Written by Dave Mitarai, Osaki Shimozima to Hiroshima– Back to the mainland (47k, 460m) Today’s theme was about finishing up the Tobishima Kaido cycleway and returning to the “mainland”. Counting the island we stayed on, we cycled on four islands today before crossing back to Honshu, the “mainland”. We enjoyed our island time for sure, … Continue reading Back to the mainland, Day 10 – September 30

Written by Dave Omishima Island to Mitarai, Osaki Shimozima – Island hopping (38k, 166m) With no brekkie on offer in town other than what was available at the Lawson mini-mart, we bought milk last night in anticipation of having brekkie at the hostel. It was nice having granola for a change – never thought I’d … Continue reading Island hopping, Day 9 – September 29

Written by Dave Konoka to Omishima Island  – A tunnel, a rat run and lots of islands (97k, 860m) We slept very well at the Onsen – perhaps it was the long soak we took before retiring to our room. We retired early because the restaurant was closed at 6 even though they said it … Continue reading A tunnel, a rat run and lots of islands, Day 8 – September 28

Written by Dave Kochi to Konoka Onsen – Gorges, bridges and a great Onsen to finish (64k, 900m) Our bikes survived just fine locked in the outside car park. We should not have worried. In fact, there were 5 high-end bikes parked outside overnight – ours, plus one owned by a Korean chap (we never … Continue reading Gorges, bridges and a great Onsen to finish, Day 7 – September 27

Day 6 – September 26 - Muroto to Kochi – To the cape and along the breakwater (103k, 480m) Written by Dave I woke up at 5AM, just in time to see the sky start getting light from our beach front window. It took probably another 30 minutes for the sun to actually come up, … Continue reading To the cape and along the breakwater

Written by Dave Minami to Muroto  – Stunning Shikoku coastal ride (67k, 660m) What an amazing day of cycling – one wow view after another. At times the road was seemingly right on top of the waves. Plus we had a tail wind and nice weather. You won’t find any complaints in the comment box … Continue reading Stunning Shikoku coastal ride, Day 5 – September 25

Written by Dave Tokushima to Minami (Hiwasa)  – Rolling Shikoku  (53k, 395m) We had another slowish start today but still managed to be rolling by a little after 9AM. The husband owner was around this morning and there was lots of Google assisted chatting. I’m getting smart and sending Nancy in to take the lead … Continue reading Rolling Shikoku, Day 4 – September 24

Written by Dave Osaka to Tokushima – Japan impressions - (40k, 280m) We were up early, our bodies are probably still a little on PST time and both of us were slightly anxious to get on the road for our first day. We hit the hotel buffest when it opened at 6:30 doing our best … Continue reading Finally riding in Japan, Day 3 – September 23

Written by Dave This will be the first possibly many Japanese food posts. For starters, we both slept well and we are mostly over jet-lag. Free brekkie at our hotel was great fun, a buffet full of many traditional Japanese treats – fish, rice, oddly cooked eggs and of course miso soup. I even tried … Continue reading Ichi, Ni, San – One, two, three– September 22

Written by Dave I’ve been thinking about “our first post from Japan” for over 3 years. I thought I’d write about big exciting things like temples and shrines, or maybe crazy busy cities. Or perhaps I’d focus on some amazing Japanese food or some weird “only in Japan” discovery.  Possibly it would be the traffic … Continue reading Travel Rookies – September 21