SBK Japan

Day 8 Final Day

Waking up to the sound of waves and gulls again had me thinking I was back at Soya Misaki and hoping for a ground hog day. But it was not to be. Fitting though, that the final night in the tent should end like the 1st.

6am and too many people were already up. Cloudy and a little damp, the sun was trying to shine through and a sunny day was predicted so I took my time over breakfast and went for a wander to see where all the fireworks noises had been coming from the night before. Getting to the edge of the cliff and looking down it was obvious. A large group of revellers were flaked out among the rocks below surrounded by the carnage they'd wreaked the night before. Boy were they going to feel crusty.
Packed and oiled the beast and then dropped by the front desk on the way out to leave a fresh bag of instant ramens for the warm reception I'd received on the way in. Besides they were a dead weight from here on. The guy on duty the night before wasn't around but his wife, although a little confused at first, took them and saw me off and down the road with a farewell fit for a soldier off to war.
So with the Japan Sea to my right and green fields backed by low hills to left, the FZ1 carried us south in search of todays adventure. 1st stage was to get across to Hachimantai. Home of some of the stinkier onsens and bigger wild animals. But i wasn't there for them. No siree, the roads were meant to be worth a good feast and the right hand was getting twitchy again. But that was still a 100 odd clicks away inland. So it was time to soak up some of the sights.

Lot's of green fields, the odd bridge and ..

..phsycho fast mini-trucks

Tried to stay out of the towns and found most of the biways ran through rice fields. Quite picturesque in the morning light. Once out of the fields and onto rt285 the right wrist got to let off some steam. Valley tracing.

I'd stopped for this shot after playing chicken with a very hairy ungulate. This thing was as big as my bike, with stubby little horns and shaggy thick legs. Had no idea what the hell it was but it came charging down out the forest to my right and proceeded to try and get ahead of me to cross the road, head swinging this way and that to scan me and its random path ahead. It was already ahead of me and I'd heard of people hitting deer with none to friendly consequences so I slammed on the anchors and pulled up the FZ to save all our skins. The crazy coot also skidded to a halt and was eyeing me off for a bit before charging across the road and up through the undergrowth into the forest. Freaky, I tell ya! Freaky.
A few hours later swung onto 341 and scooted south for the feast. It started immediately with the 341 being a blast to the entrance of the Aspite line.

The twisties and elevation changes were great on the way up and then the road opened into long peg plowing sweepers. And not a car in sight.

Sorry, no other photos I was having too much fun. But I did stop for a breather and a squirt at the top. It was cold up there! While there checked out some of the locals. And look who I found..

Continuing on, the roads got twisty, tight, open and fast, smooth and tunnelled. It was one of the best stretches of riding on the whole trip. the run down 341 was a great flowing downhill that had me wondering, aloud, "why haven't I been up here before? woohoo!" And I don't particularly like downhills.
Arriving at Tazawako an hour or so after lunch with a cavernous hunger, pulled into a lakeside restaurant with a huge table lined deck out front. Perfect. Turned out the hordes had already been through and I was the only one in the huge restaurant. The menu was a revelation. Real western food. Promptly ordered up a green salad, which was huge and low on lettuce but high on every other veg, accompanied by a mushroom, tomato, garlic pasta. Finished off with a heavy chocolate cake and coffee. Hadn't missed this kind of food till then.

Tazawako

After the fantastic lunch it was time to hit the road and with the sun on its downhill leg, decided to make for the expressway. About 1/2hr along the boring, compared to what I'd become accustomed to, 46, the lids once again became heavy and began forgetting the last few corners. It was time for a kip. Pulled off at a rest area, hooked the feet over the bars, laid back on the touring pack and was out like a light. Some time later got woken up by the thump-thump-thump of a nearby single. Lifted a lid and there was some young guy taking pics of my slumbering carcass. Thought that was just rude so swung the legs down, turned her over and hauled outa there. Only when changing into 2nd did I realize that my feet were still asleep and, being previously elevated, blood deprived. Had to muscle the shift and took it right up to 6th. Funny the things you do, then think afterwards, on jaunts like these. Like: Is it right for me to be riding with no feeling in my feet having only woken up 30 seconds ago?

The rest of the trip involved too much lane splitting, rain, sleeping under my bike in a service area to keep warm and dry(FB style) and generally a crappy end to a great ride.
But I did finally roll back into Kanto and onto the Shuto after midnight. Warmer, dry but far too much traffic. Bright lights, big city. A little while later rolling over Yokohama bay bridge I felt the gravity of what I'd just done. An ultimate northern adventure.

6346km in 8 days