November 6, 2024
Day 42: Niihama to Michikajima
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Besides Harper, there were three other groups of campers at the site overnight. Two motorcyclists up near the sinks, who were stellar neighbors, and a family who chose to hang out in the field with us cyclists. They were also great neighbors. They slept in a shelter that's open on one side. You can see it in the background of the photo below.
I ended up chatting with Harper for a while, more about Seattle than Japan. We also shared some info about Shodoshima, which is where he's headed next. When we encounter cyclists going the opposite direction, I always try to get their advice on the places they've been, especially campgrounds. Harper came over from Kyushu, which he loved, but seeing as how we're only going to spend a couple days riding there ourselves, he didn't have much to share with us.
We camped away from trees in the hope that the rising sun would shine on our tents and dry them out. We packed everything else and waited as long as we could, but no luck. We grudgingly packed and left at around 8:30.
We had a fairly long day ahead of us, so we kept our breaks few and short. The roads and traffic were much better than yesterday's, although the scenery wasn't much to look at. We often had a choice between good sidewalk and a decent shoulder, and for a while we even had a painted bike lane!
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Once again we were adrift with no sightseeing detours, so once again I suggested a park on the beach that is also supposed to serve as a free campground. My idea was to reach it just after lunch, so we could digest, dry our tents, and enjoy the view all at once. To that end, I identified a couple of restaurants nearby. The first looked pretty sketchy, but Mei popped in, looked at the menu, and gave us the news. It's basically a set daily menu. An old lady runs the place by herself, so what she decides to cook is what you get. We decided to give it a try. As is often the case with these little holes in the wall, it was great food and a great bargain. On top of that, the owner was really happy to serve us three hungry foreigners. The pleasure was all ours.
Our plan to detour to the beach worked out wonderfully. The breeze was strong, drying our gear in no time. And the park was really nice. We did spot one tent there, so I guess there is in fact free camping available.
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Back on the road, we were starting to get tired of riding through the long urban stretch of Imabari. As cities go, it was low-stress. We were just eager to see something different.
We stocked up on food at the last konbini before the start of the Shimanami Kaido. Four kilometers later, we spotted the causeway leading to the bridge. We were finally about to get our wish of seeing something different.
After the bridge, we traversed the island of Oshima, which was nice, but we were running late and didn't have time to dawdle. It included a decent climb, so we didn't exactly fly across the island, but we made good time.
As we reached the next and final bridge for the day, a formidable headwind developed. It was a preview of things to come.
The turnoff to our "exclusive" island campground couldn't have been more obvious. And to think I was afraid of missing it!
The path meandered down to the shore, where we witnessed many tents, and many small motorcycles. We were the only cyclists. While we've had some weird encounters with motorcyclists, lately they've all been gentlemen, and I think we've developed a very positive attitude toward a them as a result.
Remember those headwinds from earlier? We were now experiencing the same gale-force winds while trying to set up our tents. I'm not sure which was worse. Anyway, we eventually managed to get everything staked down. We took our stoves over to the sink area to cook, since it was somewhat sheltered from the wind, and it had a nice platform that we used as a table.
The winds have subsided. It's somewhat cold outside, but it's pretty cozy in the tent. Tomorrow will be our longest-distance riding day of the week. We plan to get up early and pack quickly. Please join us for more Shimanami Kaido adventures!
Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 2,378 km (1,477 miles)
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