Day 19 Lake Shikotsu to Atsubetsu (Sapporo)

Wednesday 27 June   Day 19

Lake Shikotsu to Atsubetsu (Sapporo)    (73km) total 1693km

I had a great sleep last night, tucked up inside my tent on the lake-front, and was ready to get started early (7:30am) so that I could make it to Ken and Katsumi’s place before mid-day (definitely before 2pm, because their daughter had a music recital then and nobody would be home until the evening).

 It was a lovely ride away from the lake to Chitose – through the woods and along a cycle-path that runs along-side Route 13 from Lake Shikotsu to Chitose.  Although, there was a rather stern reminder along the way that one might encounter a bear along the cycle road!

From Chitose, the roads became busier as I headed towards Sapporo but I pulled off the road and onto the Kitohiroshima cycle road at Kitohiroshima – it is a brilliant cycleway that runs from Sapporo City to Kitohiroshima – over 20km – and was well-used by cyclists and walkers.  The cycle road took me almost all the way to Shin-Sapporo station, with only a few kilometres back onto the road as I approached the station.  From the station, it was easy to follow Google Maps to Ken’s house, where I arrived around 11:15pm J

So, it took around 2 hours to cycle from New Chitose airport to Atsubetsu if I decide to cycle to the airport on Friday… I am still undecided.

After having a delicious lunch of miso soup, grilled salmon, rice and steamed greens, Katsumi and daughter left for the music recital, and I went for a walk to the nearby park, just to get some fresh air and a walk in the sunshine.  Tomorrow, I’ll catch the train into Sapporo city and check it out!