Shimanami Kaido - Part 2

As I mentioned in the last post, the bike route has special paths for the sections leading up to the bridges. In the picture above, you can see a lane through a bamboo forest.
On one of the islands I came across this huge brontosaurus(?) on the side of the road. It seemed very out of place, and there was no sign (in English or Japanese) to explain why it was there.
On the second day, I awoke about 5:30 in the morning to a crazy thunderstorm. I'd heard the weather forecast that it was going to rain most of the day, but that didn't make it any easier to get up and get going. It ended up raining off and on all morning until I finished the trip in Imabari around lunch time.
On a nice downhill run after one of the bridges you can see this retired chopper from the Japanese Self-Defense Force (their military).
In Canada, you usually have to go to the beach to see crabs, but in Japan I've seen many crabs quite a ways inland from the ocean. I don't know if they've evolved to not need to go in the water or not, but it's still strange coming across crabs half way up a hill.