I did this ride in the summer when it was obscenely hot which made it really challenging. If you can avoid doing it in July I did that would be my first suggestion. However, don’t let that stop you. It’s still beautiful and fun. Just watch the water and salt tablet intake.
I started in Onomichi and stayed there a couple of nights. Which I think is the perfect amount of time to spend. One day was spend checking out the temples on the mountainside and the second day was getting my bike and shipping my stuff I didn’t want to carry on Yamato Transport.
Onomich is famous for Onomichi Ramen. Which is a chicken stock based. I’ve never had ramen I didn’t like and this was no exception. Aside from the ramen, Onomichi is well known as film location for many famous movies and animations. The town has definitely got a great vibe to it. Since the mountains butt up against the ocean there is very little flat ground and everything is built very dense.
I rented my bike from Shimanami Rentals. They seemed the best option to handle what I was looking for. I was able to rent a bike one way from Onomichi to Imabari and they also provided mechanical support for anywhere along the journey which was great.
I did the ride in 2 days. I camped at Michikajima one night. The campsite was great but because of the heat I didn’t even have a light jacket and actually got pretty cold around 2am. I only got a couple hours of sleep that night. That was pretty rough.
As you can see from the above map there are a lot of side trips you can go on during the trip. For me due to the heat and the fact I was so poorly packed the only side trips I went to were to the beach to go swimming.
The riding was beautiful. The scenery is amazing. An absolutely beautiful trip for anyone of any ability to cycle. Riding over some of the bridges was surreal. The Tatara bridge was an especially amazing site. Was the longest cable stay bridge in the world when it was built and was awesome to ride across.
The town of Imabari doesn’t seem to offer much for the traveller. I went to the large shotengai that was near Imabari station but almost all the shops were closed except a pachinko parlor that was doing a brisk business. I ended up returning my bike and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Imabari Shimanami rentals return location also sold showers. Which is just what I needed.
I decided to hop on the train to Matsuyama. If you have time take the train to Matsuyama. It’s an hour away and awesome mid size College town. Have a soak in the historic Dogo Onsen, enjoy some mikan ice cream and visit the castle. Trust me you’ll be glad you did.
