Stretching across six islands in the Seto Inland Sea, the Shimanami Kaido is a sprawling 70 kilometer cycling course with some amazingly beautiful views. The course meanders past citrus fields and over huge suspension bridges, along quiet beaches and through bustling towns — I wanted to stop every five feet to take a picture! When Hunter and I were planning this trip, we actually took my obsessive photo taking into account. Where an experienced cyclist can cross the whole kaido in around four or five hours, I was planning on it taking me around that long just to do half!
The plan
After extensive research, we decided to split the kaido into two days. The first would cover Mukaishima, Innoshima, and Ikuchijima, and we would spend the night on Omishima. By doing a bit over half, we would be able to branch out and do touristy things on each island as well. On day two, we would finish the kaido and then take a ferry or a bus back to the start. So what actually happened?
Starting the Shimanami Kaido
We parked near the docks early in the morning, got our bikes all set up, and were waiting in line for the ferry by 7:30. “Ferry, you say? I thought this was a cycling path!” It is, and there is technically a bridge from the mainland to the first island, but it wasn’t built with cyclists in mind. The road up is steep, busy, and narrow, so it’s recommended that cyclists take a short ferry ride over instead. It’s really cheap, ￥110 for a person with a bike, and they collect it on the ferry. There were lots of people with bikes, but there were also school kids and business people! I can’t imagine having a ferry as part of my daily commute haha.
Once we arrived, we walked the bikes off the ferry, turned on our bike lights, and set off! We took a little longer than most of the other people, so the pack went ahead which was nice. Just me and Hunter and the blue line on the road.
Mukaishima to Innoshima
My first impression of the kaido was “Wow, this kinda sucks.” In Niigata, there’s another cycling path that we used to train for the Shimanami. That path, except for a few parts, is on it’s own section of road. Never are you riding on the road with other cars, and the path winds away from the main road in most places, so it’s nice and quiet. This was loud and chaotic, no nice views, and the cars seemed awfully close. Seems I got spoiled by the Niigata path! I did get used to it though, and eventually the path went on a less-used road.
My second impression, once we turned onto the less-used road, was “Huh, it kinda reminds me of Nagano…” Stacks of brightly colored plastic bins lay in piles outside warehouses, but instead of apple orchards, the fields were citrus trees. Roadside stands weren’t painted with pictures of blueberries or corn, but with different varieties of oranges. Some of these stands were already open! The people called out to us as we rode past, but I didn’t stop even though I wanted to. No way was I going to buy a bunch of fruit and then carry it for the rest of the trip!
The First Bridge
Before long, the bridge to Innoshima came into view. The path branched off the road here to a dedicated cycling incline. The grade: 3%. Length: ~1km. Easy peasy! Orrrrr not… I was able to make it up all the switchbacks to the top without stopping, but I was definitely breathing hard at the top and my confidence was pretty low. If this one bridge was so difficult, how was I going to do five more?? After a quick breather, we pushed on.
The bridge itself was actually pretty cool. Instead of going on top of the bridge, the path actually clung to the bottom! We were able to ride in the shade, unhurried, while the cars and trucks roared above us.
Innoshima to Ikuchijima
I lost all of my remaining confidence in the middle of Innoshima. But let’s back up a little.
The path on Innoshima follows the ocean for a while, flat and meandering. There were some beautiful azalea bushes in full bloom lining the road. Then, suddenly, the path branches. There aren’t a whole lot of signs, or a map to explain why it’s branching. So we took the left path because there were already other cyclists that way. Bad idea! The left path cuts through the middle of the island — and over the giant hills that lurk there. It was on one of these hills that I finally pulled over and sat down on a stone wall, defeated. I was tired, sweaty, breathing hard, and my legs felt like lead. All I could think of was how I was holding Hunter back. He joined me, and we watched as bike after bike passed us sitting there.
Hunter sat next to me, quiet, as I took long drinks from my water bottle. “What’s up?” He watched me watch the bikes pass. “It’s not a race,” he said quietly. “We’re just out here to have fun. Want a snack?” So I moodily munched on a protein bar and worked on slowing my breathing.
We talked a little more as we sat, and the cloud that had been hovering over me gradually disappeared. I felt much better when we started moving again thanks to Hunter!
The Second Bridge
Another bridge, another sloooooowwww climb to the top. Unlike the first, we rode on top of the second bridge. The view was really beautiful!
Ikuchijima to Omishima
We thankfully stopped on Ikuchijima for our first touristy thing — ice cream! I’d heard that this little place offered a delicious salt flavor and MAN it did not disappoint. I got a double, mikan on one side and milk-salt on the other. The mikan was tasty, but the salt…. I should’ve doubled up on the salt haha. It really hit the spot after all the cycling!
Soon we were off to our next touristy spot — Kosen-ji. This temple is a really strange one, gaudy and bright, with a full-on marble hill near the back. Apparently it is all real, Italian marble!
The Third Bridge
Al…most… THERE! I barely made it up this hill without getting off my bike, but I was proud of myself for making it. The third bridge was like the second, where we rode on top. But unlike the second, I had to passive-aggressively ring the little bell on my bike to get people to move out of the way.
Apparently, the line between two prefectures is in the middle of this bridge. So, naturally, people want to stop and take a picture. One such family was posing, dad on one side of the path, posing, mom on the other side, taking his picture, leaving about a foot-and-a-half of space. Plenty, if no one moves. When I was about twenty feet away, their son decided to step out next to mom, leaving about a foot of room and I’d have to weave between them. He looks straight at me, coming towards him. Doesn’t move. So I ring the bell. He doesn’t move. Finally, his mom yells at him and drags him out of the way. I swear, we didn’t have a lot of trouble with people blocking the lane on either day, but when we did, it was kids not paying attention.
Omishima
As we were getting off the bridge, we saw a huge rest area below us. The blue line on the road now said “Cycling Sanctuary — 300m.”
“Do you wanna stop at the sanctuary for lunch?” I called up to Hunter.
“The what? Sanctuary?” He yelled back.
“Yeah, the Cycling Sanctuary.” Just as I finished saying the word ‘sanctuary,’ what sounded like a church bell rang nearby and I busted out laughing. “See? Sanctuary.”
We rode over and parked our bikes with the others (there were already ~70 at 11:30am) before setting off to find food. Lunch consisted of a burger and some spicy fries which we ate outside. It felt so nice to just sit for a bit! We still had lots of time before we had to check in to our Airbnb, so we decided to bike over to Oyamazumi Shrine. I’ll write more about that excursion in another post!
At the Airbnb
Upon checking in, we realized that the only food in the area was located back up near the Cycling Sanctuary, about 4km from the Airbnb. So, after a shower and unloading our bikes of the bags and heavy stuff, we cycled back up, past the sanctuary, to a Lawsons for dinner. We were going to just eat it back at our place, but it turns out there was a small, covered eating area right outside! Lucky!
Plan for the Second Day on the Shimanami Kaido
Stomachs full and wearing clean clothes, we turned to look at day two. After some thought, I decided to not bike the second half and instead to ferry back to Onomichi. My legs were fried, and I knew that it would be a bad idea for me to keep going. Another lesson learned from hiking, it’s ok to turn around. Hunter would continue alone, finish, then bike alllll the way back. Spoiler alert, like most plans, it didn’t actually work out that way. Keep an eye out for my next post!
