Shimanami Kaido

Before my story, I must announce that my blog has reached the 1000 views mark! In lieu of this benchmark, I would like to give a shout out to all of you who take the time to read about my life. The easiest way for me to do that is name the countries that show up on the stats (that's right, Google tracks you!). So, let me holler at: the USA, Japan, Germany, UK, Russia, Spain, South Korea, France, French Guiana, and New Zealand. You are all my favorites.

Now for the tale of the Shimanami Kaido...

WHOA! What a cool weekend I just had! Saturday morning I woke up at 5 am to be able to catch the 5:58 train from Matsue to Yasugi. Around 5:30, I noticed my window, doors, and very sensitive closet doors were shaking but it didn't register as anything important at first (did I mention it was 5 am? Brain wasn't working). Shortly after it stopped, I thought to myself- was that just an earthquake? Should I have taken cover under the table? I didn't have long to ponder this, however, because missing the train would be disastrous. I met some fellow bikers at Matsue Station where we purchased tickets and a few minutes after were informed that the train was delayed due to a - what? - EARTHQUAKE! This was the first one I noticed, which is pretty exciting. They are supposed to be pretty rare in Shimane. This one was in the Osaka/Kobe area and I think was around a 6.0. After getting some of our money back and taking a later, cheaper train, we made it to Yasugi and started on our way to Onomichi. It's about a 2.5 hour car ride and really all I have to say about it is that this girl was not made to fit in Japanese cars.

We arrived at the bike rental place, everyone got their bikes rented or ready, we took a group picture, and we were off! The only way we knew we were on the correct route was a blue line along the road that we so trustfully followed. It didn't take long to realize that the rumors were true- Japanese renal bikes have some of the least comfortable seats. They are super thin and rock-hard. It only became a minor setback during the last quarter of the ride- only once did I have to walk a bit just because it hurt. Just before the first bridge, we were introduced to the fact that in order to access each bridge, a hill must be ridden up. Sometimes this was not too bad, much of the time it was rough. But I believe I rode up at least half which is an accomplishment! After the first 3 bridges, we stopped at a little lunch spot. They offered a number of lunch options, I opted for a fried fish burger and fries. One particularly special thing about this region of Japan is that it is known for its many types of citrus. Something like 36 different kinds are grown here and they all look like oranges or lemons. There were many citrus tree groves (? fields?) along the way which made for some nice scenery when you got sick of looking at the beautiful mountain island water scenery - wait, that is impossible. At the lunch spot, it was easy to find many of these types of citrus for pretty cheap. Everyone shared what they got and it was simply delightful. 2 more bridges and a hill later, we found ourselves at the mouth of the last bridge, just as the sun was setting. It was a wonderful last kick of motivation to complete the journey.

Citrus at the lunch spot

Making dino faces

 

 

Sunset at the last bridge

We (the last group) arrived at the hotel just before 8 that night, a solid 9 hours after we left. We went straight to dinner which was a traditional Japanese dinner with rice, pickled goodies, sashimi, fruit, tofu, chicken-tofu-mushroom-various greens nabe, very nicely cooked fish (sitting in the dead carcass), and tea.  Very delicious! After some much needed showers and some hangin' out makin' friends, it was clearly time for bed. The room I stayed in was two rooms joined by a sliding door. The floors were tatami mats and about 5 girls slept in each room on futons on the floor. Normally, that might be a little uncomfortable, but after 77 km of cycling, there was not much stopping sleep. 



Breakfast the next morning was a traditional Japanese breakfast of miso soup, rice, nori (seaweed), rectangular prisms of egg, and various other delights. Although it's no Torchy's breakfast taco, I dig a good Japanese breakfast. I had originally planned on cycling both days, but it was clear to me that would and could not happen. After bidding the first group of cyclists adieu, the second group came to help the rest of us return our bikes. After the bike return, they were off. We said bye to the rest of the non-cycling group, and I began a day of sightseeing with two girls from Shimane I got to know. We decided to go see the castle in Imabari. The part of the city that we walked through wasn't exactly a thing o' beauty, but the castle was nice. Along the street in front of the castle, there were something like 30 fire trucks. I imagine it was the city's entire fleet, which is maybe a safety hazard? Soon after we got there, they began some sort of demonstration where each fire truck put its hose into the mote and sprayed water out back into the mote. We walked around a little more, then walked back to the station so we wouldn't miss our bus. Which we still managed to do. Luckily, there was another bus that left 30 minutes later, but arrived at the same time. Confusing? -yes. Classic Japan? -yes. We made it back to the first bike rental place about 15 minutes before the rest our Shimane travel party returned. During that time, we were looking out over the water and suddenly realized how many jellyfish were floating along with the current in front of us. And here I was - the whole bike trip - wishing I could just swim it. No thank you! I will take a sore butt over a million jellyfish stings. Definitely cool to watch though.

The ride back to Shimane was relatively uneventful and a good opportunity for a little nap. I was dropped off with another Matsuean (Matsueite? hmm) and we had a short train ride back from Yasugi. I was very glad that I had walked to the station the previous morning instead of riding my bike because there was no way I could have gotten back on a bike. It would have been left to be picked up another day.






Overall, it was a phenomenal experience with tests of physical and mental strength, as well as a great chance to make new friends. Although I am not part of the JET (popular Japanese exchange program) program, I am very happy to know people in it who organize many of these great events so I can join. Post-ride thoughts: I have a slight desire to continue this biking thing so I can go back and conquer the two day experience. We will see how that goes!

 
Here are some more pictures:

 

Sunset over the last bridge

Sunset at the last bridge