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In case someone is thinking about it, Onomichi has nothing interesting apart from the bike route.

It starts at the bicycle terminal in Onomichi, a few meters from the ferry. It is recommended that to cross to the first island, Mukaishima, we do not use the bridge, since it is not enabled for bicycles, and instead take the ferry (110 ¥ adult with bicycle), which hardly takes a few minutes to cross.

The bridges that we are going to cross go over the Seto Sea. The whole route is done by bike lane.

Each bridge has a toll for bicycles, in a single direction they cost 500 ¥ in total, but currently, as a measure to promote tourism in the area, are free, although donations are accepted, so in each bridge there are boxes to leave money.

After a few kilometers on the island of Mukaishima, about 7 km from the ferry is the first bridge, one of the most scenic, Innoshima, so named because it connects to Innoshima island, 1,339 meters long.

Given its similarity, and for comparisons, indicate that it is approximately half as long as the Golden Gate of San Francisco.

One particularity of this bridge is that the bike and pedestrian lane does not go on one side of the bridge, as in all others, goes underneath the bridge itself, in a separate metal structure, which I found really cool to ride.

About 11 km after Innoshima bridge we reach the second, called Ikuchi for the same as the previous one, because it leads to Ikuchi island, 790 meters long.

The third bridge is 12 km from the previous one; is called Tatara, because of the town nearby in Omi island. It looks a lot like Ikuchi, but it measures exactly double, 1480 meters long.

Now a video recorded while crossing the Tatara bridge. I would swear that one of the cyclists passing by says “hola (hello)” in Spanish…

 

 

Fourth bridge about 7 km away, Omishima, named for connecting the south of Omi Island with the north of Hakata Island. In the form of an arch, the oldest and shortest, only 328 meters in length and with only lane in each direction, the least remarkable.

Fifth bridge, just 2 km further, Hakata – Oshima, named after connecting these two islands. In fact they are two bridges, one from Hakata to Michika island, and another from Michika to Oshima, with lengths of 325 + 840 meters. It remembers a little to the first bridge, but the structures supporting it are lower.

And after about 14 km crossing Oshima island, we will reach the last bridge, the largest, longest and more spectacular, Kurushima – Kaikyo, which are actually 3 bridges, but is considered as one, being the largest suspension bridge of the world and the first one that was constructed with triple estructure.

The bridges measure 960, 1515 and 1570 meters long, forming a total of no less than 4,045 meters. Riding a bicycle here is a real treat.

 

From here the route ends in Imabari… or not… The truth is that once on the last bridge I was not very tired, and I did not want check for ferries nor buses, so I thought, what is better than to ride this route in a direction? Doing it also in the opposite direction… So at Kurushima-Kaikyo bridge toll, which is almost in Imabari, I turned around. I told myself “I will continue until I am tired and I will look for a ferry”. After crossing again each bridge I thought “I can continue until the next”, so until I was near Sawa port where I thought “just more 30 km, all flat, I’m finishing it.”

136 km in 11 hours for this glorious day, a beautiful experience in Japan that for once had nothing to do with temples or modern cities. Absolutely recommended.

MORE ON SHIMANAMI KAIDO:

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