It felt good to ride again, although I didn’t feel that way when I left my uncle’s house. They pamper me there so I was sort of spoiled for a bit, but now I’m back to the road life. Before leaving Kokura, I needed to ship a bunch of stuff I wasn’t going to use along with some gifts. I stuffed them all into one box and took it to the post office. Afterwards, I went back to my uncle’s to pack my stuff and get ready for the next leg of the trip. I added a tarp, a butane burner, and a cooking mug to my inventory so I can camp if needed. I had a solo tent, but it felt too heavy and bulky so I’m going ultra-light with just a tarp and sleeping bag. I also installed some toe inserts for my pedals to see if that helps with my knee problem. Maybe it will help keep my feet in place somewhat, not as good as clip-on pedals but we’ll see.
Right when I was ready to leave, the post office calls and tells me the box I dropped off is too big…they didn’t check this initially, so I had to go back and ended up dividing the stuff into two separate boxes. That took up some time so I didn’t leave until 11:15, a little later than usual. I headed towards Moji, the town where the Kanmon Tunnel starts. It is a pedestrian only tunnel that goes under the sea to connect Kyushu (Southern Island) with Honshu (Main Island). There is also a bridge for autos that goes over the strait. The tide in the strait is pretty crazy, there’s lots of swirls and rip currents…many cargo ships come through the strait too. At the entrance, you have to take an elevator down, and then it’s just a long tunnel that spits you out at Shimonoseki on the other side. Pedestrains are free, but bicycles have to pay 20yen.
I ate my first lunch on the Honshu island at Shimonoseki; a conbini lunch of course, a big frank (sausage on a stick), buta-man (pork stuffed bread), and pizza bread. I also bought some cup noodles for emergency camp grub. It was a bit windy but it was a clear sunny day so it made riding easy. I must say the initial ride through Yamaguchi area was great and I saw some more touring cyclists heading south. The roads here are wide as are the sidewalks, and it’s well paved. I’m pretty impressed and thankful, Kyushu had some awful roads.
I originally planned to go to Mine and stay there but when I got there I decided to just head up the mountain towards Akiyoshido since there was still some daylight and energy left in me. I also got my butane canisters in Mine so I am ready to camp wherever now! When I arrived into Akiyoshido area, everything was closing up. I asked around and found an auto campground a little further up the hill. It ended up being this gnarly grade uphill that I had to push my bike up. Luckily I will be bombing it tomorrow morning and I might break my personal speed record!
The auto campground was closed when I got there…I thought about just squatting there, but I’ve been so spoiled that the idea of sleeping without showering sounded unpleasant. Luckily, there was a youth hostel nearby and I talked the old man into staying there for the night. There was only one other guy there from Kobe named Kenji. He was on his first motorcycle touring trip…I took a shower and ate my cup noodle. Kenji and I talked a little bit while we ate. Tomorrow I am hitting the caves early and hope to be in Yamaguchi by the afternoon.