GW2026 D8 coast line of Kunisaki peninsula

Route: Kunimimachi - Oita airport - Kitsuki
Bicycle: 32 km
Bus: 15 km
Total elevation: 351 m

Average speed: 14,8 km/h
Riding time: 2:10 h
Weather: Sunny, 20C , very windy but tailwind

Today the plan was to cycle on to Kitsuki, about 40-50 km from my lodging of the night for the last two days of this Golden Week trip. I hadn’t fully decided if to cycle along the coast or halfway up on the “orange road”, but the lady from the accommodation recommended the coastal road at least initially, and yes, it was very nice. Probably the one yesterday was also nice, but as I was riding through the rain much less enjoyable. So to the first village and conbini I cycled down along the coast and even found after a few kilometers a cycling path. 

On the side of the bicycle road they were also sun drying the local seaweeds we had for dinner yesterday.

From there I tried the “orange road”, but it was just a normal hillside / countryside road. No oranges and crucially no views of the sea. So after a bit I returned down to the coast. 

There were some nice stone formations on the shore…

… one called “buttocks stone”:

 

After not too long however my gear cable snapped leaving me stuck in the hardest gear. I replanned my route to have as little elevation gain as possible and probably would have been able to make it to Kitsuki under my own “steam”… but I had an accident at the UFO sight. Yes, Oita airport has a real UFO and “red men”… and a sight of departing aircraft.

When I was just about to depart the chain got stuck between the frame and small gear and I fell off. Luckily it was on a very quiet parking lot, so no danger and a biker was at hand who helped me deentangle from the bike. At this point I had lost my confidence in riding with broken gears and had a bleeding knee, so I walked the about 500 m down to the airport where the friendly ladies at the information desk gave me disinfectant and wound tape. 

I packed up my bicycle already in “Shinkansen” position, ie with both wheels removed and took the bus to Kitsuki. By pure luck, the beer is a bus stop right outside of my lodging and they let me in early. So really perfect place to fall from my bike. And perfect timing as I don’t need to move anywhere tomorrow before returning on Wednesday by train to Tokyo. 

 

GW2026 D3 scenic coast, no cars

Route: Hagi to Obama beach
Bicycle: 64 km
Total ascent: 1219 m ( but I don’t really believe this)
Average speed: 13,3 km/h
Riding time: 4:47 h
Weather: cloudy and much colder, 16 C

My main goal for today was a shrine with red torii gates on the coast I had seen recommended in some posts and questions on Japan Guide. 

It’s a place that is very much out of the way, but somewhat reachable from Hagi. When I first planned the trip I couldn’t find an accommodation anywhere close so instead I had booked a ryokan somewhere in the mountains. Which probably wouldn’t have allowed me to visit this shrine. However when I finally decided which of my 4 plans to put into practice, I rechecked my hotel options and did find a place on the coast not too far from that shrine. Probably I hadn’t found it initially as I strictly searched for places with free cancellation. 

I started in Hagi and road all day along the coast. On paper (or rather in the color coding of Google Maps) some of the streets I took were orange , prefectural roads, so I expected some traffic, but actually some of those prefecture roads were again much more like a rindo (forest road) than something established by the regional government and with heavy traffic in mind.

Even where this road was a bit bigger there was hardly any traffic all day. 

And this paired with great views of the rugged coastline with outlying islands. 

Occasionally a small village stuck in time and geography. These places are far from literally anywhere. Even from Hagi. 

Somewhere on the outskirts of a small hamlet was a huge metal earth globe. I have absolutely no idea who thought that installing such a thing at that crossroad would make sense. 

The highest point of the day was a small plateau right on the shoreline with views in all directions. It was on such a steep hill that with baggage and all , I had to push the bike for a bit. 

From there it was mainly downhill to a place with famous views of rice paddies along the shore.

 

More downhill (that I needed to climb up again later), to the famous shrine. Actually, the shrine itself isn’t very old, and curiously it is currently closed on weekends and local holidays. One wonders why it is open on weekdays instead. Anyway , even with the shrine closed one can still see the famous torii. 

From there to my accommodation. I had preordered grill dinner and wanted to be here quite soon so I could still get a shower prior to dinner. And to avoid too cold weather while grilling 

GW2025 D6 The beauty of Shodoshima

Route: around (not all of it) Shodoshima

Bicycle: 69 km (marking finally 3000 km this year) 
Ferry: 25 km
Total ascent: 1190 m
Average speed: 13 km/h
Riding time: 5:10 h
Weather: sunny and again great temperature, 20C

Today I left the big island of Shikoku and went to the second largest, Shodoshima. The island is famous for its olive trees. Also here are parts of the art triennial. But no art museum. My initial plan was very ambitious to see art and ride to the top of the island. I realized when I was at the first art valley, that my plan was not achievable. So I replanned. Actually I replanned later an other 2 times adding more kilometers, more elevation, more views and more art. 

This first valley I went to is famous for its rice paddies. I cycled up through them until I reached the well that feeds these paddies to enjoy the view over the entire valley.

Down in the valley there are a few more art installations. Including this bamboo dome built by a Taiwanese artist which integrates perfectly into the landscape and is extremely relaxing to sit inside. Hear the noises of the forest and fields around you while being in this semi closed space completely constructed with bamboo.

From there were indications downstream to another artwork reachable by a pleasant walk at the border of the forest. This artwork was in an old mill where machines were playing old wooden utensils, including old soumen (the famous noodles of this region) boxes.

After recovering my bicycle, I continued further downstream And came by this kabuki theatre in the middle of fields.

In the next village, there was some more art exhibits, including this rather disturbing house half filled with water and with creatures that could rival any ghost train. One can even write through it on a small boat, within the house. As the boat master was on lunch break when I arrived. I also went to lunch in a close by and now closed school. But the Charon never arrived , so I just had a look and then continued on my way. 

My replanned route took me now over to the other side of the island where this egg is standing. To get there I needed to get over a small pass on the top of which there was this wonderful bus waiting room was probably the nicest view of any bus stop I’ve seen in a long time.

The place where the egg stands doubles also has a view point for the sunset.

I continued down to the coast and he replied my ride again to take in more of the coast and a small road running along that coast with a little traffic.

As I hadn’t managed to reserve dinner for today, I bought some dinner at a convenience store a few kilometers before my hotel. Stuffed the dinner into my pockets and my T-shirt and then proceeded to the check-in. But the day was so nice that I wanted to continue riding and there’s another peninsula with more art closeby so I replanned again my ride.

I was too late for the artworks indoors, but the outdoors could be enjoyed. After a lot of up and down I pretty much felt like this statue.

I managed to return to my hotel right in time for the sunset view.

D3 Daibutsu and schools

Route: Heguri - Nokogiriyama - Kimitsu

Bicycle: 50 km
Walking: 3 km
Train: 90 km
Total ascent: 750 m+
Average speed: 15,5 km
Riding time: around 5 h
Weather: sunny and warm, but very windy. Mainly tailwind though, 20 C

For my last day in Boso peninsula I went to the other (other than the flowers) famous place: Nokogiriyama and it’s Nihonji temple with an enormous Daibutsu carved out of the rock:

And as a Daibutsu wasn’t enough they threw in a gigantic Kannon as well:

The small buddhas had suffered though under the Meiji restoration when Buddhist figures in some temples were destroyed.

The other theme of the day was schools. I had started my day in a school, …

… but also for lunch I ended up in a school now transformed into a very popular road side station with many small restaurants. I lined up at the most popular which was in an old class room and served nostalgic school lunches. The Japanese families around me all remembered their school days. 

Overall I am not sure how much I like Boso peninsula. It’s relatively hard to reach from my place (2h+ by train), it was very windy and on the road along the shore there is traffic. Nothing really crazy, but not my solitary mountain roads. However truth be told, the mountain roads in the interior were very quiet. 

D2 Boso flower line

Route: Heguri- Tateyama - Boso Flower line - Chikura - Heguri 
Bicycle: 92 km
Total ascent: 439 m
Average speed: 18.1 km/h
Riding time: 5:06 h
Weather: sunny and VERY windy. Colder than I though  13C

For my second day on Boso Peninsula, I went down to the south coast riding along the famous Boso flower line. I had read about this place full of flowers years ago and always wanted to come, and theoretically now should be a relatively good time to see all these flowers blooming. But frankly enough, there were only two places with some small flower fields. Nothing that you could compare to the tulip fields in the Netherlands.

Luckily, before starting the ride, I had checked the weather, including the wind. And saw that there would be a very strong wind from the south. So I inverted the direction of the ride to have tail wind. And the wind in some places, especially around the lighthouse of Nojimazaki, was ferocious.

While the wind generally was tail wind, in places it was side wind, and that was feeling outright dangerous. So I proceeded with an abundance of caution. And as a result of that, probably didn’t enjoy the ride as much as it deserved to be enjoyed.

But maybe I’m also more of a mountain than a seaside person. I was rather happy to ride back to my accommodation in the hills of the Peninsula.

Miura Peninsula

Route: Yokosuka- Miura peninsula - Enoshima - Koza Shibuya 
Bicycle: 90 km
Train:110 km
Total ascent: 542 m
Average speed: 18,7 km/h

Riding time: 4:47 h
Weather: Sun and clouds and during the day surprisingly warm.  12 C

Today wasn’t my first time on Miura peninsula by bike but the first time I made it in just one day. Did choose though I think a different route. At least it seemed much flatter than I remembered it. 

I had my bike still all packed up from the ride to Odawara with my friends and earlier this week, so had decided to take advantage and start the ride somewhere outside of Tokyo. When looking for ideas, Miura peninsula came along. It’s a rather famous cycling destination from Tokyo, but frankly I am not sure I like it that much. Specially the part from Mizakiguchi to Zushi and further on to Enoshima has heavy traffic. So heavy that the cars hardly advance. For us cyclists it is possible to pass the cats on the left, but it isn’t the same fun as just riding. 

However one has to admit that the views over Tokyo Bay are nice.

Around Mizakiguchi the peninsula is quite rural at least when one manages to escape from the main road, then one is surrounded only by cabbage and daikon. So many of them, that actually the entire region smells cabbage. 

Shortly before Enoshima, Fujisan made its appearance. 

From Enoshima I entered one of the typical Japanese cycle paths along a river. This one after Fujisawa becomes a really nice one. But even better was the end in Koza Shibuya at Ofuro no Oosama, one of my preferred Super sentos in the Kanto area. 

Weekend at the Odawara Hilton with Friends

Day 1
Route: Tokyo - Odawara
Bicycle: 99 km
Total Ascent: 601 m
Average Speed: 17.7 km/h
Riding Time: 5:36 h
Weather: Sunny and quite warm for early February, 8 C

One of my friends from the Night Pedal Cruising (NPC) is a concierge in the Shinjuku Hilton hotel and he gets employee discounts in stays at other Hilton’s. So he organised this ride to Odawara. For the group this was already the 3rd ride, bit for me the first. 

We met on a Monday morning around 8:00 in Futakotamagawa and set off through the non-countryside around Yokohama towards the West. It took a while before we hit a river with a good cycling path along.

We took regular rests and at some point arrived on the coast where there is for a while a nice cycling path right behind the beach. It tends to be quite sandy, but with some caution was well rideable. At this monument to the city of Chigasaki we took an other group picture, all doing a little C with our hands. 

Soon after it was time (albeit so late that most of the dishes had already sold out) for lunch, which we had in the harbour restaurant of Chigasaki. Fried fish was it for me. On we went to Odawara where it was starting to get dark just about at the time when we started our final ascent to the hotel. The Odawara Hilton is high above the city on a rather steep hill. So steep that everyone was talking about this hill weeks before. And yes, it is steep, specially at the beginning where it seems to be more like a wall than a hill. I managed that part only partially and then had to push the bike, but soon after it got a bit flatter so I could jump back on the bike. With a few more rest stops from there I made it up the rest of the mountain. Apparently this hotel was originally built and owned by the city of Odawara. However as the bubble burst th deity needed money and someone more expert than themselves to run a hotel so sold it cheaply to Hilton who managed to keep the hotel afloat. It isn’t only a hotel it comes complete with an onsen, a swimming pool , a play bath, a wedding church and a lot of other facilities. 

On Day 1 after checking we went quickly to the play bath area, but couldn’t stay for long as the Buffett dinner was waiting for us  and definitely a good buffet (as far as buffets go). We had been instructed to bring dr8nks along for the after party in the “boys room” but after only about 1 beer per head (craft beer brought along by one of my friends who is very much into craft beers) we were all pretty tired (and it was late) and retreated to our beds.

Day 2
Route: Odawara - Shin Matsuda
Bicycle:24 km
Train:
Total Ascent: 83 m
Average Speed: 16.6 km/h
Riding Time: 1:27 h
Weather: cloudy and colder than the day before, 12 C 

Day 2 to most part was not spent on the bike but rather in the pool or on a recliner close to the pool. It has been ages that I haven’t been in a pool. What was surprising that so many people (at least the younger women but also some men and children) were wearing a kind of jacket and trousers in the water. The older people who came here mainly for swimming or participating in one of the water gymnastic sessions were generally wearing normal swimsuits. 

Ou day had started with an other very rich buffet. The hotel was actually full with a conference by Roche Taiwan, so when we first came down for breakfast it was quite busy, but after a while they had to leave for their meeting sessions if the day , and we had the rest of the buffet to us. 

Around noon we got going and headed down the steep hill back to Odawara.

Down in Odawara in the harbour we had lunch, more fried fish for me and then went to the castle and a small coffee shop in its park, to relax a bit more with some hot drinks under the trees that just very shiny started to bloom.

Weekend in Shizuoka

Day 1
Route: Hamanako lake 
Bicycle: 82 km
Train: 280 km
Average Speed: 17.1 km/h
Total Ascent: 504 m
Riding Time: 4:46 h
Weather: sunny but cold, 2C

Today was the first ride with a group of cyclists from Osaka I had been in contact for the last 3 years. I had found them on their internet page just at the beginning of Covid and met a few members of them in Osaka in preparation of a ride to an island in the Seto sea, but a few days later the government asked that people don’t do any group activities and don’t travel, so the ride got canceled. But I had made it into their - extremely lively - Line group. Now finally I managed to join a ride. And what a ride! 

The day started early in Tokyo to be at 8:30 already at Bentenjima station, but then the fun started. I had been at this very station 5 years ago on my ride through Japan but didn’t ride around the lake back then. 

The organizer before the ride had asked me about average speed suggesting that they’d go at 25-30 km/h, which was a bit intimidating, but it turned out to be considerably slower, so we had a lot of time to enjoy the views.

And take pictures. 

It seems this group specially enjoys taking pictures of bicycles all nicely lined up.

Hamanako seems to be famous for eel, so for lunch we went to an eel place. The first few we tried were already full and we would have needed to wait for 1+ hour, but finally we found a restaurant with space for 8 and really tasty eel:

After lunch one of the participants slowed down a lot, but now we were at the forest from the station, so we made our way slowly back. Close to the station stands this torii in the lake and we took some special go pro pictures. While taking pictures we were standing around a lot so it got really cold. The group had decided to put the bikes in the bike bag and take the train to Hamamatsu, but I was cold at that moment and I don’t specially like to disassemble and reassemble my bike, so I rode the last ~ 12 km into town… and actually arrived before everyone else. Early enough to get a shower before dinner. (It seems Hamamatsu is famous for gyoza).

Day 2

Route: Hamamatsu - Omaezaki - Yaizu 
Bicycle: 100 km
Average Speed: 19.6 km/h
Total Ascent: 298 m
Weather: sunny but cold, and a strong tailwind, 4C
Riding Time: 5:04 h

On the second day we went from Hamamatsu along the coast to Omaezaki and then to Yaizu. We did choose the right direction, we had a very strong tailwind along the entire coast. 

I did this same ride (or at least a part of it) in 2017 in my 2 months cycling trip through Japan, but in the other direction, from Shizuoka to Hamamatsu. Day1 back then was nice... Day 2 was in the rain and I got so wet that I searched for refuge in a shopping mall, changed in a toilet, called a taxi and went to the nearest train station and from there to Bentenjima (the same train station as yesterday), where I had already reserved a hotel. But today the sun was shining, the wind was blowing strongly from behind so we sailed down the coast. Sometimes riding at 30 km/h along with little effort. 

However the problem with the sand on the cycling path continues:

2017

2023

Only that now those parts are closed, diverting the ride to a normal road for long stretches. So what could/should be a very nice ride on a cycle path along the shores of the Pacific, in most places is just a ride along the road. It seemed that the planners had indicated some secondary roads even further inland, but we took the main road.