Off through the near-deserted seaside village to Seicomart for konbini breakfast – hot already!

A brighter pre-fab garage than the many galvanised or otherwise dull ones.

A short stretch besides coastal rice fields.

Must have been excited to see some brighter, gabled houses – generally I found the architecture in Hokkaido drab and boxy. One could imagine it was due to the harsh climate, but the colour in Mongolia puts paid to that.

One of many short golf courses we’d see around Hokkaido, seemingly mostly used by groups of seniors.

As expected from our view around the coast the previous evening, the plains soon gave way to hills. But far less climbing than expected – tunnels galore! The theme of the day seemed to be defence against nature – mostly by concrete. Serious business in Japan, somewhat understandably – although in places there were defences for no communities, industry or infrastructure. Good for the cement business though, after a few days I was sick of the sight of concrete, especially in otherwise undeveloped places.

Artificial harbours (more concrete out into the ocean) also a regular sight, with associated fishing activities. This area seemed to be big into octopus and scallops. We popped down to one, that also had a small seafood market, to take a look and snack break out of the sun.

Vending machine snacks – didn’t get the weird chip/crisp flavour again, melon flavour common and quite good.

With the heat and vending machines and konbinis all over the place, my consumption of cold, sugary drinks (much cheaper than at home) increased by fifty to a hundred times in Japan.

Kei vehicles! Cheaper tax, cheap to run, not needing a dedicated parking space to own and ever so practical – hard not to be charmed by sensible solutions (the trucks particularly – workhorses) that are not oversized and wasteful.

Leaving the market.

Climbing away from harbour.

Only mechanical of the trip – Orlaith replacing a tube (?!?) at some convenient roadworks.

Into the hills.

Eventually worked out what all the collapsible fences were that we’d started to see the day before – to prevent snow drifting onto roads. The arrows for indicate where the edge of the snow-covered road is.

Local food for lunch at a roadside restaurant.

The bicycle wheel whirligigs were more interesting than the temple we diverted to see.

Into the tunnel area, some were kilometres long (up to five-ish); we must have spent twenty-plus kilometres in tunnels that day. Only one didn’t have decent path to ride on, but traffic is slower and more courteous here – so not too bad. But oh my, the noise! I started putting ear plugs in, the noise building from trucks hundreds of metres back to reach a deafening crescendo before slowly fading as the traffic passed. The tunnels did provide some relief from the temperatures in the mid-thirties, at least. At one, a lane was closed for maintenance – we went last after the vehicles and had a blissful few kilometres of a huge tunnel all to ourselves.

Plagued by these surprisingly fast and large critters all day – they could easily keep up with us on flat roads and had a sharp bite.

Between two tunnels I also managed to get stung above the elbow by what we later identified as a Japanese hornet – holy heck! That stung, itched and swelled (down to my hand) for days afterward.

One of the many varieties of large concrete tetrahedral solids used as coastal defences.

Typical roadworks stop. Bemused by the only English writing being “Safety First” buried at the bottom of the sign.

Standard slip prevention.

Different tetrahedral concrete shapes.

With heavy rain forecast, we opted to stay indoors in Mashike. Our induction to the accommodation included a lengthy lesson on slipper etiquette and correct rubbish disposal – amusing but also useful for the rest of our time in Japan.

Former sake brewery.

Guesthouse.

We took a stroll around the harbour and up some hills. We’d not seen many birds so far in Japan, mostly crows – now we saw hundreds all around the harbour. Flocks of them flying around was starting to feel a bit like The Birds.

>Konbini dinner with local cider to go with.

Mugginess, mosquitoes and nearby rail line made for another broken night, but had to get packed up and away early as we found that the city trails get very busy very early on summer mornings. Early dusk at such latitude (just below 45) gives an early dawn – missing daylight savings here!

Smooth, well-marked trail into the city centre.

Many runners, walkers and other riders out trying to beat the heat.

Somewhat surprised to see this new Mormon temple.

Always like impressive bridges, especially those dedicated to people travelling by bike and foot.

Sunday morning baseball by the river.

With a few errands to do (I was hoping to finally replace my air mattress) and wanting to have a little look around the city, somewhere safe and permitted to park our loaded bikes was sought. If we’d been in the country more than a couple of days, we’d have known already that they’d have been safe almost anywhere. Where they’d be allowed was a little more difficult to work out; the big underground bike park near the station seemed a good option. With the help of the attendant, all rules were followed and off we went bike-less.

No way my bike was getting on the top rack, even if I had understood this.

Got a little sticker too.

One of these bikes is not like the other.

Sweltering outside by now, air conditioned malls and (extensive) underground walkways were most welcome. Amongst morning tea/coffee and cake and quick sightseeing, a lot of time was spent at the Mont Bell store – mattress replaced and, for some reason, I thought a poncho would be nicer in rainy conditions than a heavy raincoat.

Part of the main station.

Returning to the bike parking garage, the poor attendant almost collapsed laughing. Apparently these facilities cater to those away for days and weeks – he simply could not believe we were back in a matter of hours. Packing our purchases away, we were occasionally interrupted by sudden bursts of laughter.

Negotiating the bike escalator, we left feeling we’d made the attendant’s day – if not week. I wonder if he still talks about us.

Warm enough in the basement it was too.

Looking for another bike shop, must have been to try and replace Rachel’s chain (think twice about using high-end SRAM components in Japan – near impossible to find replacements; Shimano on the other hand – readily available). After a sweaty, hot climb up a busy arterial road the bike shop was unusually closed. Back to town where the others’ bikes were serviced while I had an interesting hair and beard cut experience; the calendar and poster gifts I walked out with not particularly useful on a bike tour.

A short stop at the Sapporo brewery for a pint later, we found cruisy riverside trails and old roads to take us towards the coast.

It took a little while to find exactly where the free camping was alongside a long narrow parking lot well frequented by beach goers. So hot was it still as dusk approached, even I went for a swim in the sea.

Still plenty of locals out as the day drew to a close. Looking towards the coast, and hills, we’d be riding past tomorrow.

Cutting it a bit fine at the onsen next door, we managed to squeak in and get dinner just as the kitchen about to close.

I don’t think I’ve ever taken as many photos of food as I did in Japan, always a delight to see what would come out and the care with so many different dishes were prepared and presented.

Back for another sweltering night in the tent, at least so close to the coast there was the possibility of a breeze – however warm.

A very slow start after the long day previous travelling and a hot, sticky night. The lightest of drizzles completing the wetting of the tents that the humidity hadn’t managed. Strange looking campground, found out later that it was once a short golf course (pitch and putt). There was a big central barn-like structure which was useful for escaping the damp, if one avoided the various machinery and paraphernalia. Orlaith, having flown in the day before us, rode in and took us back to a bikepacking trio.

Surprised to see a couple of these New Zealand products – Kindling Cracker – amongst everything else.

Being close to the airport, there were quite a few people starting or finishing tours of Hokkaido. A friendly Canadian motorcyclist helped us try to diagnose and fix the problems with Orlaith’s gears, while I switched my pedals for some that Orlaith had kindly brought from home. A less-friendly Israeli man was quite the Debbie Downer explaining in far too much detail why he didn’t enjoy bike touring Hokkaido – just what one wants to hear at the start of a trip. Quite annoying, but good to remember that Complainy-pants was the common factor in all the stories.

Back to the airport (avoiding the freeway this time, but not navigational missteps) for me to post a package of things that were essential in Mongolia, but completely unnecessary in Japan. Quite a process declaring every little thing in the parcel, but that chore done we were off north towards Sapporo – the capital and largest city of Hokkaido. There must have been a heavy downpour while we were in the airport, as there was a little flooding on our route.

But, blue skies.

In Chitose we found a friendly bike shop that fixed the dodgy gears, sold me a new chain, provided bear spray, and let us hang our tents on their bike racks to dry. We left the city through an area of new warehouses (quiet on a Saturday afternoon) and small factories, interspersed by some housing. Out of there, we found some cycle trails beside waterways before extensive market gardens – everything pretty green, it felt like we were the ones in a hot house.

Small to medium solar farms all over the place would soon be a common sight.

The only climb of the day, all of about fifty metres, but in the heat, took us up to Kitahiroshima and a little urban riding – before we got on another cycle trail (felt like an old rail corridor) that was nicely shaded.

Baseball stadium with retractable roof.

Not wanting to go all the way into the city, we started to look for somewhere to camp on the edge of the trail. Not the easiest as it was quite busy. Finding an option, we left for our first onsen (hot springs, public baths) and dinner. This provided plenty of opportunity to try things for the first thing – leaving loaded bikes unlocked in broad daylight in a busy place, buying tickets (for both entry and, later, dinner) using coin-operated vending machines, onsen etiquette and so on. Blissful to have a proper wash and get rid of the pervasive sweat, not too mention having the meal-ordering roulette promising to have more flavour and variety than the Mongolian version.

Once night had set in, we dragged ourselves out into the heat (being sweat-free did not last long) and returned up the trail. Getting pegs into an old rail bed was hard work – tents went up eventually for another fitful night’s sleep.