Day 45: Kami-kamagarijima to Hiroshima

November 9, 2024

Heart

Comment

Heart

Comment

It's our last day touring with Mei. It's difficult not to think of it as the end of our tour as well. In my mind, the tour is divided into six parts, and the last part starts here in Hiroshima. That probably has a lot to do with it. But it also has a lot to do with Mei himself, who is a cheerful and resourceful riding partner, in addition to being a great friend and overall fine example of a human being. It was so great to finally be able to share some time on the road with him. We thank his family for giving him up for a few days to let him join us. Supportive people are a blessing.

Enough of the big picture. In the photo below, we are pushing our way out of the former tangerine grove to start our day. Did I mention that we've been eating a lot of oranges lately?

We had 65 kilometers to ride before the 2:40pm ferry to Hiroshima. What might hinder us today? Hills? Headwinds? Mechanical issues? Macaque attacks?

There were no big attractions on today's ride. Just lots of low-traffic blue-striped tarmac along the coastline of four different islands and the Kure peninsula. Verdant green hills, ships plying the sparkling waters, fishing villages, closeups of the heavy industry that forms the building blocks of modern society. A good number of road bikers out on their Saturday workouts. Very little tourism.

Manhole covers are out, tobidashi are the hot new ticket!

We didn't dilly-dally much until we were absolutely sure there was time to spare. Mei got his first flat tire ever on his Brompton, so that was a surprise. Luckily he located the offending piece of debris quickly, and the patched tube held up just fine for the rest of the day.

There were some neat bridges, and even neater approaches to them. One was a corkscrew that made me dizzy with its endless curve to the right.

This looks like a shipbuilding or dry dock operation, but there was a bunch of scrap metal piled up next to it, so maybe it's a ship unbuilding operation

One problem we encountered on these islands was a lack of places to just hang out. Few parks, few cafes. Enough konbini to keep us fueled, but none with eating spaces. It was a stark contrast to the past couple of days of Shiminami Kaido abundance. After riding for a good ninety minutes without finding any place to take a break, an oasis appeared:

I guess we caught them between their lunch and dessert offerings, leaving us with nothing worthwhile to order except iced coffee. This succeeded in doing nothing but make me jittery. The chairs and umbrellas were great, though, and that's primarily what we were paying for anyway.

After a day mostly hugging the coastline, some hills near the ferry dock took us by surprise, making us work a more honest day than we'd anticipated. We did encounter some headwinds earlier, but the predominant tailwinds more than made up for it.

Finally at the ferry dock, waiting in some much-needed shade

The ferry arrived on schedule, and with the usual quick turnaround time, we found ourselves in Hiroshima before we knew it. I spent most of our time on the ferry putting together an itinerary for the last leg of the tour. It remains a work in progress, but at least we have tomorrow figured out. It gets trickier from there.

First impressions of Hiroshima are that it's a pretty mellow city. Maybe riding along the river had something to do with it. I couldn't help but think of it in the same category as Tokyo, Dresden, Rotterdam, and other cities that were devastated during World War Two. However, the destruction here was on a different level of magnitude, and it was instantaneous. All the competing arguments of whether dropping an atomic bomb was ethical or not bounced around in my head, and I felt a heaviness even as I admired the immediate surroundings.

As we reached the hotel, I became distracted by the logistics of checking in, hauling our gear up to the room, and getting a box for Mei's bike. The latter turned out to be a small adventure and a big success. He got the box, but it took some serious bungee action to secure it to the rear rack. We gingerly rode back to the hotel, where he packed while we organized and freshened up. Then it was off to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory okonomiyaki and a round of beers. Really, a fitting end to a perfect day and an amazing week of touring.

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 2,587 km (1,607 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0