Our rain deluge out of Bifue had taught us that our equipment was inadequate. Our morning in Sapporo we headed to MontBell, a local outdoors store similar to MEC or REI. We'd previously visited one in Hiroshima where I'd purchased a GoreTex shell. The Sapporo store was in a massive mall downtown. Here Brendan purchased shoe covers and I purchased gloves. Brendan also bought the store out of their half price blueberry Cliff bars. Curiously the Cliff bars weren't a Japanese label, rather they were a Japanese sticker applied to the back.
Our shopping consumed the morning and once again we set out after lunch. One realization in this time: Japanese floors are numbered 2F, 3F, etc., just like dungeons in video games!
We followed the main road out and made good time. Eventually we remembered to check out a side road and weren't disappointed... the downsides of navigating by google maps car directions. During one of these side roads the rack on my bike required repairs - the brackets that gripped the frame had lost their rubber spacers and were rubbing on the frame. Electrical tape provided an easy fix, but cost us daylight. We reluctantly setup camp in Atsuta, some 30km short of our goal. Needless to say we were up early the next morning!
Atsuta is... tiny. All the restaurants were closed by 7, so we had an improvised dinner of Seicomart and freeze dried food. Seicomart is usually our breakfast and lunch as well, so this was discouraging. We were in an official campground though.... kinda. It had open toilet facilities and functioning water taps but no showers. And no attendant. I doubt anyone knew we were there at all.
Stats:
50.16km today
377km total
1 flat, 1 minor rack tweak
We followed the main road out and made good time. Eventually we remembered to check out a side road and weren't disappointed... the downsides of navigating by google maps car directions. During one of these side roads the rack on my bike required repairs - the brackets that gripped the frame had lost their rubber spacers and were rubbing on the frame. Electrical tape provided an easy fix, but cost us daylight. We reluctantly setup camp in Atsuta, some 30km short of our goal. Needless to say we were up early the next morning!
Atsuta is... tiny. All the restaurants were closed by 7, so we had an improvised dinner of Seicomart and freeze dried food. Seicomart is usually our breakfast and lunch as well, so this was discouraging. We were in an official campground though.... kinda. It had open toilet facilities and functioning water taps but no showers. And no attendant. I doubt anyone knew we were there at all.
Stats:
50.16km today
377km total
1 flat, 1 minor rack tweak
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