With my recent three day weekend (for the autumnal equinox, of all things) I took myself and my bike to Sado Island, the biggest island in Japan (exclusive of the obvious four big ones), about a 2.5 hour ferry ride from Niigata City, to my south. My goal was to ride my bike around the entire island, or as I now call it, to circumcycle the island. The island itself looks small enough, but if you unravel the coastline, it’s pretty long. According to Tomoko’s cousin, who lives on Sado, the coastline is 280km. According to the map I bought it’s about 215. According to my GPS and my butt, it’s about 250. I’d add on 10km to that for tunnels, though.
Integrating photos into this blog is sort of a pain if I do more than a few, so here is the link to the photo gallery for the whole trip: Sado Gallery
I spent Friday night in Niigata City. I packed up all my bike stuff, tent, sleeping bag, and rode to the train station, where I quick-folded the bike, and hopped on the 6:44 train to Niigata. I got a hotel and then had a late night of accidentally paying someone else’s bar tab, and karaoke. I caught the 12:30 ferry to Sado the next day. I almost took the bus from the train station to the port, but instead, set up the bike, and rode it. I am glad I did. I saved 200 yen and actually beat the bus there.