October 23, 2024
Day 28: Ogaki to Yasu
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Take that, Murphy! We finally outsmarted you! I think it was a pyrrhic victory for us. It wasn't the most pleasant experience.
We slept in this morning, then watched the rain come down. It was what I would call a steady light rain. Completely rideable, but what if it gets worse? The idea of sitting around in Ogaki for another day didn't appeal to us, especially with Kyoto within such close reach. So we decided to sally forth without any real plan.
We reluctantly packed our bags, donned our rain gear, crossed our fingers, and started moving in the general direction of Lake Biwa.
Before long, we were back "on script", meeting up with our original route out of Gifu. In some ways, it was nice to be on a tried and tested track. However, I continue to question some of the choices made. For instance, why take us through a long industrial zone, when we could have hooked up with the lake path much sooner?
The final push over the hills into Shiga Prefecture was pretty fun in spots, even in the rain. We could have done with fewer trucks squeezing past us, though.
The industrial zone did bring us one instance of good luck. Hungry and desperate, we checked out a truck stop. Deeming it suitable, we ordered two of their basic ramen. The bowls were huge! And they were filled with so many bean sprouts, we doubted there were any noodles underneath. But the noodles were there, and the broth, and the garlic. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it again.
We finally reached the lake shore. It wasn't terribly impressive. Undeveloped except for a noisy road, it didn't appear to be a biker's paradise of any sort.
Soon the bike path appeared, and while separated from traffic and containing few road crossings due to the existence of the lake, it parallels the noisy road much of the way. There are some some side paths, which we took and enjoyed.
I forgot to mention that the rain faded to nothing, and we even got to see a little sun here and there. That was nice! We pushed our luck and decided that we would camp tonight.
It was a race against the clock to reach our chosen campground, as not only does the office close st 5pm, that's also when it starts to get dark. The longer we wait, the more trouble it's going to be to set up camp.
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We did eat by lantern light, but the small amount of natural light was more than sufficient for us to take in the view of the lake. The wind has picked up, threatening to turn our tent into one of those wacky waving inflatable tube guys. But hey, at least it's not raining!
Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 1,792 km (1,113 miles)
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