Sapporo to Shikotsu-ko
This would be my first overnight bike tour, so of course the packing took a little longer than I expected. Ended up leaving at 1130 right when the day was at its hottest, it got up to 32 today! I was sweating up my fresh gear before I hit the road even. The ride was up, up, and hot. First I took Route 12 to the Toyohira River, cruised along it until I hit route 453 at Makomanakoman
ai. From there it got rough, right at that screwed up intersection with route 230, just a clusterfuck for a bike and trailer. Getting down through Ishiyama was nice, but then the hill climbs started, and then kept coming fast and furiously. Many times I looked down and saw a steady stream of sweat pouring off my nose, and anytime I adjusted my helmet another half cup would gush out, it was just so hot. A great climb up, though I was feeling the weight of my camping gear on my trailer. Elevation went from starting at about 10m, rising to 600m, then dropping down some. Before the first summit, an *old* guy rode up next to me. I emphasize old because he was at least 60, riding a Trek Livestrong edition roadbike, decked out and fast looking (youre not a sportsman in Japan unless you've got the gear!). Though he was a nice dude and was good enough to slow down to get me to the top then sailed off. By the way, his route today was Sapporo-Shikotsuko-Chitose-Eniwa-Sapporo. About 145k. Wicked. If that isnt motivation what is??? So then I hit 39k at the turnoff to the right so I could get to Okotan Campsite on the other side of Eniwa Dake. It turned giftshopgirl ugly at that point, rising up from 200metres in only 3k. I was going 4-5kph, barely crawling, and my head turning delirious like the later stages of a marathon. Got to the top summit eventually and killed all my water off, nearly 3 litres. But then I knew there was a big rip of a downhill right to the campsite, 500m or so downhill elevation drop. I was FLYING mate!! It turned out to be a great campspot, had an Onsen over at Marukoma (the one right in the lake) and crashed out by 930 after a beer, curry rice, and spaghetti...
