October: Mt. Shirouma to shimanami kaido, 3 weeks

5 comments

1. I can’t comment on the japanese alps, but I’m not sure where your travel days are? It’s going to take about 3.5 hours to get from Osaka to Imabari, for example. and that’s not counting travelling to-from the station, renting the bikes, storing or shipping your luggage and getting food (which would probably take an additional 2-3 hours). So I would give yourself a rest day before setting off on the Shimanami Kaido for example ( I mean, why wouldn’t you go check out the bathhouse in Imabari? Dogo onsen, I think it’s called?).

   We rented bikes to get around Kyoto (we were there 13 days) and found we had to take a rest day from them every three days because of how saddle sore we got.

2. I do not see why you would want to get a car for the alps. You can easily reach Hakuba from Tokyo in less than 4 hours on a single limited express train from Shinjuku and there seems to be bus going toward the mountain. There is also bus between Matsumoto and Takayama, stopping at Hirayu.

   You cannot go all the way to Kamikochi by car, so you would have to park and get on a bus anyway, then you would have to pay extra because you return the car at a different location than where you rented it.

   Unless you are in a group of 3-4, I would guess the car will be more expensive than bus/train. Also, if you are tired from the hike, being in public transport is much more relax than having to drive.

   For sure I would check train and bus schedule a bit to make sure you do not miss the last one, but nothing in that really require a car rental.

3. It looks pretty good to me. Hakuba Sanso atop Mt. Shirouma closes in mid December, so you need to keep that in mind. The closing date also moves around year to year. It’s a good idea to designate the days in the mountain to weekdays because these places can be fully booked on weekends.

4. You should refuel and try to make more money next October. Trust me, just rent a helicopter. You won’t have to endure traffic jams, and the view is definitely better

5. If you do happen to ride the Shimanami Kaido from Imabari, keep in mind that the Giant store is closed on Tuesdays. On my trip, I arrived travelled to Imabari and stayed at Cyclo No Ie for a night -> rode to Ikuchi and stayed at Ryokan Suminoe -> then rode to Onomichi and stayed at U2.

   You’ll want a rest/chill day before starting the bike ride. I would suggest riding as far as you can the first day. Your sit bones are going to hurt a lot the second day of the ride. The hotel rooms at U2 have massive tubs to soak in.