Day 13 of Running the Length of Japan – Kimobetsu to Niseko (30.27 km)
We left our hotel late, still trying to recover all the lost data. We weren’t in a rush, as today was a short day running around Mt Yotei, but we were running out of space on our devices, so getting that sorted is now critical for freeing up space to continue recording.
We set off at 10 am and immediately stopped for breakfast, then stopped at a shrine, then bumped into one of the drone-footage guys from day one. I’d like to say we sped up, but we didn’t. Instead, Joy had a puncture. We couldn’t find it at first, and resorted to re-inflating the tyre periodically until we got to a place we could sort the puncture properly.
Joy did a great job patching it before we made our way to an onsen overlooking Mt Yotei for a much-needed soak. When we got out, we found Joy’s tyre deflated, so we resorted to a repeated pump-and-run approach for the last 7 km to our Warmshowers host.
Tonight, we stayed with a lovely family who cooked us a wonderful soba noodle meal, and the husband was a bike mechanic and checked Joy’s bike, fixing two additional punctures, finding the offending splinter in the tyre, and adjusting her gear cable. We were really grateful for all their advice and support.