Confusion and Cosplay Tunnel Count =17 Before I left the Container Yard I did a thorough bike service - frame and wheels cleaned, brakes re-aligned, jockey wheels removed to get grass out of the bearing, then chain lubed. I set off and the bike was slient - running soooo well ! My plan was to ride efficiently for the 30 miles through Uki, Uto, Kumamoto, Koshi and Kikuchi to preserve the legs for a 2300ft climb after a lunch break in Kikuchi. All was going great until I reached Kumamoto and after a right turn I was suddenly off route and rather than backtrack a difficult junction I plotted a way back to the route in a couple of miles. But when I got there and reloaded the route I was miles off course and an awkward 5miles on a busy riad followed up to Kikuyo. Once there the route took me up a hill then was setting off into the mountains. What about the lunchbreak in Kikuchi ... I was confused ... Then I realised, I had two routes to Hika as I made a new one yesterday when I didnt get to the mountain lodges. I had inadvertantly tracked onto the old route ! I now had to track 6 miles to Kikuchi and Route 2 as I didnt want to head into the mountains without food and water. Ironically I wasnt on Route 66 but I was on Route 266 ! I reached lunch but my planned csfe turned out to be a very busy restaurant - I moved on and did a 7-11 lunch, foid bought and I moved on to find a nice place to eat it. I came across a beautiful park with a line of blossom 200 yards long and all decorated, leading up to a shrine. All the local kids were out and doing Cosplay, they were dressed as Samurais, princesses, superheroes. I tried to get some discrete photos but it looked great. So I then had tgat little 2300ft climb to do at least an hour and 6 miles later than planned. My route passed a very low Matsubara reservoir and after leaving the dam I only saw about 2cars and two motorbikes all the eay ti the top on small foredted roads. But the gradients were kind and I knocked out the climb with only about 3 stops for water and a rest. At the top at 4pm and tgere was nothing there to mark the top of he climb, no elevation sign, nothing ! I still had 26 miles to do so I didn't linger. The descent was quite technical with multiple bends, uphill clicks, and mainly changes of surface via many tunnels and switches onto side cyclepaths. I was three mikes outside Hita and still in what looked like a mountainous valley, then I turned a ckrner and the city appeared- it was 30 minutes befire sunset - just time for me to get lost once more as my new route I had done on the hoof yesterday, didnt quite finish at my hotel, rather I went past it and did an extra mile which I then had to backtrack. I arrived exactly at sunset to the minute !