Today was the day I reach the finish line, and nothing was going to stop me. The weather was perfect, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. I was more determined than ever to reach my goal. After leaving behind Hamatonbetsu, the road headed towards the coast and I finally caught a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Somewhere on the other side of all this was home. Riding along the coastline is great for a while but then it got a little redundant, I stopped at a roadside rest area and ate scallop with rice, which is a popular local delicacy, and a corndog (I was surprised they had it but here it's called an American Dog). Weird combination, I know.
During the ride, a lot of things were going on inside my head. What was I going to do when I get back home? Now that I’ve accomplished this, what else do I want to do? Can I go back to doing the same thing I was doing before I left? A lot of it I didn’t have answers to, and maybe I was just overthinking it. In the end, it's all about enjoying the moment and I was looking forward to reaching my goal. I was riding fast, excited to get to Cape Soya. There were a lot of riders on the road, people were starting to move around now that the weather was warming up. Right as I thought I was getting close to the cape, rolling hills appeared along the coastline. The cape wouldn’t be reached so easily, but nothing on this journey had been given to me for free, I earned it pedal after pedal. Only way to go was to go forward.
Finally, the coastline ahead of me disappeared and the road got flat again along the coast. In the northern horizon I could see the islands occupied by Russia. After riding around the corner and through a few small fishing villages, I saw a sign that said Soya-misaki Park so I went up the steep road to the park at the top of the hill. They had several statues and signs showing the direction of different cities in the world. However, I didn’t see the Cape Soya monument I had hoped to see. As I slowly walked towards the edge of the hill, down below I saw the Cape Soya monument sitting by the water. Excited, I walked my bike down the hill, crossed the street, and walked over to where the monument was next to the ocean. Cape Soya doesn't have a pointy cape-like appearance, the monument is just sort of placed there on the flat coastline...not nearly as scenic as Cape Sata to the south.
There were a whole bunch of old people from a tour bus taking pictures in front of the monument. To the tourists there taking photos in front of the monument it was just another stop along the road…to me though this place was the finish line after cycling over 2000 miles with my own will and strength. I earned this moment. After waiting around for people to dissipate, I asked an old man there to take a picture of me with my bike in front of the monument. He took a picture of me and that was it, there was nothing else for me to do but to head back home.
Afterwards, I was hungry and eager to reach Wakkanai because there was a McDonalds there…I saw it on my map guide a day earlier and decided that I would celebrate my completion with a nice double quarter pounder with cheese. It took me a while to reach Wakkanai from the cape but I pushed on and finally arrived to McDonalds, the most northern one in Japan I might add. I also noticed that the signs around town have Russian on them. After downing my lunch I headed over to the guest house I was staying at. After checking in and dropping off my belongings I headed to the ferry terminal to check the ferry schedule for tomorrow. I wanted to go to Rishiri Island off the coast of Wakkanai known for its big volcano.I didn’t see any Russians though riding to the ferry terminal.
I headed back to the guesthouse and washed up at a sento public bath right next door. Then I headed to a restaurant owned by a couch surfer named Miki. I planned to stay with him initially but because I was in the dark before reaching Wakkanai, I didn’t see his e-mail reply until after I checked into the guesthouse. After asking around, I found his restaurant called Musashi. The town is pretty small so it’s easy to find things. Miki ended up being a very chill guy and the food was great. He was the only couch surfer in town so a lot of people stop by his place. He told me he lived in the Philippines on and off for several years working as a diving instructor. He also traveled around Mexico and Guatemala by bus when he was younger. A few locals dropped in while I ate dinner there and we had a nice time talking. He told me they have elk steak and I promised to head back tomorrow for dinner again.