Hokkaido Ride - Day 5 - Rebun Island

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th, 2006

WAKKANAI to REBUN

38km 3h:44m

The morning dew was everywhere, soaking the tent and the picnic table down. I skipped breakfast today and just boiled up some water to drip through my coffee filter while I packed up. It was only 5k to the ferry terminal down that steep hill I climbed on empty last night. The ferry from Wakkanai to Rebun was fairly pricey (3410yen) when compared to the $10 it costs to roll from Vancouver to Van Island by bike. It was a pretty uneventful ride, except for my happiness at getting out of Wakkanai and already at Rebun by Day 5. An older lady asked me, "Can I talk?", when I had maps strewn about and iPod half in. I obliged but all she really did was mispronounce Saskatchewan over and over.

The ferry reminded me of my first ferry going to Victoria in 2001, and again in 2002 with Ood and Jerry while they got tanked and spilt chips all over my car, good times. That road trip was awesome, for one reason, because Chang ate MacPoulet with me and I caught it on film. The last time I was on Van Island was last October for a quick trip to Nanaimo after a few days in Vancouver and Whistler, another great trip that was.

When we docked up I took the south road first to the point where it ends (see picture above). You can tell that this area certainly hasn't been caught up in tourism like other parts of the island. The road is one lane, narrow, running along the ocean, with old wooden houses lining the way. From the end I rode up to the small village and into the Seicomart. It may seem like I always go to Seico, because I do. Convenience stores in Japan are unreal. You can get fresh meals (bentos), sushi, onigiri (rice balls), groceries, the usual junk food, plus booze (which you can get individually in as many as you want), and not expensive either. I recalled being stuck out last night at Wakkanai with no drinks/food so I stocked up on four tallcans and some food this time. The coastal rode heading north is beautiful and so quiet. I noticed the absence of the truck tires humming by me right away, a stark difference to yesterdays jaunt. The towns seem nearly deserted and half the buildings are shuttered up. It took some time and a few wrong turns, but I found Kushu Lake Campground. It was nice to set up before 1pm for once and dry everything else. The camp manager insisted I take a cling wrapped fish as a 'service' after I checked in...I tried to refuse but when he found out I had salt and a frying pan, he insisted. It ended up being pawned off on another camper later on.

Remember the Muppet Show? Now think of those two old guys that heckled the entire show from the top balcony. Their names were Statler and Waldorf in case you're racking your brain trying to remember. I found their Japanese counterparts today. These two roll in with huge tripods and cameras to take a fun shot of the lake signboard with them in it. One of them hung upside down on top of it arms outstretched, I don't know how he didn't slip a disk as he's in his 60's. I started talking with them and it turned into about a full hour long conversation in Japanese about my bike, trailer, their fishing, their photos. They loved the fact that I quit my job so that I could bike tour around for a while. A little while later while I was frying my corn on the cob and sipping a Heine, I was called over to their mini truck. They had converted a mini K truck box into a full kitchen suite with cupboards etc, but barely enough room for one to sit cross legged inside of it and cook away. Their second vehicle was a van in which they'd sleep and carry gear. They're from Kyoto on a road trip. Anyways, Statler gave me a huge grilled Salmon! Anyone who knows me, knows I ate my first ever fish when I was 24 yrs old (5 yrs ago), a victim of growing up on the prairies I guess. Now I dont mind the odd fish, and after boiling up KD and curry the past week I was primed for a feast on the salmon, it didn't disappoint.

Yet again, I was in bed by 7pm when I heard rumours there was going to be super heavy rains coming.

Hokkaido Ride - Day 4 - Russian Culture Shock in Wakkanai

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th, 2006

SHOSANBETSU to WAKKANAI
115km 5h:25m

Just a long, long, day. The coastline from Shosanbetsu heading north is still amazing, and there must've been a tailwind because I could keep it at 30kph pretty easily. This northern part of the coastline is obviously less travelled, and there are alot more farms around. My keitai (don't buy Foma) kept dying so fast, I had to buy a battery charger at the 7/11 so I could call the travel agent and sort out my upcoming flight to Thailand. I reached Toyotomi at 70k or so and had a break and Papico at the Seicomart. The clerk in there was a super nice guy who told me of a campground 15k away, or I could carry on 40k to Wakkanai. My competitive side got the better of me and I decided to roll on to Wakkanai against my body's (and rapidly deteriorating ass bones) wishes.

I reached Wakkanai city by 4pm (sun set comes by 6 here). I found a 100yen Shop (like a Dollar Store, but about 1000 times better), and parked my bike to resupply inside. Only then did I notice the stares by the Russian sailors all around. I make a point of nodding, saying hey, smiling... they made a point of staring me down, mumbling, and generally looking angry. They looked like hardened men who couldn't see or understand the logic of someone deciding to quit his job to ride his bike around for awhile, and carry all he needs with him. I felt decidely UNEASY in this place. Being a foreigner in Japan (me), has definitely changed me in some way. Being almost exclusively around Japanese has lulled me into a sense of security maybe. I know of an expat American who swears he feels a hundred times safer here than back home. It was almost like a minor case of culture shock. My first time returning to Canada after 1 yr in Japan, was for Christmas 04. I remember having breakfast in San Francisco Airport, jet lagged, tired, and slinking down into a corner watching all these giant white folk lumbering about, and I know this is generalizing, but I couldn't believe how big everyone was. Here now in northern Japan, with foreigners all around me, maybe I understood for a second how some Japanese folk may feel, encountering a foreigner in their all-Japanese looking land. Like the song, have I been "turning Japanese" the past two and a half years?

Well I searched in vain at hardware shops to find a 12v battery for my speedometer, then proceeded to the only campjo around, ShinrinKoen. A map is flat, and on a map, the route looks flat, right? I was at over 100k for the day, mentally exhausted, and now I was staring up at the largest hill/small mountain around, the campjo was on top of it. Angered, and eager to get this

day done with and get some sleep, I charged up the hill. It was one of those hills where even in granny gear, you are barely able to push. Once I made it to the top, exhausted and sweaty, I

got to the campground just as darkness came down. I definitely earned a coke or an aquarius with that effort I told myself.

After searching around, I was crestfallen to see there were no vending machines in sight, only at the bottom of the hill perhaps...... I boiled water and ate a double helping of curry and rice before falling flat out asleep in less than 3 seconds.

(photo) Wakkanai city and ferry terminal view from atop the campground hill

Hokkaido Ride - Day 3 - Ororon Coastline

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2006

OBIRA to SHOSANBETSU 68km 3h:43m

I took a nice slow morning today cooking up an egg sandwich and enjoying the coffee. This campground has a great lookout tower where the picture to the left was shot from. It's looking north up the west coastline of Hokkaido, at today's route. I rolled out by 10am, and tried to take the service road on the way out. At the bottom of the hill it was gated shut though, so I had to climb back up and go the long way around. I've got nothing but time though. The coastline along the Japan Sea was unreal today, absolutely a perfect day. I went through Tomamae, Haboro, and in the village of Shosanbetsu I asked a Nurse outside for help. She pointed me towards an awesome campground (free too) that also had a nice onsen. The onsen is a must after a day in the saddle. An onsen is a big bathing area, separated into male and female rooms of course. It's usually fueled by an underground hot spring, and sometimes touts it's distinctive 'healing' powers and special minerals. You always (unless you're an old Japanese man who thinks he's above that) shower/shampoo/soap/rinse BEFORE entering the onsen pools with the other naked guys. My first ever onsen back in December 2003, I was petrified. I had been taught the basics, wash and become clean first, then enter the onsen baths. I was with a Japanese friend who spoke no English, and at that point I spoke next to zero Japanese. I sat on the Lilliputian stool and washed down completely. But my friend hadn't yet finished washing, so I thought, damn maybe I haven't done it right (enough?). I proceeded to soap/shampoo/wash/rinse a second time, not wanting to offend anyone. After that we entered the ultra hot onsen waters, where we stayed for a long time, having nothing to talk about, each of us believing that the other must just really like the heat.. it became a war of attrition, each thinking the other would get out when we were "supposed" to get out. When we both finally did emerge from the waters, I nearly collapsed with a head rush. After some time though, most people do fall for the onsen culture, and I admit it's on my Japan Top 5 list without a doubt.

After setting up my tent above the ocean side cliffs, I bee lined it to the onsen. It was great to finally shave (what would be my last shave for the next 10 days), and the other good thing about onsens is they have a 'resting area', for after your bath. I lay back on the tatami and cushions, plugged in all my electronics that needed re charging (camera, phone), and even ordered up a Nama (draft beer in a mug).

After a spaghetti cook up during sunset, I went into the Star Observatory also right next to the campjo. On the top level is a shutter that rolls up, and a rotating top, which houses a 65cm telescope, HUGE. The guy explained it all to me in the simplest Japanese that he could, and was super helpful even though the sky was clouded a bit. He showed me a gas explosion, exploding star, and some of the constellations that he could see. It always impresses me in Japan, many times a worker will go to great lengths to show you a good time, to help you out, and it's not to get extra tips, because tipping is not customary at all. One time in a Lawson convenience store I was late for a train so I left a 5 yen coin and ran out (5 cents), the employee called after me and ran after me that I had forgotten it. It's people that help you out though that you want to tip, you want to show that you appreciate the extra lengths that they went to. I don't agree with businesses in toursity areas of N.America which pay their employees minimum wage, and then tack on tip charges automatically to the bill. A tip is for service above and beyond, not for someone with hat on backwards pants falling down, slurring speech and who doesn't make an effort. When I worked in tourism for a long time, I couldn't stand people who expected a large tip, when they hadn't done anything to deserve it but their job. That's just my little rant on gratuities, if someone does a good job, show them you appreciate it, whether its with money, words, a deep bow, a smile, or a handshake.

Hokkaido Ride - Day 2 - Your First One

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2006.
ATSUTA to OBIRA 107km 6h:08m

Noone forgets the first time, you're panicky, nervous, excited, don't know what to expect.. and then you enter closing your eyes and holding your breath. Tunnels are one of the biggest challenges to a bike tour in Japan. The bubble money of the 80's convinced every MP to build massive theme parks, dam every (and I mean every) river in Japan, and build bridges, big spanning bridges, and rather than blow aside any mountainside, they would first reinforce the landscape with godawful concrete slabs holding the land down and set up landslide/avalanche guard rails, and then, they made tunnels. Tunnels everywhere. "What? There's a 40m stretch where we can't get around? Build a tunnel!". Tunnels of course, save alot of hill climbing, at a huge cost surely. Tunnels for cars = good times. I remember as a kid going on weekend camptrips with the family, Griswold style. There was one tunnel that was semi long going into BC, and we'd all rip the windows down in the car and Dad would lay on the horn for us to hear the echo. Yes, we were easily amused back then I guess. Since coming to Japan though, tunnels have become second nature. My civil engineering studies from so long ago still force me to think about how they built the tunnel, or how the forces are keeping that bridge up. Tunnels for bikes = usually hellish and life threatening. But I've got ahead of myself here....

After a horrible fitful sleep, hearing trucks rolling in and past, people talking, vending machines humming, I was up just after 5am. There was a small green van parked near me, in it was a middle aged Japanese guy from Shiga-ken who was traveling around Hokkaido on a month long solo tour. It's always nice to meet Japanese people who are breaking the norm, who don't mind being the proverbial 'nail that stands out', but don't get nailed back down into the 'harmony'. When I went to hook up my B.O.B. trailer, I realized one of the pins was missing. It must've fallen out since the rubber safety band is so old that it deteriorated and broke off (even though I just bought this in June....). Mr.Shiga-ken helped me search on hands and knees through the grass and gravel to no avail. The pin (as you'll hear about later....alot) is crucial to the trailer staying attached to the quick release on my back tire. Without it, or even with only one side clamped to the bike...well it would be ugly. I had one spare that I now set up on the bike, and he grabbed his fishing wire to make sure I wouldn't lose it again, and even put bright green tape on it so if it does fall off again, it'll be easier to find. This is all well before 7am. One last check, and I found it! Safe for now....

I rolled off north towards Rumoi, again not having a sniff of a clue where I would stay. Gear issues seemed to be the theme of the day though, when my speedometer mysteriously stopped working and I momentarily panicked about how far along I was on my route. It started again after I took all other electro-magnetic devices out of my handlebar bag and moved them to my backpack. This wireless speedometer is starting to become like one of those TVs, where you have to set up a coat hanger on the top for an antenna, and hold your hand at 45degrees NW and cannot have any spoons or forks in the vicinity, touchy little bugger.

The hills up to Hamamasu were tough, and had me sweating at a steady clip. Then the tunnels, oh the tunnels. 3000m, 2400m, 2800m, you name the distance, they built one to match. Its interesting when you're halfway through the tunnel, there's sometimes an exit sign lit up in the musky air saying 1500m to that one and 1900m to the other one... comforting. Some tunnels have a small sidewalk built up, luxury ones have a guard rail to protect you from the keitai (cell phone) typing drivers bearing down on you. The norm is a sidewalk just wide enough for a bike/trailer set up, while my left arm brushes the wall and looks like charcoal by the end. It actually takes considerable concentration to not wobble or weave at all for that long of a time, especially with the echo that reverberates around you when a vehicle approaches. At times you think it must be a massive truck coming by the sound, but then its a little Cube Car. The sound is absolutely terrifying though, I admit it. There were times I would hear a truck coming in hot and I'd stop and hunker against the wall almost fetal-position-like until it passed. Many tunnels actually don't have a sidewalk, only a 1 foot shoulder space of broken down 40 yr old pavement. When I hit these tunnels, I tighten the bandana around my face (the air quality CAN'T be that good), I check all my flashing lights (backpack, seat post, headlight, and valves), and I bear down and sprint through it praying the cars behind me show mercy. The last tunnel before I rounded the coastline to Mashike was under construction. They waved me through their lane (they were only checking for cracks and leaks), so I had the entire construction lane to hum past and not worry! Oh the bliss..

Mashike is one of my favourite little fishing towns in Japan. Japan Inc. definitely left it in it's wake, but it's simplicity and beauty have held. One year ago to the week I was here for the first time with Jaysee and Mef when we camped out near Shokanbetsu Dake. We decided for a midngiht climb up the mountain to be near the summit when the sun came up. It was a hair-raising hike with only headlamps to light the way, and music/country/city word games to keep us from thinking about what those two little eyes that lit up belonged to back there. For the challenge it provided us, it remains one of our favourite mountains. Today I peddled through remembering this, and stopped by the river where the salmon are all valiantly trying to get from the mouth of the river upstream, attracting crowds of locals coming out to see the yearly spawn.

I was on my way to Rumoi, most tunnels far behind me, enjoying the perfect sun and the shining Japan Sea on my left, when I saw a car stopped on the road ahead. The lady had crossed the lanes and was standing on my sidewalk ahead. I had a weird feeling. Suddenly as I'm almost past her, she flags me down with, "Stop stop, Canada?". I slowly look back to the big CDN flag on the back of my trailer, "Umm, yesss". It turned out her daughter Eriko lives in Victoria, BC, and she was calling her daughter from the side of the highway, to Canada, so she could talk to me. Eriko gets on the line, and our conversation was pained and awkward, I'm not sure, were we supposed to hit it off? Talk politics? I don't know still. She asked, "So like, did you meet my mom in the store or campground or something?". I said, "Oh no, she just pulled me over on the highway while she was going to work". She was mortified and asked that I forgive her mom for being so weird. It was a funny story and broke up my day so I didn't really mind. Her mom just gets excited about Canada and is obviously proud of her daughter living there and her ability to speak English (fluently it sounded). Crazy Mom then presented me with some bread snacks which I happily accepted and I waved (and bowed) as I rode off.

I could've stopped in Rumoi, but there's not a good onsen nearby, a crucial requirement for where I'd stay each night. I had heard from Wakako (she's from Rumoi) that the next town up the coastline called Obira has a nice onsen and campground nearby. I trudged on, semi delirious in the heat and running low on energy. I found Yuttarikan Onsen and happily parked my bike and went in for a bath and a soak. I'll explain onsens in another less lengthy blog posting, so stay tuned. It was a great soak and I felt refreshed. I watched another great sunset, then noticed the camp ground was at the top of a hill, a big hill. It took awhile to get to the top, and by then, I was dripping again, thereby negating all positive cleansing effects the onsen had afforded me. The campjo master was a funny old man, charged me for 2 days. I said in my politest 'correcting' Japanese, that I was only staying one night and would be leaving early tomorrow morning. He replied that that may be true, but youre here today, AND youll be here tomorrow, that's two days, 600 yen please. Don't mess with rules and order in this country I guess. 6 hours riding today has left me spent...and yet another early sleep for me.

Hokkaido Ride - Day 1 - First Day Has Got To Be The Hardest

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2006
SAPPORO to ATSUTA - 51km 2h58m

I finally pulled away from the house by about 1130am, the trailer feeling awfully loaded, and the bag within it was crammed as tight as possible. A great feeling to be heading out on the road, north to a place I've wanted to see and explore ever since I landed in Hokkaido 2 1/2 yrs ago.

Getting out of Sapporo with full gear loading me down, that was a challenge to start with. I rode the 12 up to route 5 where I turned north. It eventually turns into route 231 which goes up along the coastline. Rather than dodge school kids and grannies on the sidewalk I stayed mostly in the mini bike lane, but its usually crammed with cars or taxis. At one point I could see a bus pass me, start to pull in to the left to pick a person up, meaning I wouldve been cut off harshly and had to somehow bunnyhop up on the curb. He showed shocking courtesy though by actually stopping IN the driving lane and letting the people walk the extra 4 feet. I was sure to give him a small bow and a wave after.

Once I got up to Ishikari and had a view of the ocean, my odo was reading about 25k's. It was a weird feeling, having no idea whatsoever of where I'd be sleeping that night. I got to a small town called Atsuta and inquired about the campsite, only it was closed for the season. An old guy on a bike told me I could pretty well set up anywhere and suggested the sunset viewpoint lookout. I took his advice and relaxed back while the Kraft Dinner simmered, Day 1 reward.

And I'm OFF!

Allright, all those months ago when I hatched up this travelling plan, its finally coming to fruition. That may not be grammatically correct, but I don't care about now. Today I leave for the Hokkaido portion of my ride.

I spent a full Monday packing, organizing, last minute things, booking visas for SE Asia... logistics! I'm typing this with my fully packed bag urging me towards the door. I'm planning to ride up along the coastline to Cape Soya, Risshiri, and Rebun Islands. Depending on when I get my flight for Nepal will determine when I come back here, but Im guessing itll be about a 16 day ride.

Anyone going to meet up for some booze around the whisperlite? Im out.

Sapporo to Otaru Shizen no Mura

AUGUST 26th, 2006.

Off to meet the Smefs at the campsite today. The ride through Sapporo city took a rong rongu time, and I couldnt wait to have a view of the ocean by Zenibako area. It seemed like I was climbing and climbing for so long, only slightly though. But once I did summit out and see the water, there was an awesome downhill right up into Otaru. I was passing cars along the side, or maybe they were stopped, but either way, it felt fast. A bit of a maze to find my way towards the Shizen no Mura concentration camp. It's located high up on Tengu Yama, on which you can drive or take a ropeway. To bike up it, they look at you funny. They looked at me funny. The climb was a good 8k from the town, and the last 3-4 k was super steep to the camp site. It was a good enough place to visit once, but not again. Rules all over, exit and entry time limits, only cart your goods in, no bbqs in these areas..blah blah. Over managed yet again. Drove down to the onsen in town, where the lady taking my money for her over-hyped lukewarm bath found herself justified to question my nationality (are you Russian?? American?), as well as my skills (do you know how to use an onsen?, shower first, wash, rinse, then enter the tub). Yes I learned this all when I moved to Japan 2 1/2 years ago, thanks racist. Go back to your pervy comic book.

Nice day of riding though, thats the bottom line though right! That and the fact that Smef kept me up for 10 tall cans all night... headache in the morning.

55.3km 2:55m

Obon Day 4 - Setana to Shimamaki

33.2 km. 1h 34m 33s riding.

Actually this wasn't supposed to be a ride day. The people I was with, I figured I should throw my bike on the roof rack and spend a day when they didn't have to wait for me at some spot. But driving along the coast, I lasted about 8k and said pull over. I know, selfish maybe, but it was a crsytal clear day, the Japan Sea was a pefect blue, no wind, I had to do some coast riding. As soon as I started riding once geared up, I killed a Pocari, also realizing Id left my change behind in the car.

There were tunnels galore on this ride. So many I started feeling sick and craving the open air views badly. Thank god the crew stopped at Shimamaki Michi No Eki where I could gear down and get a mixed soft cream in me. Nice enough riding for today.

The 4 day trip ended with 276kms in 13:04:38. I know, Im a stats nerd, Im sure you can live with it if youve read this far.

Obon Day 3 - Oshamambe to Setana

71.5km. 2h 55m 11s riding time. Avg spd 24.4 (tour?). Max 54.3kph.

OSHAMAMBE --> SETANA/KITA HIYAMA

Today there was only one word for how it felt, gooooood. Bolted out of the campsite and down to the ocean, before cutting right to cross over the narrowest part of Hokkaido (60k wide). There was only one pass today leading up to a dam. Knowing there was only one, I pushed up it at a good pace, and inhaled the snickers at the summit. My pace/supply car was still behind me so I had motivation to keep it going. Kept things going at a strong clip the entire ride today (24.4kph), with the sun blazing down at 31 degrees yet again. At one point I crossed through an old village with ancient farming equipment scattered around, an old lady hanging laundry, and next to her, a full size tennis court! It had seen better days, but it was right on her farm in the middle of nowhere.

I arrived in Setana on the OTHER coastline after only a few hours but still felt pretty tired out. For some bizarre reason, most shops close on the biggest holiday weekend here, losing out on the millions of tourist yen that come through. Found a local restaurant with peeling up linoleum in all 4 corners and for yet another unknown reason, I ordered a spicy curry rice. I sweat more in that restaurant than on the ride!

The camp was at Makomanai Dam. Nice place, but bugs as big as small helicopters. Thank god there was a screen tent to use or Id have been in hell. I laid in the tent for a nap and when I got up there was a perfect pool of sweat outline under my starfished body, soooo hot this day. I rode the 9 k into the Kita Hiyama onsen (which is in my top 5 now, even has a slide in it). Felt good after that and the bbq felt even better.

Obon Day 2 - Toya-ko to Oshamambe

70.9km. 3h 43m 23s of wheel spinning tunnel praying time. Avg Spd 19.0kph. Max 59kph

I slept a full TWELVE hours last night along the shore of Toya Ko. Some crazy waves were coming in yet again last night, sounded like they were almost hitting the tent.. it reminded me of last summer when camping along the shoreline of Shikotsu Ko. I had thought it a great idea to be as close as possible to the lake edge, just to sleep near and wake up with the full view of the lake out of the vestibule. Of course by 2 am, the waves are coming in hard (Ill remind you, its NOT the ocean, its a lake). I couldnt sleep without waking up from the thoughts of water coming into my tent, so I re pitched it in the middle of the night on higher ground.

The ride started out rough after yesterdays metric century. I had a weird pain in the groin so I was probably paranoid that I'd pushed too hard and half my guts were coming out. I swung around the lake planning to cut up the hill but didnt see a single sign. I ended up at the Seico mart stocking up when an old man in a 05 Toya Marathon Shirt (I had same one) sparked up a conversation about where I'm going. Nice guy, and he got me onto a shortcut local road that led me towards the ocean where I needed to go. He looked in his 70's but runs in the Toya Ko Marathon every year he said proudly. Damn rights, Id be proud too. The old people in this country always amaze me.

I climbed up past Usu-zan, which last blew in the year 2000 causing a mass evacuation of the town and area. At about the summit I swung past the Nishiyama crater which is still smoking pretty good (like all you ciggy freaks). From there to ToyoUra it was downhill and sweet. Once I got to ToyoUra town, I realized I had to follow route 337 now all the way along the coastline, but it also meant crossing two mountain passes en route. There was many tunnels, which as Ive said before and will say again, are a double sided being. On one hand they save you from a massive hill climb, but on the other, youre stuck in a damp, dark, muggy, smoggy, little rock cylinder with no way out when that one moron driver decides to keep using his cell phone to email someone about a new Glay (gray?glay?gray?). There was one tunnel, where I secretly made a wish NEVER to die in a tunnel. It was narrow, the small 'sidewalk' was wide enough just barely for my handlebars while my left forearm (remember, driving on the left here) scraped the dirty wall. Sketchy is putting it lightly. I hammered through a few of those tunnels and at the other side woud pull over gasping with a racing heart. I made many of those wishes of not dying in a tunnel, can you imagine anything lonelier? Trapped, seeing the light far down at the other end, stinky, etc...

The two passes today took a bit out of me, not that theyre like Rogers Pass in Canada or anything, but the uphills were solid. I passed by alot of other cyclists today, all of whom always wave and say a bit as they pass. Motorbikes seem to also think theyre in the same 'brethren' as pedal bikes so they wave alot as well. When they pedal the same 1000k as some of those cyclists do, then theyre in, until then...

The road leading up to Oshamambe was right along the ocean. I could imagine it'd be pretty steady easy pedalling from here all the way down to Hakodate (an uber popular route). Its right along the water, nice. I recharged in Oshamambe with a 711 Omurice and latte before the last few K up to the campsite. I think it was called Oshamambe Koen, but either way its super green, really nice. I crashed by 930pm...

Obon Day 1 - Sapporo to Toya-ko

SUNDAY, AUGUST 13th, 2006.

100.4 kms. 4hrs, 51mins, 20seconds of wheel turning riding time. One sore ass that was happy to dive into the lake at the end of this day.

What a ride! This Obon Holiday trip I have a support car carrying my necessary gear, meaning I can travel light, trailerless, and fast(?)er. The faster part definitely turned out to be untrue.

I was out the door by 9:30am feeling proud of getting my ass on the go already. I blew a bit of time though by staying along the Toyohira River too long and almost missing the branch off to Route 230. Thinking I could cut back, I climbed a long flight of red stairs carrying my bike, then got lost in a maze of a neighbourhood on top of a hill, in between 453 and 230. I didn't even know it existed, maybe it didn't, it was pretty hot already. It cost me a fair chunk of time, but this isn't the TdF either. After leaving Sapporo, I was reminded about the time of year, Obon.

Ahh Obon time, when each of the 120 million citizens of Japan take their vacation, or go to their small hometown, or go to their grandparents house, or just go to an onsen and call it a vacation...It's a nutshow and you have to be a nutshow just to want to travel during this time. I was never, EVER, happier to be on a bike then when I rode to the outskirts of Sapporo on the way to Jozankei, and saw a slow moving crush of vehicles. I passed at least 100 cubes/minis/civics with hot smoking sweaty people raising their stress levels up a notch. It reminded me of a NYC video I saw where a guy on a bike decides to prove how dumb all the car drivers are and rips through a tunnel with a video cam attached and gets it done in far less time. When I learn how to link, I'll put it on here, for now, just imagine. Getting to Jozankei was no problem, and I stopped at the Seicomart for a bite to eat and at the Onsen Foot Bath for a quick soak in the 31 degree sunshine. I realized I had downed 2 litres of water already. It was going to be a hot one. Jozankei Onsen Town was the 32k point, about an hour forty in. From here I knew the uphill to the summit of Nakayama Toge was next, and after that, a long downhill to Rusutsu and on to Toyako.

Feeling refreshed and refueled, the climb started out not too shabby towards Nakayama Toge. It was a long climb, and the heat started to break my spirit down a little. Its almost 20k from Jozan to the summit of the pass (831m), and took me about 1h 21mins. Heart avg 144 on the climb. A few of the tunnels wigged me out but good times nonetheless. At the summit I was sitting at 54kms, and drank down 2 pocaris and a milo (that's good shit!). I didn't realize just how good a chocolate milk in a vending machine can could taste. A massive crowd of people were on hand to eat up the local 'famous' delicacy, Jyaga-Imo (potatoes fried and skewered, tasty and they stick straight to the hips). It was so hot.. But the downhill was coming...

Down down down... Passing the odd car, concentrating on the shoulder lines, and cruising from the summit to Kimobetsu, 20kms only took 33mins! Max speed was 55.3kph. Funny how my heart was at 143 on a long downhill, mustve been too jacked up. It felt good to be already at 75 kms and not too tired out. From Kimobetsu, I was riding past Rusutsu when I heard a few people screaming. I looked up and just then one of the amusement parks rides was tipping a group of tourists upside down and they were all staring at me, back down at the ground, while they were tipped up 90 feet up...trippy. The rest of the ride was fairly flat, about 26kms taking an hour and 18 minutes. Once I caught site of Toya Ko, I was on fire though. There's a nice downhill winding road into the town, and then I swung right to the campsite (forgot the name). The tent was set up and lawnchairs out. I peeled outta my bike clothes and dropped into the lake next to some awesome kids who were acting out the last samurai with the 'swords' from their bug catchers. After an onsen up on the hill to relieve the chafe, I felt good, but sleepy. Didn't even last for the daily fireworks show at 845 at the lakeside, as I was in bed at 830 and asleep at 833.