Honestly, this adventure ride pushed my time and endurance to the limit!

Our destination was the [Nakakoda Kofun Cluster]. I went to a fascinating place where 1700 years of history remains.

The round trip distance from Grumpy was about 22km.

We smoothly arrived at the foot of the kofun by bike, but the hike through the mountains was quite tough.

This adventure ride actually had another purpose besides visiting the kofun.

It was to actually test the hiking performance of the [GIRO TRACKER].

The TRACKER is a flat pedal shoe designed for both cycling and walking. I actually went hiking to see how well it performs for "walking".

Along the way, we had a lively time filming YouTube videos and taking photos of beautiful places.

We progressed through the mountains and arrived near the kofun cluster, but it was quite difficult to find them.

It took quite a while, but we finally managed to find what seemed to be traces of them!

I really think the people who first discovered these kofun were amazing.

After visiting the kofun, we started hiking further up to the mountain peak!

There were many ancient structures, and I could feel the long history of this mountain.

To make it back for the shop's opening in the afternoon, we picked up the pace, and from a certain point, it became a speed hike, pushing ourselves to climb vigorously!

We were also filming for a YouTube video.

Once we reached the summit, we checked out the city of Hiroshima with NOCS binoculars!

I was surprised at how clearly I could see the people on the riverbed in the distance and the temple on the opposite mountain.

And then a mad dash back! Before we knew it, we were cutting it really close to the deadline.

I ran down so intensely that I almost forgot about filming and the shoes.

It was good that we somehow made it back in time for the store's opening.

Next time, I'd like to attempt the ride with a bit more time to spare.

Steep slopes, hard-to-find kofun ruins, and a speed hike to the observation deck... then a mad dash downhill to return just in time for the shop's opening hours. It was an adventure ride that was thrilling in many ways.

How was the hiking performance of the [GIRO TRACKER]?

I didn't expect to test it so hard right away, but the results were excellent.

Since it's originally designed for MTB trail riding, it gripped firmly on dirt, and the grip was also good during the mad dash downhill, so I didn't feel any fear of slipping.

However, it did slip a bit on surfaces where moss was growing on rocks. I imagine other shoes would also slip in such conditions.

The sole is flat and stiff, so compared to running shoes, I'd probably get tired after several hours of running. But for an adventure ride like this one, it was just right, and I'm glad I got new shoes.

The details of the adventure ride will be released on today's YouTube video, so please refer to it for information on the actual terrain and where it was tested.