An update on Photo-gate
We’re very happy that the issue with photos has been fixed by Ross – thank you Ross! This post now includes pics accordingly as does Shikoku Part 1. Normal service to resume from now onwards as we get caught up…
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Shikoku Part 1 kicked off my 40th year spinning round the sun with a special Japanese birthday. Unfortunately birthdays only last a day, so on the 21st September we were up and off after a big breakfast and a bit of a lie-in, ready for some more Shikoku cycling.
I was unfortunately feeling a bit peaky (no, not a hangover from the French fizz) so we planned a shortish ride along the coast and then up into the hills/gorges of central Shikoku, heading south-east. It was a steady ride with a good climb to end with – capped by a 5.5km tunnel! I am not a big fan of tunnels, mainly because traffic sounds far scarier. This one went on for what felt like forever, despite both of us pushing hard up what was a fairly decent amount of elevation.
We were descending into the rain as soon as we popped out of the darkness which got increasingly heavy as we rolled into the rest area we were considering wild camping at for the night. The rain was really not appealing though and once we’d heard from new French-Canadian pals Francis and Carl that they had booked into the onsen guesthouse/hotel nearby we were sold and did the same.
The onsen was very welcome as it ended up tipping it down outside. Pasta cooked up in the room and I was ready for bed, futon style – whilst Matt had an evening with the guys, getting to know them both a bit better.
Feeling a bit perkier the next morning, we set off at a similar time to the guys. Whilst we didn’t cycle with them for most of the day it soon became clear that we were now touring as a foursome, at least for a while as they made use of Matt’s route plotting. It turned out that this was surprisingly lovely for us two – having not really had the opportunity to share in the cycling bit of our adventure yet with anyone else.
The ride that day was a total stunner – winding through a beautiful gorge with lots of gentle downhill. Of course there was a hefty uphill (mountain) near the end of the day and some steep up and down into the campsite but it was well worth it for possibly the most beautiful sleeping spot we’ve had so far, handily located near one of Shikoku’s famous vine bridges.
A while later the guys arrived with some gentle rain. Francis had bought beers to thank us for the fab route plotting which we enjoyed after swims in the river and chats over dinner. Carl and Francis are on a five week trip exploring Japan by bike and come from Gatineau, just over the river from Ottawa, in Quebec, Canada. Whilst Carl has a fair bit of bike touring experience (and they both work in a bike shop!) this is Francis’ first trip of this type and he is loving it, as are we all.
The next morning we successfully got ahead of our new friends as a big big climb awaited us. As it turns out, all of the climbing we have done so far (and previously) means that actually I’m not a complete slouch when it comes to going up. This was handy as the climb was a big one, topping out at 1,400m and with over 1,600m of going up over the course of the day.
I’d love to say the views from 1,400m were stunning – but we couldn’t see a thing through the fog. We did still enjoy the feeling of achievement that always comes from ‘getting to the top’ and even more so the campsite arrival feelings later on.
This time, we had bought some beers and Matt (slightly over-excitedly) a big bottle of whiskey with the expectation that when Francis and Carl arrived we would share it with them.
They duly did just before dark and we enjoyed another night of chatting (once we had persuaded Francis to get showered, put his tent up etc as opposed to just doing the celebratory chatting and drinking!)
Our last day on Shikoku dawned with a sizzling sun and a panic speed ride to the ferry. We made it just in time and enjoyed our mini cruise on the top deck, wondering if this was our opportunity to get rid of the North Americans…
Jokes of course! We all booked into the same hotel in Wakayama on the ‘mainland’ and Matt googled places in town which did all you can eat BBQ (yaki-niku) . He succeeded and so after some relaxation time in our respective rooms we met up and hit Wakayama, hard. I’m not sure the all-you-can-eat BBQ really needed four hungry cyclists turning up for their profit margin, but I can confirm we made the most of the 90 minutes allocated time, which also included all-you-can-drink. The night was rounded off with karaoke, all organised via Matt’s brilliant Japanese and navigational skills around town.
We really did ditch the guys the next morning as it turns out that British cyclists are better equipped for cycling with a bit of a hangover than French-Canadian ones 😉 On a serious note we were sad to say goodbye, we thoroughly enjoyed a bit of company from two pretty cool guys – thank you both!
What’s next? Having done some pretty epic cycling – we are now ready for some pretty epic Japanese history and culture – can’t wait!
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