Cycling in Japan 2016 - Last day! Shiretoko to Abashiri

6 Sep - At the sumptuous banquet that was meant to be breakfast we noticed Tats was limping. And he was sporting some huge plasters on his elbows. Turns out they had to drive up to the visitors centre to check in with Ken (boss) and while they were there, Dai convinced Tats to ride in the car park on a long board skateboard. Oops. Tats drove for the rest of the day.

Our guide Tats, before the Longboard Incident

And it was Tats's birthday too. Broken on his birthday. We gave him a t shirt from the visitors centre as a present.

We left at the usual time of 8.30 a.m. Bit overcast. The hill back up to the Shiretoko visitors centre was relatively easy. We stopped near the top to watch some deer. But just below the visitors centre on the main road back to the coast, we passed a huge stag and doe. The stag had some magnificent antlers. I gave them both a wide berth and tucked into my downhill position.

Great downhill. All the way down into a wee town for a stop at the 7 11 and an atm stop.

The day was easy riding, which was good as it was touted as 102 km of riding. But it was all pretty flat. After the wee town we headed up the only hill of the day for a view. But when I got to the top, all I saw was the beckoning downhill and my bike brain took over and I hurled myself down the hill with reckless abandon.

Battled a bit of rain and wind before morning tea. Dipped my feet in the sea, because I could! Headed to the lunch stop in a coastal town. Delicious ramen lunch. Yum!

The others all changed into jackets for the afternoon. They're obviously all soft. Ha ha. I stayed in my t shirt. I figured I might get just as wet cycling in a hot jacket as any rain that might fall.

The riding was flat and along rural roads. We saw another dead fox, obviously not the quick brown one. We stopped opposite the wild flower park, but nothing was blooming. I did eat asparagus ice-cream though. It was good. This was not the unanimous opinion of the party.

Asparagus icecream and... KITE! BIRD OF PREY!

The last forty kms were through the outskirts of Abashiri. My shoulder was sore again, but bearable. I just had to relax it when I could. We stopped at a sandy beach to view the shiretoko peninsula in its cloud glory.

We were staying further out of Abashiri this time. Rode past our previous hotel and kept going for another few kms. The promised steep climb up to the hotel food was a distinct anti climax.

We were finished. Wow. Hard to believe. Wet, filthy, and ready for the onsen and pillow menu.

Wet grotty feet - still gorgeous though

The usual banquet followed and we were all a bit sad that the cycling and luxurious living had come to an end. Ernie, aka the lone wolf, even expressed appreciation for our company. He is obviously a little deranged.

We looked at photos from Tats's camera and ordered some for us both. He's been a sports photographer in a previous life.

After giving Tats my USB stick, we got a DVD player and watched Leon together. Col and Iona had never seen it.

It was the latest night we'd had. 11 pm by the time I went to my room. And I stupidly read for a while before sleeping.