Adventurous Cyclist " Pacific Coast Japan "

[adventurous cyclist]

My last adventure led me up to Ishikawa on the Sea of Japan side, but then travel restrictions came into place in May, so back to Ube, Yamaguchi I went.
My starting point again is Ube, Yamaguchi. But today and it seems like the rest of the week rain is forecasted so I'm on hold at the moment. I will cross over from Yanai, Yamaguchi into Shikoku. Anyone here live in the prefectures of Shikoku ?
I'm looking forward to touring Japan and maybe see some of you guys.
I'll continue this post on the day of departure, sadly its not raining at the moment, guess I could of left this morning. I don't really have a time schedule so currently its all open. I did want to make it to Hokkaido last time, but time will tell whether I get up there or not. I don't have any train hopping scheduled so... wow... Suggestions are always appreciated.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

Got my bike all packed now. I did my best to lighten the load.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

The cooking stuff is in the Ostrich bag and clothes on the other side. ( maybe a bit too much, but its all light. the front gear is misc stuff for easy access . Rear carrier is tent, sleeping bag and 2 chairs ( actually one chair acts as a table, LOL ) . Hopefully tomorrow is doesn't rain and I'll be on my way. Going to be hot though.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Got my bike all packed now. I did my best to lighten the load.

Wow! I really admire that you can actually ride with all this stuff hanging on bike. It looks quite unstable.
As it seems you are "always on the road", maybe you could invest in a full frame bag? That probably would help you a lot.

Also, probably we can get some tips from the guy who is doing a longer version of the TdF, fully unsupported.

Pro Bike: Lachlan Morton's 'Alt Tour' Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod Disc

Morton's Cannondale is outfitted with plenty of bikepacking gear for his self-supported 5,510km Alt Tour around France

www.bikeperfect.com

 

[adventurous cyclist]

Wow! I really admire that you can actually ride with all this stuff hanging on bike. It looks quite unstable.
As it seems you are "always on the road", maybe you could invest in a full frame bag? That probably would help you a lot.

Also, probably we can get some tips from the guy who is doing a longer version of the TdF, fully unsupported.

Pro Bike: Lachlan Morton's 'Alt Tour' Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod Disc

Morton's Cannondale is outfitted with plenty of bikepacking gear for his self-supported 5,510km Alt Tour around France

www.bikeperfect.com

Thanks for the link. I cut back on a lot since my first trip, even bought a lighter tent. The front bag is a bit on the heavy side though. Going straight the bike seems to be balanced OK, but if to make a sharp turn... which I hope I never have too... well maybe not so good.
Again, thanks for the link. So good reading on it.

 

[Kangaeroo]

Good luck! Keep us posted

 

[speedwobble]

Good luck! Aerotuck touring with minimal gear like the TdF guy has its merits, but so does old-school load-up-what-you've-got touring like yourself.

Japan being Japan, I'm sure there'll still be hills to climb even if you stick to the coast.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

Hi guys
Well yesterday was something of an experience that I would not want to try again.
I'm going to try to post what is on my bike little computer thing. So I'm not sure how long it will take, but I want to say this.
1. Left the house at 5:53 am
2. Roads taken 109 409 2 and 236 I think
3. Typhoon winds
4. Blast of heavy rains
5. 2 tunnels with little space to ride a bike ( story to follow )
6. Had to walk up the mountain on route 2 , about one hour strong winds and heavy rains and one truck that ... well... some of you know what I experienced
7. Campsite closed due to Covid 19
8. Heavy rains, forget about any wild camping
9. Goal was to get Yanai and the next day take the ferry to Shikoku
10. Hotel or train back to Ube ?

Let me see if I can post a few pictures of the little computer on the bike. Nope, got to download them on the computer. Hold on.

Well I figured out to post them. No pictures of my travel yesterday. Horrible weather.

My story.
Day started out great, did take me 2 hours to get out of my local area though. Hooked up on route 2. Mostly a pedestrian path along road. Easy going. Around 11 am the weather changed . Hot and humid and raining ( not too bad yet ) Then around noon time I hit the mountains before Shunan . Then I run into bad weather. Had to walk up the mountain and no space to say of, on the road. There were 2 areas I must call " suicide challenge " . Hundreds of trucks past me and they were really going out of their way NOT to get close to me, but one truck driver thought the opposite. I thought I was going to get sucked under the rear trailer. End of story.
Had 2 tunnels to go through, very little space. Story is in both tunnels the trucks slowed down and gave me a lot of leeway. The second tunnel I had to walk my bike through, it was just too never racking, but the trucks were kind to me. NO BS.
The weather turned really bad like every 45 minutes, then would clear up. My glasses were soaking with sweat. I finally made it to Shunan. Raining cats and dogs and typhoon sudden winds. For some reason there was a gas station just in the nick of time to save me from what would be a decision I'd have to make. At the station the attendants did some googling and found out the campground in Hikari was closed. Not that I actually now was going to ride there due to the heavy rain, but also searching for some park or shrine to set tent . But that was going to be impossible now.
The weather gave me a 30 minute break. Was it going to be a hotel in Shunan for the several days or just postpone my first destination of Shikoku. A decision I quickly had to make. Find the nearest train station and head back to Ube. I was able to get to Nimatsu ( hope thats right ) and pack my bike and on the noriba and suddenly typhoon rains and winds. Were the trains still going to run. Well, yes. I left Shunan, short of about 32 kilometer to Yanai. If I could have made it to Yanai, I might have hotel'd it a night, but the forecast was rain for the next 7 days. Today there was level 4 put out in Hiroshima and very heavy rain in parts of Yamaguchi.
Did I make the right decision to head back to Ube. YES ! Will I take this route again to get to Yanai, NO. Way too dangerous in about 3 kilometers and 2 tunnels that, words can't express the thanks to them trucks that gave me some leeway.
Am I still going to Shikoku and on... I'd like too. But then, hey, typhoon season. LOL
It seems like I put 87 kilometers on the bike, speed 12 kilo per hour, not sure what MIX means, calories I guess 740 and I don't know what that 416 is. From almost 6 am to 4 pm I was biking other then taking shelter under the bridges and gas stations and Lawsons. Did drink about a gallon of water though. And no food all day long.
That's my adventure . LOL Man, I'm glad I made it back to Ube in one piece. I'm telling you , this was one heck of a bike ride.

 

[jdd]

So, have you had a beer yet...?

 

[adventurous cyclist]

So, have you had a beer yet...?

And a few smokes too.

 

[kiwisimon]

MX would be your maximum speed. Sounds like you have an adventurous cycling. Yep trucks are 99% great, it's the 1% that will kill you.

Have you tried playing with ridewithGPS.com ? You can compare routes and find the flattest and less congested roads.

P.s. Just cause a campground is closed it doesn't mean you cant sleep there. Often easier to turn up, keep a low profile and feign ignorance.
weather outlook is better from Sunday omwards down there.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

MX would be your maximum speed. Sounds like you have an adventurous cycling. Yep trucks are 99% great, it's the 1% that will kill you.

Have you tried playing with ridewithGPS.com ? You can compare routes and find the flattest and less congested roads.

P.s. Just cause a campground is closed it doesn't mean you cant sleep there. Often easier to turn up, keep a low profile and feign ignorance.
weather outlook is better from Sunday omwards down there.

Hello Simon
It was a no win solution for me. The weather was like it was in Hiroshima at times. There was no way I could pitch a tent even at the temple I saw which looked very inviting. The winds and rain was a gale forces at time. I had to walk the bike at times due to the strong winds. I couldn't make it to the campground even if I wanted to. The heavy rains was too much. Overall I'm glad I set off to meet a challenge .

 

[microcord]

I really wonder whose weather forecast you had relied on.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

I really wonder whose weather forecast you had relied on.

The weather going through the mountain range was bi-polar. Seriously though, it was one heck of 87 kilometers of wtf am I doing here. LOL

 

[jdd]

Since you've already ridden the first section, how about next time taking the train from Ube to Shunan--or even from there on to Yanai?

Tho I'm not familiar with that part of the country, from your mention of trucks and tunnels I'd guess it's not the most pleasant riding.

So skip riding that, train it to Shunan/Yanai, get on the ferry and you'll then have all of Shikoku.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

Since you've already ridden the first section, how about next time taking the train from Ube to Shunan--or even from there on to Yanai?

Tho I'm not familiar with that part of the country, from your mention of trucks and tunnels I'd guess it's not the most pleasant riding.

So skip riding that, train it to Shunan/Yanai, get on the ferry and you'll then have all of Shikoku.

Yes, I have nothing to prove by riding that route again. For the most part other then the weather it wasn't bad. But the 2 tunnels and what I called " suicide sections", which were lengthy and the one truck that I thought this is it...
I will take the train to Yanai. I could get off at Shunan and cycle the next 36 kilometers, but I don't think I'll do that. The weather down here is still rainy, but seems now to be clearing up some. I haven't decided whether to leave this week, but hopefully next week if the rainy season is over.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

Just got this info on the ferry out of Yanai port, but I didn't see any departure times.

Update; I found the departure times.

運賃・割引案内（柳井〜三津浜） | 防予フェリー

山口県の柳井〜愛媛県の松山を結ぶ運航フェリーと、周防大島への運航フェリーのご案内。

www.boyoferry.co.jp