《Hokkaido/Northern Hokkaido》 A Story of Me, My Bicycle, and Life. That Road Still Continues.

◆Introduction

This trip took place a little before the previous one, where I rode through Eastern Hokkaido.

📘You can find the previous work here. I am truly happy that you all read it🙇

I love bicycles.

Here, based on the records of my travels on a road bike, I write about bicycles, life, and my relationships with important people.

While overlapping my past travels with my present self, I trace the scenery and feelings that remained somewhere in my heart.

I hope this will be a time where, by looking back on past journeys, you can recall the desire to live in the present with care, or rediscover sensations you had begun to forget.

Bicycles. This simple vehicle that can only move forward has taught me many things over the years. It reminded me that even when things aren't going well despite my best efforts, or when I feel anxious comparing myself to others, as long as I keep pedaling, I am moving forward slowly but surely.

I have loved bicycles since I was a child. I enjoyed riding with friends, but I also liked riding alone. As time passed through junior high, high school, and university, whenever something unpleasant happened, I would often hop on my city bike and go for a ride.

A few years after I started working, around the time I was approaching 30. I had gotten used to my job, and there were no particular problems. But something felt missing. Every day was the same. I felt both anxious and uneasy, yet for some reason, I also had an unfounded sense of confidence. I felt like I wouldn't stay this way, that I was capable of more. That I was different from everyone else. That I could become someone. That was the kind of feeling I had.

Thinking about it now, it's a bit embarrassing, but I'm sure it's a path many people have walked.

When I felt troubled, I would often ride the city bike I had bought in high school along the cycling path by the river near my house. I would ride, cutting through the wind as if to shake off the unpleasant things. I felt like I had become stronger. I feel like bicycles have always given me that kind of time.

Then I met my road bike, and riding became even more fun. From here on, I will write while remembering my ride through Northern Hokkaido on my road bike.

※This is a slightly long piece (about 5 minutes). I hope you will read it at your leisure when you have some free time☕

◆Main Story | To Northern Hokkaido

・Day 1

Arrived in Wakkanai before noon. The air is cool. My body feels lighter compared to the humid heat of Osaka. For now, I head to Cape Soya, the northernmost point of Japan.

While I was moved by the scenery, I arrived at Cape Soya in no time.

I treated myself to a three-color bowl of sea urchin, crab, and salmon roe. It was a taste worthy of the start of a journey.

From there, I headed to the Soya Hills. Although there were ups and downs, it was the perfect road for riding while cutting through the wind. On the hill, the Soya Misaki Wind Farm, one of the largest wind power plants in Japan, spread out before me.

There, I met a young man. He was a third-year university student who had cycled across Japan from Kagoshima. "Today, I finish here," he said with a smile. I felt a sense of surprise and respect for someone who had come from even further away than the road I was traveling. Afterward, I watched the sunset at Cape Noshappu and looked out at Rishiri Fuji from the high ground.

Wrapped in the wind and light of Soya, I comfortably finished my 100km ride. The steep hill leading to my accommodation was the final challenge.

・Day 2

Early in the morning, the sky was cloudy. The riders said, "It's going to rain today." But the guy at the youth hostel insisted, "I think it'll be fine today." I don't know what he based that on... but I bet on his local experience and set off.

Today, I will head south along the Ororon Line, aiming for the Sarobetsu Plain.

A while after I started, it began to drizzle. Before long, it turned into a downpour like a guerrilla rainstorm. Thinking, "That guy was lying after all..." I kept moving forward anyway. A wilderness with no one else around. A world of just the sea, the sky, the road, and me. Even though I was soaked, I kept riding into the wind. There was no one there... for some reason, I couldn't help but let out a shout. While enduring the rain and headwind, I ate tonkatsu along the way and walked through wind turbine clusters and boardwalks; the scenery of the journey kept changing.

To warm up my chilled body, I went to Toyotomi Onsen. The water was yellow and murky—wait, is it super dirty?! It smells like oil... They say it contains oil and is good for the body. For the rest of the day, I smelled like oil.

That day, I took my bike on the train from Toyotomi Station back to Wakkanai.

And then at night. After eating my reward of a sea urchin bowl, I suddenly checked my wallet and found I only had 1,000 yen. I headed to a convenience store called Seicomart, but I was told my cash card couldn't be used at their ATM. Troubled, I returned to the hostel, and the guy there said, "What about the post office?" His weather forecast didn't come true, but he was wonderful. There was a post office. I learned that cash and a Japan Post Bank card are essential when traveling.

・Day 3

This day, I went to Rishiri Island.

I had intended to take my time, but because I was waiting for the post office ATM to open, I was later than the ferry I had planned on... My stay was reduced to five hours. To get around the island, I had no choice but to ride like crazy. I activated the "I'll die if I drop below 30km/h" rule and rode along the coast, cutting through the wind. On the way, I met the young man who was crossing Japan again. He told me, "The southern cape was great," so I headed there. Even though the "I'll die if I drop below 30km/h" rule was in effect, the scenery was so beautiful that I stopped many times and died 🙈

There was a seal. It was staring right at me. How cute.

The bicycle path on Rishiri Island is comfortable. I heard from a stranger I met along the way that it cost 5 billion yen to build.

My final goal was 'Kanrosen'. It's one of the 100 famous waters, located a bit of a climb up the mountain trail.

The water I drank after finishing the climb was truly sweet, just as its name suggests. It was a reward fitting for the end of the journey.

I reached my goal of 300km.

I slipped onto the ferry and headed back to Wakkanai. The night at the breakwater dome, the shijimi clam ramen. The journey was nearing its end.

・Day 4

Early morning, heading to Wakkanai Airport. On the way, I reunited with the young cyclist. A third meeting. I learned he was a student at the University of Tokyo and the captain of the cycling club. I was happy to meet him like this again at the end of my trip.

We took a picture together at the airport and headed home on our respective flights.

When I looked back at the photos, I noticed he was in some of the pictures I took at Cape Soya, appearing small in the background. Perhaps the coincidences had already begun from the very start of the trip.

◆Conclusion | Moving forward steadily, even if slowly

The trip to Hokkaido I took when I was young. Back then, I didn't have the luxury of looking back, but I feel like my road bike taught me that as long as you keep pedaling, even slowly, you are definitely moving forward.

I want to tell my younger self, 'It's okay to be slow, and you don't need to rush. You are moving forward properly, so it's going to be alright.'

◆And now | An unchanging partner and changing days

As for me now, I am still riding the same road bike as I was back then. It's been over 10 years, and though I've repaired it, replaced parts, and it's getting a bit rickety, it still runs.
'You're still riding that road bike?'
people ask in surprise, but to me, it is a precious partner.

Sometimes, I ride along the same riverside cycling path as I did back then. I have a family now, so it's hard to just decide on a whim to go to Hokkaido! That's why I mostly ride around the neighborhood at a leisurely pace.

If I could call out to my younger self, I would say, 'It's okay, you're moving forward steadily, even if it's slow, so you can rest easy.'

And the city bike I had bought for me in high school is still in use. It was stolen once when I was a university student, but my mother happened to find it on the side of the road and brought it back. Since then, I have kept repairing it and riding it, and now it has become an essential way for me to take my wife and children to the park or the library.

It is nice to be generous and buy new things, but the wobbles and quirks that emerge as you keep using something actually become part of its charm.

I think life, and our relationships with family and loved ones, are probably similar. Things don't always go well, but we twist and turn, go up and down, make repairs, and reconcile; yet when I look back, I think we have moved forward more steadily than I had imagined.

The moment when I am riding my bike and look back, thinking, 'Oh, I've come this far.' That is the moment I like the most.

Even now, it is fine if it is slow, so slow that I don't even know if I am moving forward. But just like back then, I hope I can keep moving forward properly.

By the way, the car I am driving now was also bought used over 15 years ago. It has been more than 20 years since it was sold as a new car. This car is also a partner that has traveled to many places with me, accompanying me on family trips and bicycle journeys. Since the whole family rides in it, I have become so attached to it that it even has a nickname. I will save that story for another time.

◆ Conclusion | On the usual road, in the usual way

It is starting to get hot, but the weather is nice, so it is a day to think about going to the usual park with the family.

My child's bicycle had a flat tire, so I fixed it in the morning and pumped it up with air. The preparations are mostly done, so let's head out slowly, just like always.

🚲️　　🚲️　　🚲️　　🚲️

Thank you for sticking with me this far.

If you are interested in the Eastern Hokkaido edition, please check it out here too 📘
It might be the spark that helps you discover your own path.

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