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 not to destroy it before some other guests finally showed up and we could at least blame them for the large amounts of food we were eating. We did the cycling community proud.

It took us a while to get the bags packed and I had to also pump up all four tires. I should have done that the other day but was too tired. Even with all of our fluffing about we manage to snap photos in front of the hotel at 9AM and get on the road shortly thereafter. Yes, we are finally riding in Japan.

Nancy convinced me to get a GPS for this trip and not rely solely on the phone and paper maps. I have to admit, she was 100% right. Our route out of town was a bit of a rat-run through backstreets for the first few k – we just rode slow so the GPS could keep up and it was easy peasy to stay on route.

The temps today never got overly hot and we had a slight tailwind, making the riding part fairly easy. We had what seemed like a million stop lights in the first 13k and a bit of traffic. First reports on Japanese drivers are that they aren’t overly patient but that their cars so small, they can overtake and still give us plenty of room. Roads were not wide and the shoulders were limited but it all felt safe. In Australia, it is illegal to ride on the footpaths/sidewalks – here it is legal and expected in many places. Figuring when to take the road or path is a little confusing but we generally worked it out and never got honked at. Having a mostly short day limited stress on us to cover great distance – that surely helped as well.

We saw a few roadies out but not many that were willing to talk to foreigners – we tried of course. There were a couple bikes stopped at a bakery at 19k so we pulled up and had some wonderful croissants. None of the riders there were too keen on chatting. We also had a very nice fresh grapefruit drink and a very ordinary coffee. We’ll need to figure how to order a decent brew – so far we are just confusing the baristas and getting drinks that are not too inspirational.

After the bakery we had our “big” climb of the day. It was so easy, it’s hard to call it a climb. Had it not been for the summit photo opportunity at the top I would have not even mentioned it here. The wind picked up as we climbed and right pushed us to the top.

We reached the ferry terminal 1.5 hours early – even with our doddling pace. The ticket booth was not open so we decided to order pancakes at the terminal café and call it lunch. Nancy loves her pancakes but this was more about having something glutinous in her tummy for the ferry. Nancy “banded up” for the ferry but she needn’t have worried as we had 2 hours of blissfully calm sailing and zero issues in reaching Shikoku Island. We docked at the port of Tokushima right on schedule. Crossing Tokushima City to reach our guesthouse was also pretty easy – much easier than I had feared. Traffic seemed calmer but maybe we were just getting over the morning nerves – the small cars definitely give you the sense of not being intimidated nearly as much.

Our guesthouse is actually an apartment and kind of old/dated – The name is “202 Apartment”. The owner is sweet but spoke almost no English and used her phone to get us checked in. Nancy is smashing the Japanese speaking as I knew she would. She’s even made a couple successful phone calls – a big worry of hers before the trip.

The owner told us where to go for restaurants and groceries and even offered to drive us because it was so far. We took a pass on the ride as it was actually only 5 short city blocks and wandering local neighborhoods is part of why we are out here. After showers and laundry we took a stroll towards the main train station and the shops.

We found the store grocery store pretty easy, then just across the street found a Mom and Pop okonomiyaki restaurant – Bubu International Restaurant .  I think the International part may have been a stretch. It was a tiny place but the husband spoke pretty good English and together mom and pop  made a mean okonomiyaki, one of the best ones I’ve had at least. He took our photo and posted it on his instagram page so I’m sure we’re are internationally famous now ourselves.

Overall, a pretty good first day. Riding was not too bad considering being a lot of city riding, weather was good, ferry was smooth and more good food was found. So far, we like Japan.

Tomorrow we head south, starting a ride out to Cape Muroto. We could probably get there in a day but we are taking two. Going slow means we don’t rush and miss things. Plus getting out of the cities has already proved to be slow riding.  Our bikes are locked in the owner’s first floor café which sadly is not open on Sunday. We’ll be firing up the aeropress in the apartment in the morning…