In our last installment, our hero and his group of friends had travelled to the far lands of Kyoto. Now alone, he must find his way home through foreign lands braving rain, wind, and bitter cold.
Wanting to squeeze in one more adventure before it got too cold, I brought my bike to Kyoto by bus planning to ride back. Rather than taking the direct route along Route 9 which is around 215km, I opted to north along Lake Biwa, cutting to Tsuruga and following the coast of the Sea of Japan all the way back to Tottori, lengthening the trip to about 500km. I didn’t really have much in the way of a timeline, but I wanted to take it easy and was guessing I’d make it back in four or five days. In terms of equipment changes since my Hiroshima and Tokyo tours, I had replaced my 12-27 cassette with a 11-34 Deore-level cassette (giving me now a lowest gear ratio of 34:34 or 26.8 gear inches), and accordingly replaced my Dura Ace short-cage rear derailleur with a Deore LX long-cage one to accommodate the new range. More excitingly, I had just picked up the week before a dynamo lighting system consisting of a Schmidt SON28 hub laced to a Mavic Open Sport Rim, and a Schmidt Edelux light.
Day 1 – Kyoto to Makino
I slept rather soundly the last night in the hostel and was even a bit sluggish making it out the door. It was nearly 10am by the time I left Kyoto, heading north along the 367, following a creek into the mountains. The ride was a slow steady climb and the late morning air was fresh from the heavy rains the night before. I passed a foreign bike tourist, not exchanging words but exchanging nods, saving my breath for the climb. He later passed me when I stopped for lunch at a convenience store and I never caught up to him. It was a beautiful, sunny day while still being cool, and once I shed a few clothing layers the temperature was perfect for the effort I was putting into mountains (and thank you 34:34 gearing). Upon reaching Route 477, I cut east towards Lake Biwa and the town of Ohashi (appropriately named because “hashi” means bridge and there’s a big bridge there that crosses the lake). From there, I more or less followed the eastern shore of Lake Biwa north. As the afternoon moved on, puffy clouds rolled in bringing occasional showers but also very dramatic skies. In the late afternoon, I stopped at a rest area that had an odd “Dutch village” theme. Muzaked versions of crappy pop songs played on the loud speakers amidst pink buildings and deserted amusement rides. It was… weird. Here, take a look:
Anyway, after this windmill Dutch village thing, I continued north along Biwa. Evening came and with it heavy rains. Thankfully my rain gear was up to the task and the Schmidt Edelux light shone brightly so I was able to progress confidently. I soon arrived in my campground for the night in the village of Makino just as the rain was taking a breather, allowing me to pitch my tent in a light drizzle rather than a downpour. Dinner was freeze-dried backpacker food over a couple bottles of “Buckler” malt beverage purchased at a convenience store along the way. I thought I was buying beer, but was sadly mistaken as I found myself choking down something akin to Zima.
Day 2 – Makino to Nakahama
The next morning, I awoke at sunrise to the sound of people walking around outside. I prefer being into campgrounds after sunset and leaving before sunrise to maintain a stealthy presence so upon hearing that I had company I scrambled to gather my things and break camp. The people walking outside were an older, retired couple out walking their dog and observing the sunrise over the lake. The man asked me something in Japanese and I told him (in what little Japanese I do know) that I didn’t understand. He began speaking to me in English, asking me about my bicycle, where I had come from, and where I was headed. “I like bicycles!” he said. His wife then invited me to breakfast at their cottage a five-minute walk away. I thought about it for a second before happily accepting their offer. It turns out the man was a bike tourist himself, having ridden around much of Japan as well as Laos and Vietnam. His son was even a tourist and had done six-month trips through Europe, Africa, and China. He eagerly showed me photos, pumping my own wanderlust. I now have a strong desire to see Laos by bicycle. The couple is quite physically active themselves. Though I don’t believe the wife does much cycling, they both do a lot of hiking and backpacking, as well as playing tennis and kayaking. Not a bad way to spend one’s retirement. I can only hope to be that spry when I get older. The breakfast they prepared was lovely – toast with homemade persimmon jam, salad, chicken, yogurt, and freshly sliced fruits. They even invited me to use their shower and gave me time to relax and allow my tent to dry. Their hospitality was amazing and I was kind of sad to leave as I would have liked talking to them more, but I had to move out if I was to get to my destination for the night at a reasonable time. They walked me to the main road and waved me off.
Upon leaving Makino, I had another mountain pass to climb as I headed north towards the city of Tsuruga and the coast. I stopped along the way at another rest area that had a fantastic view of the lake as well as that of monkeys running across the road and playing in the nearby trees. A friendly man asked me something in Japanese, and again I pulled out the little Japanese I knew to tell him that I couldn’t understand, that I was American and I spoke English. His English wasn’t great (certainly leagues better than my Japanese) but we managed and I told him where I was going and where I was headed and it was actually a lot of fun trying to communicate. He even blogged about me.
After the rest area, it was some slow-going 20km before I hit Tsuruga and started heading west. It was already getting into the afternoon at this point and I was coming up on the Mikata Go-ko, an area of five contiguous lakes. I wanted time to ride around and explore the lakes so I attempted to find another campground that was supposedly located just west of Tsuruga as indicated by my map. I wandered around in circles for a bit confused as I could see no campground where there should have been one. Finally, I realized what was once a campground had been turned into a rice field. A bit frustrated at all the wasted time, I cooked a quick snack of noodles before deciding to head for the next campground which was about another 60km a day. The distance was fine since I had really only travelled about 40km that day, but it was a shame that I couldn’t see the scenery in daylight. As it were, I passed through Mikata Go-ko as the sun was setting making for some beautiful views though I had to take the more direct route amongst the lakes rather than doing a more thorough circumnavigation. That was a shame. I’d really like to go back to this area at some point in the future and ride around more as the landscape was truly lovely. And stupid me, I didn’t even take a picture as I kept thinking, “No! This isn’t the best angle! No! This isn’t the best angle!” until the sun had gone too far down for me to get any decent lighting.
The next landmark along the way was the city of Obama. This was another place in which I would’ve liked to have spent more time. Mostly I wanted to hit up some souvenir shops and see what kind of tchotchkes they’d be selling to exploit their city’s name. But I did stumble upon a restaurant, Cafe Riverside, that had an animated sign by the street congratulating our new President Elect (I’ll have to get a video up at somepoint. I just need to trim down the length.) This was good enough marketing for me and I felt obliged to stop in for a bit of coffee and a plate of spaghetti. From here it was another easy 30km or so to my destination campground in the village of Nakahma just west of Oi. It was thoroughly dark at this point (though really only around 8pm since the sun goes down so early) but the Edelux shone brilliantly and I had no anxiety about continuing on into the night. I made it to the vicinity of the campground in no time but then got a bit turned around as it was hard to tell exactly where the camp was. A cop car pulled up next to me with lights on and I felt a pang of fear as my natural reaction towards cops is one of mistrust. Maybe that’s just the L.A. in me. After telling them I didn’t speak English, they asked me where I was going. “Campu jo” I replied. They pointed at the lot right next to me that went back into darkness in a grove of trees. Doh! I was right there. The officer talked to his partner for a bit in Japanese, I assume discussing the fact that the campground was clearly closed, as were all campgrounds I had stayed at thus far in Japan (it seems camping is a purely summer thing here). “Tento?” they asked me. I knodded and pointed at my panniers. They talked a bit more then finally, “OK!” and they waved me into the campground. This was actually great. I had always had a bit of apprehension over sneaking in and out of closed campgrounds, but now I had the official nod from the authorities! I slept very soundly that night.
Day 3 – Nakahama to Hie
The next morning I got up leisurely and made myself some coffee, enjoying the sunrise. I continued west through the port town of Maizuru eventually reaching Amanohashidate, one of the famous “three most beautiful sites in Japan”, a sand bridge three kilometers long that’s covered with some 8,000 pine trees. I didn’t even realize that this was on my route, wondering what the oddity on my map was. But at least now I can say I’ve seen two out of the Big Three, having seen Miyajima in October. I declined to take a cable car up a nearby hill to see the panoramic view of Amanohashidate, which was probably a mistake but I was in the mood to press forward. I headed north, continuing along the coast and hugging the Tango peninsula. I reached the fishing village of Ine, struggling up and down some killer grades to reach a rest area high up on a hill that overlooked the village where I could see the houses built over the water on stilts with boats parked underneath them. The views here were striking, and I stopped for a bit of curry so that I could spend more time soaking them in. I continued on. There were 30km left to go until I reached my campground, but unlike the night before this wasn’t going to be easy. The peninsula was rugged and brutal but absolutely worth it. It was gorgeous. I passed another bike tourist on a Surly Cross Check who had stopped at the side of the ride for a bathroom break. We made eye contact and both laughed over mutual understanding. He later caught up with me on a climb. We tried to communicate a bit in Japanese and English, but again I was conserving my breath whilst spinning away at 34:34 slow and steady. He didn’t have such a luxury. I’m not sure exactly what gearing he was running as I glanced over his rig, but it looked like he was running a 130bcd double crank and a 12-25 cassette while carrying far more luggage than me. He was out of his saddle and mashing and was therefore forced to power on while I sat and contentedly spun my way up. I certainly did not envy him. It was dark when I reached my campground, which was spookily located right next to a graveyard. Attempting to find the entrance, I ran through a chain barrier (looks like the Edelux failed me on that one) which snapped the adjusting barrel on my front brake and popped my front fender lose. Luckily the fender wasn’t bent and the front brake still operated fine despite the damage, which is far better than a dented head tube or a broken wheel.
Day 4 – Hie to Kami
It rained pretty heavily that night, letting up a bit in the morning when I got up. I packed away my went tent and continued on. The rain came soon thereafter and stayed the rest of the day with occasional gusts of wind always pointed in the wrong direction. Passing through the town of Kyotango I found an old abandoned bowling alley that I was tempted to wander through but decided against it since it was actually pretty disgusting and there was trash and broken glass everywhere. Just past Kyotango, I crossed the intersection for Route 178 and Route 666. I needed to continue on the 178, but I do regret not making the detour. The rest of the day passed with little else of note. The scenery was beautiful but full of difficult climbs. The gray and wet weather reminded me a lot of traveling down the Oregon coast. I took a number of photos, but most of them didn’t come out so well because my lens was wet and my lens wipe fully saturated. At least I was staying more or less dry. My raincoat (REI Taku) and pants (Sierra Designs Hurricane) both worked splendidly, while my Adidas neoprene booties eventually soaked through but between them and my wool socks my toes still stayed warm. The rain finally let up as I rolled into my campground for the night, which was a welcome relief because between the weather and the terrain I was absolutely beat.
Day 5 – Kami to Tottori
The final day of my trip went by also uneventfully, save for one more “666″ siting – this time in reference to the Radio Station of the Beast. There were only a couple of really brutal climbs. The day started off overcast but eventually cleared up. Still, I was exhausted from the day before and knowing that this was a relatively short day in the saddle (only about 60km or so) I took it very slowly, rolling past Tottori’s famous dunes and into town a bit after noon, happy to be home.
