- Since this is the third Hokkaido route to be featured on KANcycling, it stands to reason that the easiest way to extend the trip would be to link this route to one or both of the other two Hokkaido routes. Combining this route with the North Hokkaido route would be easy; from Chitose, cycle to Sapporo and up the coast along that route, then continue on around the coast on the Okhosk side. You could also follow this route but cut back to the coast after Furano and Biei; that puts you at Mashike, which is just north of the section of the coastal road with all the tunnels.

- Combining this route with the Cross-Hokkaido route is even easier; go as far as Shiretoko and then follow that cross-Hokkaido route in reverse all the way back to Sapporo or even Hakodate (or start with that one and do this one in reverse). You could also follow this route as far as Asahikawa and switch to the cross-Hokkaido route from there to see Sounkyo and then the lakes (one of which, Lake Masshu, is shown here).

- If you wanted to travel off-island, the obvious next place to go from Hokkaido is Tohoku on Honshu; lots of ferries run between Hokkaido and northern Honshu. Unfortunately, none of them leave from the Shiretoko/Rausu end of Hokkaido. The closest one would be from Tomakomai on the southern coast and that’s actually closer to the Hakodate side. Alternately, you could do the route in reverse, wind up somewhere around the Chitose/Sapporo area and either shoot down to the southern coast or take a ferry from Otaru.

The large island of Okushiri is also located off the western coast, but there’s not much there that would be of interest to tourists.

- Finally, as noted in the Alternatives for the North Hokkaido trip, there’s always the possibility of a trip to Sakhalin... though it will be difficult to arrange. See that page for more information. Although this may be obvious, the ferry runs only during the warmer months (May through September). There don't appear to be any ferries from Hokkaido to other parts of Russia; the Vladivostok ferry departs from Takaoka (near Toyama) on Honshu. And, needless to say, visiting the disputed Kuril Islands is out of the question.