The challenge for today was to pick up the hired electric bike (with kind help from Yuji), ride across Mukaishima Island to the Innoshima Bridge, do a complete loop of Innoshima Island, ride across the Ikuchijima Bridge, ride up the east side of Ikuchijima Island to Setoda (thus completing the first part of the Shimanami Kaido cycling route), get a ferry back to Onomichi, and return the bike. Then take the Senkoji Ropeway (an aerial gondola) up to the top of Senkoji Mountain that overlooks Onomichi, take photos of the great views available and finally walk back down to Onomichi via "Cat Alley".

Those basic aims were all achieved, but not quite as smoothly as I'd hoped. A luggage tie at the back of my bike fell off right into the many gear wheels and became horribly and very tightly tangled. I couldn't get it off with just my fingers, didn't have a knife or scissors on me, and there appeared to be very few people around that could help. Then I spotted what's in the picture below, and thankfully the proprietor was at work (on a Sunday) and cutting someone's hair. I told him partly in Japanese that I had a problem and needed to borrow some scissors (alluded to with a finger cutting motion; I don't know the word), and he graciously acquiesced, no questions asked. Added to that, without Sandra here to remind me to put on cream, I got a bit sunburnt.

The image below is the view from the Senkoji Peak Observatory (a viewing structure) on the top of Mount Senkoji overlooking Onomichi. An interactive version (you can pan around and pinch to zoom) of this photo is available here.