![\"DSC_8642\"](\"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/DSC_8642.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe north side of the lake is absolutely stunning. The hills, whilst much more tiring than other sections of the lake, make for beautiful scenery, and once you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out of them, the relatively undeveloped area around the lake provides a peaceful and fun riding experience. However, when I say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s less developed, I really mean that. It was a September trip, but as we know, that can still be on the warm side. The weather was cloudy at first, which was great for cycling, but as the clouds scarpered leaving a beautiful sunny day, my British skin started to heat a little. It was idiotic not to have brought sun cream with us, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in Japan, and there are conbinis, so I just figured we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stop at the next one and I could slather myself in protective lotion. The sun got hotter, my arms got crispier, and about 2 hours later we finally<\/i> reached a conbini. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just say that lobsters had nothing on me by that point.<\/p>\n
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Aside from the burning, it was a great first day of cycling. There are various little places along the route to have breaks and see what there is to see. The cycle route is well marked, though we still managed to miss one turning and go a little off course. Realizing the error, we headed back to find said sign staring us in the face. <\/p>\n Day two started wonderfully. The sun was shining (but I had sun cream now!) and it was time to go over the bridge. The view from the top was gorgeous, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a singing bridge so that was entertaining too (small grooves on the road surface, spaced so they play a tune as you drive over them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c probably works better if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re actually IN the car). Our legs knew that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d cycled the day before, but weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t grumbling about it. There was definitely a lot more along the east side of the lake than there had been on the west. There were still some stretches where we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see anyone else for long periods, but it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the previous day (possibly because I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t praying for a conbini to appear on the horizon).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As we cycled north, we knew that we had a choice before us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c taking the hillier road that hugged the lakeshore, or heading more inland, but with a (theoretically) more easy-going set of inclines. As we approached \u00e9\u2022\u00b7\u00e5\u2018\u00bd\u00e5\u00af\u00ba\u00e7\u201d\u00ba\u00ef\u00bc\u02c6\u00e3\u0081\u00a1\u00e3\u201a\u2021\u00e3\u0081\u2020\u00e3\u201a\u0081\u00e3\u0081\u201e\u00e3\u0081\u02dc\u00e3\u0081\u00a1\u00e3\u201a\u2021\u00e3\u0081\u2020; Ch\u00c5\u008dmeiji-cho\u00ef\u00bc\u2030it was still early in the day and we were feeling good, so the shoreline it was! I was ecstatic that we made this decision. Smaller, leaf-shaded roads kept us cool and sun dappled, with the occasional breaks in the trees providing further great views of Biwa and great excuses to have a short rest. There wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a cycle path on this section, and the road was pretty narrow at times, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t miss it!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As we approached the end of the trip, life got a lot more difficult. Whilst we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been making pretty good time for most of the day, our legs were getting tired and it soon became clear that we weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to make it back to the bike rental place before it closed (when we picked up the bikes we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d mentioned the possibility of this happening so it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a problem). Accepting this, we slowed a bit more and made it back to Kinomoto just after sunset. The sense of achievement upon getting off the bike, wobbly-legged and unsure about your ability to get up a flight of stairs, was incredible. Next stop \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the rather less intimidating \u00e3\u0081\u2014\u00e3\u0081\u00be\u00e3\u0081\u00aa\u00e3\u0081\u00bf\u00e8\u00a1\u2014\u00e9\u0081\u201c\u00e3\u20ac\u20ac\u00ef\u00bc\u02c6\u00e3\u0081\u2014\u00e3\u0081\u00be\u00e3\u0081\u00aa\u00e3\u0081\u00bf\u00e3\u0081\u2039\u00e3\u0081\u201e\u00e3\u0081\u00a9\u00e3\u0081\u2020; Shimanami Kaido\u00ef\u00bc\u2030from Shikoku to Honshu.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a> I guess you miss things when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting tired. Our overnight was in Otsu, with a view of the Rainbow Bridge. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and only a little later than we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d expected. It had been a full day and since I was embarrassed to be seen in public in my sunbaked state, after an uneventful dinner, it was bed time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n