A chain of islands stretch from Japan's main island of Honshuu to the large southern island of Shikoku. While a 60km toll road has existed for many years connecting to these two large islands, a special biking road was constructed in 1999 to offer scenic enthusiasts the opportunity of getting a full dose of Japan's Seto Inland Sea's beauty. Inspired to see some of the best natural beauty Japan had to offer, I decided to tackle the Shimanami Kaido.
In hindsight of course, i’m not sure why I even tried to talk to Anastasia into trying this crap. The Alex that thought biking 74km in a single day was a good idea, was not the Alex that had tried biking 74km in a single day up and down hills. Nevermind those bridges and hills (and the sketchy weather forecast...) it was our one shot to tackle this beast and we (….I….) was determined to do it.
Being a good sport Anastasia agreed. Game on... 6am shotgun to give ourselves plenty of time to finish the trail. After an hour train ride and finding the bike rental, we began the trail at 8:30.
And what a start, for the first 8km we biked in the rain. Anastasia didn't have rain gear so I gave her mine. But, as logic would deduce, that still left one of us without rain gear. Oiy Ve. After going hard for 45 minutes we arrived at the first bridge with our spirits dampened. To our luck, the rain cleared and the sun lifted our enthusiasm... as this picture would indicate....
Feeling GREAT after the first 8km, eh?!
You know, we biked 74km and we saw a single fellow (road)biker the entire way. Leading me to think we didn't pick the best day.
After regrouping we cross the first bridge, which had this biking tunnel under it.
Anyways, after tackling the first bridge we hit the second island, which revealed huge citrus fields of oranges and lemons. The improved weather complimented the wonderful scenery. So, we decided to take a pit stop and stroll through some orange fields.
A private residence with its own little orange field
We may or may not have been trespassing
Anyways, after the pit stop we tacked the 2nd island fairly quickly. Along the way we ran into tons of great scenery and unexpected monuments, like a huge dinosaur and this hippie bus.
This bus was definitely out of place, but I thought it was very cool.
Eventuall we arrived at the next bridge with sunny skies. This was perhaps my favorite bridge. Glad we stopped to snap a pic.
Great Company :)
At about the halfway point our legs began to tire, and to be quite frank, we just wanted to finish the damn thing. Trekking onward we abandoned everything (like talking and photography) and adopted only the mindset to finish. It had been a roller coaster day, both on the hills and with the weather. It was clear that the last leg was going to be the toughest.
The 5th bridge...oh my god...
After hours of biking, we finally reached the last bridge… And the perseverance was rewarded.
After watching the the setting sun dance through the clouds for a few minutes, we made our way up the final ascent and biked across one of the longest bridge in all Japan.
The Shimanami Kaido biking trail, up the 6th and final bridge
The winds were so strong we had to stop and walk our bikes because we were literally getting blown off. So, I snapped this pic.
The Seto Inland Sea was full of hundreds of huge industry boats like this.
After 10 hours we conquered the Shimanami Kaido. I wish that trail good riddance, cause I’m never doin that bastard again. Glad I got the photos I was hoping for...
