Day 37 - Urahoro to Lake Kanayama lakeside campground - 137kms
I was riding by 5am today. As when I checked the forecast last night it looked like it would be a 35c degree day. It was a great to get away early. So nice and quiet and cool. I had a number of different routes I could take today. I decided to keep it simple and just follow highway 38. Even though this is one of the main highways, it generally had a good shoulder or pavement to ride on for most of its length.
With a gentle tailwind I was making good time and had ridden about 100km by 11:30am. As I was in the mountains again, it was not as hot as I was expecting. My legs were still feeling good and I decided to push on over the pass to Kanayama campground. Which was still about 35kms away. The climb up was, at times, warm. But the grade was very manageable and near the top a snow tunnel gave me some nice shade. I enjoyed the views from the top of the pass before coming down the other side. The last 25kms were mainly downhill or flat. So a very quick ride. When I got to the lake, which is made by a dam, I saw that the lavender was still in flower. It looked so pretty and smelt great. Best of all my campground was right next door. Today has been a longer riding day than planned, but it was worth it. The campground is well maintained, scenic and as usual not too busy. |
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Day 38 - Lake Kanayama lakeside campground to Kamifurano - 54kms
This morning I bagged my rubbish accordingly with the six bin bags I was given last night. I was riding by 6am and headed for Furano. It is going to be another hot day.
Thanks again to a good tailwind I got to Furano by 8am. I stopped for breakfast before heading to the slopes. In the winter these are used for skiing. But in summer they decided it would be a great place to grow lots of flowers. There were fields of lavenders, sunflowers, marigolds and others which I were not sure of. It looked amazing. I spent a good couple of hours walking around, in the sun, enjoying the views. When it started to get busy, there were bus loads of tourists arriving, I headed for the campground. The campground was only another 10km away in Kamifurano. I arrived there at 12:30pm. I found a nice spot under the trees. So had shade for the afternoon. This is the busiest campground I have been to so far. But still very pleasant. Best thing of all I could have a ten minute shower for ¥100. Just what I wanted after a warm day was a nice cold shower. There are forecast storms on Sunday and Monday. So I've adjusted my plan slightly. Tomorrow I heading up into the mountain range behind the campground and after will be riding to Asahikawa. Where I'm planning on spending two nights before catching the train to Chitose on Monday. This way I should avoid having to ride much in the wet. |
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Day 39 - Kamifurano to Asahikawa - 75kms
This was certainly the busiest campground I had stopped at on this trip. Partly due to it being a long weekend in Japan. But the campground was really nice and well maintained.
I decided to follow route 291 up the small mountain range which overlooks the campground. At the start of the ride the road had a nice nature strip of lavender. This went on for a couple of kilometres. The road began climbing, quickly. As it was still early and there was a lot of shade it was a good time to be climbing. It took me about 90 minutes to get to the summit. Which is 1280 metres high. At times the road averaged 14% and my legs were certainly feeling it. But there is a reward at the summit, an onsen. The highest onsen in all of Hokkaido. I timed it well, as I arrived just when it had opened (8am). It wasn't busy and I had a great view of the mountains from the outside onsen. Whilst I was taking my pictures outside, the lady working at the onsen came out and said she had to get a picture of me. As they have a poster with all the cyclists who have cycled there. So now I'm on the wall too. After I had a quick descent to onsen number 2. This onsen is free and is mixed sex. Again nice views of the area and all to myself. I decided today would become onsen day. Another km down the road was onsen number 3. This one was the biggest one I had been to today, so far. It also had a campground which looked nice, but there was no shade. The onsen was very well maintained. I was feeling very refreshed after the onsens so far. So I rode to the volcano lookout. This is where you can do a walk up to the crater. As it was a warm day I walked as far as the lookout to the volcano. I had a great view still of the area. I then rode quickly down to hill. There were queues of cars waiting to go to the Blue Lake. It seriously was a good couple of kilometres long. I decided to skip the Blue Lake, as I didn't want to deal with so many people. Pleased that I did, as a few quick kilometres down the hill I stopped at a cafe for lunch and coffee. A great place to recharge. Nice and peaceful. Once I was fed, I still had a bit of a tailwind as I headed to Asahikawa. I got to town by 2:30pm and headed to the park in the centre where you can free camp. A great spot. Not too busy, mainly other cyclists seem to be staying here! It was also near onsen number 4. This one was the biggest and most modern I had been to. So well maintained. A nice end to another fantastic riding day. Today was my last big day riding. Tomorrow I'm into a hotel in Asahikawa and then on Monday I will be catching the train to Chitose, as the forecast is for heavy rain. On Tuesday I will be on a plane back home to Sydney. |
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