Bridges and Bikes

Today may have been my favorite day so far. Now old hands at the transportation system, we took the trolley to the train station, took a train to Imabari, a lovely ride along the coast to the east, then took a taxi to where we could rent bicycles at the start of the Shimanami Sea Route, a series of 10 bridges across a group of islands that separates our island, Shikoku, from the main island. As usual, the bike rental staff were extremely friendly and helpful, both going and coming back, getting us on the right bikes and then getting us headed back to the train station. The route across the bridges and islands is about 70km, and has a separate bike lane. We biked (slowly) across the first bridge (Kurushima Kaikyo, about 6km - you didn't think we were going the whole way, did you?), which soars high above the Seto Inland Sea, affording us spectacular views of the Seto Inland Sea. The bike lane approach to the bridge spirals upward in a couple of curves to provide a gradual incline; however, it was still plenty challenging. Fortunately, we had to stop frequently to take pictures. This is the first place we saw serious bikers, wearing spandex (apparently necessary if you are going the whole way) :-) , and we were all required to wear helmets. We passed a few brave souls walking over the bridge. At the end of the bridge, on land again, we gratefully stopped for vending machine iced coffee (in cans, very common all over, and good) and snacks and rest, then turned around to go back. The weather was sunny and breezy all day, just beautiful, the first time in our whole trip. It was exhilarating. I slept very well that night.