It is going to be hard to pull ourselves away from our mini holiday of luxury, relaxation and all the food we could eat. We are happy to see the weather return to conditions that are rideable…and as always it is bittersweet because we know that new adventures await. So here goes…heading north to Sendai, about 270 km away.
Now would be a good time to give an update on a change we have made in our plans. Forgot to do this earlier. We have completed the 1st leg of our trip riding the Pacific Coast Cycle Route from Osaka to Choshi…about 1400 km. This was a wonderful experience but the terrain was hillier, and at times we had mountain passes to climb. Then we had planned to follow the Tone River on a bike dedicated route to the Nagano area and then return to Osaka. This would have included more mountainous terrain, some at 2000 m. I said to Barry after the 5th mountain pass on the Pacifc Coast Route that I was done with mountains for now. My knees just can’t sustain that amount of climbing. Honestly, without daily visits to Onsens with natural hot springs, I couldn’t have achieved what we did. So, we came up with a good alternative.. we will ride north from Choshi to Sendai along the Pacific Coast, followed by an overnight ferry to Hokkaido. A big benefit is that it will be cooler the farther north we go. After our stay in Hokkaido, we will then take a ferry to Tsuruga on Honshu and ride south about 150 km to Osaka. This way we will have completed a circular route…and with fewer Q mountains.
Saying farewell to our comfortable oasis for the past 3 nights.
This photo shows the GREAT Hotel nearby…I think we made the right choice staying at the Kamenoi Hotel.. To be fair, the elements are not kind to a cement building, but it really doesn’t’ look too promising.
Today we will reach Choishi Station in 26 km. This is significant as when we have done this, we will have completed the Pacific Coast Cycling Road. We are very proud to have ridden this route. Some days it taxes your abilities and requires endless climbs, but it has.always been rewarding. The only part we chose not to ride was the complete circumference of the Izu Peninsula. Instead we rode across the Peninsula over a mountain pass and headed on. We did this for two reasons…sore knees and running out of time.
This area of the bike trail is passing through the town. We don’t understand the significance of this piece, but we liked it. To us it represents two children enjoying being by the sea.
We met this family who are from Yokohama and are out for a day trip. Every weekend they do a day trip as a family. They explained who the boxing figures were.
We have seen a few signs like this today. But if the mascot can do it, so can we! We are mystified tho why they don’t have the arrow for the gradient going up. Oh well, something is lost in translation.
Fields and fields of cabbage. We see fields with produce in villages and out in the countryside. Often a house will be surrounded by farm fields or rice fields.
Drum roll please….we have made it to the finish line of the Pacific Coast Cycle Road. The mascot was happy to see us and we were happy to see him wearing a helmet. The map of the route is below.
We made it….we both look a big beaten up, but we are so happy to have done this. When Barry told me about this route at home, I thought he was crazy..,but here we are.
When we can, we choose a western type table either chairs. Between Barry’s bad back and my knees, it’s not a pretty picture watching us try to sit down and then get up.
