Feeling good after the big feed and good company the night before, I set off from Kashiwazaki in high spirits. The weather was set to be a bit cooler than the sweltering heat the day before (although only by a few degrees) and my route promised to be both scenic and smooth.

I remained by the coast. I like cycling by the coast, the view is almost always good, the road flat enough and it’s harder to get lost!

I cycled through Joestsu, one of the bigger cities after Niigata, getting through it quickly by sticking to the main road. Not as pleasant as riding the smaller roads for sure, but in the midday heat I wanted to avoid getting lost as much as possible and the route would be scenic once again when I left the urban sprawl.

From Joestsu to Itoigawa, the next city along the coast, the entire route was a great bicycle path that had been made out of an old railway. It even reused the tunnels, which gave me some respite from the blistering sun.

The home stretch from Itiogawa left the flat shoreline behind in favour of rocky cliff face. The path rose and fell, but none of the rises were extended climbs. The drop onto the ocean was so sheer that the road itself was pretty much s tunnel attached to the rock face. The main motorway was built right out over the sea,the concrete struts holding it up plunging into the ocean. Being a bicycle though, it was forbidden to ride on this road.

It was a descent from the cliffs into Asahi where the sandy shores returned again. The campsite was free for cyclists so I treated myself to an onsen after a day of riding.