Author: kymdt

We ride rain, hail and shine!

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Excellent day riding – it started with rain, had great sunshine and finished with hail. But, when your on your bike you got to keep riding to get to your destination.

I apologise for the lack of hail pictures, you don’t really think of taking photos!

In the suburb of Hitari I enjoyed conversing with local high school students at the local market. I was surveyed about the average age of persimmon farmers in the area (67.3) and received a free persimmon sandwich as a gift. It was delightful.

Our riding companions from across Tokyo are tough and well spirited. We very much enjoy their company.

Below is a photo dump some are mine but probably most are Helen’s.

Glitch

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According to my records we first came here in 2017. Here is the first photo we took back then.

We have grown in our coffee snobbery and moved with Glitch as they explore more interesting styles of coffee – black pour over now preferred and a staple of our home.

Today no milk – but two innovative Colombian beans roasted to perfection. Sitting outside enjoying perfect autumnal weather.

Yesterday we checked out Ginza Glitch for a serene coffee and music experience.

Thank you Glitch for your contribution to our coffee journey!

Sushi Harumi

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I’ll start with an apology – no food photos from us for this post. Sushi is something that should be enjoyed directly when placed in front of you by the skilled chef. Where the skilled knife strokes can form tough squid can be rendered milky by a thousand tiny cuts or herring can be transformed into a delicate balanced melody in your mouth.

I know ‘Australian’ style sushi is taking New York but storm, but I have to say I am of Tokyo style!

There is one photo to share and that is of the building directory…

Those who can read Japanese characters will quickly pick it… But otherwise you’ll be playing match the image with your phone. This was a multi-storey (10 or so building) and that is just a list of the tenants on the 4th floor. You certainly get a peak behind the curtain of Tokyo when you walk past the “Member’s Only” club towards the space that is transformed into a peaceful oasis with 10 seats!

If you’re going to Tokyo or want to peak inside – check out their website – http://www.sushiharumi.jphttps://pocket-concierge.jp/en/. They use Pocket Concierge to book for English speaking guests – which really makes experiencing great food in Japan a lot easier.

Alternate mobility

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As you may know, we are keen to try different forms of mobility. We certainly prefer non-car based mobility like our folding bikes and an occasional Shinkansen. So it was with great pleasure we tried a new form of mobility arranged by our Tokyo friends. The super kawaii Rodem – it is guaranteed to get you noticed on Tokyo streets. We certainly were – but they may have been helped by the soon to be TikTok superstar in the Rodem behind us!

From the website (https://machimobi-y.com/en/) the Rodem is “a futuristic mobility that allows you to enjoy a mobility experience like never before.”

Day 7: The final day – Corny Point to Point Turton

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Every tour needs one of those days to remind fellow riders how tough and competent they were. Well … the final day of the Southern Yorke Peninsula was going to deliver. After all thus far we had pretty good weather, some amazing tailwinds, and even the corrugations were manageable.

I didn’t take pictures when it was raining

Today an Antarctic wind was blowing – good news was we rode with it behind us most of the way – bad news it brought with it random showers and some light hail!

After the hail

I ended up riding with two pairs of pants on (the water repellent variety and the wet weather pants) and two jackets on (my regular rain jacket and a spray jacket). Without my think thermal I am sure I would have frozen to near death. I can also vouch for the fact that walking into light hail is not a pleasant experience.

Plenty of corrugations to add to the ride.

On this day, I put in practice lessons from M & D about riding into gravel. Go fast and don’t thing about steering – I reckon thats what they said and that what I did. I seemed to skim over the tops of the corrugations. I am not sure all the parts of my bike are still on it – but enough to get home were!.

No spray on dirt.

The GPX file is available from Strava – Day 7 – Corny Point to Point Turton.

Day 6: Marion Bay to Corny Point

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There is not too much accomodation available on the South Western part of the Yorke Peninsula so it’s difficult to have a reasonable length ride and go through the national park. That’s why we chose to have the national park on ride on the rest day and take the sealed (but only since 2002) Marion Bay road most of the way.

Marion Bay Road

We left early (8:00am) to avoid traffic – although it was hard to imagine too many people leaving Marion Bay that early on a Saturday. The road itself is quite wide with pretty good sight lines most of the time. It also helps that there was wind behind us and not in our faces. We flew up that road!

Random building

Our route couldn’t just be direct there had to be a scenic bit thrown in! We achieved this by following West Coast Road to Corny Point past Gravel Bay and Berry Bay. Unfortunately the turn gave us a big head wine and dirt road. But it was worth it with lunch overlooking Berry Bay South with the added benefits of toilets. (hey YP council why not proper shelter?)

Scenic Cross Roads

Corny Point lighthouse was a highlight of the day. It looks good from so many angles.

Bikes and Lighthouse

The GPX file is available from Strava – Day 6 Marion Bay to Corny Point

Day 5 – Rest Day

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Every organised bike ride plans for a rest day. Sometimes people ride more on the rest day than they do on a normal day.

This ride was no different! But to make sure we actually scheduled in a short 15km ride from Hillocks Drive to Marion Bay and then offered a option to riding into Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.

There we so many options – we explored Hillocks Drive (by car). We also cycled to Meehan Hill Lookout before even getting to Marion Bay!

Contemplation
Yes ma, the walking track goes straight down to the beach!

We arrived at Marion Bay in time for lunch, but all we wanted was Golden North Icecream! No photo from me because I ate it too quickly. Everyone was keen to take up the optional ride – a nice easy trail through the National Park to Stenhouse Bay and then a doodle back on the bitumen to Marion Bay. If you’re lucky Helen will share her Emu photographs with you.

Smooth rocks at Stenhouse Bay
Celebration!

The GPX route gets you to Marion Bay and beyond. But I can’t say that has all been ridden and proven today. Give it a go, but with you risk assessment brain on. Day 5 – Hillocks Drive to Marion Bay

Day 4 – Port Moorowie to Hillocks Drive

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This was a new adventure for us – we hadn’t checked out this part of the ride. It was pretty simple however, follow a couple of dirt roads (Greenhill Road and then South Coast Road) for around 46 km along some of the least populated areas of the Yorke Peninsula.

Sign of the times

Perhaps because of its isolation the ride was quite pleasant with next to no traffic and fewer corrugations compared with the previous day. It was not enough to save our companion from having a tyre blowout. Without the support vehicle it would have been another 20 or so kilometres of walking. There wasn’t much chance of getting that going.

Is that a hole I see?

A word of wisdom, just because Google doesn’t show a bike shop on the Yorke Peninsula doesn’t mean you can’t get tyres. Your friendly sports store in Minlaton might have some? Perhaps the hardware store? Or even a Hardware store. In any case, the support vehicle managed to buy tyres and bakery goods and meet us again before the end. Amazing eh?

There are NO shops along this route, so you need to plan. There are only a few shelters so you need to plan to stop at them!

But those shelters are neat some nice beaches – except maybe Foul Bay!?!

The GPX is available from Strava – Day 4 – Port Moorowie to Hillocks Drive