Hokkaido

The ferry across the Pacific, from Hachinohe to Tomakomai, was a smooth crossing that arrived in the middle of the night. The arrival time took away from the joy of arriving onto the last of the four major islands, the home stretch of the journey. I also arrived a day earlier than planned, allowing me to explore Sapporo for a day. Before I began the journey, I had my last night in Hokkaido booked, so I could send my case for my bike to the hotel. The rest of the hotels were still up in the air, which had a major impact on the ride.

The ferry to Tomakomai saved a few days of riding through the mountains compared to a ferry to Hakodate, which at this point was appreciated. With a middle-of-the-night arrival, it took me a while to fall asleep, and the next morning came quickly. Packing up, I headed north towards Sapporo on a pretty flat road. I passed the Sapporo (New Chitose) airport, one end of the second busiest domestic route in the world. Between Sapporo and Tokyo Haneda, there are more domestic travel seats than on any other route outside of Seoul - Jeju. In the half hour it took me to ride past, nearly a dozen flights came in with another eight taking off. With a short day of riding, the flights helped fill the time, and before long, I was at my destination for the day, a hotel way out in the farmland surrounding Sapporo. The location was chosen based on the next day’s ride, but it left me further out from Sapporo than I had hoped for my rest day.

To explore Sapporo, I had to give up my rest day, even though I had booked an extra night in the hotel. There were no reasonable public transportation options to the hotel, so I left my gear at the hotel, but took my bike to the train station. It was a slow ride, and the round-trip nature of it was a nice change from the point-to-point riding of nearly every other day of the trip. 

My day in Sapporo allowed me to wander around a city again. I checked out some stores, had some famous Hokkaido ramen and spent some time relaxing in coffee shops. I also visited the Sapporo ski jump and Olympic Museum for a great city view. There is no doubt that this place needed more time to explore. I hope to make it back when the city is covered with some of the 15 feet of snow they average a year. 

Taking the time to book hotels for the rest of my journey, I knew I had longer days ahead of me. Hokkaido was always going to be a bit unbalanced in terms of distance, with fewer settlements meaning fewer options for lodging. I didn’t expect to find a day when nearly everything was booked. I had about 350 km to cover, which I was trying to break into three roughly equal days. Hotel availability wasn’t going to cooperate, though, leaving me with one long day, one of the longest days and a short hop to the finish. I even recruited the staff at the hotel to help me call some places to make sure they were fully booked, which only confirmed I would have my longest ride of the trip. 

After exploring Sapporo, the first day back north was around 100 km. This ride took me through some smaller towns and countryside that made me forget from time to time that I was in Japan. The fields had reminders of home, with cows and wheat being far more common than rice in this stretch. I also had more towns that I passed through than I was expecting. Hokkaido rest areas complemented these towns. Hokkaido is known as the breadbasket of Japan due to the potatoes, wheat and dairy that the island produces. In recent years, visits to farm shops have become more popular in Japan, and to capitalize on this, a series of rest areas have sprung up. They are not full of fast food outlets and petrol like those on the side of toll roads in the U.S., but instead function more like farmers markets, featuring the products of the area and in many cases, some great restaurants and food trucks. After a great first experience, I stopped every chance I could. I had some fresh fruit, sandwiches, pizza and ice cream. It was a great way to get a taste of the local flavors while giving myself something to look forward to.

A 100-kilometer day was pretty standard distance at this point, but the long ride was hanging over my head throughout the day. The longest day so far this trip was about 130 km, but in my life, my longest ride has been 162 km, just a hair over 100 miles. This changed with the lack of hotels available. To get from Fukagawa to the only hotel I could find available was a ride of nearly 190 kilometers. The night in Fukagawa was spent preparing for this ride, getting enough food and water to fuel me for the next day, a good night's sleep, laundry, and packing so I could get on the road early. 

The long ride was, in fact, long, but it was easier than I anticipated. The route took me through some hills and valleys back towards the coast. I had hoped to ride through the middle of the island, but without available hotels, this would have added about 40 kilometers to the day. Knowing there would be fewer places to refuel, I stopped at nearly every convenience store I saw and a few roadside markets. These short breaks helped ensure my energy levels stayed high throughout the day. The hours ticked by, helped again by the nature of “one thing”. The ride was truly the only thing I was doing that day. I soon found myself returning inland for a few final climbs to the Ryokan for the night. I passed the 45th parallel north, connecting me to Northern Michigan. Given how far I had ridden, I felt like I should be further north than that. The end of the ride was tough, with my directions taking me on a very overgrown gravel path. Around one corner, a deer and I startled each other, and while I wanted to see a bear on this trip, going through the path with no other outlet wasn’t what I had in mind. I arrived at the hotel, bear-free, and grateful for another great hot spring-fed bath. Given the challenge of booking any hotel, I didn’t even mind that it was a shared bathroom. A fantastic meal was a great addition to knowing that I had made it through the ride and had two short days to go.

The final push was VERY wind-aided. Overnight, the breeze turned into wind and was placed correctly to push me to the finish in Wakkanai. A short day was made even shorter and easier, and in two short hours, I found myself at my hotel for the night. I took the chance to relax, get some allergy medicine and reflect on the journey. I had booked two nights to give myself a chance to get my bike packed up after the ride without feeling rushed. I had held off booking my flight back to Tokyo, so after taking care of that, I fell asleep for the second-to-last night on the road. The last day of the ride happened to be July 4. Knowing I was coming back allowed me to pull as much weight off the bike as possible for the final loop to Cape Soya. 

The wind had not subsided overnight. I knew it would be easy going on the way to the Cape, with the need to fight the wind coming back at the end. I took it easy, stopping for some photos and smiling as I soaked in the sight on my last day on the road, made easier (for the first half) with the tailwind. I passed a few other cyclists and even someone running. The frequency of seeing fellow travelers increased greatly as Japan funneled us towards the northernmost point. Just before reaching Cape Soya, my first “mechanical” issue occurred. My new bike has been fantastic, especially rapid electronic shifting being a big part of this. The failure was in not charging it, though, and with just over 30 km to go, the battery ran out. Fortunately, it would be a flat return, and the gear I was stuck in wasn’t too far off from ideal for the ride into the wind. I had taken a detour for some great views, and a long descent brought me to Cape Soya. When I arrived at the goal, I made a video call with my family and got some photos. The monument was busy, and the runner I had passed arrived while waiting. It turns out I had passed him two days before, and he, like me, had made the journey from the south of Japan. His trip took almost 70 days and six pairs of shoes as he covered the distance on foot with just his backpack. It was a great reminder that we are each completing our own race. 

Mine had reached an end. The ride back into Wakkanai was leisurely. While fighting the headwind, I had no rush or place to be with my flight the next day. I had completed the great adventure. 

I will post one more summary of the journey in a few days, along with some posts on what I ate.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Day 22

Distance (day) - 52 km

Distance (total) - 1850 km

Climbing (day) - 151 m

Climbing (total) - 11066 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 2

Convenience Stores (total) - 43

Tunnels (day) - 3

Tunnels (total) - 125

Day 23

Distance (day) - 100 km

Distance (total) - 1950 km

Climbing (day) - 344 m

Climbing (total) - 11410 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 3

Convenience Stores (total) - 44

Tunnels (day) - 3

Tunnels (total) - 128

Day 24

Distance (day) - 189 km

Distance (total) - 2139 km

Climbing (day) - 874 m

Climbing (total) - 12284 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 3

Convenience Stores (total) - 47

Tunnels (day) - 3

Tunnels (total) - 131

Day 25

Distance (day) - 49 km

Distance (total) - 2188 km

Climbing (day) - 155 m

Climbing (total) - 12439 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 1

Convenience Stores (total) - 50

Tunnels (day) - 1

Tunnels (total) - 132

Day 26

Distance (day) - 66 km

Distance (total) - 2254 km

Climbing (day) - 177 m

Climbing (total) - 12616 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 1

Convenience Stores (total) - 51

Tunnels (day) - 0

Tunnels (total) - 132