I’ve been going through the threads to finalize my plans for the Shimanami Kaido. Ideally, I want to ride it in one day, starting in Onomichi. Upon booking, there wasn’t an option to drop the bike off at the second location in Imabari.
Is my only option to ride back to Onomichi? I’m fairly fit, but am not confident a round-trip is going to be most enjoyable or best use of my time. If drop-off at the second location isn’t an option, is there any delivery services for the bike back to the original rental?
The only other feasible option I can foresee is renting 2 days and returning it back in Onomichi on the second day. Either I would stay stay the evening in Imabari or ride halfway back on day one and stay somewhere along the route; this would give me time to explore if this was my only option. Though, this option seems like a lot of riding. Does anyone have any suggestions for this issue?
I would be coming from Osaka to Onomichi, but was planning on Matsuyama and Hiroshima after. I decided this might be the best option for me in order to avoid having to figure out logistics of sending my luggage.
4 comments
Don’t do a round trip in one day, it’s so not worth it. Book a second day of bike rental and a night in Imabari, and then bike back the next day. It shouldn’t take you all that long if you’re an experienced cyclist, and it’s a gorgeous ride. Don’t force yourself to skip breaks (both for rest/food as well as for leisure/sightseeing) just because you’re trying to complete a speedrun.
Why can’t you drop off in Imabari? Is it the type of bike you’re getting? For regular bikes (road and easy-ride city bikes) I found two that you can do one-way service for a fee.
I just did the Shimanami Kaido in May with a few friends, starting from Onomichi and ending in Imabari (then continuing on to Matsuyama then Hiroshima).
Definitely do a 2-day trip! There’s so much to see along the route, and you’ll want to take your time enjoying the sights, sounds, and food. We rented regular bikes from Giant Onomichi and due to a mistake on our end, we weren’t able to return it at Giant Imabari. Instead, we had to use Wakka’s bike return service that picks up in Imabari and drives it back to Onomichi.
Day 0: Explored Onomichi and stayed overnight at Hotel Cycle Onomichi U2 (right next to Giant)
Day 1: Forwarded luggage to our lodging that night (can do through the hotel). Started biking around 10am, made a bunch of stops to eat and shop, and arrived at Wakka on Omishima island around 5pm. Highly recommend this lodging. Since we were using their bike return service, the sent our luggage to Imabari for free.
Day 2: Morning detour to Okunoshima (Rabbit Island) via ferry with our bikes. Then continued on to Imabari, arriving afternoon to meet our Wakka bike return driver and grab our luggage. Everything went smoothly, and headed out to Matsuyama.
I will be making a YT video of the trip but probably not for awhile…I have a backlog of footage to go through 🙁 lmk if you want any specific recs
If you’re using an electric bike, you have to return it at Onomichi. Normal bikes can be returned at Imabari near the station.