Day 5: Capital City, here we come

Day 5: 105Km Capital City, here we come

Today, in hindsight, was the most gruelling day so far. I had very little sleep, again, thanks to the nonexistent air mattress and the beach is harder than anticipated. A bit like compressed sand, literally. So with only 4 or max 5 hours I got up around 7am to have breakfast with Mr Shirahama, which was also our parting meal. I had a huge oat meal/ porridge pot with goji berries and Shia seeds. Mr Shirahama had boiled tofu...to top up my porridge I had a boiled potato from yesterday, yummy. 

The day started at 9.30 with a short 4km ride up on Cape Shakotan, where I would ditch the bike for a bit to hike a bit and see the cape. The ride was swift but steep up the mountain road, a sign of things to come (but little did I know then). Once i got up and locked my bike, talked to the locals about leaving my bike where I did, and heeding no warning that the crows can steal things. I’ve got nothing they can take. I got an early morning ice cream (it tastes so good). Surprisingly, as I was about to set off on my little hike, I saw a familiar face. Mr Shirahama brought me my precious shampoo that I had left in the onsen (I only had one and as someone who occasionally gets dandruff, I’d rather not have missed it but couldn’t be bothered to cycle all the way to the onsen too). We said our final good byes, knowing we may meet in Tokyo as he lives really close. He’s now spending/ wasting time in Hokkaido he said as he had a car accident a few days ago and needs to wait to get it fixed before retiring to Tokyo. 

The cape is really pretty but I only wanted to see the lighthouse and not the whole thing (more rocks, water, coast line). After the hiking I had second breakfast, which was super tasty and very filling. Then, around 11.30, the real journey to Sapporo would start. 100km in 6 hours, that was the plan. I asked the locals whether it’s better to use the old route or the new one to the next big city, knowing it would have been a small detour for the new one. They said it’s ok to take the old, more straight forward one. But oh my god, 10km uphill, with me doing snake lines up the road as I couldn’t shift into higher gears and did not fancy complete standstill or waking. Maybe more gears would have been better. I cycled past an onl, what seemed to be a 1970s bus, ditched by the roadside. It reminded me on so many Studio Ghibli movies. Then, more uphill before getting to Shakotan and fubira. I’ve set a new speed record with 62km/h, again, in hindsight a very silly thing to attempt. But hey, too late. In Furubira I had my first puncture, annoying but no problem. I found a bike shop thankfully just a stone throw away. I pumped the tyres up well - too well. 

The journey continued up and down the coast. I made a quick ice cream stop and bumped into an American who was on a mountain bike, but no luggage, instead an ipad blasting music and a phone for navigation. I told him where I was going and he wouldn’t believe me at first, but wished me good luck in the tunnels. I was like, ok, I can do tunnels. 

The big milestone was Yoichi, a relatively big fishing town. Here I had lunch: honey melon. I bought some fruits from the veg shop in the mountains (honey melon, a peach and some grapes). The whole fruit stall smelled so delicious. I was happy to get the melon out of my bag as it was heavyish. About a min after eating lunch I set off again and with a loud bang, my front tyre exploded. It was loud enough that the shop keeper came out of their hut to check wha going’s on. There was a car garage next to her shop and she thought it may have been from there, nope, this was my front tyre gone, again. Fixing it took less than 10min, getting good at it :)

Next stop was Otaru, by now I must have gone through at least 10 tunnels, spanning 500m to 3km. It slowly started to dawn on me what the American meant. As the road got busier and busier the tunnels became ever more dangerous. I started to occupy the complete lane, not allowing cars to pass me easily when there was traffic coming my way. This would stop idiots overtaking me too closely and risking getting brushed. There were a few too close encounters. I didn’t like them. 

Phew, Otaru, finally. I was already pretty done when I got there and still another 35km to Sapporo. I had an energy drink and water, and a tea. I’ve probably drank about 3L till then but sweated all of it out. My helmet inside layer (soft material) was soaked as was my shirt. It’s been a relentless journey to get to Otaru. But the hardest part was yet to come.

In Otaru, I found a bike shop to pump up my front tyre again as I could only do it with my little one from the last puncture. The bike mechanic read my tire notes saying I should only pump it to max 75psi (I did 90), knowing that I desperately need to reduce rolling resistance to stay alive on the last 35km. It didn’t take long before it burst, just after I took some pictures of the Otaru Canal (local landmark/ tourist spot). Again, tyre changed in less than 5 min now. But down to my last inner tube. I only pumped it up by hand, and thinking I must get a new tyre in Sapporo, regardless of the cost. This one is ok, but not professional, more for hobbyist use. 75psi is not enough. Good tyres can get up to 100 or 110. The tyre was also already showing wear and tear from the puncture with the side threading disintegrating ok one part. 

Ok, Sapporo here we come. It was 4pm by then and I needed to get there by 6, latest as it gets dark early. Leaving Otaru, was one big tunnel after the next, this time, lots of traffic. In one tunnel I nearly choked from the fumes and my lungs were already painful. But more was to come. The last 20Km was motor way, 2 lanes and sometimes 3. Some lorries overtook me dangerously close that I had to grip the handle bar tightly so not to loose control as they sped past me and their drag wind causing a turbulence as they passed. That was annoying. One more stop 10km away from my hotel, which I had booked online during the day. I needed a bed, a bath and no hassle.

The road into Sapporo was busy, mostly 2-lane for each direction. Most cyclists used the foot path but that wasn’t possible with my “rig”, way to uneven, bumpy and too many people and obstructions generally. That forced me to stay on the road. I played catch up with one bmw for 7 or 8  who would pull away at the traffic light only for me to catch him at the next, snaking past the standing traffic. I now put on the point by point satnav (thanks to WiFi) to get to the hotel. Sapporo is big and busy. Almost 2M people live here I think. 

Eventually I reached the hotel, I unloaded, locked the bike, checked in and fell onto my bed in the room.

Motionless

For at least 5min. My back was killing me and I needed a hot bath. I the worlds smallest bathtub I slowly regained consciousness and life returned to my body. I ate the peach and grapes that I had carried with me for like 60Km. What a treat, this was the best tasting peach ever and the grapes were so juicy. Slowly, I crawled out of the bath and onto the bed. 

After 30min I thought, dinner time. I managed to get to Sapporo by 6.10pm and now it was 7.30. I thought I’d eat some sushi, get some protein into my body. I checked google maps for recommendations. The first restaurant I found came highly recommend but as I entered. I got looked up and down and got an explanation that there were no tables (the place was empty). But I think I wasn’t their clientele, a place around the corner was less posh and I had sashimi and a tonic water. That was great sashimi but expensive. ($¥2200) for a small plate with 9 pieces of fish. It tasted great but was overpriced. I was not feeling the Sapporo vibe at all, somewhat down with the 2 dinner experiences i thought, no, let’s see what this city has to offer...straight out the restaurant I turned left and looked at a bar on the right. A friendly Japanese person waved at me and I also saw to gaikokujin (foreign country person) sitting outside. I thought, why not. This turned into a great decision. 

The 2 guys were long time Sapporo residents with 20+ years. One was from New Zealand and the other from Baltimore, US. We chatted for about 2h and the Japanese guy who waved me in (Hato San) turned out to be the owner. More people came, some of them Japanese who could speak good English. That was refreshing as most Japanese don’t speak English or are too shy to use it. I had another 2 tonic water before it got too cold and I switched to hot Oolong tea - everyone else was on beer or stronger. Eventually, Hato san brought out some nuts, and learning about my journey he eventually brought the whole bag (a big bag) and said it was on the house. I needed energy. That was awesome and also the 3rd role someone gave me free stuff today, once pumping up my bike post-flat-tyre and again when it burst in Otaru. Mike and Jamie told

Me not to waste my tome going all the way up north Hokkaido, claiming that there was nothing to see and instead explore the much more interesting central Hokkaido. This wasn’t the plan but their arguments made sense. I’ll have to re-evaluate tomorrow. 

Eventually the two guys left and I was there chatting to other guests and the bar keeper. I settled for a sake with him. That tasted yummy. I like sake (rice wine) but as i generally don’t drink it was a bit strange to drink alcohol again. But what the heck, when out on holiday, one drink can’t be that bad. I ended up having 2 more before calling it a night. Sleep came quickly and relentlessly. What a day, what a night.