CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 373 km round trip from Ōdachō-ōda - roughly 6 h in the saddle. On the way it passes Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial and back through Itsukushima Shinto Shrine. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Under the forest that covers Iwami Ginzan is one of the great silver mines of the world, and it is a kind of miracle that you can hardly see it. The silver was dug here from the 1520s to 1923, in narrow hand-cut tunnels, and the district grew into a complex of mine, refineries, a mining town, roads and harbours, all of which were listed by UNESCO in 2007 as a single cultural landscape. What the committee praised was the lightness of the touch. Unlike so many mining regions, this one was not ripped apart, and the forest simply grew back.
Read the complete Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural is where the day begins. Next is Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
The skeleton of a dome against the sky, the twisted steel frame of what was once an elegant exhibition hall, is one of the most recognisable images of the twentieth century. On 6 August 1945, the atomic bomb exploded almost directly above this building in central Hiroshima. Almost everything around it was destroyed, but part of its walls and dome remained, and after long debate the city chose to preserve the ruin exactly as it was. It was listed by UNESCO in 1996 as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Genbaku Dome.
Read the complete Hiroshima Peace Memorial write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial comes up about 111 km into the recorded legs. Next is Itsukushima Shinto Shrine.
The great orange torii gate of Itsukushima, standing in the sea off the island of Miyajima, is one of the most famous images of Japan. At high tide, it seems to float on the water; at low tide, you can walk out across the sand to its feet. The shrine behind it is built on piers over the bay, a series of halls and corridors painted vermilion and white, connected by boardwalks, so that it too seems to float when the tide is in. A shrine has stood here for well over a thousand years, and its present form owes much to Taira no Kiyomori, the powerful warlord who rebuilt it in the twelfth century. The island itself has long been considered sacred, so much so that in the past, births and deaths were not permitted on it. The shrine was listed by UNESCO in 1996, and the torii was restored a few years ago after a long period under scaffolding.
Read the complete Itsukushima Shinto Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
At least about 136 km into the recorded legs you reach Itsukushima Shinto Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hiroshima Peace Memorial write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial, about halfway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Itsukushima Shinto Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine sits at 174 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hiroshima Peace Memorial write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial comes up about 213 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Itsukushima Shinto Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Itsukushima Shinto Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 238 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Itsukushima Shinto Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hiroshima Peace Memorial write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial, late in the day. Next is Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 373 km.
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural → Hiroshima Peace Memorial is 111 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial → Itsukushima Shinto Shrine is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine → Hiroshima Peace Memorial is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine → back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial → back through Itsukushima Shinto Shrine is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Itsukushima Shinto Shrine → back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hiroshima Peace Memorial → Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural is 111 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.