Veteran's Day Tour of Yamaguchi Day 2

12 November 2016

Day 2 of the long weekend was focused on reaching the Japan Sea on the western side of Yamaguchi prefecture.  I haven't spent any time in this area and was really interested in  riding along the seaside.  I wanted to make it out to the islands to the west but just didn't have time this trip.  Guess it's good to not reach all your goals the first go around, keeps you coming back for more.

Day 2 were all new roads for me crossing western Yamaguchi prefecture.  Distance 154 km.

After passing through Mine city I took route 435 to Kottoi village.  The road skirted around a golf course, this bridge was strictly for golf carts, seemed an awful lot of trouble to go to in order not to build a cart path through the rice paddy.  But I guess it's also an indication of priorities.

As I got closer to the coast the hills got a little less steep but the wind started picking up.  Was actually a little demoralizing to see the wind turbines in the distance because of the visual representation of the headwinds to come.  I leap frogged these two cyclist a few times coming out of Mine city,  I could never quite stay on their wheel after they passed me.  They were out for a Saturday fitness ride and I was loaded down with gear.

Made it to the Japan Sea at Kottoi port.  The water was quite calm in the bay and the wind wasn't nearly as strong as I had expected.  At this point I jumped on route 191 and followed it the rest of the day till I reached my destination at the town of Susa and the ECO Village campground.

While stopped at a Lawson's (convenience store) to refuel, I caught the local train passing by.  It didn't look too full but I imagine it's quite a pleasant trip up and down the coast.

Little hamlet nestled in the small river delta and small bay formed by the hills as they pushed into the sea, it was a beautiful day for riding the eastern coast.

Quick stop in Hagi to enjoy my favorite guilty pleasure (although I really don't feel guilty...gave that up years ago).

Just after dinner stop my front wheel was feeling a little soft, I only had another 20km to go and the sun was setting so I pumped it up rather than changing the tube and hoped to make wait till I made the campground to swap it out.  The small island had a Torii gate and small shrine, it was easily visible from the road but this picture isn't quite clear enough given the fading evening light.

An interesting little train station on the coast route, most looked very similar to this one which leads me to think this train line may not be in service much longer since the station's aren't getting much care.  The declining rural population and availability of low cost automobiles means the trains just aren't the lifeline they once were to rural Japan.

Made it to the ECO Village Campground after dark, the office closed at 5 p.m. so I found myself a spot to pitch the tent.  There was only one other family tent camping.  In addition to tent sites this campground has a number of cabins.  After setting up my tent and eating a little more food I went off in search of what facilities were available and as luck would have  it there was a coin shower.  Unfortunately I didn't think this through very well because I only had two 100 yen coins.  The shower gives you about 3 minutes per 100 yen which turned out to be more than enough time.