Shimanami Kaido: A Seamlessly Fulfilling Experience
If you were to keep track of extended moments in my life where it has felt I’ve really been living, where I’ve felt the most alive and present on a sensory and mental level, where my whole being has been absorbed into the vivid tapestry of the world around me through those exact sequence of moments, then the fascinating, beautiful, and, frankly, simple bike ride I completed with Mary today would rank highly on such a list. Allow me to introduce a quirky little cycling route: Shimanami Kaido.
Two words that immediately come to mind for me about today would be seamless and accessible. Granted, being graced with periods of blissful sunshine throughout the day certainly helped me reach this assertion, but I think it is difficult not to enjoy the Shimanami Kaido. For starters, the simplicity makes starting easy. You walk ten metres from the main train station in Onomichi and you’ll be greeted with a well-signed, large building full of bikes for public hire. Any hour between 8am and 7pm, you’ll come in, be greeted by a team of the most beautiful, respectful people who will do their utmost to communicate with you in a way that makes sense. Most speak excellent English. Within five minutes, off you go, carrying a helmet, fitted bike, and pamphlet containing maps, itinerary options, suggestions, time estimates, ferry timetables and prices, contact numbers, and a long list of alternate destinations you can leave your bike at the other end. In all likelihood, you won’t ever need to touch these resources. An obvious blue line traces the entire 70km route from start to finish, with kilometre markers and clear signage throughout.
The optionality is endless, and can cater to essentially anyone. Chasing performance? Brilliant. You can rent specialty road bikes. Not really a cyclist? Perhaps the e-bike, or electric assist bike will be of interest for you. I can attest personally that the electric assistance setup provides a much-needed boost, but still requires hard work. Mary has been feeling jelly legs all evening.
Similarly, you can decide to simply turn around and come home whenever you feel like it, provided you’re staying the night in Onomichi, or wherever you started. Start wherever you want, it doesn’t really matter. Every Setouchi town is gorgeous, and is probably serviced by ferry. In our case, we rode over to Setoda intending to retrace our steps back home, decided we’d prefer to catch the ferry instead, and then just rocked up. Your route can be decided on the fly and takes almost no pre-meditation whatsoever besides accomodation. Initially, we had planned to complete the ride over to Imabari in Shikoku, which I still think is an excellent plan for some. For many though, I’d suggest staying in the same place. It allows you complete flexibility to start, see how you’re feeling, and then decide where you want the Shimanami Kaido to take you. It also just makes logistics easier for you and means you won’t be racing the clock.
Speaking of, we had an incredibly slow start to the morning, only kicking off the ride at midday. It didn’t matter! We made it comfortably to our intended destination, Setoda, with plenty of time to stop for food and photos on multiple occasions, and importantly, not feel rushed. We weren’t keeping pace to reach an endpoint, but just riding at the most comfortable speed for us. When you want a challenge, the course will offer one up to you. There are some nice rolling hills and twisty descents at times, plus cold headwinds and crosswinds over suspension bridges, too! At the same time, whenever we felt more like digesting the landscape around us, moving at a leisurely pace in which we nearly forgot we were riding at all, that was almost always an option.
The whole experience feels seamless which means you can devote your entire attention to just being in the experience, rather than stressing about logistics. Rest stops, convenience stores, and bathrooms are scattered regularly, seemingly always where you most crave them. At least on a lovely Wednesday in early March, other cyclists pass by with a frequency that makes you feel safe, motivated, and connected socially, but also affords you stretches of near-private road where you could yell out and only the vast blue ocean would hear. Moreover, the vehicle traffic was always understanding, respectful, and never overwhelmingly busy, furthering this same positive atmosphere.
In terms of highlights, the Shimanami Kaido has many. When the sun was out, the entire collage of islands and sea was simply magical. Heading up towards, and then across, Ikuchi bridge from the main town on Innoshima island was my favourite stretch of the day, but the scenery from about kilometre ten onwards was stunning, consistently. We didn’t even touch half of the path, including the most famous bridge of all!
I could sing more praises, and recall more highlights, but my body is tired. Perhaps tomorrow. Ultimately, as a pair setting out together anxiously this morning, quite scattered on our respective love for long bike rides and desires for a physical marathon this morning, we both came away with a beaming smile, immense fulfilment, and an appreciation for what was a doable challenge. That feels like strong criteria for a very worthwhile experience.
