Cycling day 2: Hojo -> Ozu

75km and 520m ascent today and the sun came out - hooray! Started by going through the suburbs of Matsuyama and then out into the open and up into the hills, or, one big punishing hill and then a long roll home.

Some beautiful little villages up in the hills, the soba restaurant we were hoping for was shut so thanks to Lawson for providing lunch, and then into the town of Ozu, which is in a big valley at the convergence of two rivers and feels like it is delightfully stuck in the 80s.

We stayed in an amazing cat ryokan with the loveliest owner and had a fabulous bath and were woken up by the cats sitting on us.Read more