Before setting off, I stopped at a 7-Eleven to buy breakfast. At that one convenience store, two different men each gave me something. One treated me to a cola, and the other treated me to an iced lemon drink. I'd been sleepy before that, but thanks to their kindness I perked up and felt motivated.

In the morning I rode from Mihara to Onomichi. I'd run out of cash, so I needed to withdraw some as well. After failing at three different places, I realised I'd been putting my card in the wrong way, which was embarrassing. Still, I was glad I managed to get the money out. Before starting the Shimanami Kaidō, I had ramen to fuel up. One of the men who'd treated me that morning had recommended Onomichi ramen. He told me it's delicious because they use pork back fat, so I couldn't not try it. It was seriously good! The moment I swallowed the first mouthful, I broke into a huge smile.

I rode the Shimanami Kaidō. It was long. Even though the distance as the crow flies isn't that far, the cycling route was really long. The road for cars was dangerous too, so I could only ride on the cycling route. Every time I crossed a bridge, I had to climb a big hill. Each time I pedalled with everything I had, shouting "saa!" as I went.

Every time I look at a map of the whole of Japan, I get a bit down. Isn't it far too long!? I convince myself that I'm covering a long distance every day, but compared with the whole country it's not that far. I think I need to get to Kyoto quickly so that the second half goes comfortably. What I'm thinking at the moment is that I still don't know whether I can really make it the whole length of the country, so maybe riding long distances every day will build my confidence. Even so, it's a marathon, not a sprint, so I also think I should calm down a bit and take a more long-term mindset.

To be honest, the Shimanami Kaidō was tougher and longer than I'd expected. I'd already ridden 73 km, but it was still 22 km to Imabari. It was half past eight, and 11 hours had already passed since I'd set off that morning. Because of that, I decided to stay at a campsite on Ōshima. I hadn't booked yet, though, so I was worried about whether I'd be able to stay.

While passing through a small village, I spotted an interesting-looking convenience store and thought I'd buy some snacks for the evening. I picked some out and went to the counter, but the old lady working there told me they were past their use-by date. After I asked what she'd recommend, she showed me and we chatted too. When I said I hadn't been able to book the campsite yet, she and her husband phoned the campsite and said "a foreigner is coming." It was pretty dark, so the old man also led the way to the campsite on his motorbike. They were so kind. The campsite owner showed me around the site too.