Shikoku Bike Tour - Part 12
Wakayama → Osaka · Wakayama & Osaka
We were up early to catch the ferry back across to Wakayama. We just kept the bikes near our seats for the crossing, no special bagging needed. It took a couple of hours, and I spent most of it half asleep, watching the coastline go by between naps.
Once we got off on the other side we grabbed lunch, one of those cafeteria-style spots where a rack of pre-made dishes just sits out and you grab what looks good, no menu, no fuss. It was easily one of the cheapest meals of the trip and also one of the tastiest, rice, gyoza, a bit of tempura, all really solid.
Tom decided to take the train straight into Osaka while I kept riding, since I still had the bike and wanted to make use of it. The route followed a river most of the way, fully separated bike infrastructure running along the water, past a big floodgate and up under a tall highway viaduct, with one decent climb over a hill where I could see the main highway just tunneling straight through the mountain below me while I took the long way over the top.
Getting into the city itself slowed things down, more stop lights, bigger roads, dodging in and out between cars and the occasional motorcycle, never unsafe but definitely busier than anything I’d ridden in the previous eleven days. Somewhere in the middle of it my phone died, so I ended up navigating the last stretch to the bike shop mostly from memory, following a river I was pretty sure was the right one until I recognized the street the shop was on.
I got the bike returned without any drama. The shop was run by an Australian who’d moved to Japan years ago and never left, and we ended up chatting for a while about his own biking trips around the country. He even threw in a bit of a discount to make up for some of the mechanical issues I’d had along the way.
I met Tom back at the hotel, which we splurged on for our last night, complete with a lounge with a proper skyline view. We spent the early evening looking out over the city before heading out for a final dinner at a little bar with handwritten notes from past customers covering the walls, okonomiyaki fresh off the griddle, and a couple of very well-earned drinks to close out the trip.
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