Written by Dave

Toyokunizaki Auto Camp to Kansai, Osaka – Lap of Japan Complete – (25k, 152M)

We’ve made it safely back to the Kansai Hatago Inn on the outskirts of Osaka – our lap of lower Japan is complete!

We could have easily have ridden yesterday’s and today’s rides all in one day, both days were easy and very short. It was nice, however, to have such a pleasant campsite to spend our last night at. The bench looking out over Osaka Bay was perfect for dinner last night and brekkie again this morning. This morning there were planes coming into Kansai, a small fishing fleet and a few curious Eastern Buzzards all competing for our attention. Both of us thought, heck, let’s hand out here for a while longer to prolong the trip. Neither of us said it out loud. And that’s a good thing.

It was supposed to rain “a little” yesterday afternoon, overnight and this morning. We had a few drops of rain around 1AM but due to the coastal winds, we had a dry tent this morning. After a slow wandering ride we arrived at the hotel about noon, and started working on getting the bikes boxed up. By 1:30 it was teeming down rain and everything was soaked (we had a hotel overhang keeping us dry). Had we lingered over a second cup of coffee this morning, well, this blog would not feel so jovial!

The ride in was nice. We spent nearly 100% off the main road, or on the footpath of the main road. When we left here 6 weeks ago, we were very hesitant to use the footpaths. As noted previously, it’s illegal in Australia. It’s not illegal in the US, but you just don’t do it all that much. After six weeks in Japan, we’re all in with footpath riding, especially when your only other option is a very busy roadway with no shoulder.

Japanese drivers are generally polite but sometimes seem to be in a trance. They don’t always slow down and don’t always give you the space you need. I got to where I’d see one coming behind us in my rearview mirror and I’d give them a couple “drunken sailor” swerves. I’d always be to the left when they passed but planting the seed of “that’s a crazy bike rider up there” in their mind seemed to be the best way of breaking the trance.

Anyway, today we had such a short day that riding 5-7 KPH slower on the footpath was safer, easier and much less aggro for us and our fellow road users. It should also be noted that “I” did most of the swerving because Nancy spent most of the 1,500 miles we’ve ridden here on the front. No, not because I tricked her in to breaking the wind for us. It came down to her having the GPS. Whenever I was on the front, she’d invariable look at the GPS just as I wanted to stop for a photo. Front rider slowing + back rider looking down = whoops. We had a couple semi-close calls after which I just stayed on the back. Nancy is now 15% stronger than me (the supposed benefit from drafting) so it’s worked out well for all concerned.

We had quite a few photo stops today, as you do when you are in cruising mode. But for sure the stop of the day came when we stumbled on Yoshida Coffee Roaster’s warehouse. Earlier in the day we searched for “specialty coffee” on Google maps but couldn’t find any on our route. Then in one of those “even a blind squirrel finds a few acorns” moments, we rode right past their warehouse at time when Nancy was double checking a turn. You didn’t have to ask twice – we stopped for a fresh cup in the shadow of their roasting chimney.

So as not to arrive too early at the hotel we stopped again a mall, just 1k from the hotel. They have both Tully’s Coffee and Starbucks. We were at mall 6 weeks ago and figured we could get something at the food court. We ended up at Tully’s but not really by choice.

 I was just trying to figure out where to go and a mall cleaning lady didn’t like where we were walking the bikes. It’s an outdoor mall with special bike parking off in the hinterlands. Even in super safe Japan, we are not parking our bikes laden with all of our worldly possessions off in the hinterlands. We just kept walking. The cleaner called security who met us to escort us to the proper parking area. It was all good natured and he completely lost interest in us before reaching any parking areas when some other folks with suitcases asked him for help. He was not really helping us anyway. We laughed, rolled our eyes and continued onto Tully’s where we parked the bikes “illegally” but out of the way and in a completely safe manner. We really try to be super careful not to offend folks but sometimes just looking like we do (foreigners in bright clothes with bikes) we must trigger something. Anyway, the Tully’s egg and bacon rolls were nice. And the bikes behaved themselves while parked.

Once we reached the hotel we started packing the bikes. The hotel staff were happy to see us and super helpful. It could be because they will be happy to have our bike boxes gone but they seemed genuine. They have stored our boxes in their lobby for 6 weeks. It was all pre-approved and naturally, we thought that they would have a separate luggage room. They don’t but still honored their commitment. Their lobby will house the boxes for a few more days, except now, they have bikes in them. It’s nice to have that job done. And boy, we are super happy that we didn’t linger this morning at camp and that we missed those afternoon rain showers.

We are now working out what to do for dinner. There isn’t much around the hotel and we are both a wee bit tired. Dinner could be a run to Lawson’s – I know – fancy. We’ll post at least once more after we find some “normal” tourist things in Osaka.  For now, know that we are safe in Osaka – thanks for reading…