Cycling Japan – day 22 – Komatsu to Chirihama

Day 22 – Komatsu to Chirihama
Distance: 74.1km
Ascent / descent: 305m / 300m
Weather: rainy and cool all day
Accommodation: camped near the sea in Chirihama

It’s a very important day in Japan today, the Emperor has stepped down due to his ailing health and his son is taking to the throne. The new Era starting today is called Reiwa.

Reiwa, the new era of Japan

I woke up to rain which lasted from 4am until I got up at 6:30am. I packed up and tried to dry the tent out as much as possible. A man opened the office around 8:30am and I paid ¥300 then he offered to turn the stove on inside for me to dry out my tent so that was very kind. I charged some things inside while waiting for the tent to dry then when I left at 9:30am it was raining again and this continued all day long (so there’s hardly any photos today).

I stopped at 7-Eleven to check the forecast and have breakfast and eventually reached a cycle lane – it alternated from beside the sea (quite sandy, I had to be careful with the bike) to directly beside the freeway (I know I should be grateful it was a cycle lane, but why did it have to be right beside a busy freeway? Anyway, I put my music on as loud as possible to try and drown out the traffic noise!) I also passed many vegetable fields planted in the sand which reminded me of Portugal.

I stopped at Michi-no-eki Sunset Bridge for lunch and the boss was very friendly. He asked me where I was headed and told me to speak to his friend who was the boss of the Chirihama Michi-no-eki (near where I was headed) as I might be able to camp there. On the way there, I passed the Chirihama driveway where motor vehicles can drive on the beach.

A sign for the Chirihama driveway where cars/buses/motorbikes can drive on the sand

A motorbike on the Chirihama driveway

Momiji on the Chirihama driveway

Camping at Michi-no-eki was a no-go and it was getting late in the day now and I was cold through to my bones from riding in the rain all day, so I decided the first priority needed to be an Onsen to warm up and then I would figure out where to camp. The onsen was ¥460 and was the best idea, it was wonderful! It had a restaurant too, so after my bath I had dinner and was able to charge some things.

Dinner after the bath at Euphoria Chirihama Onsen

I eventually left in the dark and made my way down to the beach to find somewhere to camp. I found a few people camping and they said I could camp nearby so I set up my tent and then they invited me to join them around their campfire. We drank whisky and had a wonderful time. I think I’m going to sleep well tonight (maybe I need to carry whisky on me to help me sleep!) 😉