How’s the weather?
It’s getting a little cold – as you can see by the temperature for today.
We will be visiting the Shimabara Castle…. and seeing other local sites…in a 20km loop ride around the town.
Started the day off well with breakfast.
weather
A long day on the bike…
Well me made it to Imabari today – here is how today went.
Leaving our accommodation around 8:30 we headed off towards Imabari. The forecast for today was originally supposed to be to be around 16 degrees with some showers.
The first section towards the bridge we had to go over was fairly flat.. and as it was not raining, and breakfast was fuelling us we stopped for a few photos along the way.
The paths up to the bridges generally are not too steep – around 3-5% incline. They also tend to go in large loops.. making it easier. As it’s citrus growing area – there are a LOT of fruit trees and fruit themed seats in the area.
As you go along this bridge there are clap sticks part way through – this is the purpose of those sticks. They are at each tower.
“Beneath the main tower is a sign noting the “flutter echoes” (“dragon’s roar”). If you try facing the sky and clapping your hands, you’ll hear the sound of your hand clap echoed back.”
Half way the prefecture changes from Hiroshima to Ehime..
On the other side of the bridge is the cyclist rest stop (also highway stop for cars) which has a wide range of produce from the region. As a cyclist you can pick up a wide range of “shiminami gear” and take a break. We enjoyed mochi and mandarin juice – mum it reminded me of your mandarins!
Given the weather.. (the sun was out by this stage) we were enjoying ourselves but Kym as route leader reminded us we had a way to go and we wanted to avoid the weather so we got back on the bikes.
Kym had been doing research the previus night for a place to stop for lunch – and found Fuu, which means wind. It specialises in okonomiyaki. They had different styles available (Kansai/hiroshima and green onion style) and you could choose the style of toppings. We also chose to have miso soup.. given the ind was cold. The food was the perfect antidote for being on the bike for the morning. While we were the first ones in – it really filled up with the local workers for the lunchtime crowd.
We got back on our bikes and headed towards Imabari.
Ideally we wanted an afternoon coffee – but when you are riding mid-week you are not always fortunate in what is available – but we did find this van. Kym of course ordered a curry bread roll (oh it was super tasty) and we all had coffee and watched the other cyclists ride past… the. It began to rain. Out came all the wet weather gear.. again and we pushed on to our destination.
When it’s raining you just want to get to the end, especially when the wind is blowing. However it began to clear up / and this always puts cyclists in a good mood as you begin to enjoy yourself again and want to do other things – today was no exception. We decided to go up Kiro-San. Kym and I had done this before and to be honest we should have remembered what it was like.. but let’s just say it was steep.
As we were going up, the weather experience was similar to “four seasons in one day”. It was fine, then sunny… rain and when we were very near the top hail started (could it get worse..?).. and very, very cold wind. We stayed there long enough to look at the view.. and the. Get back on the bikes to go down and onto the final bridges Kurushima Kaikyo Bridges, as there are three segments.
We did not take a lot of photos on the final bridge section as the wind was that strong, at one point it nearly stopped us cycling – in addition to the noise from the wind vibrating through the bridge cables. Oh it was so loud, after about 30 minutes we were pleased to have made it to the other side given the high winds. From there it was a criusey ride into Imabari, where we made it before the next lot of rain – hooray!
This is the third time Kym and I have done this route – and it is a true delight (even despite the wind). The scenery.. the light and the way it transforms how the mountains around the region look.. even despite the wind and rain it was truly worth it… and so glad we made the effort to do the ride again. There are always things we think – if only we had more time to explore the other islands.. or places along the way (as there is quite a lot here if you choose to explore) we have well and truly left something for next time 🇯🇵❤️🚲😉
Made it.. to accommodation
Well today was certainly wet. It started fine… but as soon as the ferry landed at Mukaishima Island the rain started – and out came all the wet weather gear we had in our bags but internally we had been complaining as it was taking up room (knew there was a reason we carted it around).
But hey it’s only water… and we have to ride in it to get where we need to our accommodation on Ikuchijima Island. The morning rain was light (more annoying and lingering), while after lunch it was persistent.
We managed to fine a couple of good coffee shops and lunch stops that kept us going. First up was Seabridge (near the large white dinosaur) – come here for the view and the lemon pound cake and orange juice, it’s fabulous. There are also a large range of books for all ages (yes largely in Japanese).
Next up we stopped at Manda that specialise in fermenting vegetables. The garden features a range of produce… koi fish and a foot bath (not great in rainy conditions). We stopped here for lunch. The root museum is a room where you can look at the roots of vegetables they have planted – impressive!
Next up we stopped along the way at a temple especially for cycling. Which given my incidents in failing off the bike this year I felt I needed a change in luck. It was amusing (probably only to me) it stopped raining when we arrived and started again when we got back on the bike.
Made it across the last bridge for the day… and thought we would revisit a coffee shop we had been to before – but no such luck as it was closed (you really need to pick your days carefully if you do this ride – if there are places you want to visit and they are closed during the weekday). Thankfully all was not lost as there was a coffee shop open at the end of the Shinomachi shopping street. Here we enjoyed a coffee and a delicious lemon pound cake.
Thankfully it was only 7+km to our accommodation along a largely flat road.. as by the time the rain as “atmospheric conditions” was starting to wear thin.
Tonight we are staying in accommodation with home style experience where we get dinner and breakfast included with the cost. Can’t wait to see what the food is like!
Here is a map of the ride today – approx 53+km (depending on what device you want to believe) with an elevation gain of 243meters.
A little rain
… never hurt anyone. Especially when cycling!
Can you see Mt Fuji..
… it’s darn cold!
Weather…
It started off well. The sky was heavy with cloud. Then it rained.
The photos are pretty deceptive.
Thankfully before lunch it didn’t rain for very long. It really wasn’t a long ride to lunch… but who is counting?
In preparing for the ride we have been to this coffee shop in Ardrossan a few times… and it’s pretty good. After lunch Vivienne and I push on to Rogues Point. As you might of expected it rained… that annoying light type of rain which is damp enough to annoy you but not too heavy.
Last year we had done this part of the ride a couple of times… clearly we had not gone far enough given the amount of sand we had to walk through!!
Nice view… but yes this part is better walking than cycling- not that you could if you wanted!
While it was a short ride – certainly a great start. Tomorrow… is going to be a longer day – let’s hope the weather is better.
Here comes the rain again…
It was a day of rain and sunshine.
We did admire the persistence of this family – it was raining at the time!
But there were times when we saw blue sky
While in the fish market it poured.
the best plan of the day was to leave the poncho on regardless of presence of rain!
Weather…
Well our weather luck has run out. As you probably are not able to see from the photo it’s raining. It’s not your typical rain which only goes for a short time – this is the it’s going to be raining like this all day, kind of rain.
While we were prepared for this weather when cycling around Noto Peninsula, given where we are we don’t have to spend 60+km in the rain as we can catch the train. Previously we couldn’t of done so. I’m only slightly disappointed, but at least we cycled over 300km! It’s been great fun – despite the hills..!
It’s summer….
Yes folks we’re here in Norway. It’s summer, and it’s due to be 13 degrees today. There is a huge band moving to the east and.. that explains why we feel instantly back home in winter. But it’s still beautiful in the rain, and as you can see we are still cycling…
Today…
Is a beautiful day in Tokyo!
