Cycling From Ibusuki to Sata-Misaki, Part One

There are times when bad luck piles up on you, and then there are times when it should be taken as an omen.

I’m still trying to decide what the beginning of our journey was. Edwin and I set out from our host’s home in Fukuoka, bound for Hakata Station to catch the Shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train).

We had slept late, so the gear was hastily packed onto the bikes, the panniers strapped in, and our bags thrown on. As soon as we started to pedal, it began to rain.

I made it roughly 100 feet before my gear collapsed off the back of my bike. One of my pannier straps had loosened, sending my tent and sleeping bag crashing to the ground. I quickly gathered it up and rushed for a nearby parking garage, stepping in a puddle and soaking my shoes through completely before making it inside.

After another fifteen minutes of work, my bags were tied down properly, but the chance of us catching the train was completely gone. We arrived at 6:45 AM — right when the next train left. We still had to disassemble our bikes, put them in the bike bags, and load them into the train.

After a small crowd had gathered to watch us fight and wrestle with the gear, we rushed up the stairway and caught the next train at 7:21, shoving our bikes in behind the seats and promptly falling asleep to the motion. We woke up at Kagoshima, rushing to catch the next train down to Ibusuki.

This train was much more enjoyable. It was a tourist train, with all the seats facing in a single direction and large panoramic windows that opened to incredible views of the sea and the countryside. Attendants walked through the car, offering refreshments and sweets, which we gladly took; neither of us had eaten breakfast.

By the time we arrived in Ibusuki, we decided to call it quits for the day. Our gear was absolutely soaked, and neither of us had the heart to deal with more terrible weather. We found a youth hostel and checked in, then I unpacked all of my equipment and let the wet clothing dry while I sorted out the necessities. A trip to the post office later, and I’d sent the majority of my possessions home, paring down to only the minimum required clothing and gear. The lessened weight made it much easier to deal with the bike, and made cycling far less intensive than it would have been otherwise.

With the panniers off and the weather improving, we took a ride around Ibusuki, trying to find out what sort of city it was. A few hours of exploration later, we happened upon what looked to be an enormous, abandoned structure.

While the building was devoid of life, the lawn behind it was not. There were a group of men playing lawn golf, and they barely paid us any notice as we cycled past. I pointed out a ramp leading up into the structure, and Edwin and I made our way inside.

The ramp led to massive spiral up further into the structure, and we rode all the way to the top. There were windows which peered into strange rooms, full of bookshelves and apparently free of dust, but the building showed next to no signs of being used.

We never discovered the purpose of the building, but it was a fun bit of urban exploration in a day that otherwise started out horribly. The two of us took the time to rest up and shower, organize our gear, and prepare ourselves for the days to come.