Bike ordered, course to plot

I ordered Giant's "Great Journey 3" yesterday at Mr. Charley's in Ikebukuro (Tokyo). It's a few minutes from where I work so the convenience can't be beat, i.e. I'm too lazy to go farther. Apart from the forks which don't have braze-ons to support a front rack, it looks like a decent bicycle.

Now I'm using Google Map to start plotting a course. Very, very useful as the editing is simple and fast. I figure that I can ride to Sapporo from Cape Soya in 4 days. If I feel especially good and the weather cooperates, it could take as few as 3 days. However, I'm aware of the value of taking things easy when I set out even if I've been training.

Any suggestions for things to do or see on the way are quite welcome. I know that I'm bound to pass by

Which bicycle to buy?

Right now I've got a 20-year old mountain bike. For the last 6 months I've been riding it in the greater Tokyo area on Sundays and Mondays as training for my summer 2010 ride. I've been doing between 50 and 150 kms. Aside from myself, the only extra weight has been one pannier containing a spare tube, pump and a few tools plus rain gear, Aquarius and a book.

I'm looking at two bikes at the moment: a Great Journey 3 by Giant (of Taiwan) and a touring bicycle by Garneau (of Quebec, Canada). The GJ3 has the Garneau beat by price, 78,000 yen vs. 95,000 yen but doesn't actually seem to be thoughtfully designed for a "great journey" as it lacks built-on hardware to mount a front rack. The Garneau, however, does contain integral points with which to mount a front rack. Will that factor give me greater stability when riding as well as preventing the panniers from dropping off at an inopportune moment?

I'd like to make a decision soon as my old bike is now mechanically unsafe to ride training distances without an investment of 20,000 yen in repairs - money that could be spent on a new machine.

What is the "Soya-Sata Kanreki Bike Ride"?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese geography "Soya" refers to Cape Soya, the northernmost point on the island-prefecture of Hokkaido while "Sata" refers to Cape Sata, the southernmost point on the island of Kyushu and in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The following is one description of "Kanreki": a celebration "held on one's 60th birthday, which is a great celebration in Japan, not only because the person has lived to be sixty, but also because according to the Chinese tradition, the sexagerary cycle that began in the year of his birth is completed in sixty years, and on sixty-one he begins the cycle over again... and means the beginning of the second life and now returns to second childhood." This really means that I get to wear a smart red cap, spiffy red vest and red socks on September 9, my 60th birthday!

My wife knows that when I depart Tokyo with my bicycle by train for Wakkanai, the nearest city to Cape Soya, on July 15 or so, I won't be going out on one of my typical Sunday morning 4 a.m. "bike rides". In other words, I won't return early enough to help her bring the week's groceries back home from Yoshiya Supermarket by bike. In fact, the nearly 3,000 km. bicycle trip should take about 2 months.