Vaucluse Dreamer

When we woke to the sound of rain during the night, we had a feeling that today may not be as nice as we had hoped, for our planned pedal over the bridges and islands of the Shimanami Kaido Cycle Route.

But, when we woke with the sunrise at just before 6, the sky had cleared and everything was bathed in a beautiful golden light. The weather Gods were smiling on us, and all being well, we would be able to do the ride that we have wanted to do for a number of years.

We decided that it was best just to get on with it, so after coffee and an early breakfast, we popped on our cycle kit, hopped on the bikes and headed off, making our way down to the start of the route up to the first bridge.

I have to take my hat off to whoever designed the cycling infrastructure on the trail, as it’s really quite incredible. The bridges are all about 40m above sea-level, which would be a significant climb up a short slope. But here, each access and exit route from the bridges is a gentle spiral, which takes you up to the bridge level, without any difficulty at all.

So we hopped onto the cycle path, following the blue line that seems to mark all cycle routes across Japan, and made our way gently onto the first bridge.

Having seen it from the Observation Deck last night, we were already aware of its size and scale, but actually cycling across it on the bikes, took it to a totally different level.

The first bridge, The Kurushima Kaikyo  is made up of 3 separate parts that span the islands dotted across the Inland Seto Sea, covering a total of 4.1km.

The bike lane is totally separate to the vehicle carriageways and provides a very safe cycle route across the structures, with amazing views across the sea and down onto the passing boats too.

I must admit, I hate heights and had been a little nervous about being so high above the water, but once on the bridge I didn’t give it another thought. Just cycling across this vast, elegant structure, above a cobalt blue sea, with stunning views of the islands was just an absolute joy, What a way to start the day.

It was only just after 7, when we pedalled up onto the bridge, so we enjoyed a peaceful start to the day, before too many cars and cyclists got going.

The cycle route spans a total of 7 bridges, and ends in the town of Onomichi on Honshu. In total it’s approximately 70km each way, so we knew that it was unlikely that we would do the entire route, there and back, in the time we had available. So, we had decided just to go as far as we wanted, with the intention of just enjoying the ride.

And, enjoy it, we did.

We quickly settled into the route, following the little blue line, snaking on and off the bridges, and pedalling through some beautiful land and sea-scapes. There was a gentle headwind, but all being well that would mean that it would be a tailwind on the way back, so even the wind was in our favour.

After the first bridge, we dropped onto Oshima Island and the route took us along the road through the centre of the island, before crossing the next bridge onto the small island of Hakatajima, where the route took us around a bay, before hopping on again to Omishima Island, where the road follows the coast and we got our first real look at the next bridge.

The Tatara Bridge is a truly elegant structure, with supports that reminded me of tuning forks, which stand at over 200m tall, and it sits beautifully between the islands. We had to simply stop and admire it, before pedalling across with a grin on our faces.

The next island, Ikuchi, was filled with citrus groves, with the scent filling our noses in some places along the trail, but the route also took us along a coast road, where the glittering sea and the elegant palm trees reminded us of the South of France or Sorrento.

We pedalled through the main town, and along a road towards the next bridge, passing more citrus groves, but also lots of industry too. In fact we were amazed at how much ship-building and other industries we saw across all the islands. It seemed strange in such a beautiful setting, but is clearly well-established and thriving, which was good to see.

By now, the roads were getting busier, and just after crossing onto Innoshima Island, we decided that we had gone far enough for the day, so stopped and took a look at the map to see if we could find a slightly different way back that would allow us to see more of the islands.

I know there is the cycle trail, but we had followed it one way and it’s always good to see what other options there may be. Immediately, we could see that we could follow the opposite coast to the one we had come along on Ikuchi Island, and could also do the same on Oshima too, which seemed like a good plan.

It proved to be a very good plan. The road along the other coast on Ikuchi was a joy to ride. It was quiet, without the industries and without the traffic too. There were lots of orange groves and the views across the sea were stunning.

It had such a different feel to the coast we had pedalled along on the way out, and I would recommend taking this way back for a change, and to experience a quieter side of the island too.

Once we arrived on the last island, before we would cross the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge to head back to the van, we turned away from the main road through the island, instead taking the coast road, which led us along the sea, passing through peaceful villages, golden sandy beaches and little fishing harbours too.

At first, it was wonderfully flat, but just after I’d remarked that I thought it would be hillier, the road started to head upwards and seemed to keep going (and getting steeper for some time), as we worked our way around the coastline.

It was a beautiful part of the ride though, although with the hills we did understand why the cycle route didn’t come this way. But it swept us round to meet the route just under the start of the bridges, so was a perfect way to have a different perspective on that island too.

You can see A short video from the ride here

Then, all that was left was for us to climb back onto the final bridge (well 3) and pedal back to the van.

It was much busier on the way back than it had been on the way out, but we simply enjoyed every turn of the pedal as we pottered back, across the bridges, enjoying the views and the scent of the sea.

All in all, we pedalled just under 110km, and climbed well over 900m too, which came as a bit of a surprise as people have described it as a relatively flat route and even a Japan Tourism site described the elevation gain as 20m! That really isn’t the case at all.

It was a truly wonderful ride, especially with taking the slightly different route back, and we’re so pleased we did it. It was definitely worth bringing the bikes, just for today (without all the other lovely rides we’ve done over the past couple of weeks)

So another wish-list item ticked off and we’ve moved on again this afternoon & are making our way into the mountains in the heart of Shikoku.

So expect more walking than cycling for a while now!