{"id":4723,"date":"2013-07-15T07:19:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T05:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=4723"},"modified":"2020-01-02T05:37:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T10:37:16","slug":"hokkaido-hoax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/hokkaido-hoax\/","title":{"rendered":"Hokkaido Hoax"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d spun Hokkaido<\/strong> into some kind of cycling nirvana.\u00a0 A Shangri-La of sorts where a smooth ribbon of road cut through the countryside.\u00a0 A bike tourist\u2019s Eden of tailwinds and temperate weather.\u00a0 A utopia of sane drivers, safe roads and stunning landscape.<\/p>\n

Reality was quite a bit less pleasant.\u00a0 Hokkaido\u2019s famed for its host of high mountains, plethora of national parks and continental climate.\u00a0 Since the rest of Japan suffers muggy summers of energy-sapping heat and humidity, those who can flock to the country\u2019s northernmost island to chill out.\u00a0 Hokkaido is known as a wild place, the last frontier if you will.\u00a0 A place where bears roam free and crafty foxes sneak up on unsuspecting campers. \u00a0\u00a0Hokkaido is to Japan what Alaska is to America.<\/p>\n

Rolling off the ferry<\/strong> in Hokkaido\u2019s southern port city of Hokodate I half expected to pedal into pristine wilderness.\u00a0 But no.\u00a0 Perhaps further afield I\u2019d be surprised by a bear or two.\u00a0 In Hokodate the usual convenience stores stand guard on every corner (7\u201411 with its free 7-spot WIFI is my favorite) and dreary housing blocks and strip malls line the streets.\u00a0 My heart sunk.\u00a0 By the time we hustled it out of town, a light drizzle began to fall. The world seemed very gray.<\/p>\n

Soon night fell and we\u2019d yet to find a suitable spot to camp. I\u2019d proposed an empty field behind a Lawson\u2019s convenience store, but Eric had shot down that idea.\u00a0 \u201cToo rocky,\u201d he insisted, \u201cIt\u2019ll wreck the tent, plus there\u2019s bound to be a lot of rain tonight and we should try to find cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

I acquiesced (as usual) and we pedaled on into the night, moods souring and stomachs rumbling.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d grown weary<\/strong> of shoestring touring in one of the world\u2019s most expensive countries. \u00a0It was true that Japan is one of the world\u2019s easiest places to wild camp.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019re chopping down trees to start a camp fire or stripping down naked to bathe in the buff you and your tent will be ignored.\u00a0 You can pitch up in public parks and on busy beaches, even smack dab in the middle of town. \u00a0But when it\u2019s been raining for weeks on end, camping quickly loses its appeal.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n

In the end, we camped next to an abandoned warehouse.\u00a0 The spot had little to recommend it.\u00a0 Noise from a nearby road meant we slept fitfully.\u00a0 A little after 4AM we woke to more drizzle which soon intensified into a full-on deluge.<\/p>\n

Hokkaido was no nirvana.\u00a0 At least not for us.<\/p>\n

Bicycle touring is no different than ‘real life.<\/strong>‘ \u00a0The road has its ups and downs and Japan has been pretty bleak. \u00a0That’s OK. \u00a0Today I tap away on the computer as a beautiful day unfolds beyond the window. \u00a0Part of me says I ought to be out enjoying the fine weather. \u00a0But honestly, I’m content inside. \u00a0 A few days of calm with a roof over our heads (thanks to our Warm Showers hosts Andy and Clare) is \u00a0exactly what we need.<\/p>\n

\"\"
If only we could find camping spots like this every single night, I swear I’d never ever whinge about the weather again. Alas, it’s rarely this good. This is in Yochi, a small town popular with surfers on Hokkaido’s west coast. A pair of foxes visited us that night and got into a bit of mischief. One ran off with my Crocs and smashed a jar of jam and licked out the contents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"
This is Route 229 at its best! Honestly it never rivals great coastal roads like Highway 1 in the US, Australia’s Great Ocean Road or New Zealand’s many fantastic coastal routes. Of course if the sun had bothered to present itself I might have another opinion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Route 229 is an amazing feat of engineering. The land drops off into the Sea of Japan so precipitously that the only way to build a road was to tunnel into the rock formations. To be sure, my legs were thrilled to avoid the inclines but tunnel cycling is not for the faint-hearted.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
A few of the tunnels have got wide protected lanes perfect for a fully-loaded bike. Most,however, are pretty frightening affairs. There’s hardly room for error and if two trucks happen to be passing at the same time, the cyclist is toast. Tunnels can be long, too–our maximum tunnel length was around 3.5 kilometers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
LUNCH! Some kind soul gifted us some dried salmon and I whipped up a nice pasta dish for lunch. Small pleasures go a long way in keeping us focused on the positive side of cycle touring. We drag out the stove 3 to 4 time per day! Pancakes for breakfast (we can’t find oats here) fried eggs and toast for a mid-morning snack, tofu and veggies for lunch most days and it’s usually spaghetti with 7-11 tomato sauce for dinner. Can’t complain too much, plus we tend to squeeze in some ice cream a few times a week, Will not be getting skinny any time soon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The canal district of Otaru almost has a European feel to it. Here’s one Japanese city that’s perfect for a leisurely stroll around town admiring the historic buildings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d spun Hokkaido into some kind of cycling nirvana.\u00a0 A Shangri-La of sorts where a smooth ribbon of road cut through the countryside.\u00a0 A bike tourist\u2019s Eden of tailwinds and temperate weather.\u00a0 A utopia of sane drivers, safe roads and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[197,49],"tags":[25],"yoast_head":"\nHokkaido Hoax - Worldbiking.info<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/hokkaido-hoax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hokkaido Hoax - 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