Written by Dave Tenku-no-mori to Kyukamura Autocamp – Mt Aso (61k, 1,1310m) Our first night camping on this trip went well. We were in bed at 7PM, partly because of the darkness and partly because of being tired from yesterday’s ride. The camp site was ok. We paid for a powered site but we don’t … Continue reading Mt Aso, Day 16 – October 6

Written by Dave Beppu to Tenku-no-mori – Climbing towards Mt Aso (38k, 1,200m) We’ve made it half way to Mt Aso and boy there was some steep stuff today. Nancy studied, maybe over studied, the route but no matter which Komoot option she picked, they all showed kilometres 2 to 5 being very steep. And … Continue reading Climbing towards Mt Aso, Day 15 – October 5

Written by Dave Yawatahama to Beppu – Kyushu Island (5k, 10m) I’m almost embarrassed to write the mileage total for today. I mean 5k (3 miles) is barely worth getting out of bed for. But that’s the way it works on days when you are mostly taking a ferry and you have to get to/from … Continue reading Kyushu Island, Day 14 – October 4

Written by Dave Matsuyama to Yawatahama – Southern Shikoku (69k, 690m) Brekkie was big for us today. We’ve been here nearly two weeks and had quite a few Japanese brekkies. Today, the Dorny hotel buffet was mostly Japanese food that you had to pick out and arrange for yourself. We’ve been training hard so as … Continue reading Southern Shikoku, Day 13 – October 3

Written by Dave Hiroshima to Matsuyama – Back to Shikoku (16k, 70m) Our island hopping continues. Today we ferried back to Shikoku Island and to the port city of Matsuyama. Matsuyama has a population of about half a million people and we were thinking that stopping here might be a bit boring - well we … Continue reading Back to Shikoku, Day 12 – October 2

Written by Nancy Hiroshima Rest Day Today we took our first rest day of the trip.  While we have had some shorter days the last couple of days, it was nice not to have to pack everything up this morning.  After a few check-in calls to family, our first port of call was to get … Continue reading Hiroshima Rest Day, Day 11 – October 1

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