(The following entry is from my paper diary, hence the quotation marks. Comments may follow at the end. These are written after the completion of the trip.)
Day 8: Friday, July 23, 2010. Sapporo to Lake Toya YH
"Woke up at 3:30. Found the young guy from my room already there (in the YH dining room). His name was Saeki. He was from Hyogo-ken and was in Hokkaido for a few days of riding. He left for Tomakomai and a ferry home. I took the road for Jozankei Onsen. I passed an open Gusto so I had breakfast again - the first was just a banana.
I was debating whether or not to go back to original plan of going to Eniwadake and decided to do just that when the road came. The road wasn't too bad, but I did some walking. Unfortunately, about 24 km south of Sapporo I had my first flat tire. Nothing to do but change the tube. However, I deflated the tube completely, then squeezed the tire between the rear brake shoes in order to avoid disengaging them which would have meant losing the rear brakes. Just when I completed the task successfully, along downhill came another foreigner! We chatted about 45 minutes. His name was Dave Myers from Boston. He works in the JET program in Toyama. Age 24. Took pictures.
Only another km or 2 uphill I reached the pass down to Shikotsuko. However, the road I wanted to take to the right of Eniwadake - some 16 km - was closed. So I had to detour through Shikotsuko Onsen. Though I ate an oatmeal lunch and restocked my water in a lovely lakeside park, the detour probably added 20 km to the day. In addition, I had to ride those 20 km before encountering Bifue Pass. That I mostly walked up. Again, given the extra time taken I was starting to get anxious about the time. I did stop long enough to take some pictures of an onsen valley.
Reached the road junction in Sobetsu at about 6 pm and asked the remaining number of kilometers to Toyako Onsen. A woman in a Seicomart was very kind and made a phone call to find out: 30 minutes by bicycle. Good enough so I set out - up hill! However, the road soom leveled and I reached the hostel in about 20 minutes as it is located east of the main town.
Shared a room with 2 guys, one middle-aged, one young. Ordered dinner as there was nothing else around. Basically an all-you-can-eat. Which I did. Nice curry with rice, tonkatsu and tofu and a green salad with tomatoes.
Took a bath, washed and dried my hair and went to bed rather late, about 10.
Total distance: 128 km"
A more detailed time line:
4:25 am., left Sapporo YH
8:15, site of first flat c. 28 km south of Sapporo on Rte. 453 (left site at 9:10)
11:45, in Shikotsu-ko Onsen (Lake Shikotsu Hot Spring)
5:30 pm., Bankei onsen area on Rte. 453
6:30, in Sobetsu at junction of Rte. 453 and Rte. 2
c. 6:50, arrived at Lake Toya YH
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