Why this ride
The stops in between: Minamijima and peripheral reefs, Yomejima and peripheral reefs and back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hirajima and peripheral reefs and Yomejima and peripheral reefs
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 274 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 43
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hirajima and peripheral reefs
Hirajima belongs to the same far-flung Ogasawara chain as its neighbours, a scatter of small islands and reefs in the Pacific about a thousand kilometres south of Tokyo. Its name simply means flat island, which suits something low and unassuming compared with the sharp, forested peaks of the bigger islands nearby. There are no roads on it in any real sense, and there is no way to ride to it, so this is a sea-level look at a protected place.
Read the complete Hirajima and peripheral reefs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hirajima and peripheral reefs is where the day begins. Next is Minamijima and peripheral reefs.
2. Minamijima and peripheral reefs
A thousand kilometres south of Tokyo, in the Pacific Ocean, the Ogasawara Islands rise from the sea, a scattered chain of volcanic islands that have never been connected to a continent. Minamijima, a small uninhabited island just off Chichijima, is one of their jewels: a ring of jagged limestone around a sheltered cove, the Ogiura, with white sand, turquoise water and a sinkhole beach that looks like something from a dream. The island and its reefs are part of the Ogasawara Islands World Heritage site, listed by UNESCO in 2011.
Read the complete Minamijima and peripheral reefs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Minamijima and peripheral reefs comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yomejima and peripheral reefs.
3. Yomejima and peripheral reefs
This is the one place on the list you cannot ride to, and it is worth being clear about that from the start. Yomejima is a small, uninhabited island in the Mukojima group, the northernmost cluster of the Ogasawara Islands, roughly a thousand kilometres south of Tokyo in the open Pacific. There are no roads, no people, no landing stage for visitors, and the reefs around it are part of the protected area that UNESCO inscribed as the Ogasawara Islands World Heritage site in 2011.
Read the complete Yomejima and peripheral reefs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach Yomejima and peripheral reefs. Next is back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs.
4. back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Minamijima and peripheral reefs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs, late in the day. Next is Hirajima and peripheral reefs.
5. Hirajima and peripheral reefs
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hirajima and peripheral reefs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hirajima and peripheral reefs. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hirajima and peripheral reefs to Minamijima and peripheral reefs
Hirajima and peripheral reefs → Minamijima and peripheral reefs is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Minamijima and peripheral reefs to Yomejima and peripheral reefs
Minamijima and peripheral reefs → Yomejima and peripheral reefs is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Yomejima and peripheral reefs to back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs
Yomejima and peripheral reefs → back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs to Hirajima and peripheral reefs
back through Minamijima and peripheral reefs → Hirajima and peripheral reefs is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.