BEE Japan

Wakkanai to Teshio

On our second departure day from Wakkanai — we were all confused for some time about when the trip officially started — we actually left Wakkanai with no intention to return. We said sorrowful goodbyes to our concrete camping site of the previous four days and imagined ourselves setting up camp on soft sand on the beach at sunset some time in the near future.

When Kura-san and Furakawa-san came to say good-bye and good-luck for the last time, we almost reconsidered our decision to leave, but in the end we finally managed to get on our bikes (and balance our heavy loads) and start rolling out of town. After ten minutes we all decided this trip was going to be difficult, and we definitely needed a break. So we pulled over into a little park and psyched ourselves up to start heading into the wind while discussing the first leg of the trip.

Of course, while we were talking, two sweet little old ladies on tiny-wheeled bikes pulled up to say hello to Chetan, who they had met somewhere previously. And then another guy rolled past and waved; he had run into members of our team somewhere else previously. These were only the first of numerous encounters with fellow cycle-tourers and familiar faces from who-knows-where.

Riding together as a team to take turns breaking the wind (and enjoying the free ride in the back of the line), we couldn`t get enough of the brilliant sunshine, sparkling ocean, or magnificent silhouette of the 1700m-plus Rishiri-ｓan, a gorgeous cone-shaped volcanic island that simply rises out of the sea. Hokkaido is beautiful. And, with the road almost to ourselves — when we had to share it, it was primarily with other cyclists and motorcyclists — we knocked out kilometer after kilometer while the wind blew the sweat off our faces before it even had a chance to condense.

We squatted (or sprawled, according to preference) in a ramen restaurant parking lot — the first sign of human inhabitation we`d seen for a number of hours — to eat our lunch, then finished our afternoon in Teshio, a small fishing town with a fabulous onsen that was a welcome respite for weary muscles. We soaked out our aches and pains in the hot water and then topped the day off with a creatively-scrounged vegetarian meal from the less-than-vegetarian-friendly onsen restaurant menu. Spaghetti, french fries, and edamame happily eaten, we fell asleep under an array of stars that only the rural night sky can offer.

Teshio to Tomamae

I woke up at some ungodly hour this morning, when, in the land of the rising sun, the sun rose. Japan doesn`t use Daylight
Savings Time； for some reason, people here seem to have an obsession with getting up ridiculously early. At 5 a.m., campgrounds are buzzing with activity; I`ve been woken up at 2 a.m. in a mountain hut, when a group of hikers was preparing to leave to catch the 4 a.m. sunrise from some panoramic view-offering peak.

The exhaustion of two days in toasty sun and strong winds let me fall back asleep for a few hours, but then the pitter-patter of raindrops on my tent had me scampering out to gather up the laundry we`d hung out last night and moving my bike (with saddlebags still attached) to the safety of a shelter.

With a backdrop of sunrays streaming through gray clouds on one side, and deep blue expanse of ocean on the other, Emi was cutting up apples and mixing a delicious oatmeal concoction for our breakfast. In only a few short days of riding, we`ve discovered that eating vegetarian on the road in Japan while trying to maintain good levels of energy can be a rather challenging task. If only Whole Foods had made it over here, instead of Costco and KFC.

I thought that I would make use of the early morning to write about yesterday, but instead I took my time packing up my bags, taking pictures of our tents all neatly lined up in a colorful row, and making sure that I had plenty of water and snacks — the essentials for long hours on a bike in the sun. So here I am now, lying on a couch covered in an ancient matted blanket, chilling with the volunteer guy who runs the rider house in Rumoi and staring at walls covered with scribbled messages and countless pictures from previous visitors. And I`m supposed to be writing about yesterday…

One of the surprises we`ve really enjoyed here in northern Hokkaido is the abundance of wind turbines. Our campsite last night was at a place nicknamed `Fuwatto` — wind watts. We`re naturally excited to see alternative forms of energy and anything related to our attempt to promote and support sustainability and the `eco-life`. There`s definitely an abundance of wind up here — we`re continuing to feel it quite strongly in our faces every day. Good for producing energy but a bit of a bane for cyclists heading south.

Another highlight is the abundance of friendly people, again many of them on motorcycles and bicycles. Honestly, I have never seen so many cycle tourists in my life. We must pass between five and ten of them every day. On our first day, we met a French woman who had been rolling solo for eighteen months without any plans to stop. Yesterday we passed a Swiss couple going in the opposite direction; they had been making their way from Europe across central and eastern Asia for the last four years. With tanned faces, massively-loaded bikes, and brilliant smiles, they exuded the joy that time on the open road, encountering people face-to-face, and moving by your own power at your own pace can bring. At our campsite in the evening, we chatted with a high-school student who was pedaling 1000 km over nine days on a full-suspension mountain bike loaded with two giant tupperware tubs on the back rack. Another guy who we`d met in Teshio on Monday and shared the same campsite with on Tuesday had been riding a motorcycle up from Honshu; when his motorcycle broke down, he switched to a bicycle and was continuing his journey by pedal power. Everyone eagerly snapped pictures of our group until we had permasmiles, including a random radio reporter who had heard about us from other people who BEE team members had met while staying at the rider house in Wakkanai. We are famous!! (and easily identified by our matching blue and green jerseys with images of bicycles and Japan emblazoned on them).

Route notes

Wakkanai to Teshio
Flat road round the coast passing cape Noshappu. Strong winds and blue skies. Teshio campsite was 500en per person. Onsen attached also 500en.

Day distance: 70km
Distance to date: 118km
View Wakkanai to Teshio GPS in google maps

Teshio to Tomamae
Changed route since the campsite at Haboro wasn`t very nice plus we wanted to ride more with Chetan and so we all rode on to Tomamae. The road from Teshio to Tomamae is rolling hills rising and falling from sea level to 100m with some great views. The climbs were not too difficult but there is a lot of truck traffic.
The campsite at Tomamae sits on a bluff overlooking the sea. Beautiful! It is usually 500en per person but we were given a discount to 2000en for 7 of us. We were able to charge stuff here and the cooking area is really nice. Met some great cyclists here.

Day distance: 88km
Distance to date: 198km

View Teshio to Tomamae GPS in google maps