86. Weekend Road Trip, Part Two: Matsuyama to Imabari

[nova_one]

Written from notes taken July 19-21The attendants got me far enough away from the snoring that I was able to sleep a fair bit, and I woke up feeling refreshed and ready. (It was a good thing indeed that we had bathed the night before

Comments

[nova_one]

Well, if I were cycling, I would actually consider going up and around on Route 196. With 317 you're basically going to be going right through the mountains. It can be done, but you may find it easier to stick to the coast.

Check this out and you'll see what I mean:
http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&hq=&ll=33.9576,132.928391&spn=0.293311,0.617294&t=p&z=11

As for tunnels, Japan's pretty good about providing sidewalks or a parallel cycling tunnel. Heck, sometimes the traffic on those mountain roads is so light it really doesn't matter, and if you're going downhill you'll want to be in the traffic lane anyway.

I see that there's a tunnel near Okudogosanroku - and a few more beyond that, which all seem to have parallel roads nearby, in the case that there aren't bicycle accommodations - lastly there's a big long tunnel, and avoiding it would be a pain but I've got a bit of good news - going *to* Imabari, it's downhill! So you could just ride in the traffic lane and cruise at a pretty decent clip!