Today I cycled from Onomichi to Ikuchi island. This is part of my Shimanami Kaido bicycle trail trip. It’s a 70-80 km cycle path crossing six islands linking Onomichi in the north to Imabari in the south west. It’s very well known and is covered on a million blogs and YouTube channels! I stayed in Japan for five and a half days. Day one was exploring Onomichi, days two to four were on the trail, and the last day was spent in Matsuyama.
Click for photo page of whole 5-day trip to scroll through.
Day 2 of 5-and-a-half days in Japan
Today I’d start my ride. The plan was to cycle to Ikuchi, stay two nights so I could spend a day exploring the area, then the following day, head to Imabari and drop off my bike. After a quick hotel coffee and a bun, I checked out then headed to the rental shop.
The rental
I had booked a cross bike weeks before, online at Shimanami Cycle rental shop (shimanami-cycle.or.jp/rental ). It is right next to Onomichi Station. There was no deposit to pay beforehand, and the bike was set up for my height and ready to go once I’d paid on the morning I picked it up. You get a cycle helmet too. The process was quick and easy and I’d recommend them. The cost for a cross bike (not an e-bike) was 9,000 yen for three days, returning it before 6 pm at the bicycle station in Imabari. It was a red Giant Escape, in good condition, and quite lightweight. I arrived at 9 am, the opening time and there was quite a long line of people waiting. They were pretty efficient though and I was out of there in about 10 minutes!
Cafe for breakfast
I cycled towards the ferry embarkation point and to Yard Cafe for a coffee, an egg sandwich and a bun. It was a nice place which also houses a hotel and was very bicycle friendly. I think they had their own bicycle renting service.
Then I cycled to the ferry. There were about twenty people with bikes waiting. The ferry comes between every 7 to 12 minutes. Once on the boat, someone collects the 110 yen fare (cash only!). A few minutes later, you’re on Mukaishima island and on your way! I set off at 10:15. There are six islands on the way to Imabari.
Here’s a Google Map of the cycle paths with other useful information (not made by me):
It was a sunny day, great temperature and I set off. Within about ten minutes of cycling on the road however there was a sharp pinching pain in my right front part of my shoulder, under my backpack strap. I was pulling at it and suddenly there was pain in my hand and I noticed something black flying away; I’d been stung by…I don’t know what. So I started to panic a little. Would I go into shock? I think the last time I was stung by a bee was when I was 6 or 7… I stopped and had a quick look at the red mark on my chest and saw too that my finger was starting to swell! Okay, keep and eye on then! The stings were throbbing a little too, but not too painful.
I cycled on and soon was at a coastal road with beautiful clear skies and blue sea. I stopped at a mandarin or satsuma farm juice store and took my first break, for two reasons: I wanted to double check my stings and didn’t want to blow through this ride in half a day! There were quite a few other riders on the trail, young and old. I chatted briefly to a group from America. One of the party seemed quite knowledgeable and thinking she might live in Japan, asked about stinging flying black insects! She didn’t live there and couldn’t help me, but suggested I take of my wedding ring in case the swelling spread. Anyway, the juice was nice and I was feeling a bit less panicked about the sting so set off again.
Innoshima Bridge
I was approaching the first bridge. It looked huge. I’d was expecting a steep cycle ride up to the bridge entrance, but the dedicated cycle lane was so windy it was actually fairly easy (so long as you have decent gear ratios on your bike!). No pushing necessary. The bridge was pretty impressive, but the cycle lane was actually on the level below the cars. This means you’re cycling in a caged lane. Pretty cool actually.
On the other side is Innoshima island. I went right after the bridge exit and north to the coast. There were public toilets, a beach, and Seabridge book cafe. I stopped there for a coffee and another piece of cake looking at the sea out of the window. They had HUGE sized children’s books. Then I went to the sea and the beach for a short time before getting back on the bike.
Innoshima Navy castle
I decided to go south back the way I came, then go west inland to visit Innoshima Navy Castle. The approach to the castle would turn out to be the steepest part of the whole trip, so I had to push the bicycle. I locked the bike up near the entrance, then waled up to the castle. It was pretty impressive, with a little museum and stories of pirates in the area. There were some great countryside views too.
Ikuchi Bridge
I then headed towards to Ikuchi bridge. Before the bridge was a coast-side Family Mart with a view of the bridge. I stopped there for a pudding and banana to revitalise myself. My back back weighed about 8 kg as I had all my stuff for the whole trip; if you do use a luggage forwarding service, it’d make the ride easier, but in hindsight, it really wasn’t an issue as I was taking it super easy.
Once on Ikuchi island, it was a straight ride along the north coast to Shiokaze Guesthouse. I’d booked it on Agoda(?). The check in was easy enough (one I found the tablet they were referring to in the instructions…it’s on the left of the shoe/lobby area!). I’d booked a private room with a toilet and they had a shared shower room, a bathtub room, and a steam room/sauna outside (pre-booking only). There was a decent kitchen with food and supplies vending machines.
Hama Tei for Tuna
I got cleaned up and took a rest before searching Google for likely dinner places. About ten minutes away was Hama Tei, a tuna restaurant due to open at 6:00 pm, so I made my way there. It was getting dark and a bit chilly out. I waited a few minutes till they opened and a very friendly woman let me, and a waiting Chinese couple in. It was a small place with tatami mat seating. I used Google translate on the Japanese only menu and ended up getting the most expensive thing, a bowl of rice topped with high-grade tuna. Later I noticed this was from the lunch menu, but I guess money is money, right? Is was about 3,000 yen so I could have probably chosen a cheaper option! However, it really was that cliché of melt-in-you-mouth tuna and extremely good, so no regrets!
Next, I walked back (with my phone light on-no street lights) via a convenience store to get a beer (for the next evening) and some breakfast food. Outside the guesthouse I could see quite a lot of stars. Low light pollution out here! Then I called Romana and we chatted for about an hour. I had a very early night meaning I woke up a few times! However, it was a decent night’s sleep. I put in earplugs because there was some annoying neighbourhood dog barking occasionally.
Map of places I visited