What a night. I remember sleeping on the floor isn’t that bad. But only if the air mattress does it’s job, and it didn’t. It’s got a puncture and so the night was spent pretty much on 5mm of plastic made up of ground sheet, tent bottom and whatever was left of the air mattress. That made for a short night, until 3am before the sheer uncomfortableness woke me up. I psyched myself into sleeping again after an hour of tossing and turning.
The sounds of the forest were eery at night time but also calming. It rained a bit in the early morning hours and the owl and what sounded like pheasants had a short concert. Leaves falling on my tent from the high trees made the rhythm.
The camping ground was in a beautiful forest of old trees and it seemed very tranquil in the morning, with the sun out. I dried my shirt and a few other things on a makeshift washing line made out of bungee ropes around two trees, got the gas stove out, made some tea before cooking porridge. Great start to the day.
I had a look at the map and thought with the weather looking as it does, time for some serious cycling of 80Km. That would take me up the west coast all the way to Setana. A small town with all amenities. The first 40km went by pretty quickly. There was lots to see, beautiful coastline, little fishing villages, I stopped at a shrine to ask for safe passage and cycled through quite a few tunnels (maybe 18). I decided to keep my back light turned on all the way as getting off the bike to turn it on/off was too annoying. I made a stop pretty much every 10km to drink some water or have some onigiri (rice triangles, filled with fish/meat/veg). I went for the fish ones and ate 5 across the day. I also had some multivitamin drink, green tea and lots of water. It warmed up pretty nicely to about 25C, blue sky and sunshine l the way.
The journey started around 10.30 and finished at 4.45. I had lunch at 2 in Miyano, about 25km before getting to Setana. In Miyano I had another 2 onigiri and tea before resting on the hot stonewall that separated coast from human habitation. There were a few fishermen right in the river estuary and a friendly local who stopped next to me explained they were fishing salmon. I could see them with my bare eyes, both in the river and the ocean and it didn’t take long before one got caught. The fisherman picked up a stone and with a few knocks the salmon stopped moving.
I checked what there is to do in Setana, looking especially for a place to soak myself. I found an onsen inn (hotel really) and thought - perfect. A day night in a bed. This would also allow me to check the air mattress for the puncture and wash my trouser. As I cycled towards Miyano, I passed a crow that timed it’s shit so perfectly, measuring my speed and distance that it caught my right as I passed it. My trousers and front pannier got the most of it.
Bu the time I had lunch I was done, my things were burning and I was already exhausted. But I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to stay there, I had to reach Setana. The last 25km were up into the hills again, just what I needed. Thankfully it wasn’t as steep and long as the day before and having fully pumped up tires makes all the difference.
With my last strength I reached Setana around 4.45 and found my way quickly to the onsen hotel “Kitahiyama Hotspring”, a pretty good hotel (£65, incl breakfast). It had to be done. My body couldn’t go another night on hard floor. As i got here, I asked for a bicycle shop to see if I can actually buy a foot pump, even if I have to carry it around for the rest of the journey. I also need a higher headset (stem) as my wrists are painful. I’ve probably tried all sorts of ways of holding onto the handle bar, regular, on the horns, just finger tips, back of the hand, one hand...it seems the pressure is too high, with me and the backpack pressing onto them. The bike shop couldn’t sell me anything, it was more of a fixing bikes shops. The friendly owner offered me a Japanese energy drink, which I did not decline. I quickly fixed my rear mud guard onto my frame with some rubber band to stop it from making noise.
In the hotel, I had my last rice ball before checking out the onsen. It’s pretty decent (7/10 on my onsen score): 3 hot tubs, a whirl pool, the obligatory cold pool, and outside hot pool and a dry sauna. Comes with free hair dryer (usually ¥100). Lots of other stuff like massage chairs etc too.
The food in the hotel restaurant was surprisingly cheap. Less than £10 for a big pot of Ramen and a huge salad. This was the best idea ever coming here after todays ride. I’ve managed to get sun burn on my left side as I had the sun always next to me all day. There will be more of this tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after...
I’m managing my budget by doing as much camping as possible, to afford the occasional treat. Generally, daily budget of £30 on average, around £15 for just cycling, camping and daily food (with one proper meal, either lunch or dinner).
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