Hello, this is Kodama. I usually write mainly about product introductions, but this time I’ve written a record of a ride—or should I say, a trip? I love relaxing, unplanned solo trips, but since I was heading out with a young buddy, we went for an active itinerary.
Let’s Head to the Gateway of the Skies
I managed to drag myself out of bed after the second snooze, left my room, and hopped on my bike. I cruised slowly along National Route 302 and met up with my travel partner Takumi at Takabari Junction. We then rode for about 40 minutes to reach Komaki Airport.
As the title spoils, this is an FDA air trip. Although I had heard about it, the process of packing the bike and getting through formalities was surprisingly smooth. We had so much time to spare that we ended up checking out the observation deck.
Nagoya → Niigata → ??
This trip had so little room for error that I started missing the time I spent lounging on the deck. After all, we were heading to Sado Island and back in just two days. After a roughly one-hour flight, we picked up our bike boxes at Niigata Airport, immediately assembled our bikes, and rode to the Sado Island ferry terminal.
We just barely made the ferry departure time and landed on the island around 2:00 PM. Our destination for the day was a lodge in Yahata, exactly on the other side of the island, and we needed to arrive by sunset. Since there's no fun in just cutting straight through the middle of the island, we took a route along the east side to wind our way there.
Here is how it looks on Strava.
We snapped photos of the sights, but we still wanted to arrive by sunset.
The journey was dotted with small ports, connected by rolling roads. Before I knew it, the tide had come in and I realized my water bottles were empty, so I took a break at a vending machine to rest my legs. I had been riding for about 60km without much of a break.
By the time we reached Sawasaki Lighthouse at the westernmost tip of the island, the sun was about to set. The island takes on a different character after the evening sets in.
In the final stretch, after passing Ogi Port, the hills became tough and my legs started to give out.
After getting lost a few times, we finally reached our lodge. It was past 8:00 PM and pitch black outside.
We nailed the full combo of ride -> eat -> sleep and fell into a blissful slumber. By the way, Sado is apparently famous for spear squid, so there were plenty of squid dishes on the menu. The curry we had for dinner even had squid in it.
Day 2: Backtracking the Ore Path
Sado Island is famous for its gold and silver mines. Ore mined at the Sado Gold Mine was extracted and refined into gold and silver at a processing plant before being shipped from the port to mainland Japan. So, for the second day, we planned a route to return to Ryotsu Port—our starting point—by passing the mine and following the Sado Skyline.
Just past 5:00 AM, we checked out while it was still chilly.
First, we headed to Omagi Port, which was used to ship out the ore.
During the Meiji era, they reportedly used minecarts to transport the ore to ships docked at the port.
Next was the Kitazawa Flotation Plant. We weren't able to enter the Doyu-no-ware mine shaft, so this was effectively our last sightseeing stop.
Flotation is a method of ore processing that uses bubbles created by chemicals to extract the necessary minerals. They also had a casting facility, so most of the ore was processed on-site, and it’s said they brought in technicians from abroad with expertise to produce gold and silver using state-of-the-art technology.
We left the processing plant and headed for the Skyline. Suddenly, we were faced with road gradients you rarely see in Aichi. It was so steep that I started genuinely worrying if we’d make it to our boat in time. We climbed to the summit, zigzagging, switching to running, and observing the daylilies that had already passed their peak.
I put on a vest to stay warm for the long descent. Once we started, the thick fog and the vibrations from the road's non-slip surfacing made it quite thrilling. Stay safe out there.
Taking breaks along the way, we finished the descent safely and made it back to Ryotsu Port. (Day 2 Strava Log)
We followed the same routine to get back to Nagoya. Goodbye, Niigata.
In Closing
We might have been a little short on cultural experiences, but these were two days of healthy, top-tier living. The strength of air travel with a bike is being able to create bold schedules without worrying about the burden of transit. We were perhaps a bit *too* bold this time, but I felt much less tired than I usually do when traveling by car or train. Next time, I’d like to try an itinerary where we take the train out and the plane back!
★Check out everyone's air-travel bike logs here
Visiting the Hilly Town of Scenery and Friends I Want to See - Biei by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/116678/
Captivated by the Magnificent Views – Aso and Unzen by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/112248/
Shikoku Karst Above the Clouds – Kochi by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/112274/
How to Get Super Easily to a Remote Island – Izumo by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/113699/
PFM Pottery Search Trip – Izumo by FDA Air Travel
https://pfm.nagoya/blog/izumo_miyuki
Touching the Island and Returning – Sado Island by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/115105/
Beautiful Beaches and Dark Tourism – Goto Islands by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/116756/
BIKE to Yamamichi Festival and Shimanami Kaido – Kochi by FDA Air Travel
https://circles-jp.com/event/134546/
★★★Recommendations for FDA Air-Travel Bike Packing
https://circles-jp.com/products-review/110981/