Better Late Than Never 5!

Biking the Shimanami Kaido しまなみ海道 - 4/22-4/24

The final bridge of the route

This is about 6 months backdated so... enjoy!

Desperately needing to get out of the funk I have been in since my guest left, I decided to hop into a bike trip with a bunch of JETs from Okayama and a few of my fellow Oita JETs. The girl I had originally planned to go with backed out the week before so it ended up being a small group (6 of us total) of JETs from Oita whom I didn’t really know. It actually worked out really well though (except for my bitching most of the first day because of genital discomfort - sorry guys!) and I have no regrets!

Up we go!

As for the trip itself - Friday night I caught a train toward Onomichi (a city in Hiroshima prefecture along the southern coast facing Shikoku) and met up with the rest of my small Oita group. We found our hotel just outside of the station and spent an hour or so relaxing until we finally passed out uneventfully. On Saturday morning, however, the fun began.

Arriving about an hour early at the meeting point, we searched the map for the bike rental place. While skimming the map, an old man approaches our group and says, “come, present, third floor.” In any other country, we probably would have been hesitant but knowing we had three strong, big, guys in our group confidently followed the fragile grandpa up the escalator. He led us into a small breakfast restaurant where he prodded us into seats and handed us menus. Motioning to his favorite meal he waits while we all order our breakfast then immediately pulls out his newspaper and begins to read. Knowing this to be a pretty universal sign that someone doesn’t want to talk, we try for a few minutes to join him in conversation then give up and begin trying to decipher amongst ourselves the reasoning behind this strange happenstance. Shortly after our meals arrived, (our mysterious benefactor had only ordered coffee) he stands up, grabs the bill, and shakes all of our hands. Then pays the bill and leaves? It was very strange but breakfast was delicious and we ended up leaving very confused but full.

Here's the gang, setting out

The rest of the group passed us on our way out of the restaurant and we followed them to the bike rental place. After waiting the hour and a half for everyone to get their bike rentals sorted out we are finally on our way. The day started out rainy and me and some of the Oita group quickly pulled ahead of the group as we followed the blue line up to the first bridge. So distracted were we by the thought of riding up a giant bridge between two islands that we actually missed our turn. That served to teach us a lesson about getting too distracted and the rest of the morning went by quickly. We were the first at the meeting point for lunch and hung out for an hour or so while we rested our legs and re-hydrated. The morning had begun a bit chilly but had quickly turned into a sunny, warm day and the chance to wash up a bit was a nice relief.

Halfway point

Once lunch had settled a bit in our tummies we set off again for the last few of the bridges. The ride was beautiful but also tiring. By the time we had gone about 60km I was beginning to feel quite sore and it was almost a relief when I got a flat tire. Until I remembered I had a road bike and no one had a bike pump... We spent an hour or so with some gas station attendants ghetto-rigging a pump once we patched the tube and finally got back on the path after watching a majority of the people in our JET group pass us by. We lucked out about 20 minutes later when we passed a group of cyclists resting at a convenience store and I could finally pump my tire up all the rest of the way.

Things were pretty uneventful after that until the final bridge (which is actually a series of three bridges connected to pass over two islands and stop off on a third). A freak rain storm rolled in and began to pelt us on the way up the bridge. I can't really describe the way the cycling route led up to the bridge since it was about 500m above the ground so you will simply have to see the picture.

Firemen!

About three quarters of the way up the twisting cycling road, we decide to take shelter under a small gazebo with a number of other rain soaked Japanese bikers. This was mere seconds before a bolt of lightning struck the lightning tower right above our heads. Needless to say, we about peed ourselves and then decided it might be a good idea to wait a little on the rain to slow down before we set out again. Of course our impatience finally got the best of us and about 10 mins later we were battling the rain and wind while we tried to cross the 3 miles of bridge ahead of us before the sun set. Shortly after we arrived at the end station to meet up with the group the rain ceased - as expected. Damn my impatience.

Stop for some local citrus

We proceeded to wait about an hour for the rest of the group to arrive at the meeting point, including our guide (turns out only about a dozen people had passed me in my tire drama - none of whom would attest to having observed my plight). Once everyone got together it was off to the ryokan and our drinking party. Not much to be said since I passed out pretty early on.

The next morning was bright and warm with only a slight wind and D, P and I took off on our own after seeing K to the train station (she would meet us at the ferry to head back to Oita since we had planned to bike down). After about 15km, however, the wind began to pick up and we found ourselves fighting to keep in a straight line on the road while not killing ourselves trying to outdo the wind. Of course what had planned to be a brisk, 80km cycle down the beautiful island of Shikoku turned into calamity as we hit another flat (this time on D's bike) and with no gas stations in sight. Luckily there had been a fire station not too far back so we walked along until we reached it and politely asked the firemen inside to help us with removing the tire from the frame so we could repair the tube. Despite all of our preparation, we were not equipped to handle a puncture from a giant nail (which turned out to be the culprit as I recall).

This might have been the most entertaining part of the journey as P and I just kind of hung back watching four firemen fighting over who could be the most helpful in solving the tire problem while they grilled us on our life stories. Sometime in the hour they were "helping" us, they admitted we were the first foreigners they had ever spoken with in their lives. I would be lying if I said this was the first time someone had said this to me. I don't even find it sad at this point but instead hope that this occurrence can continue to be reduced through the efforts of my fellow foreigners.

Freak rain storm....

Needless to say, with the wind howling at us from all sides and time lost to bike repairs, it was not much longer once we got back on the path that we decided we would need to train to the next biggest city to get lunch then decide about biking from there. Lunch at subway proved fruitful because we ran into K who had been unable to meet up with her friend and with full bellies and slightly reduced spirits we decided to give up on the rest of our bike trip and instead all train down to the ferry together. It did not appear any less beautiful from the train window and we sat in relative comfort chatting about this and that while watching vineyards and groves of fruit trees dotting mountainsides roll by.

Be careful of birds :-)

My magical Shikoku biking journey came to an end when we got on the ferry to head back to Oita and although I made little impact on the route, it made a big impact on me. 6 months later I am still thinking about those sparkling blue oceans and serene mountain-scapes. Hopefully I can back again before I finish up JET!

Love!