No blue lines on the road today…a rough ride to ShikokuChuo
Smoke is in the air
This entry covers two days. Yesterday Barry wasn’t feeling well. The night before we approached the staff about staying a second night…but they were sold out. After breakfast the next morning, we tried again and somehow they found us a room…and the best part was they transferred our luggage and we moved in right away. So yesterday was truly a rest day. Our one big outing was to go next door to Mo’s Burger for dinner.
Mary Ellen’s burger was delicious and very messy…as any good burger should be. Toppings included Gouda cheese from Hokkaido, tomato & lettuce, secret sauces and house made patty of beef and pork.
A one night stay turned into two. Good decision as Barry is more ready to ride than yesterday. It isn’t hard to take…breakfast is included and an onsen is onsite for us.
A stop at a Daiso (like a Dollar Store at home) yielded a new member of our riding team. Barry has Joey..a gift from Usa, a rider we met on the Shimanami route and ME now has Pansy to ride with her.
The air quality looks bad today with a lot of smoke in the air. We think that this is due to farmers burning off the harvested rice fields. The beautiful forested hills of Shikoku are almost obscured by the haze.
This was not our best day of riding as much of the day we had no choice but to ride on a busy road with freight trucks, cars, motorcycles - bumper to bumper. We yearned for the cycle friendly roads of Imabari and the Simanami Kaido with blue lines to guide cycles. Despite feeling an element of danger on the ride today, we are grateful for the driver’s patience in trying to give us space. Nonetheless, we often felt trapped in a narrow space between the trucks and the ditch
However, for the first few Km the ride was great as we were able to ride on quiet roads along the sea. It was mostly shipyards which was quite interesting.
Fascinating riding through this area..massive structures and cranes for shipbuilding.
But all too soon, we were forced to ride on the busy road for the rest of the day. When we could, we pulled over and rode on the sidewalk, but all too often, the surface was rough and at times it deteriorated. So, back on the road we went.
Barry has had his eye on this sandwich ever since he saw it at a convenience store in Osaka. Mandarin and kiwi with whipping cream we think.Only the Japanese would come up with a sandwich that is not savoury but sweet.
We thought we would make great time, as the distance was just over 40 Km. The quality of the riding, as well as seeing some interesting things slowed us down.
We came upon an exquisite temple with incredible landscaping. It is adjacent to a huge cemetery and we learned that it is a temple that deals in funerals and internment.
This massive cemetery was adjacent to the temple that we walked through
Keith AdamsInteresting. My first reaction to the symbol on the door was "Why is this place marked as a fallout shelter?" even though that isn't really what it is. Guess I'm a child of the Cold War. Reply to this comment 5 months ago
This type of ramen is called Tsukemen. It consists of cold noodles which you dip into a second bowl of soup or broth. It was invented in 1961 by a restauranteur in Tokyo. We are glad we tried it, but our preference is the more conventional ramen where the noodles are hot and immersed in the broth with more ingredients.
Mandarins, grapefruit and persimmon are growing alongside where we are riding. You can just reach out and pick one if you wish. We visited a farm market and bought a bag of mandarins ($1) and a bag of 3 persimmon. Yum.
Our destination tonight will be a different type of accommodation…metal containers which have been converted into hotel rooms. It is called R9 The Yard. The room is small but nicely converted, clean and new with everything we need. After the day we’ve had, all we want is a good sleep. Tomorrow, as we head east, we will start with a 800 metre climb for 12 Km followed by a quick descent.
We enjoyed a complimentary cup of good coffee as a welcome to our stay at R9.
As well, we were given a frozen entree each to cook in the microwave in our room. Japan continues to surprise us with the quality of their prepared foods. The spaghetti we chose was delicious with a yummy sauce, eggplant and ground beef.
