Okay, I've gone the wrong way.
Oh dear God.
Google Maps.
I'm trying to navigate my way to Toyama City and...
I'm looking at the map,
and I'm trying to read out questions, AND
Do an American accent at the same time.
It's really...
really fucking difficult.
If I don't have a mental breakdown in the next 20 minutes,
I will be so fucking surprised.
Hey guys, welcome back to Journey Across Japan: Cycle of Despair.
Today, we're gonna do something a little bit different.
The last few days have been extremely intense on myself,
and my team have been traveling around with me helping me film these videos.
So today, we're gonna do a Q&A video!
Question-answer video.
Answering questions you guys have sent in.
Basically, my team are gonna be driving on ahead to Toyama City,
and I'm going to be cycling and answering your questions on the GoPro.
So there's gonna be no slick drone shots and production quality today.
It's very simple.
It's just me talking into a GoPro.
That'll be fun.
But we do have the capsule toy machine.
So, let's see what challenge we've got to go on today.
*clunk* ...There goes the helmet.
Get the fuck on.
*plastic clattering*
Fucking stay on. *plastic clattering*
As always, these are challenges that you guys have sent in.
And my team have chosen five or six,
put them in Anpanman's face,
and the challenge today, that's come out is...
oh for god's sake.
Speak only in an American accent for the whole ride.
I'll certainly give it a shot.
That's gonna be a...it's gonna be a tough one.
I must admit, between speaking in an American accent,
cycling,
trying to navigate my way to Toyama City,
and trying to read your questions off my phone.
This could actually be the most dangerous day yet.
What was supposed to be very simple is rapidly turning into a nightmarish challenge.
AMERICAN CHRIS: Alright!
Let's see...if this works!
There we go.
And so it begins.
Q&A on a bike!
Trying to work out where I'm going.
Shazin Javed says, "What do you think will be the most challenging part of this journey?"
Honestly...
The most difficult part of this journey so far hasn't actually been the cycle.
I've not found cycling 50 kilometers a day too difficult now.
The cycling has been the easiest part.
The most difficult part has been trying to make videos every single day of the trip.
I've been up until at least 5am every single morning the last...week now.
So, that has been by far the hardest part.
Gracie Bird says, "Do you have a plan for the zombie apocalypse?"
I do have a plan, Gracie.
The plan is: get to a fucking island.
Either an island or really high mountain,
because I don't think zombies can swim and I don't think zombies can climb mountains.
Tanya says, "How would you describe the cycle in three words?"
FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC.
Stu says, "You're cycling around areas that are quite remote, or at least off the usual tourist path.
What do you think about overtourism?"
I think overtourism is actually a serious problem in Japan at the moment.
I read just yesterday that the Japanese government is doing some kind of study on overtourism in Kyoto and Osaka.
Certainly, when I go to Kyoto and Osaka these days, it's so fucking busy.
I don't really...have fun.
It's hard to feel anything profound when you're staring at a temple,
and all you can hear are iPhone camera shutters going off around, so-
OH MY FUCK.
OH MY-
*truck drives off*
Jonathan says, "What's one goal or something you want to accomplish during this cycle?"
Erm, I want to have the best goddamn travel series across Japan!
Well, would you look at that?
I found McDonald's.
Yeah.
I am so fucking ready for lunch right now.
I haven't really eaten today.
I think I'm...really creeping out these other cyclists.
They're wondering why I'm talking to a...
fucking camera on the front of my bike!
What am I doing with my life?!
Fucking hell!
Oh God.
It's a McDonald's!
Fisack says, "What region of Japan are you the most excited to visit for the first time?"
Um..
I'm really excite-
Argh, shit, there's a fly.
There are two regions on this trip that I'm particularly excited about seeing.
This one, for example, Toyama,
and also the last place on our trip, Kagoshima.
I've never been down there.
I've never really been to Kyushu much,
so, I'm really excited about going there and, er,
seeing the volcano out in the bay.
That's gonna be probably one of the highlights of the trip.
"What are you planning to do after the cycling is done?"
I am planning to sleep a thousand summers.
Quite honestly, I think this is the closest I've ever come to feeling terrified on this trip so far.
Cycling down the road, reading comments as I go,
and trying to navigate where the fuck I'm going.
This is absolutely terrifying!
AND doing the whole thing in a really badly done American accent.
I'm so sorry for butchering...
for butchering the American accent today, um...
Please forgive me.
"Do you listen to any music while you're cycling?
And if so, what is your personal power song?"
I haven't been listening to any songs while I've been cycling,
but I have been listening to a song by The Killers.
I hate The Killers.
I really hate The Killers.
I never really listened to their music before.
But there's a song by The Killers called "The Man",
and it's very...
Song about masculinity,
and I found that quite a cool song to listen to in the mornings before I cycle.
It's kind of my go-to song.
Whenever I'm feeling down at the moment,
Yeah, when I listen to this song, "The Man".
I feel like I can do anything.
So, yeah.
Check it out on YouTube.
It's a pretty cool song.
Michelle says, "I know you haven't been on the journey for so long,
but what's been your favorite moment or memories so far?"
I've known Natsuki for five years now and I've never seen him do any exercise...
...ever.
And to see him cycling and riding a bicycle,
or doing any kind of exercise for the first time,
the whole time that I've known him,
That was pretty...it was pretty exciting.
It was pretty moving.
Where the fuck am I going?
Okay, I've gone the wrong way.
Oh dear God.
Google Maps.
I'm trying to navigate my way to Toyama City and...
I'm looking at the map,
and I'm trying to read out questions, and
Do an American accent at the same time.
It's really...
really fucking difficult.
Really fucking hard.
This might be the hardest day I've done so far.
So I don't have a mental breakdown in the next 20 minutes,
I will be so fucking surprised.
Andrew says, "Do you plan on sharing your physical transformation at the end of the trip?"
I, er...
I don't think there's gonna be much of a..
physical transformation.
Sure, every single day I've been cycling quite a lot, right?
So you think I would lose weight.
But, at the same time, I've been eating a lot of food and energy jelly to compensate for that.
I've been drinking a lot of disgusting sugary coffee.
My prediction is I'll probably lose a little bit of weight,
but for the most part, I think I'm gonna be the same.
"What kind of things do you do each morning to prepare for the day's journey?
What do you pack and how do you get mentally ready?"
Basically, I have one coffee.
I have an iced coffee.
I have a banana.
I think I have some energy jelly.
That's basically it.
And of course, I listen to The Killers.
After that, I'm ready to go.
Anything's possible.
"Don't you get bored riding bicycle by yourself for such long intervals?" says Abhishek.
Ah, no actually.
The complete opposite.
For example, I'm alone now and if I pull over here...
and, er, I kind of turn the camera like this, and then...
The scenery is absolutely stunning.
The GoPro definitely doesn't do it justice, because it's a wide-angle lens,
but the scenery around here is absolutely mind-blowing.
But, yeah!
When I'm on my own, I can really reflect and be in the moment and just kind of enjoy the scenery.
So yeah, no, I love being on my own.
Okay, this has been by far the most difficult thing I've done so far.
Trying to navigate my way through the middle of nowhere,
reading comments and trying to do an American accent
and my bike is about to fall over.
I'm gonna turn the camera off.
Before I lose my fucking mind, I'm gonna have to stop this.
But what I will say,
is the scenery around here is truly something special.
It's just a shame the GoPro can't do it justice.
Okay, guys.
So I finally arrived at my hotel in Toyama City.
And before I...
...roll over and die,
Thought I would answer one more question.
One last question.
It's a question from John Smith.
Uhh..
"What's something you've realised while you're cycling on your own?"
I guess the thing I realized is...
This is something I should have done a whole lot sooner.
Throughout the year I've been telling friends and family that I'm gonna be cycling for a month or two, and, uh,
So many people said, "Oh, oh my god, you're not fit enough to do that.
You can't do that.
You should do it next year.
You should do it in spring next year" or something.
And...I should have done it sooner.
I should have done it like, last year or before.
Like, I wish I'd done it a whole lot sooner.
Because not only has it been...not overly difficult,
but it's just been so damn rewarding, you know.
Getting out there and meeting people,
seeing places, eating food, doing all these cool things, you know.
Just by deciding to go out and do something.
Go out and cycle.
I feel like I've just unlocked something awesome, amazing, and I kind of wish I'd done that sooner.
Also, I noticed the time seems to slow down a lot when you're on your own.
I think, maybe because you're not talking to people,
you're just looking around and stuff.
Maybe that's somebody doing it better.
Time slows down,
And yeah, I wish I'd done it all sooner.
Those are two things I realized, while cycling on my own.
Okay, so I think it's time I stop talking like this
and slowly make my way back into talking like a British person.
How was it, though?
To the American viewers who didn't unsubscribe in a fit of horror and disgust at my abysmal American accent,
what did I do wrong?
Can I improve?
What can I improve on?
I know there's individual words that I fucked up on.
Words like...
"earlier".
Really hard to say "earlier" in an American accent for me.
Earlier.
I went earlier.
Earlier-
I can't do it.
Erm, yeah.
What else did I fuck up on?
Let me know because I want to try and improve.
I want to master the American accent
so when I go to America next time I can turn up as my alter ego:
Chad.
Chad from Seattle.
And nobody will be any the wiser that I'm actually a snarky sarcastic cynical British prick.
But for now guys, there will be another Q&A coming out in the next few days.
So sit tight, hold fire with your questions until then.
And no matter where you might be out there in the big wide world,
Thanks for joining me on my stressful trip today.
Cycling through the fields of Toyama Prefecture whilst trying to do four different things at once.
I'm going to bed now,
and I hope to see you right back here tomorrow to do it all over again.
Thanks for watching guys.
Hope to see you tomorrow.
Let's go to sleep now.
yeeeeeah
*flump*
*bell ding*
SHARLA: Hmmm.
Black ramen.
CHRIS: Black ramen?
SHARLA: Yeah.
Probably pretty disgusting, but I say we go for it.
CHRIS: Yeah, it's got ramen in it, so...must be good.
mmMPH
*laughter*
CHRIS: Oh my God.
No.
Oh.