The day started early, as usual as I couldn’t sleep any longer than 6am. I tried but it wasn’t possible the hostel room was too warm and people were getting up too at 6.30. I told the hostel staff to turn the room temp down from 22C to somewhere like 16C but I think they only managed about 20C, way too warm to sleep. My last porridge with banana and raisins. I shared it with some Malaysians who never seem to be going out anywhere. Either pot noodle evening or brought-in sandwiches in the morning/ evening (or vice versa). Same thing the bar owner said yesterday, they seem to be doing Japan on the cheap. Fine by me. I talked to the 4 Malaysians over breakfast but it was hard as they always went back to talking To each other. Again, fine by me. I was mentally preparing for the journey ahead. One of the longest cycles and over some challenging terrain again: 112km - 50Km mountains and over 60km hilly and flat. I’ve done this journey just a week ago but in reverse. I knew I wanted to stop in Mikasa, just after all the mountains. That was my lunch goal.
I was already packed and left the hostel at 8.30. I have always been pinching about my bike lock key and now the hostel key (¥20K fine for loss) so I kept the key always safe. I had already lost one bike lock key along the journey so I was marked and generally bad with keys anyway. Checking out was fine, the key returned.
The bike was waiting for me. A last saddling up to get to my almost final destination for this trip (Sapporo first, then Hakodate to get to the Bullet train). But it was my last day cycling. I had lost some of my luggage along the way as the rear rack was way smaller. Regardless, it remained a hefty beast. The first Kilometers into the mountains were awesome. It was pretty nippy at around 12C but I had only my cycle shorts and a short cycle shirt. I just had to keep moving to keep warm. I stopped at a shrine just outside Furano to ask for a safe journey. Something I’d done ever so often in various places.
1000 thoughts were racing through my mind. I was so far away from anywhere, in the middle of nowhere. If the rear wheel had caved in, I’d be screwed. Who would I call, how would I get away from here?
Eventually I made it up the slope for another hundred metres before pulling into a side path. This time I took off all my luggage, tested the bike again on the sandy road and it seemed fine without the luggage. Was the pressure in the rear wheel making it become sticky? Would I have to leave stuff behind? Hat would be bad in so many ways, polluting the environment, being an inconvenience to someone and loosing valuable equipment. I mean, I can loose the tent, clothes but not the bike bag (2Kg) to put the bike in for the train journey. Damn. I checked the breakers again, adjusted the levers but eventually kept it dislocated.
Screw it, i thought. I just need to stay calm, relax, have some water, have another banana. I got back on my bike. It was still so hard to pedal. Every meter cost me so much mental and physical energy. Then it hit me. This was the wall. I’ve not experienced something like this before. Total exhaustion, physically and mentally. The bike was fine, I wasn’t.
Was I too eager to get to the end of this journey? Did I exhaust my resources to get to my end destination? Why did I want to get there quickly? The mountains I had to cross were no joke but also nothing I hadn’t done before.
Faced with this situation I just thought to myself, just keep pedalling. It may just take longer but you’ll get to Mikasa, at least. It’s 61km from Furano and it’s the end of the mountains. This thought kept me alive, by now I saw a sign Mikasa - 21km. That didn’t sound too bad. I had put my backpack on and off again, thinking I could relieve pressure on the rear wheel but the pressure on me was too much. My inner thighs were sore from the uphill battle and cycling in general. Adding more weight to myself only made it worse, quickly. So, backpack off
There were a few tunnels to get through one of them super long. Like 2-3Km and another one in such bad condition I was happy I had my bike light on to shine the way and avoid the potholes. All the while whilst not wanting to be taken over by anything big as there was no side strip. So, I placed myself firmly in the middle of my lane, telling traffic that they’ll just have to wait. It’s the best I could do as I already had a few close encounters with lorries on the way up who overtook me despite oncoming traffic. Too close for comfort.
Eventually I reached Lake Katzurazawa, site of a huge new damn building project. I knew a big downhill part was to follow as I remembered how I struggled up here a week ago. The traffic was pretty bad by now, many lorries. There was a traffic block and a lot of cars and lorries cued up, I was behind a lorry. I took all my strength to stay behind it and not get overtaken by the lorry behind me. That meant pedalling, pedalling really hard. The downhill got steeper, the road got worse. All of a sudden I must be at 40km/h or 50km/h, still trailing the lorry. The road was only good in the middle and I had to use all my strength to hold the bike steady, then there were lengthways cuts on the road, my bike seemed to be swimming on them, just about staying on track. I felt I could go slower, I had to keep the pace. A few huge pumps in the road didn’t make this any easier. I gripped the handle bars tightly and pedalled harder. At that point I felt not in control but being controlled. Eventually the road got better and the downhill section stopped. What a ride. I felt throughly energised and back in form. Mikasa was just another 10km or so. I can do this
As I arrived in Mikasa I knew what i was gonna do. Surprise the ice cream lady on the side of the road in the middle of town. We had a good chat a week ago and I also bought one of the fossils she was selling, something Mikasa is famous for. She really was surprised to see me again. We had a quick chat before I smelled something. Someone was cooking something somewhere. I asked the icecream lady. And she said there’s a soba place across the road. Yes, lunchtime. The little place was so busy, bikers, army people, locals, travellers. For a tiny town like Mikasa, surprising. I got the last free table and ordered hot noodles with egg inside. That felt good. I had to put on my jacket on the downhills as it got really cold, being stuck in wet cycle clothes again. The warm broth put energy in my body and I slowly came back to my former self.
After lunch, I spend another 30min talking to Ms Hareyama...over a huge ice cream I bought. She said she had to go into the next biggest town to renew her health and safely license for the shop and stay closed tomorrow. We talked about her travels, and her upcoming journey to Europe. Then I sat in the back, soaking up the sun. She surprise me with a free coffee which I accepted gladly.
Time to get back on the bike. Mikasa was also halftime on the journey to Sapporo. But now it would only be hilly, no more huge mountains to climb before getting flat towards Sapporo. My strength was back, the bike was fine. The next couple of hours until 2 went by going up and down country side lanes and highways. Still lots of cars but I didn’t care. Since Mikasa there was only headwind, sometimes straight frontal sometimes a bit from the side, but always headwind. Again, nothing I could do but to keep pedalling.
Eventually, cities, Ebetsu was close. It’s the next biggest city that seemed to merge into Sapporo eventually. I had eaten all the bananas and almost finished my 2L of pocary sweat (topped up with water by Ms Hareyama). The satnav was having issues at times as I switched between car/ pedestrian mode. Before I got back into town, there was a long stretch of superhighway to clear. It feels weird being on a motorway with a bike. But it’s not forbidden. In fact, there was a road cyclist, spandex, expensive bike and all. I chased him down and stayed behind him for a good few kilometres. That was fun. As he was wiping his sweat off his face and flicking it away with his hand I got a few drops on my face (thank god i had my glasses on). At this point I was back in my old form. I wasn’t even sweating and despite my load and non-roadbike, easily kept up with the road racer. I stayed in his slipstream and could have overtaken him at any point as he was actually going slower than I was before. That was fun. Eventually he checked his odometer and watch and turned off the highway. Thanks for the ride I thought. That got me another 3-4km closer to Sapporo. It was now 2pm and I had another 30km or so to go
Being back in town (Ebetsu first), meant more traffic lights, start and stop, contending with cars who thought they can outrun me on the light, only for me to catch them at the next. Somehow I had forgotten I still didn’t reconnect my rear break. I had to frequently check the phone to use the best route, which meant taking it out of my front pannier, sometimes disabling the current route, re-entering it’s using either car/ pedestrian function. I took it out with my right, quickly check it, out it back. Oooops, a junction in a quiet neighbourhood appeared and I had my phone in my hand, desperately pulling my left lever for my rear break. Nothing. I panicked and with my phone in my hand pulled the right lever, frontbreak. Phew. That was close. I reconnected the rear break immediately.
By now I was in Sapporo outskirts. It had also just started to drizzle and I put my jacket back on, knowing I’ll get super sweaty really quickly. With another 15km to go, “clank”!!! I knew what that was. Spoke no 3 had gone. I stopped, inspected the damage but whilst the spoke broke, I didn’t have to take it out the wheel as it was stuck between other spokes. The rear wheel now had a serious buckle but I couldn’t care less. I’m almost there.
The I saw the huge Panasonic Clocktower, one of the sights of Sapporo (a bit like Berlin’s TV tower). That meant my final reading place, JR Sapporo Inn was close too. The sat Mac have me some more hustle but I made it. I got off the bike and pushed the last few metres before eventually stopping and unloading all my stuff from the bike. I was so happy! ...and in urgent need of a bath. Thankfully JR Sapporo Inn decided not to put bathtubs into any room but have a public bath in the basement. A great idea and just what I needed. I checked I but found that my window was facing a wall. I kindly asked to change rooms and I got transferred to the 10th floor with an actual windows facing the outside world and Sapporo. I had arrived.
My body was aching. 3 of my toes were still numb, 2 days now. My thighs and lower back were killing me. I did 115km today in 7.5h, without stops, 6.5h. Not bad I thought. I also had everything Hokkaido has thrown at me in the last few weeks:
- Mountains and beautiful forests
- Extreme Downhills/ uphills
- Sunshine & rain
- Lorries and annoying traffic
- Bike issues
- Friendly locals (Ms Hareyama)
Hokkaidō ni dōmo arigatō. What a ride!!!!
After the onsen, where I nearly passed out, I weighed myself: 77.5kg, which meant I lost over 6kg in the last few weeks. Wow, I can feel being lighter but also stronger. I dragged myself to a sushi place around the corner before hitting the mattress. JR Sapporo Inn has a great service of choosing your pillows out of 6 different ones. I picked two a soft one and a hard one. Not yet sure which one I was gonna go with but both being needed as they were relatively flat.
I was knackered, happy, exhausted, tired, complete. I also don’t wanna see a bike again...at least for a few days :))
Thanks for following me on this journey!
— The end —
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