I came to Shikoku because I wanted to cycle off it. There is a 70KM cycle course that runs from the city of Imabari, over half a dozen islands on the inland sea via large suspension bridges and then connects back to the mainland of Honshū.

It wasn’t too far from Matsuyama to Imabari where the cycle course ( the Shiminami Kaido) began, only 60km but I wanted to spend the whole day on the crossing. I took a leisurely pace leaving Matsuyama in the morning and headed for a campsite not to far outside Imabari. This way I could spend the whole next day on the cycle route.

The road to Imabari was scenic and, I’ve noticed in the last few days of cycling, not as busy as other scenic routes have been since the holidays have ended.

As I was cycling towards the campground I noticed something I felt was a significant milestone for my time in Japan: it seems like rice harvesting has begun.

Cresting the last climb of the day I caught my first glimpse of the bridge that connects Shikoku to the islands of the inland sea: the start of the Shiminami Kaido.

There were a few people at the campground given it was a Saturday.

camping outside Imabari

This was a pretty short cycle today, only 65KM. I had covered most of the distance the day before. The only real difficulty was the mountain I had to cross to get to Matsuyama, but the road followed the course of a river valley that ran between the mountains so it wasn’t a huge climb.

The mountains that speared me from Matsuyama.

The descent down to the city, visible in the distance.

That evening my host took me up one of the hills for a great view of the city at sunset.

Takamatsu to Niihama was a really nice cycle. It wasn’t too hot, wasnt raining at all. The road was easy to navigate and the scenery was pleasant. Everything you want when touring.

I started off cycling along the Inland Sea coast for most of the morning, purposely taking the longer route than the shorter overland route mostly because I wanted to get a better view of the Seto Ōhashi Bridge a huge suspension bridge that connects Shikoku with the mainland.

I then turned back inland instead of having to cycle through urban conglomeration of Sakaide and Marugame by the sea.

I found a campsite near Niihama. it was completely closed down since the high season ended, but the water taps still worked which was all I really needed so I set up.

The ride from Isumisano to Wakayama port was a short but wet one as heavy rain passed over. At the port I drew the attention of a bus load of kids while eating my cup noodle on a bench at the ferry terminal. I few of them asked for photos with me, it was cute.

my bike on the ferry to Shikoku

It was clear skies after I got off and a really nice ride to Takamatsu. Mostly along the coast with a bit of inland riding towards my hosts place. I hoped to see some whirlpools as I passed through Naruto, but the tide wasn’t right.

very well defined bike path on Shikoku

the road to my hosts place

Nothing of much interest happened today. I didn’t take any photos either so… I guess this will be a quick and boring post.

I left central Osaka and travelled about 60KM south to Isumisano, which is still part of Osaka. It’s where the Kansai airport is located. I stayed there with one of the airport’s air traffic controllers. I was only there so I could be close enough to catch the ferry to Shikoku the next day from Wakayama port, 20km down the road.

There really was not much of interest around here. Yosuke, my host, told me the locals joke that the city motto should be “Isumisano – clear to land”.

Kosuke the hostel owner told me that the easiest way to cycle from Nara to Osaka would be along the route 25, a road that wasn’t a straight shot from one city to the other but circumvented the mountains that separated the two. Looking at the map it also appeared to go straight into the city centre without merging onto any car-only highways.

There was a light drizzle that that got heavier ad I was leaving Nara so I ducked into a diner by the road to get some breakfast and wait out the rain.

The ride from Nara to Osaka was not particularly interesting, I was cycling through urban sprawl all day.

It was obvious when I had arrived at Osaka though, the buildings suddenly shot up in height and the road got much wider.

There was also a deluge of rain when I got int the city. I could tell all day that it was going to rain heavily at some point. I had hoped to get into my hostel before this but I was too slow.

It wasn’t too bad though, actually added to the whole Blade Runner atmosphere that Osaka gives off.

I got into the hostel, dumped my stuff, had a shower then ventured out and road my bike around the neon city for a while. Tried some okonomiaki, a delicious Osaka speciality.

It’s like a savoury pancake, fried and lathered in sauce. The place I went to cooked it in front of you. Just what I needed after a day of cycling through the rain.