendFunc(gl.SRC_ALPHA, gl.ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA), WebGL's blending equation for alpha is:

A = Asrc * Asrc + Adest * (1 - Asrc)

If you start with an opaque buffer and render a semi-transparent polygon, the result is that the buffer is now semi-transparent (A = .5 * .5 + 1 * (1 - .5) = .75).

This transparency allows the white background of the page to show through and blend with the WebGL colors. Putting text behind the WebGL canvas makes this obvious:

Gregg details several ways to address this, including using { alpha: false } when requesting the context:

Game Marketing Tips From GDC

Wed, 02 May 2012 02:42:14 +0000

Game Marketing Tips From GDC

I gleaned some game marketing tips from several talks at GDC this year.

Tom Francis (Gunpoint) described how to explain games in writing, while Kert Gartner showed how to make good trailers for games. The techniques are quite similar since both require efficient communication. Taken together, these two talks were filled with great advice for telling people about your game. Also, Nathan Vella (Sword & Sworcery) explained how they used consistent PR to communicate the spirit of their game to potential players.

How to Explain Your Game in Writing

Tom Francis talked about explaining a game to impatient readers. Keep the explanation short, about 3 sentences, by means of ruthless editing. Do not make these common mistakes, they waste words:

Failing to explain things. Don't post a gameplay video with no commentary and hope viewers understand. They won't.
Explaining artistic intent. It doesn't explain why I would want to play your game. It also uses too many words.
Explaining story. A compelling explanation of your games story takes too many words. Skip it.
Saying it is "innovative" or "awesome." These words mean nothing coming from the creator of the game.

Instead, you need to fit these 4 things in 3 sentences:

Type of game. Just a few words. 2D platformer. Racing game with RPG elements.
Coolest unique thing. Rewind time to fix mistakes. Tear down and rebuild the entire world.
The fantasy. Not story, that takes too many words. Just the fantasy: You're a criminal driving around a sprawling city. You're searching for your sister in a creepy forest.
Give one example of the gameplay. You fly your helicopter up the river bed, staying behind the trees to avoid detection, then sneak over the ridge to drop the commandos off at the enemy base. You drive your moped up the stairs, through the shopping mall, then jump over the embankment to get away.

Focusing on efficient communication makes it more likely you'll get your point across before the reader loses interest. Tom has posted his talk here.

How to make a good trailer

Kert Gartner explained how to make good trailers for games. Similar to Tom's points about terse writing, Kert stressed the importance of keeping the trailer short.

Don't:

Make it longer than 60-90 seconds. Most viewers won't watch that long
Try to explain everything.
Cram too much information in.
List features of your game. This is boring and not a good use of precious time.
Release a bad trailer. You'd be better off with no trailer.

Do:

Make sure the first 5-10 seconds capture attention.
Use a simple dramatic story arc. A clear beginning/middle/end structure which builds to a climax is good.
Show what the game is about.
Capture the style or feel of the game.
Use zoom-in to focus on the important parts of busy/complex gameplay footage.
Use slow-motion to help the viewer catch important parts of fast gameplay footage.
Leave the viewer wanting more.

He showed several example trailers with a detailed explanation of the techniques going into each one. It would be worth going over to his blog to see the examples.

How to Keep Your PR Consistent

Nathan Vella talked about PR for Sword & Sworcery. I was impressed by how much they focused on consistency and on getting the feel & spirit of their game into their PR material.

Nathan had a couple tricks for making sure the vision for the game is communicated in the PR. First, base the PR on the vision for the game instead of the game itself. If you base the PR on the game, the vision will be watered down. It is ok to reference the game, obviously, but make sure the PR is being influenced by the vision. Second, make sure that the person who is in charge of the vision for the game is involved in the PR directly. Ideally you want your PR and your game to feel like part of the same whole. Example: gameplay in Sworcery is tied to phases of the moon, and they kept this same astronomical spirit by doing sales of the game around the solstice.

There was also the mechanical side of consistency: use the same fonts in your game and your PR material. Use the same color palettes. Use the same sound effects. Maintain a common voice between your game and your PR (and make sure all your PR uses a common voice, especially if multiple people are involved in producing it).

You can see some of this consistency in action over at the Sword & Sworcery website, where they talk about "electric computers" and the soundtrack being available on vinyl & audio cassette and where they label their search box "What do you seek?". It feels like their website came from the same weird world that Sworcery is set in.

Artisan Games

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:51:46 +0000

Artisan Games

I like the idea of approaching game development as an artisan baker would approach making bread or the way a craftsman would approach making a piece of fine furniture. Making unique, high-quality products for a discerning audience. Artisan games.

There were a couple talks at GDC this year that reminded me about this, especially Nathan Vella's talk on how they making Sword & Sworcery stand out by taking taking risks, targeting a niche audience, and keeping quality high.

Unique Games

Nathan started with the business reason for making a game which stands out: There are so many games out there, it is easy for your game to blend into a sea of similar games. Making a game which stands out is a big step towards success. I also have a personal reason: I want to make something new, something unique. Games take so much time to make that I don't want to be making games that have already been done.

Making a game that doesn't stand out is straightforward: just follow convention. Do what other games do. Each game platform has a set of common trends that you can follow. Making a game for iOS? Use cartoon graphics, one or two simple mechanics, and keep the game short. Making a Facebook game? Have an energy mechanic to encourage players to return tomorrow, use asyncronous multiplayer, and nudge the player to invite their friends. If you always take the "safe" option when faced with a business choice, your game will probably blend in. If you want to stand out, you're going to have to start breaking conventions, ignoring trends, and taking risks. Nathan kept coming back to the idea of taking risks throughout his talk.

Amir Rao (Bastion) spoke during the failure workshop and mentioned a great safety net to use when making a risky game:

Ask "What's been done?" Find the conventions.
Do something else, something new.
If #2 fails, fall back to the conventions you identified in #1.

Falling back to convention sounds like a great way to make progress if the risky innovation doesn't pan out. On Bastion they ditched a gardening mechanic that wasn't working but their game still stands out because they bucked trends in other areas of the game. You don't have to innovate on every aspect of your game to have it stand out. It is ok to stick to conventions in some areas.

Discerning Audience

Nathan specifically warned against trying to make a game with broad appeal. Yes, the payoff is huge but there's also stiff competition. He compared it to a lottery. Instead, Nathan suggested going after a niche. This lets you target your game specifically to your audience. You will be able to know your customers and know what they want. You're much more likely to stand out to your customers because you're making a game just for them. You can tailor your PR so you are speaking directly to your niche. Nathan pointed out that there are enough game players now that niches can still be huge. They've sold something like 350,000 copies of their niche game on iOS.

High Quality

The last part of artisan games: quality. Nathan said on Sworcery they decided it was safer to slip their deadline and over-run their budget than to release a rushed game that wasn't great. In the end, they found that finishing a risky game well opened a lot of doors. This echoed what Kert Gartner said in his talk on making trailers for games: a bad trailer is worse than no trailer, so either make an awesome trailer or don't make a trailer at all.

This seems especially important if you're trying to build a reputation for great games. The one caveat I would add is that it probably doesn't apply if you are just starting out. New developers usually don't have the skills to making high-quality games. That's normal. If you are new it is more important to make lots of games than to get stuck trying to make your first game high-quality. Quality will come with practice. Going back to the baker analogy, no one expects a beginning baker to make a perfect loaf. If you have the skills to release quality games, though, it seems like a sound choice to do so instead of rushing crap out the door.

Graph Land: A Graphing Calculator for Javascript, with Cows

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:20:41 +0000

Graph Land: A Graphing Calculator for Javascript, with Cows

Graph Land is a graphing calculator for Javascript. In addition to such useful features as the ability to plot Math.cos(Math.floor(x*2)), it also has adorable cows, clouds, dusk, dawn, and other such fine accoutrements which all fashionable graphing calculators in this modern age aspire toward.

Try it now

A brief account of the creation of Graph Land

A flight simulator I've been working on needed some interesting terrain for the player to fly over. I saw two solutions: use a level editor to create some interesting terrain (the manual route), or make an algorithm that generates interesting terrain (the procedural route). Making levels by hand is tedious and time-consuming, so I chose procedural terrain generation, which is also time-consuming but more entertaining.

To get rapid feedback while working on the terrain I made a simple app that plotted the output of the algorithm as I tweaked the parameters. It was basically a graphing calculator that took a Javascript expression as input. I used the app to get an algorithm capable of producing convincing hills and mountains, then moved on to work on other things.

Later, I found myself coming back to this app to visualize other things. I used it to tune the length of daytime/nighttime (a modified sine wave) in a different game. Then I needed to smoothly switch colors in another app and I knew the shape of the curve I wanted, but I didn't know what the actual formula was until I messed around in the graphing app for a few minutes and found it.

Much later, cows wandered in. Shortly after that clouds formed in the sky. Eventually the sun, showing no respect for the traditional order of creation by its tardiness, started making a daily appearance.

I've found Graph Land useful. I'm publishing it so others can use it too. The whole thing is licensed under the Apache 2 license, so feel free to reuse it in other projects.

Appendix A

A collection of examples, most of which may be useful to game programmers:

A)	`y = x % 3`
B)	`y = x - 3 * Math.floor(x/3)`
C)	`y = Math.floor(x- 3 * Math.floor(x/3))`

Javascript's % operator (A) behaves like C not like Python, which always frustrates me when x is negative. I usually end up using (B) instead. Rounding down (C) gives a formula that converts any value of x to a valid index into an array of length 3.

D)	`y = 1/(1 + Math.pow(2, -x))`
E)	`y = 1/(1 + Math.pow(1000, -x))`
F)	`y = x<0 ? 0 : x>1 ? 1 : 3xx - 2xx*x`

Smooth transitions can be down with a modified logistic function (D), which is very easy to tweak ((A) gives a slow transition, (E) is much more abrupt). A much faster but less flexible approach is 3x^2-2x^3 (F).

G)	`y = Math.floor(x) % 2 == 0 ? 0 : 1`
H)	`y = Math.floor(x) % 4 == 0 ? 0 : 1`

Sometimes you want abrupt transitions, not smooth transitions. (G) and (H) will give you those.

Appendix B

Convincing random terrain is largely a matter of mixing several frequencies together.

If you use your imagination, you can pretend this is a hill even though it is too smooth:
y = Math.sin(x/4)

Adding in another higher-frequency, lower-amplitude sine wave makes a subtle improvement:
y = Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2

(The "+17" bit offsets the second sine wave so both waves don't cross (0, 0) together.)

If you keep adding in higher-frequency, lower-amplitude waves you can see the hill gets more and more detail:

1 wave:	`Math.sin(x/4)`
2 waves:	`Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2`
3 waves:	`Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2 + Math.sin(x+19)/4`
4 waves:	`Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2 + Math.sin(x+19)/4 + Math.sin(x*2+23)/8`
5 waves:	`Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2 + Math.sin(x+19)/4 + Math.sin(x2+23)/8 + Math.sin(x4+29)/16`
6 waves:	`Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2 + Math.sin(x+19)/4 + Math.sin(x2+23)/8 + Math.sin(x4+29)/16 + Math.sin(x*8+31)/32`
7 waves:	`Math.sin(x/4) + Math.sin(x/2+17)/2 + Math.sin(x+19)/4 + Math.sin(x2+23)/8 + Math.sin(x4+29)/16 + Math.sin(x8+31)/32 + Math.sin(x16)/64`

The terrain in my flight simulator works the same way except that I use random noise instead of sine waves for the basic input, so instead of combining many layers of sine waves, it is combining many layers of random noise.

How to fold a paper envelope for storing seeds

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:57:39 +0000

How to fold a paper envelope for storing seeds

I like collecting seeds from plants in my garden. I store them in little folded paper packets, with the name of the plant and the date collected written on the outside. There are lots of ways to make envelopes out of paper, but this one is my favorite because it is so simple:

Making of an HTML5 game: Forest

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:45:30 +0000

Making of an HTML5 game: Forest

I wrote earlier about Forest, a meditation game I made for the Super Friendship Club's Mysticism Pageant (you can play it here). That article covered my motivations and inspirations, but not the details of how it was put together. This article covers the details.

Overview

The game uses HTML5, specifically the <canvas> tag for graphics and the <audio> tag for music. The world is procedural, which means that instead of using photoshop to paint the levels by hand I made some algorithms to generate the world. This has two advantages:

It is a very fast way to get a lot of variety, which helps the world look natural and convincing.
It was more fun. I didn't have to sit down and paint 20 or 30 different trees by hand.

I worked on this in the evenings and on weekends for about three weeks during the pageant, and then spent a couple more weeks cleaning things up and polishing it after. It is about 1500 lines of JavaScript.

Procedural Trees

I had the good fortune to be able to work on the code for generating the trees while sitting on the porch of a cabin near Lake Tahoe. It was quite relaxing, reclining in the shade of towering pine trees while making a virtual forest.

The normal way of doing procedural trees appears to be L-systems, but that seemed too complicated. I did something simpler:

Trees are made up of blocks of varying sizes and colors.
Blocks are laid out in straight lines to make branches, with blocks getting smaller along the branch.
Starting from the main branch (the trunk), side branches split off recursively.
Lengths and angles are randomly jittered, so some branches are longer, some are shorter, they branch off at slightly different angles, etc.
At the end of some branches a foliage block is added in a somewhat-random shade of green.

Procedural Grass and Dirt

Grass has somewhat random heights and colors:

// Returns a css color string like "rgb(30,40,50)"
function rgb(r,g,b) { 
  var f = Math.floor; 
  return "rgb(" + f(r) + "," + f(g) + "," + f(b) + ")";
}

var width = 3;
for (var x = 0; x < SCREEN_WIDTH; x += width) {
  // Draw one blade of grass
  var shade = Math.random() * 5;
  context.fillStyle = rgb(40 + shade, 110 + shade, 50 + shade);
  var depth = Math.random() * 2;
  var height = depth + 10 + Math.random() * 10;
  context.fillRect(x, SCREEN_HEIGHT - GROUND_HEIGHT + depth, width, -height);
}

(I didn't bother including it in the sample code, but there's also a little logic to adjust the color if the grass is in a sunbeam)

The dirt has randomly-sized dark and light rectangles layered on it:

// Ground
context.fillStyle = "rgb(35, 50, 50)";
context.fillRect(0, SCREEN_HEIGHT, SCREEN_WIDTH, -GROUND_HEIGHT);

// Dark spots
context.fillStyle = "rgb(32, 47, 47)";
for (var i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
  context.fillRect(Math.random() * SCREEN_WIDTH, 
    SCREEN_HEIGHT - Math.random() * GROUND_HEIGHT,
    Math.random() * 50 + 10, 
    Math.random() * 50 + 10);
}

// Light spots
context.fillStyle = "rgb(38, 53, 53)";
for (var i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
  context.fillRect(Math.random() * SCREEN_WIDTH, 
    SCREEN_HEIGHT - Math.random() * GROUND_HEIGHT, 
    Math.random() * 50 + 10, 
    Math.random() * 50 + 10);
}

Canvas optimizations

I started out just drawing the entire canvas from scratch in every frame, using fillRect() calls for almost everything (remember, the grass, dirt, trees, and player are all made out of blocks). Performance was terrible.

I did some testing and found that at 30 FPS I could only expect to get 5000 100x100 pixel fillRect() calls. That's not nearly enough. Each tree is built from about 1000 blocks so that would only get me five trees. Worse, <canvas> appears to be fillRate() limited. If I want to fill the whole 800x600 canvas, I only get 500 fillRect() calls.

Since the trees don't change, I looked into pre-rendering them to off-screen canvas elements, then using drawImage() to copy them into the main canvas. Performance testing suggested that at 30 FPS I could get about 35 800x600 drawImage() calls. This is more than enough, since I only need 3 layers of trees to give enough depth.

For scrolling, there are two canvases for each layer. When one of the canvases scrolls off the left side of the main canvas, it is redrawn and starts scrolling in from the right side of the main canvas. This means in total, there are only 8 drawImage() calls per frame (three tree layers plus one ground layer, two canvases per layer).

Colors

I tried different color palettes:

Warm tones with plenty of yellow in the shades of green. This helped create the warm, lazy summer afternoon feel I wanted.
Cooler blue tones to help make the yellow fireflies stand out. The fireflies looked great but the forest felt too cold.
A day/night cycle slowly changing between bright, warm greens in the daytime and dark, cool blues at night (there were even stars which came out at night). This turned out to not be as awesome as I had imagined.

In the end, I compromised and ended with with a somewhat cooler version of #1:

Text

I browsed through Google's repository of web fonts until I found Tangerine Bold, which I think goes very nicely with the theme.

I wanted to use JavaScript to render the text into the canvas directly, but I couldn't find a way to make it blocky. The obvious solution is to draw the text at a small size so the pixels are large in relation to the text, then enlarge the image. However I couldn't stop the browser from doing interpolated scaling, so the text ended up blurry instead of blocky.

I gave up on JavaScript for this and used Python instead to pre-render the text into images. I also added a slight drop-shadow to help the text stand out from the background. Using images instead of rendering from JavaScript adds about 300 KB of data to download, but at least it works.

from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont, ImageFilter

def colorize(image, textColor, backgroundColor):
  colored = image.convert("RGBA")
  colored.putdata([textColor if value == 0 else backgroundColor 
                   for value in image.getdata()])
  return colored

text = "Breathe"
font = ImageFont.truetype('Tangerine_Bold.ttf', 36)

image = Image.new("1", font.getsize(text), '#FFF')
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(image)
draw.text((0, 0), text, font=font)
# Use nearest-neighbor when enlarging to make it blocky
image = image.resize([i*2 for i in image.size], Image.NEAREST)

coloredText = colorize(image, (187, 221, 153), (0, 0, 0, 0))
shadow = colorize(image, (0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 0, 0))
for i in range(3):  # Takes several blurs to get blurry enough
  shadow = shadow.filter(ImageFilter.BLUR)

shadow.paste(coloredText, (0, 0), coloredText)
shadow.save("breathe.png")

Movement

I wanted the movement to have a specific feel:

Syncing input to breathing gives a slow pace
Possible to run
Possible to quickly slow down from a run

When space is held, there's an acceleration which decreases as the player's speed approaches the target speed. Rapidly clicking space builds up an acceleration boost which allows running. Finally, drag slows the player down quickly from high speeds but has little effect at slow speeds.

The acceleration from tapping space once is so small it can barely be noticed. This gives a bad experience if the player just taps space once at the start of the game because it looks like nothing happened. To fix this, if the player isn't moving and space is pressed, the speed jumps straight to the target speed. This provides nice feedback and makes it obvious that pressing space did something.

function Player() {
  this.x = 0; // position
  this.dx = 0; // speed
  this.ax = 0; // acceleration
  this.clicks = 0;  // Number of times player pressed button within clickWindow 
  this.clickWindow = 5; // Number of seconds to measure button presses over
  this.running = false; // True if player is holding down button
  this.targetSpeed = 50; // Desired speed if button is held continuously
}

// dt is how much time has elapsed since the last call to update()
Player.prototype.update = function(dt) { 
  // calculate bonus acceleration for clicking button rapidly
  this.clicks = Math.max(0, this.clicks);
  var clickRate = this.clicks/this.clickWindow;
  var boost = 49 * clickRate * clickRate;

  var drag = .003 * this.dx * this.dx;
  this.ax = boost - drag;

  if (this.running) {
    // When running, provide an alternate, possibly higher, acceleration
    this.ax = Math.max(this.ax, boost + this.targetSpeed - this.dx); 
  }
  
  this.dx += this.ax * dt;
  this.x += this.dx * dt;
}

Player.prototype.startRunning = function() {
  if (this.running) {
    return;
  }
  this.running = true;
  if (this.dx == 0) {
    // not moving yet, provide a "kick" so it is obvious something happened.
    this.dx = this.targetSpeed;
  }
  this.clicks++;
  var that = this;
  setTimeout(function() {that.clicks--;}, this.clickWindow*1000);
}

Player.prototype.stopRunning = function() {
  this.running = false;
}

var player = new Player();
var SPACE = 32;
$(document).keydown(function(e) {e.which == SPACE && player.startRunning();});
$(document).keyup(function(e) {e.which == SPACE && player.stopRunning();});
// Prevent space from scrolling the page
$(document).keypress(function(e) {return e.which != SPACE});

Metrics

Google Analytics can do event tracking, which is perfect for gathering metrics on how many players start the game and how many players make it all the way to the end.

function trackEvent(action) {
  if (_gaq) {
    _gaq.push(["_trackEvent", "forest", action]);
  } else {
    console.log("Analytics not loaded. Not logging event: " + action);
  }
}

Even though the game only lasts five minutes, the metrics made it obvious that players were leaving before finishing. Based on this, I added the "Breathe" and "Relax" reminders in the middle to hint that the game doesn't just run on forever. Metrics showed an improvement in the number of players reaching the end after this change.

Forest: A Meditation Game

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:45:45 +0000

Forest: A Meditation Game

The Super Friendship Club runs month-long game pageants where participants make games related to a theme. For the Mysticism Pageant I made a meditation game called Forest.

Most games are about doing: building empires, killing monsters, driving fast. This game is about not doing, about breathing. There's no score, no goal. It isn't fun like other games, but is hopefully enjoyable. It's not really a game, but that's the best word I can come up with. ("Experience" would be more accurate but that sounds silly and has too many syllables)

Go play it now.

Inspiration

I wanted to do a game about meditation but mediation usually involves closing one's eyes and sitting very still. While I was struggling to figure out how to translate this to an interactive game, my wife and I attended a meditation workshop with Thich Nhat Hanh. One of the techniques we practiced was walking meditation, and I saw this was the solution: One does not need to be sitting with closed eyes in order to fully experience the present moment. This became the concept I would try to communicate to the player.

I loved the first half of pOnd, and wanted to make something similar to that, but taking the subject more seriously. I think pOnd's ending cheapened the experience, as if the creators didn't really believe in what they had started. They had a brilliant mechanic, though: encouraging the player to synchronize their breathing with their actions is powerful.

The forest spirits that are so prevalent in Miyazaki's films kept popping into my thoughts. Not only did they fit the mysticism theme well, they improved the game in several ways. Their appearance (or startled flight) provides feedback to the player. They move with the player's breath, deepening the synchronization. Finally, they provide a simple narrative hook for the start of the game.

Mechanics

I decided the core mechanic would be walking through a forest by pressing space as you breathe in, releasing as you breathe out. A quick prototype showed this was relaxing and engrossing.

At first I wanted to make the player figure this out on their own, to encourage a sense of discovery. The original version of Forest dropped hints about going slow and only showed the instructions about synchronized breathing if the player slowed down. If they didn't slow down, there was a "failure" ending which hinted at the player being too hurried. Metrics revealed that almost no one went slowly enough, though, so I gave up on that. Now everyone gets the breathing instructions and there is no way to "fail."

I wanted there to be an "aha!" moment when the player stops running and starts walking slowly. I intentionally try to mislead the player at the start by telling them how to run, hoping to get the player to experience the contrast between running and then relaxing. However, I deliberately avoided artificially increasing this contrast by changing the way the game is rendered when running. It would have been easy to decrease color saturation, draw trees in less detail, etc. but that wouldn't be true to the theme. The whole point is that the player notices more when walking, not that the game shows them more when walking. The detail has to be there all along to be authentic and not just a fake effect.

When making most games, much time is devoted to finding pleasurable reward loops. Basic breathing meditation is already enjoyable, though, so the game just tries to nudge the player to try it. I avoided adding traditional reward loops on top of this, partly because this risked smothering the fragile pleasure from meditation, and partly because I was concerned about replacing intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation.

One Last Thought

Many of the best games teach the player something, improve them in some way. This is something I aspired to. Being conscious of one's own breath is a powerful relaxation technique that can be used anywhere. Learning to relax and release stress is important skill that most people can benefit from. I have no illusions about achieving wide-spread public health gains via this game, but I do hope that it helps at least one person lead a more relaxed life.

Hokkaido, Japan by Bicycle (part 3 of 3)

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:34:52 +0000

Hokkaido, Japan by Bicycle (part 3 of 3)

In 2009, we spent three weeks riding bicycles around Japan.
This is the final part of the story of that trip.
(Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.)

September 10, 7:30 am, Pension Birao, Teshikaga

Distance ridden yesterday: 89 miles. Weather: sunny, slight headwind.

Rode 89 miles yesterday, setting a new personal record for the second time in a week. Started in Rausu and rode down the coast for a couple hours. Several tunnels, one of which seemed especially dark until I realized I had forgotten to take off my sunglasses. Stopped at a market on the side of the road; they had white chocolate made with melons from Yubari. It tasted exactly like fresh melons.

Turned inland after the market, crossing flat farmland with mountains in the distance. Rode on small back roads between the fields with a slight headwind the whole way. Yana and I weren't putting enough effort into drafting tightly behind Piaw (it takes concentration to stay close enough). Once we dropped back it was too much work to catch him so we just trailed after him for many miles.

Found a nice inn in Teshikage where we left our bags before going back out to ride up to Lake Mashu, part of Akan National Park. When we were in the park a few days ago we skipped Lake Mashu because of poor weather; it was nice to get a second chance. The scenery was well worth the climb. The road goes up the ridge so we had great views; the farmland at the base of the mountain glowed from late afternoon sun streaming through the clouds. The lake is a deep blue color and lies in a volcanic crater, far below the road which runs along the crater rim. On the opposite side there was a steep set of cliffs with puffy clouds behind. It was cold up there, and the rapid descent was even colder.

Dinner was Western style, but with an unmistakable Japanese influence: many small, well-presented dishes. Delicious.

Japanese Cranes in a field

September 10, 10:00 pm, Ryokan in Ashoro

Distance: 60 miles. Weather: patchy clouds.

Fish-shaped ice cream sandwich

Omlettes for breakfast this morning. Very Japanese, with 10 different small dishes. Well prepared, just like last night.

Rode over two passes today. Cold at times, with a headwind. My bicycle saddle has become increasingly uncomfortable the last few days. I've been trying to stay seated on the bike since my fork started making an ominous popping noise last week but now I can only sit for about 10 minutes before I have to stand up and give my butt a break. On the first climb this morning I couldn't take it any more and stopped to make a simple adjustment: I tilted my saddle forward a few degrees. That made all the difference; no pain for the rest of the day. Funny how the angle was fine for the first week and suddenly became unbearable.

Saw Lake Akan briefly at lunch. That's the last of the three lakes in Akan Park. For lunch I ordered chicken gyoza, expecting dumplings with chicken inside. What actually arrived were chicken wings stuffed with gyoza filling. Meanwhile Yana ordered veggie tempurah, which turned out to be shrimp tempura served over vegetables. No matter, we're flexible and both dishes were good.

We've been passing lots of road construction. There is almost always a man standing at the front of the construction with a whistle, motioning to traffic to slow down. Today we passed a construction site where they had a robot doing this job. It had a whistle and waved its arm as we rode past.

Staying at a low-end minshuku tonight. It was billed as a ryokan, which is supposed to be a step up from a minshuku, but this is basically just a room in some family's house. The plumbing is questionable. We've now experienced the full range of toilet technology, from robotic toilets with digital control panels all the way down to squat toilets (both with and without plumbing)

Supper was sushi rice bowls at a restaurant in town. Piaw was still hungry afterwards, so we went to a second restaurant for another meal. Hard to satisfy cyclist appetites with Japanese portion sizes. Finally we stopped by Seicomart (a convenience store) and I got frozen mochi for dessert. We've tried almost every snack Seicomart carries, so we need to start looking for other places to purchase food.

Our convenience store ritual goes something like this: Find a snack that looks good. Is it small enough to fit in our luggage? Good. Pick it up to see how heavy it is. Heavy snacks are good. Light snacks are mostly air, put them back on the shelf. Next check the calories. More is better. Low-calorie snacks go back on the shelf. The ideal snack has a high calorie-to-cost ratio and is dense so it doesn't take up space in our luggage. Japanese snacks are usually over-packaged, with outer wrappers, inner wrappers, plastic trays, etc. After purchasing, throw away most of the packaging before leaving the store to reduce bulk.

September 11, 9:00 pm, Drumkan Minshuku, outside Shintoku

61 miles, partly cloudy, headwind.

Another headwind day, so more pacelining. Good weather still holding. Starting to feel like autumn with cool air but warm sun. Near the end of the day we stopped a few miles outside Shintoku and tried to find a minshuku that the Touring Mapple recommended. We couldn't find it. Couldn't even find the village that was supposed to be there. Finally gave up and decided to ride on to Shintoku. As we rolled away Piaw and I finally spotted the place but it just looked like a house so we kept riding.

Five miles to the info center in Shintoku where the lady at the counter called a few hotels for us. All full, due to a golf tournament that was in town (aside: we saw the people playing golf on the courses. It didn't look like the golf I'm used to. Instead it looked like a cross between croquet and mini-golf.) She tried hotels in the next town, same problem: all full. By now three other people behind the counter had joined the search, calling various hotels. Finally she found a place: the one we had ridden past. She was concerned that it was too far for us to ride back, but it really wasn't. When you've already ridden 56 miles another five isn't a problem, plus there was a tailwind.

The minshuku was run by two brothers. Front room filled with guitars (at least 10) and a drum set. Every inn makes you fill out an info slip with your name, address, etc. Here, though, one of the questions here was "what is your favorite song?" Music theme firmly established, the brothers drove us to an awesome onsen for an hour or two, then we returned to enjoy a meal of Jingisukan together.

After dinner one brother sat down at the drums, the other grabbed an electric guitar, and they played a short set for us. Surf rock, loud and good. They were having at least as much fun as we were, maybe more, smiling and laughing. Next they both grabbed acoustic guitars and sang folk songs with Piaw. Easily one of the best nights of the trip. If you're in the area, give them a call and you'll get a night you won't forget. Take musical instruments if you have any. Their web page is here and it has a contact form.

September 12, Noon, restaurant in Tomamu

Touring gives you funny food cravings. We daydream about food even while eating. So far I've wanted a good hamburger, milkshake, breakfast cereal (corn flakes, frosted flakes, corn puffs), donuts (especially apple fritters), pizza, burritos and all manner of American sweets.

September 12, 10:20 pm, Yubari Forest Youth Hostel

82 miles, good weather, no headwind.

Turned into another long day. Left Shintoku and rode along twisty roads winding through the mountains towards Shimukappo. Followed some train tracks through a narrow canyon for a while, then rode next to the Doto Expressway, an unfinished superhighway. We originally planned to stop in Shimukappo. Weather was still holding, though, and no headwind so we decided instead to push on to Yubari. Wanted to spend another night in the lovely hostel there.

Some very busy roads, tunnels with no sidewalks, mountain descents with large trucks. Glad we didn't have to do it in the rain. We kept leap-frogging a military convoy. They weren't much faster than us when driving so we would pass them when they stopped and then when we stopped they would pass us. They kept the traffic speed low.

Made it to the hostel by five so we had time to shower before dinner. They put us in the cute cabin next to the main building. Lightly raining now but we have a warm fire and dry beds.

Spending so much time on the bike that days are starting to blur together. Life consists of the three essentials: eat, sleep, ride.

September 13, 6:40 pm, Lapland Lodge, Shikotsu

55 miles, overcast.

This morning I was tired of riding. Tired of pedaling, tired of wind, tired of bugs hitting my face hard enough to hurt, tired of traffic, ready to put the bike in its box and not see it again for a long time.

Met a group of serious cyclists outside Chitose. The first group we've seen. They were getting ready for a ride in a parking lot. We pulled in and chatted with them, trading snacks.

We stopped for lunch in Chitose at a sushi-boat place. Dishes come around on a small conveyor belt. Fish, fried chicken, mini-burgers, dessert. Plates are color-coded to indicate price. At the end you pay based on the stack of plates you've accumulated. Small faucet at each seat dispenses hot tea. Enjoyed this place more than most sushi places because we could eat exactly what we wanted and nothing we didn't.

After eating my spirits were restored and I felt like continuing. Since we rode extra yesterday we had enough time to take a side trip to Shikotsu today. It is another National Park east of Chitose with a large lake. Found a bike path to take us most of the way there. The path was separated from the road and a little overgrown.

Shikotsu is hilariously touristy. Between the parking lot and the information center I counted seven ice cream stands. We arranged lodging, looked at the stores selling touristy junk, ate some snacks, looked around the museum. They have evacuation instructions in case one of the local volcanoes errupts.

We're staying at the Lapland Lodge near the shore of the lake, a short ride from the main village. On the way over there was one long straight section of road. Far behind us I heard a couple motorcycles start accelerating. Sport bikes, by the sound. They kept accelerating. Even knowing they were coming I still jumped when they flew past. I've never seen motorcycles go so fast.

Parked our bikes at the lodge, then the owner drove us to a nearby onsen (which happened to be right back by the information center we had just been at). After bathing, we returned to the lodge where the owner made Jingisukan for us. We enjoyed it along with the other guests.

September 14, 2:00 pm, Train to Sapporo

21 miles, sunny.

Gentle downhill ride to Chitose this morning, along the overgrown bike path most of the way. Perfect weather. Disassembled and packed our bikes in the lobby of the airport hotel. Took about two hours. Quick showers then down to the train station below the airport to catch a train to Sapporo. Glad the ride is over, glad it went so well, glad our gear worked and glad we saw so many amazing places and met, if only briefly, so many wonderful people.

September 14, 8:30 pm, Train to Chitose

Old Ramen Alley

In Sapporo we wandered through several shopping malls, including an underground one called Pole-Town. Purchased gifts for people back home. Found socks with separate pockets for the big toe so they can be worn with flip-flops.

After shopping, we took the ropeway up Mt. Moiwa to watch the susnset. Mt. Moiwa overlooks the city and at the top there is an observation deck and a gift shop (of course). It was crazy to look off across the plains to the distant mountains in the west and realize that Yubari was over there. It seemed impossibly far away but it had only taken us a single day to ride there.

Once it was dark we went back down to the city to get dinner. We'd already seen New Ramen Alley so decided to go to Old Ramen Alley. Very similar setup: narrow alley lined with ramen shops, all serving giant bowls of steaming noodles.

The food on this trip was fantastic. A lot of the places we stayed mentioned that much of the food they served was grown locally. Makes sense, as we rode through farmland most days. Some food was even homegrown, like the mushrooms and homemade bread in Shikotsu. We noticed that the salads and fresh vegetables all tasted amazing, especially the tomatoes. Hard to know how much of this was because they were high quality, and how much of it was because we were riding hard enough to get very good appetites.

September 15, Plane to San Francisco

We're done.

Checked in for our flight early today; found out it was cancelled but we were early enough that they were able to book us onto a different plane instead. Much apologizing and bowing from the ticket agents.

Our bike boxes were too big to fit through the x-ray scanner at the airport. Instead some ANA staff with white gloves had us open the boxes for manual inspection. More apologizing and bowing.

Enjoyed one last Japanese meal at Narita airport, then boarded our plane home. And yes, the plane was Pokemon-themed, inside and out.

Epilogue

Over three weeks we rode 952 miles, across Hokkaido and back again.

Even though I ate almost constantly, had ice cream at every opportunity, tried every snack at Seicomart, even forced myself to eat when not hungry on a few occasions, I still lost 10 pounds by the end of the trip.

The first week after returning to the US, Yana and I kept bowing to people. We bowed when someone held the door, when taking the receipt from a store clerk, or when saying goodby to someone. We must have looked ridiculous.

Not long after returning we got rid of our bed and replaced it with Japanese-style futon mattresses stuffed with cotton. They can be moved out of the way or stacked in the corner of the room when not needed. We find them more comfortable and are getting better sleep on them. They are very firm and there's absolutely zero motion transfer when the other person moves around.

Took most of a week to get around to putting the bikes back together. Went out and climbed Old La Honda (one of the classic Bay Area bicycle climbs) to set a personal record while we were still in peak shape. It was many weeks after that before I felt a desire to ride again.

I never heard the popping noise from my front fork again. The only explanation that makes sense is that the quick release wasn't quite tight enough and had a little bit of play.

Yana and I have traveled several times since this trip, but only rented a car once, finding that we prefer to tour by foot or bicycle now. Without a car we can really see and smell and hear a place, and get to know it in a way that drivers don't.

View more pictures

The end.

Hokkaido, Japan by Bicycle (part 2 of 3)

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:11:00 +0000

Hokkaido, Japan by Bicycle (part 2 of 3)

In 2009, we spent three weeks riding bicycles around Japan.
This is part 2 of the story of that trip.
(Part 1 is here)

September 3, 8:00 am, Daisetsuzan Youth Hostel, Asahidake

Distance ridden yesterday: 35 miles. Weather: sunny, increasing clouds through day.

Yesterday morning fog covered Biei but burned off during breakfast. The Potato hostel in Biei served toast with breakfast. We had all been craving bread and ate almost a whole loaf during the meal, plus an entire jar of honey.

Left Biei after breakfast and rode across the valley, up the long gentle climb to Asahidake. Asahidake is the tallest mountain on Hokkaido, and like Tokachidake is part of Daisetsuzan National Park. There's a small ski town near the base of the peak with a nice hostel. After checking into the hostel we took the ropeway (gondola) up the mountain. It dropped us off by a small pond and a group of sulfur vents in the crater. From there, a trail headed straight up the rocky ridge to the cloud-covered peak. Loose volcanic rock, some dark and some yellow from sulfur. Above tree line the whole way. On the left side of the ridge the mountain dropped steeply down to the crater which was obscured by shifting clouds. On the right, it dropped down to alpine forests far below us.

The clouds cleared away from the peak for a while as we climbed, then returned. At a small shoulder just before the peak, we could look out above the cloud layer. When we reached the peak, the view down into the crater was blocked by clouds but we could see east across the park. Peaks and high hills extended that way for miles.

Met a backpacker at the top whom we had also seen on the trail at Tokachidaki two days before. While we had biked down to Biei and back up to this peak, he had hiked across the park to get here. Shared food and stories with him as we enjoyed the views from the peak.

To keep a light load on our three week trip I only brought two pairs of shoes: my cycling shoes and a lightweight pair of flip-flops. Cycling shoes are terrible for hiking so I wore the flip-flops on our hike. I wasn't sure how well they would work but I had done some training hikes with them back home to toughen my feet. Ended up being fine on the ascent, though they were amusing to the Japanese hikers we met. Most of them were well-equipped with sturdy boots, hydration packs, bear bells, trekking poles, etc. and they laughed when they saw my footwear.

On the steep descent the loose rock made for treacherous footing. With flip-flops, the trail required concentration to avoid slipping. Clouds started getting thicker as we descended. Soon the air blowing over the ridge was cold, gray, and damp.

When we got back to the hostel we were tired, dirty (especially my feet) and ready for the hot springs. The hostel's bath consists of an indoor hot pool and a beautiful outdoor pool formed out of lava rock with lush green plants growing all around. Very relaxing after a long hike.

At breakfast this morning we met a lady visiting from France. She works for the government and gets 10 weeks of vacation a year (sounded pretty nice to us). She wasn't enjoying the food in Japan, though, and ended up giving us some of her breakfast. We gladly accepted the extra calories. Portion sizes in Japan are healthy, not the ridiculously over-sized portions that American restaurants serve. This seems to be great for Japanese waistlines, as we have seen very few obese or even chubby people. Bicycle tourists, however, need massive numbers of calories every day so we are always on the lookout for extra food.

September 3, 8:00 pm, Tomato Minshuku, Biei

Distance: 49 miles. Weather: sunny.

This morning Brooks, Yana, and I took a side trip to Tenninkyo Gorge to see the waterfalls. A short gentle climb brought us to a small group of hotels nestled in a narrow canyon. Both sides of the canyon were cliffs of some kind of columnar basalt covered with trees and brush. Asked directions to the falls with my limited Japanese. A short trail brought us to the first one, Hagoromo-no-taki; smooth streams of water flowing down curved rock. We continued down the trail, along the edge of the river which flows through the canyon. The water had an odd blue color but was clear and cold. We soon reached the second falls, Shikishima-no-taki. Enjoyed the solitude for a while before heading back down to our bikes.

Daisetsuzan is a large park but only has a few roads approaching its edges, and none crossing it. The interior is only accessible by trail which concentrates visitors on the edges of the park and makes it feel like a small place. Yesterday on Asahidake we met the backpacker we saw at Takochidake. Today at Tenninkyo we met a mother/daughter pair whom we had talked to on the ropeway up to Asahidake.

After Tenninkyo we rode down to the information center in Biei. Talked to same helpful lady as before. She told us Piaw had already reserved lodging at a local minshuku (a sort of bed and breakfast) then she took our luggage, to be delivered to the minshuku. Service!

We headed out to lunch and the flower fields in Bibaushi. Rode along the "panoramic road" which offered wonderful views of the hills around Biei and the peaks of Daisetsuzan. Without heavy luggage the bicycles felt alive, snappy, full of energy. Ate lunch at a restaurant along the way then stopped at the ice cream stand next door. The lady running it seemed happy to see us and betwen her limited English and our limited Japanese we figured out what the flavors were and ordered.

The flower fields were filled with all types of flowers, arranged in bright stripes down the hill. They are at their prime in the spring but even in September the colors were beautiful. The whole operation was extremely touristy but I'm starting to expect that in Japan, where every scenic vista and tourist attraction has a gift shop next to it. Regardless, it was enjoyable to walk around among the flowers with mountain peaks rising in the background.

On the ride back to Biei we had our first flat tire of the trip. Caused by an old patch giving out and not road debris. Not surprising considering how clean the roads are here. The Japanese are either too polite to litter, or someone is doing an excellent job of picking it all up. Either way it leads to pleasant riding.

Went to a BBQ place for dinner. There was a small grill in the middle of the table, but it was so shiny and clean that we weren't sure whether we were supposed to put food directly on it on whether there was supposed to be a pan. Finally our waitress came over and demonstrated that we were in fact supposed to put the food directly on the grill.

September 4, 6:00 pm, Sounkyo Youth Hostel

61 miles, rain clearing to sun.

Left early this morning on our way to Akan National Park. This was our last time with Brooks as he has to fly home this weekend and opted to stay in Biei. It is sad riding on without him.

We left Biei and skirted the edge of Asahikawa on our way towards Sounkyo. Rained a bit so we were wearing our foul-weather gear. As we crossed the bridge over the river outside Asahikawa, Piaw noticed a bike path below us running along the edge of the river. It didn't show on our maps, but it looked quite nice and seemed to be headed the direction we wanted. Weren't sure it would take us to Sounkyo, but decided to try it so we left the road for the bike path.

Soon we saw a sign showing the distance to Sounkyo which reassured us that this path went where we wanted. Every kilometer we would pass another sign showing the decreasing distance to Sounkyo. The path was well built, looked new, and was mostly deserted. Unfortunately it turned out to be so new that it wasn't even finished yet. It ended abrubtly at a rest area, with a sign explaining that when the path was finished it would indeed go all the way to Sounkyo. Back to the road for us.

Arrived in Sounkyo at about 1:30. Lots of hotels nestled in the bottom of a river gorge, like Tenninkyo but larger. Ate lunch in the village then rode over to the waterfall viewing area.

There used to be a pedestrian/bicycle road through the bottom of the canyon, along the edge of the river. The road was closed after a landslide many years ago and never reopened. The gate across the road had various warning signs on it. We couldn't see any landslide and there was no one around so we went exploring. Weeds were growing through the pavement but the road was still in good condition. So much abandoned engineering back there: errosion-controlled steam beds, tunnels, bridges, all slowly getting overgrown. Found a second, taller gate across the road after maybe a mile, with a few large rocks in the road past the gate. This gate seemed harder to climb over so we rode back through the weeds to the gift shop and had ice cream.

Japan is in love with ice cream. You can buy soft-serve for 200-300 yen ($2-3) at every tourist stop, and there are tourist stops everywhere in Hokkaido. Every shop has a cute statue of an ice cream cone so it is easy to find the ice cream stands. We've been eating at least one ice cream cone every day. One of the benefits of touring by bicycle is that you need a lot of calories so you can eat pretty much anything you want.

Forgot to take off my outdoor slippers when I came back into the hostel after working on my bicycle. Very embarassing. Here's a quick rundown of the slipper system in Japan: There are three kinds of slippers: outdoor, indoor, and bathroom. Everywhere we've stayed has provided communal slippers for these purposes. You don't wear outdoor slippers indoors, you don't take indoor slippers outdoors, and obviously bathroom slippers stay in the bathroom. As an aside, you don't wear any slippers on tatami mats. This is all second nature to Japenese, but gaijin tend to screw it up and do shocking things like taking indoor slippers outside, or wearing bathroom slippers around the house.

Our hostel tonight doesn't have a bath so we paid to go to one of the fancy hotels to use their onsen. It was very nice with 2 different baths. One was on the 7th floor and had a great view of the gorge and surrounding mountains. The other was at ground level and overlooked a perfectly manicured lawn with lovely trees. Again Yana couldn't join us so we met up with her after.

September 5, 9:00 pm, Bihoro Youth Hostel

75 miles, rain in morning.

Drying socks while riding

Long day: 75 miles. Longest ride Yana and I have ever done. Still feeling great too, so we must be in good shape. Piaw says it is common for riders to get stronger during a tour, assuming they are eating enough. Rain this morning as we climbed the pass. Started with a 3.4km tunnel through Sounkyo Gorge. It had a sidewalk and large ceiling-mounted blowers to move air through the tunnel. Emergency phone booths the whole way. We rode with earplugs to escape the noise from the cars and the blowers.

The descent was cold and wet through the mountain forest, then gradual downhill across farmland to the city of Kitami. Traffic was heavy near the city and the road was narrow. Not much fun. No English speakers at the tourist info center in Kitami so we decided to just ride on to Bihoro.

Couldn't find the youth hostel when we got to Bihoro. As we were riding around looking for it we stumbled onto a street fair. A security guard told us we had to park our bikes in the bike parking area. We asked if he knew where the hostel was, but he lives in another town so he didn't know either. We wandered through the fair and bought a few snacks. When we got back to our bikes the same guard ran up to us. He had asked around and obtained a hand-drawn map showing where the hostel was. We ran into this kind of helpfulness over and over while we were in Japan. It was amazing.

Checked in at the hostel, showered, did laundry, then went back to the fair for more food. We were quite the curiosity, attracting lots of attention. People would say hello to us in English and get excited when we said hi back, but their English wasn't practiced enough to have a conversation. Everyone was excited to sell us food. At one food stall, Yana asked for crepes with blueberry and banana. This must have been unusual because all the people working in the stall sounded amazed and the order was repeated several times to confirm, then everyone laughed. At one place I think we got free chicken skewers just for being gaijin (foreigners).

In the middle of this fair, we suddenly heard someone speaking perfect English. This seemed surprising, since we hadn't seen any other foreigners. It turned out to be an Indian man making naan in a tandoor oven. He was serving it with curry and it was really good.

September 6, 8:30 pm, Lake Kussharo

43 miles, foggy in morning, headwind.

Short ride today, over the hill to Akan National Park. Headwind most of the way; foggy on top of the mountain. Foggy enough that my arms were wet and we couldn't see the visitor center from the parking lot. While we ate a snack the fog cleared so we had a good descent to Lake Kussharo on a damp road. The lake is pretty with clouds and fog on all the surrounding hills. Very humid.

As we get farther from Sapporo and deeper into fall it keeps getting harder to get tourist info in English. Either the information staff doesn't speak English (and is without English brochures) or the information desk is closed for the season. More and more we find ourselves on our own. Fortunately there aren't a lot of other travelers so lodging is easy to get and there is less need for reservations. We've just been riding into town and looking for a place we like.

For tonight we found a lovely hotel with good food next to Kotan onsen, an outdoor hot spring. There's also an Ainu museum next door. The Ainu were the native people who lived here before the Japanese colonized the island. The museum is a recreation of an Ainu lodge, filled with smoke from a wood fire in the middle of the floor.

The hot spring was the first free public spring we've been in and the view was fantastic, right on the shore of the lake. Separate parts for men and women, but right next to each other so Yana didn't feel isolated. After soaking in the hot spring we still had time before dinner so we rode back along the lake to ride around the Wakoto Peninsula, which sticks out into the lake. The trail which goes around the peninsula turned out to be a narrow hiking trail so we ended up mountain biking on our road bikes.

My fork started making a popping noise yesterday. Every time I try to pedal while standing up it pops. Piaw is worried that it may be breaking so we are hoping it doesn't get worse before we find a bicycle shop with a fork for sale. Until then, I'm staying seated while pedaling since it doesn't make popping sounds when I'm seated. Fingers crossed.

September 7, 8:00 pm, Utoro Minshuku

61 miles, tail wind turning to headwind in the afternoon.

Today Yana and I got tired of having wet feet. Piaw's fenders keep his shoes fairly dry, but our feet are constantly getting sprayed with water from our front wheels. Tried taping plastic bags over our shoes to try to keep them dry. Mixed results; fenders would be better.

This morning, while photographing funny swan-shaped paddle boats at Lake Kussharo, a young lady approached me. She was studying English and was excited to be able to practice with some native speakers so we told her about our ride and had a short conversation.

Though Lake Kussharo is beautiful, Lake Mashu is what Akan is really know for. It sits in the crater at the top of a volcano. The tops of the mountains were in the clouds today though. Didn't seem worth climbing up the volcano since we wouldn't be able to see the lake anyway.

Instead we opted for another long ride to get us to Shiretoko. Fast tailwind for most of the ride; 20mph at one point. Made good time until the road turned and the tailwind became a stiff crosswind. To cope, our paceline had to spread across the lane in an echelon formation, but the traffic was light and drivers were polite so it wasn't a problem.

Stopped at one bicycle store along the way but they didn't have any forks for my bike. They mostly had casual/commuter bikes, not road bikes. I'll just keep babying the fork and hoping for the best.

Saw the ocean for the first time on the trip today, and now we're in a minshuku overlooking the Utoro harbor. On this northern part of the island, signs have started to be in Japanese and Russian.

Ate dinner at a fish market down by the water. Had a sashimi dish that consisted of carefully arranged salmon on a bowl of rice, topped with salmon roe. Very good. It was called "Mother and son."

September 8, 7:30 pm, Rausu Hotel

20 miles, rain & wind.

So wet today. Rain almost all day. Took the bus out from the Shiretoku nature center to Kamiuiwakka-no-taki, a hot spring waterfall. It was interesting to wade up the creek in the rain and not have cold feet but the trip was ultimately disappointing. The rangers didn't let us go all the way to the actual waterfall. The water where we were was tepid, not even warm.

After returning to town on the bus, we started our ride. The climb up Shiretokotoge pass was lonely, as we all rode at our own pace and were soon separated. I listened to the rain on the trees, watched drops of water form on my helmet brim, watched the water drip off my head and shoulders down past the bike, and watched the water run down the road into storm drains. I unzipped my jacket, trying to find a balance between getting sweaty with the jacket on or drenched with the jacket off. It didn't matter much, as I was wet all day anyway. Cars and buses drove past and it was like their drivers were in separate universes, speeding along in a little bubble of comfort, warm and dry. Once they disappeared in the rain I was alone again and still wet. At least the deer shared my universe, and understood what it was like to be drenched as they stood in the wet brush and watched me ride past.

Near the top I rode into the cloud and it felt like my universe got smaller. The wind picked up and occasional patches of lighter fog blew past. Soon the wind was racing past and I could see glimpses of blue sky over the pass, promising better weather on the other side. A false promise. At the top I let the wind push me into the parking lot. The road I had just climbed was hidden by a dense gray wall of cloud. Looking down the other side of the pass showed sunny hills and blue ocean below, with clear sky beyond. The wind whipped over the pass, pushing me around even as I stood. Yana and I dressed for the descent in the bathroom as drivers/passengers braved the cold for a few minutes to look over the edge. They would scurry back to their warm cars after snapping their photos, while we stood in the doorway of the bathroom, wet and cold and preparing ourselves for the descent.

The first few turns were ok, then the wind picked up. It shoved us around our lanes, threatening to push us off the road or into incoming traffic. It alternated between a tailwind, hurling us down the mountain faster than we wanted to go, and a gusting headwind trying to stall us and throw us to the ground. It was scary and beautiful. Around one corner the headwind was so strong I couldn't shift down fast enough to keep pedaling. I wobbled to an unsteady stop as the wind gusted into my face. Around another corner, a rainbow appeared over the green hills below me. By the time we reached the town of Rausu at the bottom we were all cold and mentally exhausted. We decided that was enough riding for the day, even though we had only gone 20 miles. Shiretokotoge in bad weather is not to be taken lightly.

Rausu gave us a view of Russia* and really felt like the end of the world. Tried four or five places looking to find lodging. They kept saying they were full. Never did figure out whether that was true or whether we looked so wet and bedragled that they decided we wouldn't make good guests. Finally ended up going to one of the more expensive looking hotels only to find it wasn't expensive after all. We have a view of the harbor from our room.

Dinner was sashimi across the street from our hotel. On this far end of the island there are no English menus, no picture menus, no wax models of the food. Piaw and the waitress ended up writing kanji on a napkin to communicate. Wonderful food and presentation. At the end of the meal we asked about dessert. After thinking about it the chef and the waitress decided they could serve potato mochi. It was fried and sweet, weird and delicious.

* The islands off the coast are currently under Russian control, though Japan claims them as part of their territory.

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Continued in part 3...

Hokkaido, Japan by Bicycle (part 1 of 3)

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:14:40 +0000

Hokkaido, Japan by Bicycle (part 1 of 3)

In 2009, we spent three weeks riding bicycles around Japan. This is the story of that trip.

August 26, 1:20 pm, Flight to Tokyo

We’re finally on the plane to Japan. There are four of us: Piaw (the trip leader), Brooks, Yana, and myself. The plan is to spend three weeks riding around Hokkaido, the northern-most island of Japan. We’ve been preparing for this ride for months: buying supplies, preparing equipment, building new wheels, studying maps, learning a bit of Japanese, going on training rides. The last week has been a blur with time flying by constantly as we finished packing. Now there’s a sense of calm: we’re on the plane and there is nothing else to prepare. The trip has been set in motion and we’re just along for the ride.

Below us, in the cargo hold, our bicycles sit in their boxes. Above me I’ve stowed my two small carry-on bags. Bicycling forces you to travel light: those two bags are all I have for three weeks of riding. It is oddly liberating to not have a full suitcase of stuff to lug around and worry about.

August 27, 8:42 pm, Sapporo International Youth Hostel

Distance ridden today: 30 miles. Weather: rain, tail wind.

Flight landed at Chitose airport late last night. Piaw had arranged lodging at the airport hotel so we didn’t even have to leave the terminal. Retrieved our bulky bicycle boxes from baggage claim, loaded them onto luggage carts, and took the elevator up to the hotel. Went straight to sleep.

Assembled our bikes in the hotel room this morning. They had been packed, partially disassembled, in cardboard boxes for the flight. The airline (ANA) handled the boxes quite carefully; not a dent or scratch on them. Moved the furniture around in the small hotel room to get a space big enough to work in then built the bikes back up, piece by piece. Pedals back on. Chains back on. Handlebars reattached and adjusted. Front wheels attached. Rear derailleurs bolted back on. Luggage racks reattached. Quiet, cathartic work which reminded me of the book Off the Map: Bicycling Across Siberia by Mark Jenkins. After finishing with the bikes we droped the boxes at the hotel desk and got breakfast in the airport. We’ll be staying in the same hotel on the last night of the trip so they are willing to hold our empty boxes until we return.

When we took our bikes outside after breakfast, it was raining lightly with overcast clouds. Piaw had previously warned us about his route-finding. He likes to find obscure back roads, dirt roads, and trails whenever possible. Twenty minutes into our ride, with the airport still in sight, the side road we were on came to a dead-end and so we found ourselves climbing over a chain-link fence with our bikes in order to get back to the main highway. Piaw was pleased.

The gently rolling road cut through miles of forest as it headed northwest into Sapporo. Had a strong tail wind, making the riding easy. The rain continued off and on; not enough to be miserable but it kept the road wet so my rear tire was spraying water up onto my back. My shorts were soon wet and muddy, which was a little awkward when we stopped for lunch and I had to sit in a restaurant. I regret not bringing fenders.

Once in Sapporo, traffic was heavy enough that we decided to follow local custom and ride our bikes on the sidewalk instead of in the traffic lane. Still somewhat harrowing as we had to worry about pedestrians, other bicyclists, and various obstacles. There are bikes everywhere in Sapporo, all of the commuter variety with no road bikes in sight. Many riders were carrying umbrellas while riding with one hand. One enterprising young man was holding a clear plastic umbrella in front of him like a windshield.

Tonight we’re staying at the Sapporo International Youth Hostel. The accommodations are quite nice: small private rooms with tatami mat floors. There is a tiny entryway for removing shoes (wearing shoes on tatami is frowned upon) and hanging our wet rain jackets. In the middle of the room there is a low table with chairs; for sleeping the table folds up and stores in the closet so we can lay thin mattresses on the tatami. Downstairs there’s a Japanese-style bath and a dry garage for our bikes.

Washed my clothes in the shower (only brought two shirts so I’ll be doing laundry most days) then headed out for supper. Ended up in New Ramen Alley, an odd underground tunnel packed with ramen shops (there’s also an Old Ramen Alley). We picked one mostly at random, ducked inside, and were immediately enveloped by hot, humid air. The interior was dark and cramped. We took four seats at the counter and gave our order to the chef by pointing at the picture menu. He cooked the noodles right in front of us and served them in huge bowls. They were delicious.

August 28, 9:40 pm, Sapporo International Youth Hostel

Distance: 2 miles. Weather: some rain.

Woke early this morning and crossed the river to explore Nakajima park. It was green and beautiful. The clouds had lifted enough to offer views of the mountains at the edge of town. Saw a group of bicycle tourists preparing their breakfast on a small stove. They had spent the night camping in a gazebo in the park.

Ate our breakfast back at the hostel. Japanese breakfast consists of steamed rice, fish, miso soup, various vegetables (some pickled), and eggs. More rain forecast today. Instead of riding in the rain we decided to see the town. There was a subway station right next to the hostel so we got day passes and were off to explore. Brooks and Piaw wanted to explore the fish market while Yana and I went to the botanical gardens. The gardens were green and lush, likely owing to the recent rains. We walked along through the park in the damp air, enjoying the beautiful collection of plants.

Called Piaw and Brooks from our mobile phone and arranged to meet at the Sapporo beer museum. Had a hard time finding it. Tried asking a lady for directions but our Japanese is not good enough and we couldn’t explain where we wanted to go. Eventually spied its tall tower after wandering around some more.

Found Piaw and Brooks at one of the museum restaurants, where they had just finished lunch. We joined them for a tour of the museum, then headed back to downtown to spend the afternoon looking at sights and shopping.

As dinner time approached, Yana and I remembered how good the food at the beer museum had looked so we decided to return. When we arrived it was crowded, hot, and smoky from meat being grilled. We managed to order by pointing at the menu and using hand signals. The restaurant specializes in Jingisukan (sounds like Genghis Khan), a popular local dish. The food arrives raw: a huge plate of vegetables and meat. There is a domed skillet in the middle of the table on which you cook the food. Similar to Mongolian barbecue, only cooked at the table.

Back at the hostel we took advantage of their Japanese bath. The centerpiece is a large pool of hot water. There’s also an area with short stools, faucets, and buckets for washing before entering the pool (getting in the pool without washing is a major faux pas). After walking all day in flip-flops, my feet were sore but alternating between soaking them in a bucket of cold water and then hot water felt great. There are separate baths for men and women since everyone is nude. Not a problem for the three guys but Yana was lonely in the bath by herself.

August 29, 8:57 pm, Yubari Forest Youth Hostel

56 miles, sunny.

Long day of riding today, east across the plains and up to the mountain town of Yubari. We took a wrong turn leaving Sapporo but didn’t realize it for half an hour. Eventually we got suspicious when we re-crossed the river that had gone past the hostel and could still see downtown Sapporo on our left, where it should not have been. After some careful map checking we realized our mistake. By then it was easier to pick a new route than double back. Our map (the Touring Mapple) showed a trail through the nearby Nopporo forest park which went exactly where we wanted so we headed towards the park. In the town of Oasa, just outside the park, we happened across a bike store and showed him our map, asking about the trail. The owner told us that our plan wouldn’t work: we wouldn’t be able to bike across the trail with our road bikes.

A lesson soon learned when bike touring is that you can’t trust route advice. Drivers underestimate the size of hills, non-cyclists underestimate how far you are capable of riding, and casual cyclists assume you can’t ride off pavement. During our training we had specifically practiced riding over dirt roads with loaded bicycles (because we knew that Piaw would ride on dirt if possible), so we decided to ignore the shopkeeper’s warnings and check out the trail anyway.

The park was flatland forest. Some parts looked natural, others were obviously planted (with trees in rows). The trail turned out to be a dirt road which cut right through the middle of the forest. It was perfectly rideable except for one fallen tree that we had to carry our bikes over, which made two days of climbing over obstacles in two days of riding. Again, Piaw was pleased.

After the park, most of our day was spent riding past fields and farmland, headed east across the plains toward the mountains. The sun was warm when we stopped at a small restaurant for a late lunch. Had donburi, a rice bowl with egg on top followed by ice cream from the place next door.

There are a lot of vending machines in Japan.

The climb up to Yubari was gentle and not very long. Road was well-built, like all the roads here. Although it was out in the country it had a sidewalk wide enough to drive a car on. Even when the road went through a tunnel, it still had a wide sidewalk. At the top, Yubari sits nestled in a small valley. In the winter it is a ski town, but in August it sleeps, waiting for the snow to come.

Had some trouble finding the hostel. It is outside of town a bit and we were riding around the farms and hills looking for it. Stopped to ask a lady gardening if she knew where it was. She bowed to us, went inside and came back with her whole family. They decided we were on the right road and just had to keep riding. We thanked them, bowed quickly, and rode on.

There is a lot of bowing in Japan. Asking for help leads to lots of bowing. Every purchase involves bowing. Usually entering/leaving a store does too. Hold a door open for someone and you're likely to get a quick bow. We even had a lady riding a bicycle in the opposite direction to us bow as she rode past (I think she was worried she had inconvenienced us). It is a very polite society and very pleasant to visit.

The hostel is a beautiful wooden house that reminds me of a cozy ski lodge, complete with wood stove. Japanese-style bedding again, with sliding doors on the rooms. Back home, this place would be called a bed and breakfast, not a hostel. The dinner they served was amazing. 2 kinds of cooked fish, pickled tomatoes, figs for dessert. Best food of the trip so far.

August 30, 9:00 pm, Highland Onsen, Furano

65 miles, overcast.

I woke up early again and went for a ride before breakfast, looking for a spot to photograph the fog in the valley below us. Air was fresh and cold, with the smell of flowers and woodsmoke. A good, crisp, mountain morning.

Rode through the mountains today northeast towards Furano. Long gentle climbs and open, relaxed descents. The top of every climb ends with a tunnel. Most tunnels were short but one was 2.7 km. It had curves so you couldn't see the end. We turned on all our lights and rode in a tight group. The air was cold and smelled like exhaust; passing cars and motorcycles filled the whole tunnel with a roar that you couldn't escape.

There was no food or water along the route through the mountains so we brought snacks from a convenience store with us. Stopped by a lake to eat some and a beautiful red fox came begging for food. It was odd because it seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere but this fox obviously had seen enough people to be accustomed to handouts.

Later we stopped at Sandantaki, a pretty series of craggy waterfalls, and ate more snacks. Bicycle touring involves a lot of eating. After Sandantaki there was a long descent towards Furano. Brooks got up front and we all tucked into line behind him. He had to pedal but the rest of us could just coast, out of the wind as we drafted behind him.

Tonight we're staying at the Highland Onsen, a hot-springs resort perched on a hill above town. Furano is another ski town so there are mountains all around. Across the valley to the east rise the mountains of Daisetsuzan National Park. The onsen has large baths, with multiple pools: hot, cold, really hot, plus one outside that overlooks the valley. Separate men's and women's bath again, though the wall dividing them does not go all the way to the ceiling so Yana can hear our chatter as we all soak.

The dining room at the onsen overlooks the valley, and as we ate dinner we got to watch as the setting sun behind us painted the mountains of Daisetsuzan with brilliant red light.

Western-style beds tonight. A common concern among innkeepers is that we won't want Japanese-style meals or bedding. I can only assume that they have had bad experience with picky tourists before. Our Japanese is not good enough to explain that we are traveling to see something different and that if we wanted western-style food we could have just stayed home, so instead we just smile and reassure them that we find Japanese food delicious.

August 31, 9:32 pm, Kamihoro Onsen, Tokachidake

43 miles, overcast.

Glad I learned the kanji for "men" and "women", as this morning the bath I had enjoyed last night was labeled "women's" instead of "men's." Apparently they swap the rooms back and forth. The layout of the two baths is slightly different; I assume they rotate them so that guests can enjoy both.

Took a morning walk through the woods around Highland Onsen. Judging by the pictures in the lobby and the gift shop full of lavender products, the onsen's claim to fame is the lavender fields out front. Walked through the fields this morning but we're too late in the season and there is nothing to see this time of year but low-cut bushes.

After breakfast we rode down to the Furano Cheese Factory and had some really good samples of cheese: the creamiest brie I've ever had and a couple other varieties. Their cheese-making class was full so we attended an ice-cream making class instead. After putting on cow-print aprons, the teacher had us mix the various ingredients together, then we put the milk mixture into a freezer. While that was freezing she showed us how to make waffle-cone bowls and gave us the batter so we could make our own bowls. Being hungry cyclists, we ended up making a lot of waffle cones. Apparently the lady hadn't expected this, as when she saw us with more than four bowls she quickly came over and took the batter away. Oops. They were delicious, though.

After eating lunch at Furano Cheese Ramen, where they put slices of cheese on the noodles, we finally got around to the day's riding. Our goal was the Kamihoro Onsen on Tokachidake, one of the mountains on the other side of the valley. We took the long way, through Rokugo and the foothills. Along the way the light on my bike fell off and skittered into the road where it was promptly run over by a truck. The other drivers, having enough time to react, all politely slowed down and steered around the debris. At a break in the traffic I was able to retrieve the pieces. Slightly misshapen now, has to be held together with tape, but it still works. Good thing LED lights are durable.

The views back into the Furano valley were amazing: sweeping fields backed by big mountains. Rolled through the foothills and stopped at a natural spring to refill water bottles before starting the serious part of the climb. Volcanoes tend to get steeper the higher up you go. The closer we got to the onsen at the top of the road, the slower we were going. At 6 miles, we were going 6 miles per hour. 45 minutes later, we were going 3 miles an hour with 3 miles left. This carried on until we finally rolled up to the onsen at about 5 pm.

The Kamihoro Onsen is situated on the side of the mountain, with an amazing view of the valley. We briefly soaked in their outdoor bath looking at the land we had ridden over. Our room and the dining room also overlooked the valley so we got to continue enjoying the views while we ate. As the sun set it lit up the foothills below us in dozens of shades of orange.

Dinner was Jingisukan again. Smaller portions than the beer museum but more variety. One of the most tender pieces of meat I've ever had. Dining room was mostly empty, must not be a peak time for them.

After eating we retired to the baths for the second time to soak our sore muscles. This bath was built from rustic wood. They must not filter the hot spring water because it was somewhat murky and smelled like minerals. They have a fantastic cold pool and although the others couldn't take more than I quick dip I kept my legs submerged they were numb.

This is where you wash

Cold pool on the left, hot on the right.

September 1, 8:00 pm, Potato Hostel, Biei

44 miles, heavy rain in morning then sunny.

Weather was unsettled this morning, with gusts of wind blowing through our open window when we woke up. It started raining before breakfast but we went on a hike anyway. Went up to the volcano crater. Weather got worse as we climbed, leaning into the wind, the rain stinging like hail. The crater was in a steep valley with sulfur steam vents. The weather was the perfect compliment to the location.

When we got back down to the onsen we were dripping wet. They kindly let us warm up in the hot water baths again. The rain quit while we were relaxing but the road surface was still wet so I attached a makeshift fender to my bike by cutting a plastic water bottle in half and bolting it to my fender. Between that and my front light which is now held together with electrical tape, my bike is starting to look like some kind of improvised contraption instead of a stately touring bicycle.

After our descent the sun came out and we rode through beautiful rolling farmland to Biei. At the visitor center in Biei we met the most helpful lady. She spoke excellent English and helped us get our lodging reservations for the next couple nights. Checked in at the hostel. There was some confusion with our reservation and they did not have dinner for us, and the local restaurants were already closed. After talking with the cook they decided they could provide food for us, but they must have seen how much bicycle tourists eat because they warned us that they wouldn't be able to provide large portions. We gladly accepted.

With dinner arranged we went out for a ride along the back roads of Biei before it got dark. On the way back I stopped to take a picture of a house while the others continued riding. I jumped back on the bike and rode hard to catch up with them, but couldn't manage to get them back in sight. After a while it dawned on me that I should have seen the hostel already. I had taken a wrong turn. Rather than go back, I decided to keep riding as up ahead there was a cross road that I could take to circle back to the hostel. When I reached the hostel, I saw only two bikes outside. Yana's bike was missing so back out I went, looking for Yana as she looked for me. Eventually we met up and returned to the hostel.

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Continued in part 2...

Solarized Cheat Sheet

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 05:24:33 +0000

Solarized Cheat Sheet

I’ve been enjoying Ethan Schoonover’s Solarized Color Scheme. However, when setting up various programs to use it, I’ve found I wanted to have the example pictures right next to the table of RGB/Hex values. This makes it easier to find a color in the picture then look up the values in the table. So, here are the images and the table, together:

SOLARIZED	HEX	RGB	HSB	LAB	16/8	TERMCOL	XTERM/HEX
base03	#002b36	0	43	54	193	100	21	15	-12	-12	8/4	brblack	234	#1c1c1c
base02	#073642	7	54	66	192	90	26	20	-12	-12	0/4	black	235	#262626
base01	#586e75	88	110	117	194	25	46	45	-07	-07	10/7	brgreen	240	#585858
base00	#657b83	101	123	131	195	23	51	50	-07	-07	11/7	bryellow	241	#626262
base0	#839496	131	148	150	186	13	59	60	-06	-03	12/6	brblue	244	#808080
base1	#93a1a1	147	161	161	180	9	63	65	-05	-02	14/4	brcyan	245	#8a8a8a
base2	#eee8d5	238	232	213	44	11	93	92	-00	10	7/7	white	254	#e4e4e4
base3	#fdf6e3	253	246	227	44	10	99	97	00	10	15/7	brwhite	230	#ffffd7
yellow	#b58900	181	137	0	45	100	71	60	10	65	3/3	yellow	136	#af8700
orange	#cb4b16	203	75	22	18	89	80	50	50	55	9/3	brred	166	#d75f00
red	#dc322f	220	50	47	1	79	86	50	65	45	1/1	red	160	#d70000
magenta	#d33682	211	54	130	331	74	83	50	65	-05	5/5	magenta	125	#af005f
violet	#6c71c4	108	113	196	237	45	77	50	15	-45	13/5	brmagenta	61	#5f5faf
blue	#268bd2	38	139	210	205	82	82	55	-10	-45	4/4	blue	33	#0087ff
cyan	#2aa198	42	161	152	175	74	63	60	-35	-05	6/6	cyan	37	#00afaf
green	#859900	133	153	0	68	100	60	60	-20	65	2/2	green	64	#5f8700