It’s not until mid-morning when the rain really starts coming down. We get off to a great start, fortified by a huge breakfast featuring many different fish prepared many different ways, and riding under clear(ish) skies, bumping along dirt tracks and through gorgeous green and yellow rice fields.

After a few hours of riding in the rain, we stop under shelter for a snack. The temperature is fine, and in fact the rain helps keep us cool in temperatures in the high 20C to low 30C range.

Eventually, we cross over a very handsome bridge, with no traffic, to Noto Island and its many little fishing villages. It’s remarkable how intact the small scale fishing industry still seems to be here, with countless small wharfs with small one or two person commercial fishing boats.

Back on the mainland, we get our first taste of the mountains, climbing through the national forest surrounding Mount Sekido. It’s lush and green in the afternoon heat and though we are only a few miles from the ocean, the salty breeze is replaced by rich and earthy smelling air. The drone of cicadas, punctuated by the occasional bird song, constitutes our soundtrack.

One final note: Evidently one can buy almost anything out of a vending machine in Japan. They are everywhere, inside, outside, in busy train stations and in places completely devoid of foot traffic. And even in front of stores where the very same products are sold inside. Perplexing, yet after today’s first vending machine purchase of the trip, a perfectly cold Kirin beer for 300 yen ($2.50) when we got to our hotel, it’s hard to quibble.