Ride Report: Izu Oshima- Gojira's Keep
John Rinker
Last year when I visited Blue Lug (Hatagaya) and met Chuyan, we got talking about great rides near Tokyo. Izu Oshima, an island 120 km to the south, was his top recommendation. Later, when I learned that Gojira (Godzilla) is imprisoned in the caldera of Mt. Mihara, a trip to the island rocketed to the top of my 'must ride' places in Japan.
Last weekend, a friend and I bagged up our bikes, caught a train to Atami, a coastal town on the Izu Peninsula, and hopped a hydrofoil ferry to Oshima.
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Once there, we headed south along the west coast towards Toushiki no-hara, a beautiful camp spot overlooking the rugged, basalt cliffs near the southern tip of the island. Oshima is sparsely populated and very soon we were cruising beautiful, undulating roads between the forested slopes of Mihara-yama and the sapphire waters of the Pacific Ocean. We darted in and out of tiny roads along the way, exploring the dark forest and the black-sand beaches.
After arriving at Toushiki camp, we dropped our bags, ate a tidy Japanese lunch, and headed back up the slopes to check out some more remote paths and steeper terrain. We spent the afternoon climbing and descending through verdant jungle, glimpsing macaques, Japanese martens and a tiny species of deer no bigger than a Border Collie. Breaks in the thick forest canopy gave way to stunning ocean vistas.
On our second morning we left camp after coffee and pointed our bikes towards the volcano. A stiff climb along the smooth, windy road led us to the 'Back Desert', a treeless landscape just below Mt. Mihara covered in very uniform, pea-sized scoria and dotted with vibrant green bushes. Our tires crunched along the other-worldly landscape as we made our way towards the rim of the volcano. Along the way we passed a tour group of hikers on their way down. Incredulous as they were to see two guys in sandals on bicycles, they were even more cheerful and encouraging, sending us on our way with hearty shouts, 'Ganbare!' (Keep fighting!). So, on we fought as the slope became steeper, the landscape more rocky, and our bikes decided to take a turn at being carried.
Eventually we pushed our bikes onto the path surrounding the caldera. Vents of sulphureous steam spewing from the steep, ochre walls made it clear that Gojira was still trapped some 250 meters below in his fiery prison. Though the path was wide, riding it was akin to rolling over a surface of jagged baseballs. Good, technical fun!
Two-thirds of the way around the caldera, we came to a tarmac path that zigged and zagged down the other side of the volcano to a posh visitor's center. What took us over an hour to climb, now took only minutes to descend on this smooth path complete with rest stops and eruption shelters. At the bottom we turned off the tarmac into scrubland where we meandered our way back through the lunar landscape of the Back Desert.
Our final day took us up the east coast of the island through more remote landscape. The thick forest covered the steep, serpentine road in dark tunnels of foliage, and again tiny roads led to rocky beaches where we plunged into the cold, blue ocean. The coastal waters of Japan are remarkably clear as very little sediment washes into the sea from these volcanic islands.
We missed our ferry home so we enjoyed one last night in a remote park by the seaside complete with spotless bathrooms and showers. With only a soft sea breeze to keep us company, we set up camp on a lovely patch of grass above the black-sand beach and enjoyed a quiet evening of crickets, a gently swaying ocean, and clouds sailing by to reveal the starry sky above.
Gaiagps Tracks and Photos here
Cheers, John
lconley
What are you using as the pad in the bottom of your basket? It looks like some sort of cut-down gym flooring.
Bob Ehrenbeck
John Rinker
Takashi
John Rinker
