Tag: Japan

Our ride down the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk began in the limpid light of the early morning. The tide was out and blue herons were fishing in the shallows along the 5 km or so back to Cape Soya, where the first tourists of the day were already queueing for photos. As we…

For a couple of days, we did nothing but cough and rest. But as we recovered, we ventured out in bursts to walk around Wakkanai. The place feels like a frontier town, and like many frontier towns, is full of interesting stories. The city has also had a long history of trade, conflict and collaboration…

The main attraction of Wakkanai for us was the access it provides to the islands of Rishiri and Rebun. Several ferries a day go to each island, and so we boarded one going to the Rishiri port of Oshidomari. After the rain, the morning was sparkling. The sea was blue; the sky was blue. We’d…

Heatwave and rain on the road north

Rested after a day indoors in Iwanai, we left the coast and began the eastward leg of our warm-up circuit. We were granted a kilometre of flat riding, and then began a 23 km climb for an 860 metre gain in altitude. We laboured in the heat, sun beating down on us, and heat radiating…

At the end of our first day of cycling in Hokkaido (and Japan), one of the two tools we’re using for measuring distance and planning routes said we’d climbed a total of 1,440 metres. We were pretty pleased with that, even though it was lots of small climbs over a distance of 42 km. We…