September 8, 2025
Day 6 — Rishiri Island
The day’s plan was pretty simple. Ride in a big circle around Rishiri.
The clouds and rain of the previous day had cleared out and the wind had dropped, meaning it was a good stiff breeze, but not a howling gale. In short, a glorious day.
We downed the breakfast we had provisioned at Seicomart the previous evening (boiled eggs, raisin bread, yogurt), and were on the road by 8:00.
And it was indeed a glorious morning. We did have a decent headwind to start, but the sun was out, the sky was blue and the ring road nearly empty. We did have some unclouded views of Rishiri mountain at first, but it quickly gathered the clouds.
We plugged along for a while, enjoying the sun and the views, and came upon a shrine built on a rocky outcrop, which we stopped to check out. There was a plaque describing it, but Google Translate struggled mightily.
Further on, we left the highway to detour through a small town, where locals were putting kelp they had gathered out to dry. There was also a park dedicated, it looked like, to an urchin farm, which are apparently a local delicacy.
We continued along, slowly turning out of the headwind and into a substantial tailwind. Scenery, sun, tailwind, clear road, paradise.
As I cranked happily along in my highest gear, I heard Marilee yell from behind me. She had spied a temple off on the woods, and wanted to check it out. It was an intriguing wood structure, down a short overgrown path, guarded by two stone lions. We ventured down the little path, which was sopping wet under the creeping undergrowth. As intriguing the temple was, and much as we wanted to absorb the ambiance, we quickly realized we were totally covered in mosquitoes, and sprinted back to the bikes, slapped each other a whole bunch and hopped on the bikes to skedaddle out of there.
The next stop was a wide outcrop near a lighthouse, where there were piles of rocks painted by passersby with names and messages. Paint was supplied, so I sourced a rock on the beach, and Marilee supplied the talent.
We continued our circuit — at one point encountering the Montanans, coming the opposite direction. Eventually we paused at a rest area, which had a nice view back towards Oshidomari. It appeared that the cycle path started from here, though we were unclear on whether the path was going our direction or not, but we gave it a shot. This was to be the epically right decision.
The bike path turned out to be the most incredible piece of bike infrastructure we’ve ever seen. It climbed up through the lush forest, a pretty ride that added some decent elevation. Once it was up about 100 m or so, a series of breathtaking bridges crossed a series of deep ravines, each with spectacular views of Rishiri mountain inland and the coast. The engineering to create this was mind boggling. The path itself had a surface that was near perfect, nary a crack nor a bump, smooth as a baby’s backside. And the bridges beggared belief. And we were the only ones on it!
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The swooping cruise down to ocean level was one they should make you pay money for. Eventually we rejoined the path we had taken the day before, and we headed back to Kutsugata. By now the wind had picked up again and was directly in our faces, so the last dozen km we got to feeling pretty done in.
Once in town, we got some snacks at the Seicomart, where we managed to find an IPA in the fridge! We settled into our camp chairs for a while, the off to the onsen for a soak. We had hoped to go to the same cozy little restaurant we were at the previous evening, but most places were closed (is Monday a day off?), so we settled for some bar food at an Izakaya.
And there ends a top notch day of cycling.
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 149 km (93 miles)
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4 months ago