Today, we will head out to begin riding south along the Pacific Coast. When we complete this leg of our journey, we will have completely circumnavigated Kyushu and crossed through it twice. Kyushu has so much to offer…beautiful coastline with surfing opportunities, small islands, natural beauty and interesting towns and cities.
This map of Kyushu provides detailed cycling routes with links to Ride with GPS and clear elevation grids. It is an invaluable map to have.Having such a reliable resource has encouraged us to tackle rides that cross the island through very hilly terrain as well as coastal rides. You can also find this map online.
We have enjoyed breakfast both of the mornings that we have stayed in Oita. The restaurant is separate from the hotel and it is excellent. The food choices reflect local specialities and are delicious.
The World Series is being broadcast during breakfast. We are on the edge of our seats as we are rooting for the Toronto Blue Jays (of course..we are Canadian) and the Japanese guests are rooting for the Dodgers as they have some excellent players from Japan, . such as the superstar Shohan Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The footbridges at the castle are sadly not original. Like much of the castle, air raids and fires have destroyed much of the original structures like the tenshu, 23 watchtowers, 5 gates and 3 of the rokabashi (roofed bridges with walls)
Despite the ocean breezes, it is a hot day. This parfait at the Konbini hit the spot. We weren’t too sure about the corn flakes at the bottom, but it works.
We just had to pull over. This farm has a smart idea offering free samples of each type of mandarin and persimmons. As a result we bought a bag of mandarins to keep us fueled for the next few days. So delicious and juicy.
Today’s ride is going through very hilly country. By the end of the day we will have ridden through about 30 tunnels, most of which had a separate sidewalk for walkers and cyclists.
