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.
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