Miyajima and Kintaikyo

After sleeping in a bit later than usual, I made my departure from Hiroshima at the lazy time of 11am. After a brief stop for lunch I visited Miyajima and saw the big gate before heading on to Iwakuni.

BREAKDOWN
Hiroshima -> Miyajima -> Iwakuni
94km

Miyajima's big gate was much smaller than I expected. Although It is a world heritage listed site, it wasn't as impressive as I expected. One cool feature of Miyajima was the deer that roam the streets. These deer are completely at home with humans and didn't seem to mind me coming up and taking a photo at all.

After, leaving Miyajima, I got in a few Km to reach Iwakuni. At Iwakuni, I visited and crossed the bridge at Kintaikyo. This multi-span wooden bridge showcases the beauty of traditional Japanese architecture. Perhaps not ideally, I found Kintaikyo to be more impressive than Miyajima.

Anyway, today I have a full day of riding ahead. I have 155km or so before I reach Kyushu. I wonder if I can make it tonight.

T.G.I. Friday

Friday wasn't a big day for riding. In the morning, I went to Dogo Onsen. The baths were very simple but extremely comfortable. I could easily have spent half a day just soaking but I had to move on.

I rode around Matsuyama city for a while before heading for Matsuyama port and the ferry to Hiroshima. About 5 mins before I boarded the ferry a huge earthquake struck the Northeastern region of Japan. With a magnitude of 8.8 this earthquake it the largest in Japanese history. In fact, there was no place on the 4 main islands of Japan that didn't feel some shaking. As I left the terminal tsunami warnings flooded television screens around the country. After considering that I was on the relatively protected Seto inland sea, I boarded the ferry with a slightly uneasy feeling. While on the ferry, I along with the other passengers watched with terror as the disaster unfolded on the television.

That night I went out to an Irish pub in Hiroshima called Molly Malone's. It was an awesome pub with a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. I had a few beers together with some Brits as we watched England lose the cricket to Bangladesh.

Shimanami Kaido

Yesterday I completed my trek along the Shimanami Kaido.

BREAKDOWN
Ikuchijima (Setoda) -> Imabari
46.6km

The views along the rest of the road were fantastic. Unfortunately I was impeded by continuing strong headwinds. Next time I ride this course I will be sure to check the wind direction first. The waters of the Seto inland sea are like a pool of emeralds surrounding each of the islands. One beach (Sunset Beach) had bright white sands making a lush vista as I rode by. The sea was inviting and had it been a bit warmer I would surely have stopped for a swim. Maybe next time...

Perhaps the funniest thing I saw was on one of the last islands I had to cross. There, the main industry appears to be granite quarrying. The whole area is granite crazy. Even the tourism signboards were made of granite. Up in the mountains, away from any water, I happened across a giant stone fish. Not a stonefish mind you but a "stone" fish.

After facing 75km of headwinds the Shimanami Kaido redeemed itself with glorious splendour as I reached the final bridge. A multi-span suspension bridge it is the longest bridge in the world. The bridge took me a full 30 minutes to cross. With the superb scenery of the islands in the inland sea and the magnificent bridge above, I found myself feeling quite small but with an element of pride as though I was walking alongside the giants of this world.

On arrival at Imabari, I decided to take a train to Matsuyama where I spent the night. I was planning to go to Dogo Onsen last night but was too tyred at the end of the day so I had some dinner, did my washing and went to bed.

Today I will go to Dogo onsen before taking a ferry to Hiroshima city. I will probably stay in Hiroshima city tonight or I might try cycling further South again. It all depends on whichever way the wind blows.

Kosanji Temple

This morning I visited Kosanji temple. I'm not a huge temple fan but when I read about this place it made my "must visit" list. Unlike other famous temples in Japan, this temple cannot boast a long history as it is less than a century old. It was built by a successful businessman who dedicated it to his mother.

For me, there are a few features of this temple that make it stand out. First, the temple contains several replicas of famous structures you'll find in other temples across Japan. One I recognized was the Phoenix Hall from Byodoin. Second, this temple has a cave and caves are cool! This cave apparently has 1000 Buddha statues in it - give or take a few. Finally, the temple has a huge garden at its summit that is made purely of marble imported from Italy - over 3000 tonnes.

I see this temple as symbolic of a traditional Japan that is outwards looking. A Japan that can embrace the outside world and accept its place in it.

I also heard a story today of the temple's construction. Apparently, when the marble was being imported, there was an earthquake in Kobe and the marble laden ship couldn't dock. So it went back to Italy and made a second trip later.

And some people say the temple has no history...

The Thin Blue Line

After getting on the bike at Fukuyama I rode to Onomichi and started along the Shimanami Kaido.

BREAKDOWN
Fukuyama -> Onomichi -> Mukoujima -> Innoshima -> Ikuchijima (Setoda)
Distance: 55.0km

At first, I was worried that when I reached Onomichi, I wouldn't be able to find the Shimanami Kaido. Not being sure of where to go, I inquired with a local taxi driver as to which way I should go. He told me to "Follow the thin blue line". Apparently, the blue line continues all the way to Imabari. What a fantastic idea! Now I can enjoy the ride without worrying about maps and navigation so long as I follow the thin blue line.

At first the blue line led me through a quaint little town before emerging along a picturesque coastline. I never expected to behold such a magnificent view so soon. The islands rose out of the crystal clear waters with lazy mountains looking across the channels at each other. One small island even had a peephole.

The islands of Mukojima and Innoshima shoulder an enormous bridge between them. As the first bridge I have to cross the views sure leave an impression. The climb to the bridges is easy and the view from the top, breathtaking. As I was crossing the wind lashed me with a fury I have never known.

I finally crossed a second bridge onto Ikuchijima and cycled to the city of Setoda where I stayed for the night. Today, I will visit Kosanji Temple and continue down towards Imabari and Matsuyama. I would like to reach Matsuyama before dark tonight but with all there is to see here, I don't like my chances.

On the road again

Well, it has been a long time but finally I'm on my way again. This time I'm starting from Fukuyama and cycling along the Shimanami Kaido. Tonight I plan to stay on one of the islands of the Seto inland sea between Honshu and Shikoku. My March adventure has finally begun!!

Defeated

A horrible ferry timetable from Matsuyama has ensured my defeat. I'm
not making it to Kyushu this time.

Time to go home.

Resting in Fukuyama

Yesterday I made a big push to cross Okayama prefecture finally
resting in Fukuyama.

BREAKDOWN
Aioi -> Okayama -> Fukuyama
Distance: 135.04km

I was looking forward to eating demikatsu in Okayama but when I arrived, I couldn't find a single shop selling it. The road to Okayama was winding and hilly. So far, it was probably the most difficult stretch of road I've encountered. Okayama reminded me of Taree back in Aus. It's difficult to get in and difficult to get out but the roads in the city are great. The paths in Okayama city were superb but after
leaving the city they are terrible.

Finally I entered Hiroshima prefecture late yesterday afternoon and had a bath before I decided to find a hotel to stay at for the night. Today, my plan is to find a cycle shop and do some minor maintenance on the bike before crossing the seven bridges to Shikoku.

Water under the bridge

After eating myself a good meal of Takoyaki in Kobe, I camped out in a
seaside park in the outskirts of Kobe. Then at 4am I rose to ride
another day.

BREAKDOWN
Kobe -> Himeji -> Aioi
Distance: 80.14km

After a short while cycling, I arrived at the Akashi channel bridge - the longest suspension bridge span in the world. Unfortunately it was still too dark to get a decent photo but the view was  nevertheless breathtaking. I continued along the coast to Himeji where I was really looking forward to seeing Himeji castle. I don't know where they put it but I didn't see any castle at all. Maybe it's invisible.


Anyway, I pushed on to Aioi which is a small port city about 60km from Okayama. There is an Aeon town here with a coin laundry and an onsen right next to each other. Sensing the destiny, I decided to wash my clothes and bathe here. I then decided to have a quick nap that ended up being an 8 hour nap. Now here I am writing this post.

On my way to Aioi I met another cyclist who suggested that I alter my route to Shikoku. I'm inclined to take his advice and ride the islands of the inland sea. I'll update the map with the new route when I next stop at an Internet cafe.

Onwards to Okayama...

The Great Escape

I finally managed to escape from the hotel and enjoy a day in Osaka without getting soaked.

I met up with Naka and Tsubasa again after I realised that today wouldn't be a good day for riding and we spent the day on the town. We were all quite hungry so we went out for a traditional Osaka Okonomiyaki lunch together. The food was great and the beer was ice cold - a perfect lunch on a hot steamy day.

Continuing with our sightseeing we went to Nanba in southern Osaka and paid a quick visit to Hozenji temple. There are three statues there and you can splash water on each of them. I gave it a go with an, "Ole!" for good measure. Apparently this temple is quite famous though I had never heard of it.

Following that, we went to Dotonbori where we crossed the famous Nampa-bashi (pickup bridge) and I took a photo posing as the Glico man. On the bridge we were interviewed for Kansai Television about recent news that had caught our interest. The reporter presented a list of stories but truthfully, I wasn't interested in any of them. Being a foreigner, perhaps the reporter thought I'd be interested in the car crash in Utah. Anyway, I simply said that the typhoon (#4) and the bad weather was what I am currently most interested in. Hey, it may be boring but when you are on a bicycle, it's the weather that counts!

Next I will take the train across Osaka to the far side of Kobe (I'm not riding my bike here - the drivers here are lunatics!). Hopefully I'll find a nice place to camp out for the night and then get an early start tomorrow morning.

Trapped in a Hotel

Record breaking rainfall has kept me staying in a hotel in Osaka. It
looks like it might let up this afternoon but when it comes to
typhoons, who knows?!

I decided to make the best of a bad forecast and took the opportunity
to do some laundry. However, with the laundry done and nothing good on
TV I'm bored.

I'm thinking of touring a bit of Osaka by train. Whatever happens,
I'll let you know.

Isewan

I'm writing this post as I cross Isewan.

BREAKDOWN

Hamamatsu -> Irago (ferry to Toba)
Distance: 90.56km (excluding ferry)

The trip so far has been full of trouble. It was raining along the Atsumi peninsula and that cost me big in time. I had to huddle under the eaves of several houses waiting for the rain to stop. The highlight so far was the magnificent views I observed from the beach at Akabane and the obvious view from the ferry. See the photos.

Next, it's the train (Kintetsu) to Osaka. I'm meeting Naka and his son there for a Korean style yakiniku lunch.

A Beautiful Inconvenience

Storms West of Hamamatsu have delayed my departure. The clouds are
very beautiful though they represent an obstacle. Hopefully the
weather will clear up soon.

A long ride with Naka

On Monday, I went on another long ride with my friend Naka.

BREAKDOWN

HOME -> Kasasagi bridge -> Tenryu river mouth -> Arai Barrier -> Mikkabi -> Kanzanji -> Hamayu bridge -> HOME

• Riding time: 6hrs 2mins
  
• Distance: 110.83km
• Average Speed: 18.4km/h

---

We decided to start early to beat the heat, so I met Naka at about 5AM at Kasasagi bridge. We first rode down the bicycle track that runs along the river to the river mouth. The morning air was cool but humid. It was so humid in fact that a damp mist covered the whole area and we couldn't see anything more than about 1500 metres away. Probably because of the humidity, my brakes started to make the most tremendous noise every time I tried to slow down. The sound was reminiscent of a pair of Vuvuzela's from the world cup. By the time we started heading West, the fog lifted though luckily the sun was still behind clouds affording us some protection from the heat.

When we reached Bentenjima we decided to make our way North to Mikkabi and have lunch there. At that time the sun had come out and we started to cook. We stopped at a few places along the way including the Arai Barrier where travellers have been stopped for hundreds of years and at a supermarket where we had some onigiri (rice balls) and cooled down. Then I saw something that made my Aussie heart go thumpity thump thump! I stopped for a photo with the BIG MANDARIN! I soon realised that it's actually a public toilet and that there are several of them around Mikkabi. Next came the hardest push and the heat and the hills made me sweat a river. Ultimately, I was sweating faster than I could replenish my fluids. It was lucky I had Naka with me to cheer me on while we roasted together under the hot sun. I don't know how he did it but I'm sure the heat and humidity didn't bother Naka as much as it bothered me (Yaramaika spirit perhaps). Just as I was reaching my breaking point we arrived at Mikkabi where we had lunch and took a long break.

At Mikkabi we had to decide where to eat lunch and take a break. Naka suggested going to a swimming pool so we could cool down but I figured a mizuburo (cold water bath commonly found at bathhouses) would be cooler and more therapeutic. So, we decided to find a bathhouse and eat lunch at the bathhouse too. We eventually decided to go to Kampo no yado (かんぽの宿). After we arrived the first thing we did was go to the baths to have a shower, jump in the mizuburo and get changed into fresh clothes. You can easily tell which is the mizuburo by sight, it's the one with the blue tiles. I saw the blue tiled bath and quickly showered so I could cool off in it. Unfortunately, this was no mizuburo! The water in this particular blue-tiled bath was probably 45 degrees or more. Why the hell did Murphy have to be so right!? I decided to stick to the coolest water I could get out of the showers.
 
Following our shower we had a delicious meal of zaru-udon (cold thick noodles served in a special bamboo-wood colander with a dipping sauce) and haze-no-tempura-don (deep-fried fish on a bed of rice - haze = goby ... I think). Next was nap time. We planned to wake by about 3:30 but slept until about 4PM. We then gathered our belongings and headed off for Kanzanji and home.

On the way to Kanzanji we finally were able to take advantage of the lakeside cycle track (the Hamamatsu-side track is awesome!). We paused briefly to take some photos as my odometer ticked over to 1000Km. I know it's not such a huge achievement but it was still memorable.


At Kanzanji we paused to refill our water bottles and it was there that I got my first puncture on the new bike. I repaired the puncture there using the lake water to find the leak. It was a good thing that just one week earlier I bought a puncture repair kit and compressed air pump. Alas, Murphy's law struck again and there wasn't enough gas to completely inflate the tire. So we had to find the nearest bicycle shop and get some more air. My phone's map capability really saved our bacon here. We made our way over the Hamayu toll bridge (there is a 20 yen toll for bicycles but the booth is just an unattended mailbox - nevertheless, we paid the toll - Naka, you still owe me 20 yen!). After my rear tire was completely inflated, we started off for home.

Soon after we got my tire inflated, Naka took a tumble. He rode over the invisible (but no less formidable) kerb. I saw the spill and quickly flagged at the oncoming cars to slow down. Then Naka just stood up and said, "No worries! Just a scratch!" and we kept on riding. It was a good thing that he was wearing his helmet or he might have been seriously hurt. Weary, we continued on along the Kanjosen (Hamamatsu's ring road) until we arrived home.

This ride taught me a lot about what to expect along the road to Fukuoka. From now on I will:

1. Carry more spare compressed gas cylinders
   
2. Be constantly on the lookout for the invisible kerb
   
3. Call bathhouses and check if they have mizuburo or not before going there

I also learned that I must be at least half mad to be attempting this long ride in the peak of Summer. Well, maybe I didn't learn that, I just confirmed it.

Terrible News about the August Trip

As many of you may know I have been planning a bicycle trip to Fukuoka for a while now. It was my intention to leave Hamamatsu on the 8th of August. If only I were a luckier man!! As it turns out, I will have to work on the 9th of August, so I will be tied to Hamamatsu until then.

I was hoping to have a full 8 days available for the trip but now it seems I will have only 6. Even though my time limit has decreased, I am still planning to go ahead with my trip starting out on the 10th.

Getting equipped

Yesterday as I was getting my spoke replaced, I decided to do some
equipment shopping. I bought a new front light, a puncture repair kit,
a portable pump and a bicycle bag that will allow me to take my bike
on trains. All I need now is a few spare spokes and I'll be ready for
the big ride. It has taken a long time to accumulate all the gear but
I'm almost there.

Broken spoke

After 1000+ km, I am finally burdened by my first broken spoke :-(.
Well, my luck had to run out sometime. The spoke was a rear wheel cog
side spoke. I regularly broke these spokes on my old bike but it's
still annoying. I hope it doesn't take too long to repair.

Tenryu River ride

Now that Summer is here it's time to do some training for the Kyushu
ride in August. Yesterday, I went for a ride along Tenryu river down
to the dunes of Nakatajima together with my friend Naka.

The ride was cool and relaxing with magnificent views all the way down
the river. On the way we met some fishermen who gave me some tips on
how to land an elusive sea bass. He even gave me a rig with his
recommended configuration. I can't wait to try it out.

The problem of the day occurred while we were crossing the Magome river near the ocean. Suddenly my front light came loose and fell to the ground. In the end we had to tape the light back on to the bike.

We returned to the North through the city. We made a dinner stop at a Sushi bar before saying farewell for the night. Later that night I went to an Onsen. The perfect end to the day. I hope this weather continues so I can have many more rides like today's.