愛媛県ライド（旅シリーズ第4弾） – 四国カルスト、極上サイクリング！ #StoryOfMyRide

愛媛県ライド（旅シリーズ第4弾） – 四国カルスト、極上サイクリング！ #StoryOfMyRide

Would you look at that engineering like that’s incredible in my appraisal? Yeah. Uh, 1130 m of climbing today. [Music] So, it begins day three. It’s just a magical place. The clouds linger and the forecast is for overcast conditions. very rural like much of this prefecture and all beautiful and all conducive to cycling. So, I think I’ve made that point and now I’m just going to settle in follow wheels for a bit. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Today we’re going to go up to a climb that is 1500 m high. It’s been dark, but bamboo forests, small pines, and then beautiful little villages and very remote. And yet, look at this road. It is flawless. The roads are just so immaculately wellmaintained. [Music] Uh we call in Japanese. Yeah. It means a warship head rock. Okay. Okay. It’s beautiful. Yeah. This river takes us to the Neodo River. One of the purest rivers in Japan. Yeah. In Shikoku. Okay. Yeah. We have three purest river called Neodo River. Uh Shimanto River and Yoshino River. One of them. Uh this river takes us to the Neo River. One of them. [Music] [Music] [Music] uh equivalent to one onigiri, one rice ball. Thank you. When I have my energy drinks, I like it to be the equivalent to a rice ball. [Music] So, it’s out of the tunnels and aiming towards the mountains. I also just found out then that it’s a uh it’s a long weekend in Japan or culture day. So, [Music] we’re learning Japanese culture day by day and I like it. [Music] [Music] We had a little lunch stop and rolling again. Slight change of itinerary because it’s a public holiday and the narrow road we’re going to take is likely to be busy. So, we’re going this way. Okay. Uh, I’ll put my Straa link in with the uh comments about this video. So, my um complete lack of explanation of our destination will make a little bit more sense if you plan on trying this adventure. Plenty of tunnels. And this one happens to be lit. and Concrete Road, which is probably the first we’ve seen uh during the course of the last 3 days. This is getting difficult to document because I put the camera away. We come out of a tunnel scenery. It’s like everywhere I look. [Music] One thing that you sort of grow immune to and um I remember from previous visits to Japan is the uh prevalence of the vending machine, but it’s not only the prevalence, but sort of the randomness of it. And it’s a public holiday, so there’s a few people around, but like that’s uh to my right, that’s to my left. And I’ll just wait for a car to pass. That’s uh all around like forestry scenario river just there. And then Yeah. Anyone feel like a ice chocolate? It’s Yeah, that’s I think that’s funny. Well, we rolling. So, this is the more obtuse mountain road. In other words, ones that our hosts haven’t even ridden before. they were recommended to by locals or recommended to use by the locals. and it sporadically goes into a two lane and then there are little portions of one lane but um it might not be uh widely used but that doesn’t mean it’s uh feels dodgy or they’ve skimped on the surface. And I think with that I should probably stop talking about how good the quality of the road is because I’m getting pretty repetitious. [Music] falling rocks. Do not stop. [Music] I can’t remember where we were in this ride, what kilometer mark when uh this climb began, but it’s been pretty brutal. But bloody beautiful and the sun’s just popped out for the first time. So, happy days. Happy happy days. Look at this. That’s uh I’m almost 1,000 meters of climbing now. And here’s the crew. So, we’ve hit 1,000 m at around 43 km. And even though I’ve been climbing, we only started at 13° and now it’s 11. So, not too bad. I I’m out of breath. Excuse me. But the rest of the crew stopped for a drink. I downed a quick Coca-Cola and grabbed some chocolate, but I I didn’t want to stop cuz I’m getting a sore throat and I don’t want to get sick. I think that cold of yesterday didn’t serve me terribly well. But I’m also bloody inspired by this magical autumn uh haze colors vista. You got to admit that’s pretty spectacular. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You don’t need to go to Alpadu or the Stelvio to find stunning clims for cycling. [Music] It’s captivating. I love it. But yeah, it’s been steep. Now we’re sort of plate plateauing at at about 6% at the moment. But a lot of this climb is about 11. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] As fate would have it, except for the change of clothes just a moment ago, uh the only time that we’ve actually ridden in Sunshine proper is at the high point of which is right here. [Music] And it’s bloody beautiful. Hey [Music] [Music] [Music] Yeah. Ahal. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Now we’re rolling again. And yes, it is stunning. And the good thing is we’re out of the wind now, so I can express myself and feel my fingers. to [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Everybody. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hoo [Music] black. [Music] Oh yeah. [Music] Yeah. with the jacket gone and the rice fields and a big river below and about 5k of road ahead of us. I guess that’s uh another episode of the story of my ride 2nd of November 2025. My message should be clear. It was terrific. It was a great ride. I’m so happy to be here. And yeah, I I can’t recommend it enough. I don’t know how I’d do it without the support vehicle cuz I think I’ve changed clothes about 15 times today. But I had the support vehicle. Sort of wondering how to possibly summarize it other than say just do it. It’s just terrific. We’ve done 81 km for the day and uh almost 1,600 meters of climbing and we’ve had views galore. Um and great company, little bit of wind, a public holiday, culture day, culture weekend, something like that. And that’s it. Signing off. Thanks for watching. Ciao. Bye. satisfied.

The Ride In Ehime travel series continues (See links for earlier episodes). This is day four, and the third bike ride in a spectacular part of Japan that is not only welcoming cyclists to the region but encouraging it with a range of initiatives aimed to promote Ehime as a great place for bike riding… and a holiday.
After riding the UFO Line on 1 November, we climbed Shikoku Karst, a highpoint of the prefecture and part of a stunning mountain range.
It’s only day four of the one-week adventure in Japan but already I’m becoming repetitive with some commentary: The Roads Are Magnificent, that’s one point I’ve repeated. And then: Ride Here! (ie. Ehime.) It was all fantastic.

This was Sunday, 2 November 2025. It’s the ‘Story Of My Ride’ of what is one of the best days I’ve spent on the bike in a long time.
Note: the next day, things got even better. #StayTuned #ToBeContinued

– Rob

www.ridemedia.com.au
www.youtube.com/@ride-media
Insta: @ride_media_

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Filming, editing, riding and talking by Rob Arnold

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro to part 4
01:15 Route for the ride
01:55 Rolling again…
03:29 Tunnels and nutrients
07:36 Time to climb
12:23 Shikoku Karst (highpoint of Ehime)
14:56 Lunch at the top
16:25 20km of descending bliss
21:04 Closing in on Yusuhara

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PREVIOUS EPISODES // Ride In Ehime

Part 1: intro – arrival and quick first ride

Part 2: up the Shikoku mountains (2nd ride, pt1)

Part 3: The UFO line (2nd ride, pt2)

Part 4: Shikoku Karst
(This video.)

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NEXT: Perhaps… wait for it, The Best Ride Of My Life!

Follow #StoryOfMyRide and ridemedia.com.au
Insta: @ride_media_

Please subscribe to RIDE Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ride-media

Big thanks to the Ehime Prefecture for the invitation to ride in a cycling paradise, their wonderful hospitality, and for their support in making this trip possible. – Rob

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Our Tour – The Bunch
During the course of this series you’ll get to know the people involved in the one-week adventure in Ehime. I was one of six Australians invited to get a taste of the cycling culture in this part of Japan. The other cyclists were:
• Peeter Febriyanto, Pedal Brisbane – @pedalbrisbane
• Adam Gill, Bike Style Tours – @bikestyletours
• Mark Priestley, Lifecycle Garage – @lifecyclegarage
• Charleigh Razeng, Outdoor Travel
• Paul Silk, Wide Open Road Cycle Tours – @wideopenroadcycletours

Our hosts, who catered for the trip with class, understanding, and some of the best cycling terrain I’ve ever ridden were Sam Barclay and Miho Ogura of Hidden Japan Travel.
Discover Ehime in style, find out more:
www.hiddenjapantravel.com

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Not a paid promotion.
Flights and accommodation provided by Ehime Prefecture.

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Summary of our six rides:

Day 1: Around Yuge Island – 13.55km (179m elevation)
Route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16308693798

Day 2: Up the mountain / UFO Line – 98.52km (2,359m elevation)
Route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16317985342

Day 3: Shimohatanokawa to Takenoyabu – 84.65km (1,570m elevation)
Route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16327733517

Day 4: The Perfect Ride (Nakadomari to Yusu) – 80.88km (1,182m elevation)
Route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16338620105

Day 5: Rollercoaster along the coast – 86.61km (1,155m elevation)
Route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16348411272

Day 6: One last blast (Ozu to Tobe) – 69.98km (845m elevation)
Route on Strava: www.strava.com/activities/16360125134

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Music:
Sunset Ride, Electric Bear 6YWES2F1SOCVJUHU
Road To Nowhere, Reveille H5ZMUO4STE4MNGI6
Dip Yo Hip, Matt Wigton VCC7YLYYC21UOW8Q
Sunrise Roadtrip, Lunareh RNPX8QYLODRUUIUN
Just Keep It Going, Dr. Delight RWXMP3LNNS1K9YJF
Crimson Clouds, Tiger Gang BWMBJXZSCZPC7ZBW