The Honshu Hustle

General Road
41

Well, I’ve well and truly started my adventure!

Flight was shit, couldn’t sleep, what’s new

Had two days in Tokyo introducing mum to its craziness before I sent her on her way with her textile thing

On Monday I headed off on the train to Blue Lug Kamiuma to build up my bike and store the S&S case, the guys at Blue Lug rule and I’m so glad they helped me out.

Just as I headed out the door it started raining!

15km ride from Blue Lug to Ueno station was amazing, bike feels great even loaded and the rain wasn’t too heavy. Riding in Tokyo traffic feels so safe in comparison to back home.

Got to Ueno in half the time the Blue lug guys said it would take, grabbed a bento and a beer and sat in the park watching the world go by as it got dark, and acted as a tasty snack for the damn mosquitoes.

Overnight train was pretty crazy, was in a standard cabin which is 4 bunks jammed in as close as possible. Wedged my bike in but it got squishy as the three other occupants moved in.
An old man (henceforth known as train ojiisan) made friends and gave me beer, whiskey and dried squid snacks. He asked the conductor to put my bike in the end compartment and all was well with the world.
After a fractured chat with train ojiisan I fell into a fitful and long (but crappy) sleep, damn hot and jerky on the train.

Morning brought us to Hakodate in Hokkaido nice and early, I got my bike together and headed off towards the ferry terminal with a brekky bento stop on the way.

Ferry was quick and very comfortable. I was amazed at the care that the workers took when securing my bike.

Landed at Oma, the northern tip of Honshu and stocked up on snacks and drinks at the combini (convenience store)

Hit the road shortly after and was treated to a nice tailwind and a smooth road, not to mention the amazing scenery with the sea on one side and almost sheer mountains on the other.

As I got further along the Coast one of the mountains decided to jut its blocky head out to sea, so up and over I went, glad this was early in the day while my legs were fresh.

After a quick chocolate snack in a park I headed due south and inland. I rode along a highway (not like a multi-lane thing, just a heavily trafficked road) and was holding a cracking pace, then the gentle rain started, then the heavy rain started…
Needless to say I got soaked.
I tried to stop as little as possible and keep the pace up until I turned off onto small local roads which wound their way through mostly cattle farms.

I reached a camp ground on lake Odawarako just on dark. The old man (henceforth known as Odawarako Ojiisan) had a laugh at my bike and gave me the camp site for free.
He garbled on in fluent Japanese, I old caught bits of it like cold, and small tent.
There was one other guy camping who came by motorbike and couldn’t speak English. He seemed concerned at my diminutive camp set up (camping is all about gear here).

I set up camp, had a quick dinner of instant curry rice and whiskey and went pretty much straight to sleep at about 6.

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Moar plz.

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excellent

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How good is dried squid

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have never thought about touring in japan… untiiiiiiiil nooooooow.

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So much jealous (even of the shitty weather).

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YES! Good read Keith - Soak it all in (the experience, not the dampness). Please update when you can.

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Japan is damn awesome for touring, can reccomend highly.

Trip looks mean Keith.

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Awesome, looking forward to moar!

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Was half way through day two post when wifi dropped out.
Stealing backpacker WiFi now but hopefully will have better signal tonight!

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I’m a Smelly poo

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Yes you are

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Thanks Sean…

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ftfy

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Fuck, second post got vanisheded. It won’t be so well written this time around:

Day two.

Woke up feeling amazingly well rested considering how soggy some of my gear was after a hasty set up in the dark.

Had some odd semi conscious thoughts throughout the early morning. Vaguely remember telling myself not to have too many dreams so I didn’t have to carry them, as if they carried some physical mass.

Quick pre-breakfast of cup noodles and chocolate and I was on my way. Lake Odawarako was quite beautiful in the morning.

Rode over a few rolling hills in the farm land before I came across my first town and combini of the day. Fuelled by a hearty Katsu bento I headed on my merry way.

Riding through the farms and dormant rice fields, I wandered along finding it difficult to stick to the blue line on my map, got there in the end!

Quick Vendy stop in a tiny town on top of a hill provided refreshment

I pointed my wheels to the hills. Turning a corner and seeing these monstrosities for the first time is daunting.

Daunting till I realised I would be winding along the valleys, following the rivers which provided ever more wonder at each turn.

Several km later I turned into the Towadako national park and began a long but gradual climb up to the caldera lake. My climb followed a stream famous for its autumn leaves. The road was choc full of vans, busses and jacked up Suzuki Jimnys, but they did nothing to dampen the exquisite views which numbed my thoughts to my tiring legs.

Further up I came across the Kumoi falls, they seemed to be appropriately named

A few more km of climbing and I popped out of the forest and right up next to the caldera lake of Towadako, at this point it was about lunch time and I was ready to head to the small town near my campground for a rest.

As I rode along the lake, I started to climb and hit my first dreaded tunnel, it turned out to be totally fine with a wide footpath on the left for me to take

Soon I reached the town, undoubtedly it had a name, but it is lost in my mind.

A tasty lunch of Katsu curry was welcome, but arriving so early after a relatively short 85km day was to be my downfall.

Without the distraction of the turning pedals my mind began to set itself on the sheer sense of isolation and loneliness that comes from not meeting and English speaker for three days, and being in an internet blackspot didn’t help. I wandered around town, scouted my campground and generally killed time watching the amazing sights.

My inactivity and the dropping mercury began to sink into my bones, I was looking to a night cooler than any of the forecasts at 0 degrees. On a whim I checked some local hotels (I could sure use a shower after three days) but none at all had any vacancies, it became a challenge to find somewhere to stay… Nope, nothing at all. I did find a (full) backpackers with a wifi password plastered on the wall so checked up on the world back home. After sitting outside got too cold I perused the unique flavour of regional gift shop that Japan possesses just to soak in the warmth of the shops.

After visiting the bottle shop and procuring beer and dried squid, I headed towards the camp ground to try and get warm, just on the way out of town I saw a building that just might be a hotel, turns out it was a Ryokan (traditional style hotel), at $120 for the night it was steep but I was captivated and booked the last free room.

Little did I know what I was getting myself in for, it was pure luxury after my Odawarako camp.

The lodging included breakfast and dinner, I didn’t know what to expect but made my way down to the eating area, my senses were assaulted with this magnificence:

Luckily one of the hotel staff spoke fluent English so she could teach me how to cook and eat the delicious morsels in front of me, a mix of sublime and squishy things filled my tummy, along with a very large, very cold beer.

Just as I was finishing up the nice lady mentioned that the portly man in the corner had seen me riding up the hill while he was riding his motorbike and that he was very surprised to see me there. I told her where I had come from and where I was going and soon I heard her talking to the man (henceforth known as moto ojiisan) about my adventure.

After desert moto ojiisan came over with fractured English and a handful of Japanese road maps and pamphlets, he told me about his motorbike journey and showed me nice places to go and cheap hotels to stay at.

Soon the whole place which was populated exclusively with old men and women knew what I was doing and found the whole notion very novel! They didn’t understand why a young man would want to stay at a traditional Ryokan, but I enjoyed the whole place thoroughly!

After dinner it was time to try out the traditional Onsen style bath. I haven’t done one of these before so followed the old man who went in before me. Yep, kit off, balls out and time to wash.
You wash yourself on a small stool in a kind of shower cubicle and then into a very hot large wooden tub which is exposed to the outside air (which was getting very cold at this point) my muscles thanked me for the soak and it was time to head to bed

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A+++

The story is getting better and better

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Cool pics! The autumn leaves along the road look really nice. Very jealous!

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Day three (today):

I awoke to a lovely sunny day and a breakfast that rivalled the dinner in both squishiness and deliciousness.

Heading off at 8:30 seemed lazy but the breakfast worth it and the sun beaming

Riding past the bleak and empty campground out of town I had no regrets for my decision of lodging.

Very soon after the campground I headed south and over the very steep crater wall.

About half way up moto ojiisan came past on his Harley and wished me good luck

At the top I stopped for a photo at a lookout congested with the contents of a Chinese tour bus. One gentleman proudly took off his jumper to reveal the cycling jersey he was wearing, he poured over my bike telling his mates about the campy cranks and chris king headset, we exchanged buisiness cards, I think he owns some sort of bike store in china.

A quick vendy stop and I was jetting down a well earned descent, breaking the speed limit all the way down felt good if a little cold

After the steep descent was over I was treated to a very long and gradual descent, big ring time and speeds around 30-40kph chewed away the km while the river alongside the road provided a visual treat.

The descent led me to a string of small country towns, most seemed to be devoted to growing apples and they had sheets laid out lovingly for the fruit to fall on to.

After the towns and a few punchy climbs I turned onto a large plain and a big arterial road. The going was fast and the snack stops plenty as the towns came and went.

A few close traffic calls (all my fault) made me realise I was getting tired.

Soon I turned towards a large valley and rolled along the old winding road that travelled alongside the formidable expressway

The road wobbled along, with the highway and train tracks playing an odd criss-crossing game of tag.
A gentle but relentless headwind and gradual climbing slowed my pace right down.

Every view or vending machine was a good excuse to stop at this point

After what felt like a very long time I exited the valley and began a slow and difficult slog down the main road and through some towns.

One provided cheap and delicious sustenance

Eventually Mt Iwate, my destination and an active volcano loomed into sight. The weather was starting to get cold again and I was looking forward to bunking down in my bivvy

I turned off the highway and headed towards the campsite and here is where stuff got weird…

This ‘road’ took me past abandoned farmhouses and foul smelling cattle farms, every corner turned offered either construction workers in large trucks or military jeeps full of soldiers on their way to exercises.

Something that looked like an abattoir but smelt like ripe corpses and lime really put me ill at ease

At this point I was very ready to bunk down, the final turn on to the road leading to the campground was not what I expected

According to the map I had just 4.1km of steady, slippery, rocky climb to my destination so on I headed.

Past abandoned and active cattle farms I headed the beautiful scenery dulled by the shitty climb and distant but close sound of excavators.

Finally, I reached a barbed wire fence, right across my path.

I was faced with a few options, free camp or go back to the highway and spend the night at a dodgy highway hotel.

Luckily I had a bar of reception on my rented wifi device so I headed to a booking website and found the nearest hotel with a spare room. A ski resort hotel just 20km away, though in time it was much further away being firmly stuck in the 70’s

It was just getting dark so I turned about face and descended the rocky road, happy to leave it and it’s cattle stink far behind.

Riding past what looked like an insane asylum I headed out on to clear roads and a mix of adrenaline and a desire for a wam bath lent strength to my legs.

Even in my state of hurry I and to stop and take in the sunset and views of Mt Iwate, a quiet giant watching over me, it’s stomach brewing a molten ball of rock ready to spew forth without a moments notice.

It was getting dark and cold now so lights on, a steady descent was welcome, oddly dressed men and souped up tiny vans in the wilderness were not. I paid them no heed as I sped on towards my time warp destination.

24km on top of my day was not what i wanted but I gave it all the gas I had.

Of course being a ski resort hotel it had to be half way up a bloody mountain… A steady climb in the dark while telling my legs what to do took the last of my energy.

I arrived, shaking slightly and drenched in sweat despite the cool temperatures.

Bus loads of Japanese tourists followed me, eager to don their free Yukatas

and now I sit, with all the comforts of warmth, whiskey and a nourishing dinner of squid and cup o soup, ready for a fucking bath!

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Even better! Sounds like a weird end to the day but they’ll be good stories in retrospect.

Thanks for doing the diary; enjoying reading each entry.

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The sheer diversity of experience in just one day is such a surprise. No other style of travel has given me this.