November 25, 2025
Day 84 — Aso to Kumamoto
Marilee here.
We woke up to rain in Aso town, and a guesthouse full of disappointed hikers trying to decide whether to bother attempting to summit the volcano or just hide out indoors for the day. For us there was no question: we were committed to hightailing it down the highway to Kumamoto and finding a bike repair shop.
Nevertheless, we left with some regret — this hostel was one of the nicest places we’ve stayed, with a big well-equipped kitchen, lovely bedrooms, and a nice mix of foreign and Japanese tourists to chat with. And we had really been looking forward to riding around the caldera. Oh well, something for next time!
Tom had a Komoot route plugged in for our exit from Aso town, which in the best Komoot fashion had us farting around on dike top trails through rice fields for a good while, until we got tired of the dead ends, roads petering out into cow trails, and roads that ended up being someone’s driveway, and got ourselves onto the highway. Then we went screaming downhill for the rest of the morning, plummeting hundreds of meters in the space of not-very-many kilometers.
It had rained in the early morning, but then cleared until early afternoon, when the skies darkened again. We were nearing the city of Kumamoto when storm clouds really gathered, and a sudden violent downpour had us seek shelter under the nearest roof — which turned out to be a business that was expecting a delivery that we were very much in the way of, except everyone was too polite to tell us to clear off. However, the rain eased off as rapidly as it had appeared, so with many bows we made ourselves scarce.
We were making our way into Kumamoto through the usual edge of town detritus of car dealerships, auto mechanics, warehouses, etc, when we happened across a bike shop. Tom had other bike shops in mind to seek out further in town, but we thought, well, why not give it a shot? So we stopped in to see what they could do for us, and it turned out — quite a lot! They replaced my gear cable, and then suggested that my chain and cassette were worn out and needed replacing, so we got that done as well. Tom had his chain replaced, but they didn’t have a cassette that matched his, so that will have to wait for another day.
An hour or so after we stopped, we were wheeling into Kumamoto in style!
We got to our hotel in Kumamoto almost at the same time as two other cyclists, and it turned out that the hotel had no parking, so we were all sent off into town to find a bike parking lot. We did, eventually, and on the way had a good chat with them, two fellow North Americans. They were from New Mexico, and had been cycling around Japan for a few weeks, staying in hotels and having their luggage forwarded every day. This sounded completely luxurious, but they insisted it was not expensive or hard to arrange. However, I don’t think we could have our bags forwarded from one deserted campground to another, so not sure it would be suitable for our mode of travel.
After an appropriate period of relaxing in our room, we decided to head out to the nearby covered shopping arcade to source a dinner venue. Before we could leave though, both our phones emitted piercing alarm noises. And a second later, rumbling and shaking started — an earthquake! We did none of the things you’re supposed to do — get under a desk, move away from windows. We just clutched each other and stared. Then a few seconds later, it was done. I peeked out the window and traffic was humming along just like usual. So we picked up our now silent phones and went out to find dinner.
There were many options, but we eventually settled on a restaurant serving set meals. I am a big fan of the set meal — rice, meat dish, pickled veg, miso soup — I feel very well fed after a set meal.
Dinner accomplished, we headed home, although the entertainment district was just beginning to ramp up for the night.
Today's ride: 48 km (30 miles)
Total: 4,267 km (2,650 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |