Day 7 - Asahi to Joetsu
Today was very much a transit stage with no 'big ticket' touristing options on the menu. In fact it was exactly the type of day I had in mind when planning and anticipating this tour. Just a ride on the Sea of Japan Coast far from the madding tourist crowds. The weather was fine and warm and possibly the first day of the tour so far that would pass muster as genuinely summery. Most of the day the beautiful Sea of Japan was in sight and looking splendid in the bright sunlight as we rode on some excellent dedicated cycle road. This is why you do cycle tours, for days like this.
Route
The tunnels on the coast road beyond about Ichiburi station are unsafe to cycle in my view. Once you are past Omi station things get better. For this reason a train journey joining up two rides was the plan for the day. In the end we got on the train at Etchu-Miyazaki rather than Ichiburi. The built up area around Itoigawa didn't hold much appeal so we decided to stay on the 'long limousine' as far as Kajiyashiki, dropping us right at the start of the Kubiki Bicycle and Walker Road.
Just a tip for young players (and older players as it turns out) who plan to take the same rail journey. Just because there is an IC Card reader at Etchu-Miyazaki station, it does not mean you can use your Suica card for the rail fare. Seeing the reader, we tapped our phones going into the station and expected to tap off exiting the station at the other end. We exited the train innocently enough, forcing the driver to abandon post and kindly take some cash for payment of our fares, and return the change. How embarrassment!
The Kubiki cycle road is 30 plus kilometres of smooth, paved dedicated cyling and walking infrastructure. It seems to utilise old railway infrastructure so there are no steep inclines although there's no elevation to speak of on this route. For the most part you are above the roadway, looking over the cars and out on to the sparkling ocean. When there's no traffic whizzing past your elbows and bursting your eardrums, tunnels are fun to cycle through.
Stay and Eat
My first Mos Burger experience was in the 1980's and was my first Japanese fast food experience. There's a sentimental value there, so most times we are in Japan we'll have a meal for old times' sake. A late lunch as we arrived in Joetsu ticked that box for this trip.
The Joetsu Sun Plaza was a good pick for an overnight stay. The folks at reception were helpful in sorting out somewhere to park the bikes overnight and were happy to have them in the foyer. Our compact room had all required amenities and had been recently renovated by the looks of it. We had a tasty dinner in the restaurant (Cafe CoCo) downstairs satisfying the last of our requirements for the day.
See and Do
While waiting for our train, we spent a relaxing half hour or so across the road from Etchu-Miyazaki station browsing 'Jade Beach' for a find. I don't know if any of our finds are actually jade but the real win was walking in the sun and listening to the sound of the waves rattling the pebbles.
