Bikinating the Love Princess
Yes you can ride a mamachari to the station, omedetou gozaimasu, but you know what? The Love Princess wants more from you. “Look at my waves of mountains,” she exclaims. “Regard my turquoise coasts. Count up the thousands of yen you spend on train fare every weekend getting out of your inaka town,” she beseeches. “Get on your bikes and ride, my children. Save your yen. Save the planet. Get fit. Ride, Sally, ride. Real Ultimate Jitensha Power!” cries the Love Princess. Heed her cries.
Our fair prefecture, Ehime, rocks for cycling. It’s relatively small, has decent roads with fairly courteous drivers, and, most of all, it’s freaking beautiful. Cycle touring is a great way to get to know the Love Princess and her inhabitants. I’ve sadly had to move on from this mikan-dusted fairyland, but wanted to pass on some of the info I gathered during my Ehime Cycling career. Here’s what you need to know:
Bikes and Bike shops
Hybrid bike, mountain bike, or road bike? The roads in Ehime are generally pretty good, but when you’re riding through gravel-strewn sides of tunnels or cutting through Dogo park, you’ll be glad for something sturdier than a road racer. Full-suspension mountain bikes are overkill for road riding, and you can’t put panniers on them anyway. (I used a Specialized Crossrider for all the biking I did in Japan and really recommend this bike, but each to her own…)
If you’re looking to buy a bike in Ehime, two great bike shops in Matsuyama are Mori Cycle Shop and Ueno Cycle. Budget around 6 or 7 man for a good bike.
Cycle touring rocks. Get a rack for your bike, a set of panniers, and camping gear, and you can be a total nomad. It's legal in Japan to camp on any public property, and even if it weren't, no one's going to say anything. Really. I've slept under temples, in rest areas, and in the middle of city parks, and I've only ever been told to move on once - and this by an obaachan who ordered me to pack up my tent and sleep in her house. So it's cool.
You can buy panniers online from retailers in the US (REI, among others, ships to Japan), or online from Japanese retailers. Cycle Yoshida is good, and lets you pay COD (www.cycle-yoshida.com).
For camping gear, also try online retailers or go to Kompass Outdoor Shop or Himaraya in Matsuyama. To get to Kompass, follow the road the JR station’s on. Go up past Fuji Grand, and about 2km up the road just past a Circle K conbini you’ll see it on your right. They sell tents, stoves, raingear, fuel, etc. Himaraya has a more limited selection of camping gear as they’re not a specialty camping shop, but their stoves and cooking gear are good. It’s next to the shopping centre at Kinuyama.
Routes to Try
Fun rides out of Matsuyama include Misaka Pass up to Kuma-cho (Route 33),
Sakura Sanri over to Komatsu-cho (Route 11), and the seaside route out
to Futami and Nagahama (Route 378).
Route 33: This road leads south from Matsuyama through Tobe-cho and up Misaka Pass to Kuma-cho. It’s about 35km from Matsuyama to Kuma, and 10 of these are a pretty steep uphill grind. The views are amazing though, and there are very encouraging distance markers along the pass every one or two km. There are two short tunnels at the beginning and end of the pass, but none too scary. Do this ride at the break of dawn and watch the mist rise off the city as you climb above it. You will feel like a Real Ultimate Ninja Badass.
Route 11: This route runs east from Matsuyama through Shigenobu and Kawauchi (now merged into Toon City) to Komatsu, Toyo, Saijo, and beyond. It’s a 45 km run to Komatsu, and runs through the not-very-grueling Sakura Sanri Pass. At the top of the pass there’s a 378-metre tunnel that can be dodgy with trucks. Best to ride in the road through it, though, as the sides are covered in gravel and garbage and could give you a flat. In the spring Sakura Sanri is covered in cherry blossoms.
Route 378 : After it splits off from the 56 in Iyo-shi, this road takes you west and down along the coast past Futami beach and out to Nagahama. It's about 40km ride from Matsuyama to Nagahama, and pretty level with a wide shoulder for good parts of it. If you're just starting out road biking in Ehime, this is a good one to start with.
Other drivers. Usually they’re fine, but sometimes they aren’t sure how to treat a cyclist, and either try to pass you when there’s no room, or hang back and tail you because they’re afraid to pass. Pull off whenever you can to let cars pass.
Flat tires. They suck. Buy good tires to start with, but carry a patch kit, pump, and extra tube in case you do get a flat. Make sure you know what kind of valves your tubes use—presta or schroeder—and check that your pump fits them or that you have an adapter.
Tunnels. They’re freaky. If there’s no bike lane, you have to either ride in the road and hold up traffic, or off to the side amongst the gravel and gunk. By law in Japan you must have a flashing rear light to bike through tunnels—besides being the law, this is just good sense anyway. The good thing about tunnels is that they usually signal the top of the mountain pass you’ve been grunting up.
Tanuki. These mischievous creatures have been known to dart out from roadside shrubbery and clamp their teeth into innocent tires and/or cyclists. If bitten by a tanuki during a full moon, you will develop lycanthropic tendencies. Japan has treaties with all JET countries allowing them to deport any JETs suspected of being were-tanukis. Be careful out there.
If you’re traveling by train/bus/etc and don’t want to drag your bike with you, you can send it by delivery service (takyubin) to your destination. Just put it in a box or bag and call Kuroneko or Pelican to arrange pick-up. Kuroneko charged me about 2300 yen to deliver my bike from my house in Matsuyama to Kansai airport, though at Narita they wanted to charge me the 5000 yen “bulky/heavy baggage fee” to send it to Matsuyama. I don’t think they ship many bikes, so the fees can be inconsistent.
Sunscreen is your friend. Helmet and/or sandal tans look goofy and your students will not shut up about it if you show up on Monday with your helmet straps branded onto the sides of your face.
Helmets are your friends though. Never mind that it seems like only junior high students or Mormon missionaries wear them in Ehime. When roaring about the Love Princess, it’s just silly not to wear one.
A good road atlas also joins your crew of new friends. Kinokuniya in Matsuyama has a great road map section on their first floor.
Inaka JETS (or at least their showers and extra futons) are also your friends. After a long day’s ride it’s great to be able to shower and sleep at someone’s house. And it’s always nice to have a sweaty cyclist show up at your doorstep begging futons.
Onsen are also your dear friends. Ah, onsen…
Night biking and rain biking might not sound overly fun at first, but Ehime in the misty rain or navy blue night has its own secret charm that will quickly become your friend. Your friend that everyone else thinks is slightly nutters, but whom you secretly and dearly love.
And if you're truly hardcore..
Take some time during Golden Week to bike to Yakushima. A four-hour ferry ride south of Kagoshima City in Kyushu, this tiny island is a UNESCO World Heritage site full of old-growth cedar trees. Seriously old-growth ... the Yaku Sugi tree is about 3000 years old. It’s a magical magical place, and the ride through Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima on Kyushu to get there is incredibly beautiful. There’s also a mad festival under the Aso volcano on Kyushu during Golden Week to follow up your Wild Cedar Adventure with. Email me and I’ll give you all the details.