It turns out that what lay ahead was a couple more hurdles that, at the time, felt like a nightmare, but were nothing that Jody and I couldn't overcome.
The first hurdle was simply getting to the end of the road by 5:00 p.m. to make sure that whatever gate there was would still be open. We pulled into the parking lot at something like 4:58, aimed straight for the tunnel that I had seen pictures of online, and rode right past the two guys who appeared to be working there so that they had no chance of stopping us.
First hurdle: Overcome
At the end of the short tunnel there was a tiny field, and at the opposite end of the field there was a trailhead that was clearly too narrow and rugged for us to ride on. Although we had yet to reach the "Southernmost Point In Japan" marker, we had ridden as far as we could ride.
Bummer.
Then again, Jody and I had to walk our bikes across the border at the very end of B2B, so I guess the fact that we weren't going to be able to ride to the finish line of C2C shouldn't have come as such a surprise to us.
The problem was, the cold and the wind were quickly picking up steam, rain appeared to be on the horizon, we were still a bit fazed by the 5:00 p.m. closing time, we had no idea how far it was to the end of the trail (based on the map next to the trailhead, we guessed it was about 1 kilometer), it was ever-so-slowly getting dark (which would be bad for picture taking), and, worst of all, the only way to get our dear bikes there was to carry them.
Yes,
carry them.
That's when Jody started to lose it. I mean, I was kinda losing it, too but Jody was really losing it. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something like this:
"Look, I don't know about you, but this is good enough for me. This is as far as we can ride, so as far as I'm concerned, this is the end of the ride. Let's just take some pictures and get outta here."
I was pretty surprised by what Jody said, to say the least, so I tried to talk some sense into him. Our conversation went as follows:
"C'mon, Jody, I know this sucks, I don't feel like carrying my bike, either, but we have no choice. We can't stop this close to the end. There's some kind of marker that must be at the end of this trail and we have to get there.
That's the end.
That's where we have to take the pictures."
"Are you sure
this isn't the marker?" (Jody pointed in semi-desperation at the sign next to the trailhead.)
"Positive, Jody. I don't remember exactly what the sign looks like, but that's not it. It has to be somewhere down this trail. I guarantee that's not the sign."
"OK, but we don't even know how long this stinkin' trail is. Judging by the map, it might be 1 or 2 kilometers. That means it might take us 10 or 20 minutes to get to the sign, wherever it is. That's ridiculous. I mean, just look at that trail. There's no way I'm carrying my bike on that crazy trail."
"Jody, listen, I know how you feel. I agree with you. This is totally nuts. But we have no choice. If we don't get to that marker, then C2C's not over. We've come this far, we've ridden all these miles, we've dealt with plenty of other obstacles, what's one last obstacle? Let's just pick up our bikes and get them to the finish before it's starts to rain and before it gets too dark to take pictures."
"I don't know, man, this is crazy. I can't believe the marker's at the end of this trail."
"Trust me, Jody, it is. C'mon, let's go!"
"OK... Let's do this."
What a relief! Jody's finally talking sense. Hooray!
I thought freezing cold was the only thing that could take down the King. It turns out the prospect of carrying his bike at the end of a 2600 kilometer journey does, too! Hah!
Second hurdle: Overcome
Off we went, at last, but not before changing out of our cycling shoes and into our walking shoes. It's a good thing we did, too, since the trail turned out to be narrow, windy, steep at times, semi-overgrown, and certainly not made for carrying bikes.
Up and down and left and right we went.
As we schlepped our bikes along the trail, both of us thought:
"Don't they know that we're not the first people ever to ride their bikes here? Why the heck can't they make the marker bike-accessible like the one in Soya? This is ridiculous!"
Up and down and left and right we went.
After only about 150 meters, an elderly lady approached us from farther down the trail and mumbled something about it being past 5 and the park was closing or closed or something and that we really should hurry.
"Sure, lady. Whatever you say."
Instead of being met with corks flying, we kind of felt as if we were being shooed away. Hmm...
Up and down and left and right we went.
"When is this trail ever going to end!?"
Up and down and left and right we went.
And then, at 5:20 p.m., we finally popped out into a clearing.
And there it was, the sign that I had seen pictures of online, the sign that meant we had reached our destination at long last.
"
ThatSata! We made it! C2C is in the books! Way to go, buddy!"
Third hurdle: Overcome
All that was left was for us to take a picture of the two of us and our bikes, to record our success, but even that was a tiny problem. See, we were all alone, so there was no one who could take pictures of the two of us in the same shot.
Luckily, however, there was a rock that was positioned just right for us to be able to take pictures of ourselves using the timer function.
Fourth hurdle: Overcome
It took us several attempts to get just the right picture, but by that time both of us were back to relaxed mode, so all the failed snaps were part of the fun. One of the funny takes shows me reaching out to shake Jody's hand with my left hand instead of with my right. Oops.
Besides a nice "team" photo, we each made sure we had at least one good picture of the other and also took a couple pictures of the lighthouse off in the distance.
At 5:28, it was finally time to say goodbye to the cape and make our way back to our two friends who were patiently waiting for us back at the toll booth.
We took a slightly different (partially paved!) route back to the trailhead that took us right through the grounds of the Cape Sata Shrine that we had bypassed on the way out to the sign, so of course we took a few pictures there, too.
When we finally got back to the tunnel entrance, guess who was waiting for us? Yes, the two workers who were there when we arrived, plus the lady who had passed us on the trail. (I believe she must sell tickets at the dilapidated observatory located next to the sign we took pictures of.) Wow!
As soon as we exited the tunnel, the three of them quietly and casually locked the gate behind us (so
that's the gate everyone was talking about!) and then made their way to their cars. Amazingly, they didn't complain at all about the fact that it was then 5:45 p.m. I guess they are used to people coming late.
Since the gate isn't all that high, you might be thinking that we still would have gotten our bikes over it had we arrived after 5.
True that.
But get this: I may have been dreaming, but I'm pretty sure the gate wasn't actually locked. What I mean is, all we would have had to do, had we arrived late, was pull the gate out of the way and head right into the tunnel.
Simple as that.
The last thing Jody and I did was hop back on our bikes for one last ride, back to the toll booth, where our ride home was waiting for us.
Final hurdle: Overcome
