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 today!

 We had a leisurely start at the Sakura Guest House with Emi serving up a nice spread while we exchanged more tales with Jenne and Anna. We were all headed down the road before 9 with blue skies and smiles. Jenne and Anna will be riding shorter today so they stopped at the Yakuoji Temple. We’re pretty sure we’ll see them again later in the trip. Regardless, it was really fun swapping stories with them.

We had two choices of route, Highway 55 or Highway 147. Highway 55 was the main road so we chose the 147. It was a little longer but it hugged the coast and had zero traffic. Ok, we saw two cars in 20k, but as close to zero as you’d ever hope for. There were a couple stiff climbs but the views at the top were very much worth it. There was an even smaller, less trafficked road that went down to the water about ½ through 147 but there was a sign saying that there was a washout and the road was closed. Good thing I brought Nancy on this trip, eh?

On 147 we had a tunnel right near the bottom. This turned out to be the first of about 15 tunnels during the day. We lost track actually. We have new generator hubs on bikes that let us have both front and rear lights on all the time. They are working great and are a huge help in the tunnels. Our sunglasses and the sudden change to darkness would be a difficult combination if not for the headlights showing the way. Most tunnels have some form of lighting, but not all of it is super bright. We like our lights.

We stopped for morning tea in Mugi, a small town at the end of Highway 147. We had found a bakery online and decided to give it a go. It was charming and the baker very entertaining, however, we had a bit of an odd choice with regard to the treats I picked out. The first one was some sort of curry filled roll with a crunchy cornflake covering. If it sounds odd, you guessed right. Tomorrow, I’m sending our expert Japanese speaker in to pick out the treats.

After Highway 147 ended, the route flattened out quite a bit. There were no more big climbs, rather a series of smaller, shorter ones. None were hard and honestly, we hardly noticed them as we were so distracted with the ever increasing great views out to the sea. We stopped for lunch at a Uminoeki – “highway stop along the sea”. These stops have everything from gift shops to toilets to restaurants and sometimes lodging. We had a nice bowl of udon noodle soup, giving us great fuel for the last 23k.

After the rest stop, the road got even closer to the sea. There were no more bays and inlets, it was straight shoreline with mountains coming right down to the sea. The road was basically built on viaducts and sea walls barely hanging onto the mountains and giving us the feeling of riding the waves. A nice tailwind blew us along a great pace. It really is hard to imagine a more scenic or enjoyable stretch of road to ride.

We could see that our speed would make us too early for check-in at our guest house (the Ozaki Lodge) so we pulled off the highway into a small unnamed town for an ice cream. In front of the market we met Josephine, a Danish lass who is hiking Shikoku Henro, the pilgrimage to visit each of 88 temples around the island.  This is the famous pilgrimage and those doing it are referred to as Henro . We had a nice visit with her then discovered that she is also staying at the Ozaki Lodge tonight. We got here quicker as she “had” to walk while we surfed the last 3k down the coast.

Our guest house is quaint. It’s our second tatami mat room in a row and there is only a bath, no shower. You have to go to the bathroom, sit on a stool, wash yourself, then you get to enter the tub of steaming hot water. The whole topics of baths here is worth a further post. Suffice it to say that we both enjoyed the soak on arrival.

After baths, the guest house owner brought us a nice tray of afternoon tea to enjoy in our oceanfront room. We supplemented tea with an old-time favorite junk food that Nancy discovered in the 80s while a student in Japan – not sure we earned that treat but what the heck. As for our room, it is stunning. It hangs over the highway, which is hanging over the sea wall, which is hanging over the sea. You could almost jump from our room directly into the sea – the noise is almost deafening. Too bad we can’t surf.

Dinner was included in our fare and here we go again – amazing. I counted 11 dishes each for Nancy and I. And by dishes, I mean the thing that holds food. Some of the individual dishes had as many as 4 different food items in them. All up, there were probably 25 food items. I have no idea how the one woman owner manages getting everything cooked, cut, chopped and so artfully arranged. Even better, our fare also includes brekkie – so we get to do it all again tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow we have a longish day, almost 100k. We need an early start but are the late risers in the group staying here. The other two guests are both pilgrims and both wanted brekkie before our requested 7AM – lucky us, we get a lay in! We are aiming for Kochi tomorrow, a biggish town/city, we think. Lots more coast riding as well out to Cape Muroto – should be another blue ribbon day.