しまなみ海道(一日目)ーShimanami Kaido - Day 1

しまなみ海道(一日目) - Shimanami Kaido (Day 1)

Something I always wanted to do was ride across the islands and bridges connecting Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Honshu (Japan's main Island) and Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku (Japan's 4th largest Island). There is a 70km long cycle path clearly marked by a blue line along the road.  This year's Golden Week holiday is not so long. Only a week for me. So it's the perfect chance to stay in Japan and do it, as this time of year is not too hot and not too cold. 

I originally planned to go on April 30th, as it is a normal working day and I thought I could avoid the mad traffic of Golden Week. However, to my dismay the forecast was for rain on this day so I changed plans and decided to ride on April 27th and 28th. I put my futon and bike in my car and as soon as I finished work at 8 pm on Friday I was out the door. What the......!!! Unbelievable!!! Flat car battery and a big thunder lightning storm going over. Not a good start. Call The JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) guy. He comes and works his magic and I'm on the road at 8:30 pm. Driving along with lightning flashing all around me when one goes off directly above me. So bright I was blinded for a second. Looks like it's going to be an interesting night. About 20 minutes into my journey, I go through the tunnel at the top of Yoza Pass and come out into a different world. Big Full moon and clear sky. The rest of the way is under the big bright full moon lighting up the country side for me.
8時に出る予定でしたが車のバテリーが上がっていた。JAFを電話して、雷の中に8時半に出発した。与謝峠を越えて、空が満月で明るかった。トンネルの向こう側と比べて別の世界みたいだった。

Full moon. 満月

I originally intended to park in Onomichi and ride to Imabari, stay the night in a hotel, and then come back by ferry, bike or something. After scouring the internet in both English and Japanese, I couldn't put together a plan I was comfortable with. So I decided to park my car in the middle on Ikuchishima Island, sleep in it and use it as my base and bed. Google Earth was really helpful in checking out the area for car parks and to my delight, they were free. Unlike Onomichi where I would have paid ￥2,000 at the station car park per day, or ￥1,000 at one I found further away. From Wadayama to Onomichi the highway cost ￥3,200 and then to Ikuchishima Island was another ￥600. 
最初は尾道に駐車して、そして今治までサイクリングしてホテルで泊まることを考えていた。しかし、結局しまなみ海道の真ん中ぐらいにある生口島のスンセットビーチに駐車してホテルなしで、車の中に寝ることにした。行く前に駐車場を探すためにグーグルアースを使った。本当に役に立った。安心して行きました。和田山ＩＣから尾道まで￥3,200で、生口島まで￥600でした。合計￥3800

Day 1 - Ikuchijima Island to Imabari Castle and back　一日目、生口島から今治城まで(往復)

Sunset Beach サンセットビーチ

bike and futon　ＭＴＢと布団

I arrived at 1 am. So it took 4.5 hrs from Miyazu to Sunset Beach, Ikuchishima. I slept for 5.5 hrs and was up at 6:30 am. What fantastic weather. You can actually camp at Sunset beach. There are toilets and even a bike rental center is located there. At this time of year there were no campers at all. I had the place to myself. I guess in summer, during the swimming season, it would be a different story though.
午前1時に到着した。4時間半かかった。5時半寝て、6時半に起きた。生口島のスンセットビーチの駐車場が広いし、無料です。ここでキャンプもできる。ちょうどしまなみ海道の真ん中ぐらいにあって私にとって完璧なベースだった。

These islands grow all sorts of citrus fruit that I'd never heard of until coming to Japan. Some of it the most sweetest delicious orange varieties that delight the taste buds. This particular island (Ikuchishima) is a lemon producing area.

I gobble down a banana for breakfast, assemble my bike and then excitedly head off on my adventure at 7:30, enjoying the fresh crisp air of the morning rushing by me. The first day's plan was to ride to Imabari and then back to my car. I really wanted to carry on into Imabari City to take some photos of the castle, which I ended up doing. So that was a round trip of about 80km. I got to the Imabari side of the last bridge at 10:30, so that was a leisurely 3 hrs ride to do the 35km taking photos and seeing the sights along the way.
朝ご飯にバナナを食べて、7時半に清々しい空気を楽しみながらＭＴＢで出発した。今日は今治城までの往復のライドをした。距離は80キロメートルぐらいだった。周りを楽しみながら最後の大橋まで（今治側）3時間かかった（３５ｋｍ）。

Bike markings on the path.サイクリング道表示

A glorious morning素晴らし天気

Tatara Bridge - 多々羅大橋

Each bridge has a separate dedicated road for bikes, pedestrians and mopeds up to 125 cc. Often there is a separate road for the mopeds too ( marked by the Chinese characters 原付). The road for bikes and pedestrians has the Chinese characters for bicycle 自転車. It would be useful if you could recognize these words in Japanese so that you take the right road.

Entrance to bridge from road橋までの入口

toll both 料金所

About 45 meters high.

All the bridges have honesty boxes where you pay the toll except for the last big one at Imabari which has a manned toll both in the middle and costs ￥200. The tolls for each bridge in order from Onomichi side is as follows.
橋の料金
(Ferry渡船 ￥70 to ￥110) → ￥50 → ￥50 → ￥100 → ￥50 → ￥50 → ￥200
It is said that it is better to catch the ferry from Onomichi for safety reasons. It takes about 3 minutes and is a novel way to start the adventure.
尾道から渡船に乗ったほうがいいと進まれています。なぜなら、橋が危険です。3分くらいかかるし、面白いです。

Old Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter

海上自衛隊の古いヘリコプター

There's a road side station (Tatara Shimanami Park) on this side of the bridge. A great place for a rest. Food, souvenirs, toilets, views of the bridge and surrounding sea. There is a nice hot spring nearby which I enjoyed on my way back.
ここでは駅の道「多々羅しまなみ公園」がある。休憩するのにいい場所です。近くの多々羅温泉もよいです。
Toilets are placed at regular intervals across the route and there are plenty of places to eat at and a more than expected number of convenience stores too if you just want to pick up some sandwiches, sun block etc.
トイレとコンビニが十分あるので、とても便利です。

Video - Riding over Tatara Bridge　 ビデオ- 多々羅大橋

The action cam on my helmet was set where I always have it for mountain biking. When I got home and saw the video, I was a little disappointed that it was set a little high as I had my head up looking at the surroundings most the time.残念ですが、ヘルメットのアクション・カメらはもうちょっと下向きの方がよかったと思う。

Omishima Bridge - 大三島橋

Omishima Bridge is an 'arch bridge' and was the first bridge completed (in 1979) for this highway joining Honshu and Shikoku.

Elevation along the course

View from bridge

橋からの眺め

Video - Riding over Omishima Bridge　 ビデオ- 大三島橋

Hakata Island - 伯方島

A ship building yard nestled in among the islands. 造船ヤード

Marine Oasis Hakata マリンオアシス伯方

There is a Roadside station at this beach. A nice place to stop, grab an orange ice-cream and sit on the beach while taking a break.マリンオアシス伯方に道の駅がある。休憩しながらアイスクリームなどを食べられる。

Hakata - Oshima Bridge 伯方・大島大橋

Video - Riding over Hakata-Oshima Bridge　 ビデオ- 伯方・大島大橋

Oshima Island - 大島

The first part of this island is a picturesque ride along the coast. The sea currents were incredibly fast. It looked like rapids in a fast flowing river. Then riding through the center of the island there are the 2 highest hills of the whole recommended cycling route (not including the bridges). Oshima is famous for Oshima stone.
大島の最初の部分は海岸沿いで、きれいです。激しい海流も見えるところです。宮窪港から島の奥地に向かう。(橋を含めていない）一番高いヒルクライムが二つある。一番高いのは60メートルぐらいですので、大変なことはない。大島は大島石で有名です。

A blue line marks the recommended cycling route along normal roads. When in doubt just follow the blue line to Imabari or Onomichi, depending which way you are going. Every now and then, the distance to the other side is also written.
この青い線はサイクリング道です。

Video - Riding along the coast of Oshima　 ビデオ- 大島の海岸をサイクリングする

Lonely looking figure sitting out on the point of a tiny uninhabited island.これは何でしょうか?ご存知なら教えてください。

Video - Sea Current　 ビデオ- 海流

宮窪港

港にあった。大島石でしょう。

Miyakubo Port - Children's Day (May 5th) is approaching so Koinobori (carp streamers) can be seen swimming in the sky all over Japan at this time of year. The middle photo is a jovial looking fellow sitting at the fishing port and no doubt made from Oshima stone.

Huge stone fishでっかい石魚

The last & biggest bridge最後のと一番大きな大橋

Tiny bikesちっちゃい自転車

Along the Shimanami Kaido you can see bikes of every size and shape. Some people take tiny bikes as they are easy to carry on the train. All I can say is 'no thank you'. From the rental places you can get Giant mountain bikes, tandem bikes, motor assisted bikes and what is called a 'mama-chari' in Japanese. Translated as 'granny's bike'. The only good thing about them is they have a basket on the front to carry your luggage.
しまなみ海道で色んな自転車が見える。ママチャリと小さな自転車が大変そうです。ママチャリ、タンデム自転車,電動アシスト自転車とジャイアントＭＴＢがあちらこちらで借りることができます。

Kurushimakaikyo Bridge - 来島海峡大橋

Kurushimakaikyo Bridge ー Right-hand on-ramp is for bikes & pedestrians. Left-hand one is for mopeds.来島海峡大橋 - 右側は自転車と歩行者のオンランプで、左側は原付用です。

180° Panorama of NW side of bridge　橋の北西側の180°パノラマ写真

Imabari City今治市

Lots of little kids小さな子が多い。

Otherside's on-ramp今治側のオンランプ

Bridges cables anchored大橋のケーブル

This is a suspension bridge with a total length of 4,015 meters. It was opened on May 1st 1999 and is the world's longest suspension bridge STRUCTURE made up of 3 successive suspension bridges. The longest span is 1,030 meters long making it the 23rd longest suspension bridge in the world. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Kobe is the longest with a span of 1,991 meters
4,015メートルで世界一長い吊橋構造です。1999年5月1日に開通されました。3連吊橋であり、一番長いのは1,030メートルで世界で23番です。明石海峡大橋は世界一長い吊橋です。

69.5km to Onomichi

Rode along this coast to Imabari Castle (in the city)今治市内にある今治城までこの海岸に沿って行った。

Video - Riding over Kurushimakaikyo Bridge　 ビデオ- 来島海峡大橋

Imabari Castle - 今治城

One of the 3 'mizujiro' or 'castles of the sea' in Japan. I was so close to it that I couldn't resist riding the extra distance to it to take photos on a stunning day like today. Even though I had no map of the city, I just followed the coast from the bridge and had no trouble finding it. I didn't actually go inside but just walked around the outer moat. So I don't know much about it. I was surprised to see lots of fish in the moat. There was snapper, mullet looking fish that kept jumping high out of the water, schools of little fish, among others. I was surprised no one was fishing there. Must be a no-no.
堀の中にタイなどの海魚がいっぱいいた。今治城について

Views from around the outside of Imabari Castle

Fish in the moat堀にいる魚

Wisteria 藤

Time to head back to Ikuchishima Island. Getting hungry. I decide to have lunch on the other side of Kurushimakaikyo Bridge at a road station called Yoshiumiikiikikan. This place seemed to be the  best place to eat at. People sit out side and barbecue seafood on charcoal grills in the middle of the table with great views of the bridge. Smelled really good. Sort of thing I'd like to do with someone else so I decide to have a set menu followed up with mikan ice-cream (since I'm in a citrus growing region)
ここから生口島に帰った。おなかがすいていた。来島海峡大橋を渡ってすぐにあるよしうみいきいき館で昼ごはんを食べた。食事を食べるのにここは雰囲気が一番良かったと思う。外でシーフードを炭で焼いて、食べられる。すごくいいにおいだった。しかし、私は天丼にして、デザートはミカン・ソフトクリームにした。

Yoshiumiikiikikan Road Station - 道の駅「よしうみいきいき館」

Tenpura on rice set menu. Big long piece of fish. Yum!天丼定食。長い魚の白身が入っていた。おいしかった。

Mikan ice-cream. Very nice flavorミカンソフト・クリーム。いい味。

Waiting to be eaten.

Barbecue

Tables under shelter

Tatara Hot Spring - 多々羅温泉

Before crossing the last bridge I decide to have a hot spring. This hot spring has bubbles shooting up to the surface like a Jacuzzi.  It felt so so good. Bliss! At this stage I had ridden about 75 km with only 5 left to my car. It is a natural radon hot spring drawn from 1000m below the surface. It is said to have help recovery from tiredness and to have excellent health giving properties. After sitting on a bike seat for most the day, it certainly worked its magic on me.
多々羅大橋を渡る前、多々羅温泉に入ることにした。75㎞のあと、温泉は最高気持ちがよかった。車まであと5㎞でした。

Sunset Beach, Ikuchishima Island - 育口島、スンセットビーチ

Time to find out why it is called 'Sunset Beach'. I bought some 'dekotan' juice and enjoyed it while waiting for the sun to go down. OMG!!! This is the most delicious sweet pure citrus fruit juice that I have ever tried. If there was a perfect orange juice, this would be it. 
スンセットビーチは夕焼けがいいから名づけられたでしょう。待ちながら、でこたんジュースを飲んでみた。最高な味でした。

Right! Time to go check out parking near the ferry terminal to spend the night and also need dinner. I drive around Setoda looking for a place and decide upon a small restaurant near the sea called 'Sayo Shokudo'. I order deep-fried chicken set menu. It cost only ￥750. It's a nice little restaurant, the food tastes good, and everything seems nice and cheap.
尾道までの渡船の乗り場の近くにある駐車場をみて、海の近くにある「さよ食堂」で晩御飯を食べた。から揚げ定食にした。￥750で安くておいしかった。

さよ食堂、から揚げ定食 Sayo Shokudo, deep-fried chicken set menu.

Good night おやすみ

一日目のルート(80㎞往復) 1st day's route (80km return)