Itoshima 2019: The long ride back

I had spent hours cycling around the Itoshima Peninsula but once I finished up at the wedded rocks of Futamigaura I needed to start the long ride back to the bicycle rental shop. Rather that return the way I came, I decided I’d continue up the northern coast of Itoshima and then cut across the interior to the east coast, which I’d then follow for a while before turning inland. I stopped briefly for one last look at the wedded rocks and the floating torii before losing sight of them.

After several miles of cycling through small towns, past farmland, and over some hills, I came down to the eastern coastline of Itoshima. At one of the beaches I stopped for a five-minute break and in the distance I could see the towers of Fukuoka. It was starting to get a bit windy but thankfully the wind would be blowing in my favor for most of my remaining ride.

I continued down the east coast a bit further and then started the long stretch of cycling through the interior of the peninsula. Navigating through this part of Itoshima was a little tricky and I was regularly glancing down at Google Maps on my phone to verify my location. Thanks to the largely flat terrain I was able to move quickly and in retrospect I could have stopped at least one or two times along the way without being in danger of overstaying my bicycle rental period. As I got closer to the town with Chikuzen-Maebaru Station the scenery started becoming more familiar and soon I was back at the station itself. From there it was a short distance to the rental shop, where my 8-hour cycling adventure came to an end. My legs were completely throttled but it had been a very good day.