September 26, 2024
Day 1: Chitose to Shiraoi
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As you can see above, we got some climbing done today, but the grades were quite manageable. It was a real confidence-booster.
On with the play-by-play. My bike computer took us for a mini tour of the back side of Aoba Park before depositing us on a scenic bridge overlooking the river:
Just on the other side lay a pristine bike trail. It gets a little less pristine as it meanders towards Lake Shikotsu, but overall it's well worth the ride.
We finally made it to the lake, and it was pretty, but we were also pretty hungry. We ate at the only place that was open on a weekday, which was one of those rugged outdoorsy Americana-themed places I'd always assumed one could find throughout Japan. The food was meh but the owner was super friendly, creating a cozy vibe that made us feel very welcome while we ate and avoided the on-again-off-again showers that plagued us for much of the day.
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We knew that we had yet more climbing to do, partially because the lake was formed in a caldera, so we had to get out of it. Furthermore, we were headed towards a mountain which we were surprised to discover is an active volcano!
Once at the top of the climb, we had nowhere else to go but down again towards the sea. It was an effortless descent, with only very light traffic in either direction. It finally leveled out into a few patches of farmland:
After riding through a more industrial patch, we finally reached the water:
What followed was some more industry (mostly sand and gravel), and then what seemed like an endless string of konbini. We stopped at one for a rest and a snack, but we were up against a deadline, as the reception desk at our chosen campground was only open until 4pm.
Once in town, we stopped at a supermarket to pick up tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. We rushed but we managed to put together some quality ingredients.
We reached the campground via a mix of asphalt and gravel roads, and easily found the reception office. Which. Was. Closed. In fact, the whole campground was completely empty. We called the number we used yesterday to make an informal reservation. They said they'd be there in 20 minutes. It was more like 30. Meanwhile, we were getting not soaked, but annoying wet nonetheless. Finally, they showed up, we payed up, and put our tent up.
Since we had the place to ourselves, we cheated a little by eating dinner under the covered kitchen area. We brought our fancy schmancy camp chairs over and set them up so that we could enjoy our meal in style. The rain became more and more steady, and as I write this, it's sounding pretty intense. Thankfully we're safe and secure in our tents, and the rain promises to cease by 6am. We'll see.
I'm also very glad to have been able to use this time and connectivity to bring the journal up to date. I was already starting to forget some of the details I'd wanted to include in previous days' entries.
Also, yay, Day 1 of the tour is in the bag! Only fifty-something more to go!
Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 94 km (58 miles)
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