Nagahama on Biwako 余呉湖イチ

Route: Maibara - Yogo lake - Maibara
Bicycle: 76 km

Train: 250 km

Average speed:  km/h
Total ascent: 87 m

Riding time: 3:47 h

Weather: Sunny and not too cold

I was in Osaka for work and took the opportunity to stay for the weekend. The Japanese government has still a program in place to entice people to travel domestically with huge discounts on hotel rates plus vouchers to be used in local shops and restaurants. I had used that program already when traveling to Fuji-5-lakes and in November in Nagano. This time in Osaka it was specially cheap as I choose a cheap hotel, did get the full hotel price reimbursed by my company and had all the discounts. So essentially staying the weekend on was for free. 

I hadn't brought my own bicycle as on a business trip that is too much of a hassle, but I knew that there is a good bicycle rental shop in Maibara station. I reserved a bike a few days before by phone. According to the shop only my height was needed... however the bicycle they had ready for me was several sizes too small. 

Initially they tried to just up the saddle... but I could hardly fit on the bike. Luckily it is mid December and not many people think this is a good season for riding bikes (why?) so there were a lot of other bikes still available and they decided to give me instead this carbon Merida bicycle which was a joy to ride. (Very similar to my own road bike). 

I had made a few plans where to ride, but after consulting with the shop I decided to go with Yogo lake. I had never before ridden into this direction of Biwa lake. So far the farest (from Kyoto/Osaka direction) was Maibara... so off into the unknowns of Nagahama. Nagahama has a replica (as so many places) of a castle very close to the shore...

... of lake Biwa, which was flat and quiet on this rather windstill day with only a few decorative clouds. 

Along nearly the entire lake Biwa there is a bicycle path. It can be a bit bad in some places, but here around Nagahama it was wide, sometimes separated from the street by some small trees and good to ride. 

Lake Yogo itself is a small, very round lake with a quiet street running once around it and as that street doesn't really go anywhere, practically no traffic. 

I did the same ride a few months later with a colleague, this time however with a strong headwind riding towards Yogo lake... which made that on the way back we hardly needed to pedal. Today however back from the lake I had to pedal. But through nice landscape dotted with small villages before returning my bike at the station and catching a train back to Osaka. 

D4 Waterfalls over Takayama

Route: Nagano to Okuyama and back
Bicycle: 76 km

Train: 250 km

Average speed:  km/h
Total ascent: 967 m

Riding time: 4:11 h

Weather: Sunny, 10 C

For my last day of this 4 day weekend, I had looked up on Google Maps a bit the region, and found a waterfall in the mountains behind Takayama. Riding up there I came through this very Japanese typical koyo landscape, probably at its peak and with a small river also coloured in brown. 

Probably because the onsen town of Takayama has brownish water... Although I didn't try it. On the village square was this public bathhouse: 

I had lunch here and then further up into the hills to the first waterfall. Which was actually across the valley on the other side and against the light hardly visible. But tall. 

But there were tourist groups coming here by bus. Luckily they didn’t stay very long so there was also time to enjoy the view on my own from a small viewing platform. Originally I wanted to return from here but the guard of the parking lot convinced me that not too far up the road there was a second much better waterfall. 

And yes, that one was much better. Shorter but you could walk under it.

D3 Behind Mt. Iizuma

Route: Kurohime - Togakushi Jinja - Nagano

Bicycle: 47 km

Train: 30 km

Average speed: 12.0 km/h

Total ascent: 1025 m
Weather: sunny, some clouds, but cold (because of the elevation), 6C

Riding time: 3:53 h 

Yesterday I had left my bike at the local bike shed outside of Kurohime station... and it faithfully waited for me (not totally alone) the entire night.

And then the climbing started... all the way up to the Upper shrine of Togakushi, through stunning landscape of volcanos. 

But it was a gradual climb with no crazy slopes, so I was able to work up my way, little by little enjoying the views.

At the top of the climb was the upper Togakushi shrine, but getting to it from the street involved nearly 5 km of hiking (walking) including the last part some uneven stairs up to the shrine. I wasn’t alone to have set out for it, there was a formidable “procession” making its way up the slope.

If you expected some extremely unique or even old shrine or a beautiful view at the end, those expectations were trashed  there was a rather normal , relatively new, small shrine and although we had walked uphill for 2,5 km, there wasn’t any real view.

At the entrance there had been two soba restaurants, but unfortunately the waiting list was so long that I gave up and instead continued on to the Middle shrine, which also turned out to be a pretty normal shrine. 

But somehow both of them are very famous (and popular). For Japanese probably there is some religious meaning to these shrines and for us foreigners I guess it is the landscape they are in.

Then the descent started. Initially it was quite gradual as there is a high plain around the Mt Iizuma… with some more nice views. 

I even went to an old (but rebuild castle above Nagano (which was closed and semi abandoned) , but then the real descent started and it was literally terrifying. 7 sharp bends at 16% inclination on a rough surface in a kind of half tunnel with cars coming up and down through it. Never again! 

Miraculously safely back in the valley, I went to Zenkoji temple. I had been a few weeks before at the end of Silver Week already, but back then in the rain, today with maple trees glowing in the sunlight it was a nice view.

D2 Koyo at Lake Nojiri

Route: Nagano - Shinano- Lake Nojiri - Kurohime 
Bicycle: 58 km

Train: 30 km

Average speed: 15.2 km/h

Total ascent: 1054 m
Weather: cloudy, wet after lunch , 5C

Riding time: 3:49 h

While I write this I am sitting in the waiting room of Kurohime station, where I arrived just a few minutes after the train to Nagano had departed and now need to wait for one hour. Admittedly the waiting room could be a little bit warmer and unfortunately the soba place has closed also at the same time as the train left. But anyway I’m sitting here in the dry and trying not to get too cold. After a day outside riding through very beautiful koyo... but also some rain at the end:

When I first booked the hotel in Nagano for this long weekend I hadn’t really a precise plan what I wanted to do, but I thought that this area here should be nice for cycling. And it definitely is. So I asked in a cycling related Line group, I’m a member off, if anyone had any suggestions for cycling in this area. And one member suggested Lake Nojiri.

When I first arrived to the lake it looked very romantic with the clouds hanging low over it and vapor coming up from it. 

After riding for a little bit along the shore I found a very posh place to have a hamburger. Apart from hamburgers they also had a sauna which seemed to be very popular, as there were many people that clearly just had come out of the sauna.

During lunch I decided to do the full circle of the lake, which wasn’t actually part of my original plan. But looking at it now it was definitely the best part of today’s ride. 

Maybe I should have stop there and come directly to the train station, but I continued with my original plan which foresaw another lake and potentially a waterfall. I didn’t make it to either because what previously was just a bit of dampness became rain and rain at 2°C is just plain cold. 

I’m not entirely sure, but this might’ve been the first ride I’ve ever done with more than 1000 m of climbing in just one ride. And that in only about 50 km!

A few hours later I am sitting now in a horse meat restaurant enjoying some horse sashimi and being very comfortable warm after taking a long onsen soak in my hotel  the same DormyInn where I stayed for 1 night at the end of my Silver Week this year. 

D1 Karuizawa to Nagano (a try)

Route: Tokyo - Karuizawa - Nagano 
Bicycle:  km

Train: 160+

Average speed:  km/h
Total ascent:  m
Weather: very sunny and warm for November, 17 C

Riding time: h

For my first day of this 4 day weekend I had planned a long, but continuously and gradually downhill ride from Karuizawa to my hotel for the next few days in Nagano. 

The weather was perfect, sunny and relatively warm for early November. 

However the ride didn’t go to plan. Although I had changed my tires to tubeless only a few weeks ago, an enormous nail entered in the tire and the sealant wasn’t able to close the hole. 

Luckily the mishap happened at a parking lot, so I had comfortable space to try to put an inner tube in and continue. I tried and tried but didn’t succeed. Then someone from the parking lot who turned out to be also a cyclist came over to help. He managed to put the tube in, but it turned out that the inner tube I had been ferrying around for years was also broken. My savior then went to have lunch but offered to drive me afterwards to a bicycle repair shop. Which he did with his entire family. The shop he had chosen was surprisingly far away, but open and I got fitted with a new inner tube, went to the next train station and got by car to Nagano.

A few months later I tried with a friend who likes repairing bicycles to change the inner tube on my front wheel. And although we were sitting comfortably in his apartment, I wasn’t even able to get the tire off, nor was I able to put the tube in. A further few weeks later I bought a tubeless tire repair kit, but currently have tubes still in the tires so just hoping for the best. 

Fuji-5-Lakes

Day 1
Route: Around 4 of the 5 Fuji lakes
Bicycle: 82 km
Train: 100 km

Average speed: 17,2 km/h
Total ascent: 595 m
Weather: cloudy, some sun, colder than expected, 12C

Riding time: 4:44 h

Day 2
Route: Yamanakako - Otsuki - Sagamiko- Hashimoto 
Bicycle: 115 km
Train: 35 km
Average speed: 19.2 km/h
Total ascent: 695 m
Weather: sunny and warmer than expected, 18 C
Riding time: 5:57 h

Finally it has become cold enough to enjoy the outside. Per the weather forecast the entire weekend is supposed to be very sunny. So during last week I looked at some cycling route books I have at home to find some nice cycling destination. And decided to come to Mount Fuji to cycle around the five lakes that lie at its foot.

When I went on Friday evening to Shinjuku station to buy a ticket in the last row (so I can store the bike behind) of the Xpress train direct from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko, I found out that the all trains between 7:30 and 9:30, were sold out completely. I hadn’t expected that so many people were coming to Kawaguchiko, but it is really a nice destination, so why not.

So instead I came by local trains. I cycled to Meidaimae, close to home, packed up my bicycle and took my first train already before 7 o’clock in the morning. Another three trains would follow, but all the change of trains went very smooth. And on the last train the one from Otsuki to Kawaguchiko it was even allowed officially to bring “naked” bicycles onto the train. First time ever for me in Japan.

Once here, I dropped off my luggage at my hotel for the night, and then set out to Kawaguchiko lake, The first in a series of four lakes today. There is a fifth lake, but it is a little bit farther away, so I decided to make another separate day out of the 5th lake.

There are views of Mount Fuji from all four lakes, and quite different as some of the lakes are relatively distant. 

For koyo it is still too early, but it must be beautiful  for large extensions one can see only woods. 

At one of the lakes there was even a toilet with a view:

One lake, Lake Shoiji, I even cycled around twice as the view was so nice. 

On the way back I took the most direct road (as suggested by Komoot) to town, but I suspect that the road on around lake Kawaguchiko would have been better less traffic  

As I didn’t cram in 5 lakes in 1 day, I had time to visit the famous pagoda with the view of Mt. Fuji. The pagoda itself is fairly new and actually relatively small, but has to admit that the view is great and by then also the sun had come out. 

On the second day I started with lake Yamanakako, probably the biggest of all 5 and for most part it has a wonderful cycling path around it:

The weather was also absolutely perfect  so a really nice ride around the lake. From there I had decided to cycle back to Hashimoto but there are two ways, on starts right at the lake goes a bit up and then down through the mountains (seems to be a good way to cycle to Mt. Fuji), but it’s in the middle of the mountains so I was a bit fearful if I am tired too early there is nothing to do but to go on. So instead I decided for a way through Otsuki which essentially is parallel to some train lines all the time. But obviously not so much in the nature and more through villages. Also the road from Otsuki to Sagamiko has more traffic than I would like and is quite narrow. So it probably wasn’t the best decision. 

Anyway I made it all the way to Hashimoto, which was my first 100+ km ride since arriving in Japan in May. At Sagamiko I saw all these animal shaped boats:

Hinohara with friends 友達と日野原へ

Day1

Route: Tokyo - Tamagawa - Hinohara
Bicycle:  76 km

Average speed:  16.3 km/h
Total ascent:  468 m

Riding time: 4:38 h

Weather: cloudy, 16 C

My first longer ride with my cycling friends in Tokyo staying overnight in a newly build co-working , co-workation space in the mountains around Tokyo. Hinohara, the only village in Tokyo prefecture. 

A friend of my friends (who many years ago also regularly participated in the NPC rides) had moved out of Tokyo city some years ago to this village to work in local development. One of his projects was this co-working space.

A building with an interesting architecture in this quaint valley. We were one of the first groups to stay (and not work). And even had a small barbecue in the evening in front of the house.

The beds were bunk beds and then there is one big common area. Ideal for a group of friends.

The ride to Hinohara was along the Tama river for most part, with some stops to relax, have lunch, ice cream and buy food for dinner down in the village and then cycle up with all the food (and booze) to the house.

We were a very mixed group , some bromptons and some road bikes.

Day 2

Route: Around Hinohara
Bicycle:  49 km

Train: 55 km 

Average speed: 15 km/h
Total ascent:  564 m

Riding time: 3:17 h

Weather: cloudy and a few rain drops,  14 C

On the second day we explored a bit the surroundings of the house and then cycled upwards to an onsen halfway up to the pass. 

On the way we stopped at a cafe to have a late breakfast. The onsen was nice, but unfortunately no view. 

After relaxing in the onsen it was a downhill ride back to Musashi Ikutsukaichi from where we put our bikes in a bag and on the train back home. On the way down, we stopped for lunch (eating is an important agenda point on every excursion of any Japanese) at a nearby of , traditional house.

It was great fun cycling with friends. Not something I have done frequently. 

Weekend away in Chichibu 秩父で週末を

Day 1

Route: Temples around Chichibu 
Bicycle:  46 km

Train: 80 km 

Average speed: 14  km/h
Total ascent: 503 m 

Riding time: 3:10 h
Weather: Sunny, blue skies and no longer that hot, 24 C

Finally it has become cool enough to enjoy the outside. Per the weather forecast the entire weekend is supposed to be very sunny but not too hot. So I decided to do a weekend away in Chichibu. Not my first time in Chichibu but first time at some of the temples.

Around Chichibu there is a famous pilgrimage of 34 kannon temples. A whole bunch of them are all packed together in the village before then petering out into the countryside. 

I got up early, cycled to Ikebukuro and took a very flashy train:

In some of my previous visits to Chichibu I had already visited several of the temples, so for this weekend I planned to travel to the ones a bit further afield (but did also repeat a few known temples. 

I stayed in Chichibu itself in a somewhat strange hotel. It must have been the dormitory of a company. The rooms were like 1K (1 room with kitchen) apartments and there was a dinning room. I had taken the room with breakfast, something I don’t do very often as Japanese breakfast is mostly lost on me, so I was very surprised that there was tiramisu at breakfast (among many other things) and it was exceptionally good. But that belongs to Day 2. Day 1 ended in an onsen not too far from the hotel along a river. Nice, somewhat older super sento.

Day2

Route: Temples around Chichibu and back to Tokyo.
Bicycle:  78 km

Train: km 

Average speed: 15.8 km/h
Total ascent: 691 m 

Riding time: 4:09 h 48
Weather: Sunny, blue skies and a bit hotter than necessary, but cyclable, 25C

Blabla 

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SW - D8 Around Nagano

Route: Nagano - Matsushiro - Nagano
Bicycle: 40 km

Riding time: 2:45 h
Average speed: 14,2 km/h
Total ascent: 216 m
Weather: very sunny, a bit windy, warm but bearable, 26 C

For my last vacation day I stayed close to Nagano and went to the valley where I hadn’t gone yesterday to visit the castle ruins there. 

Probably the most impressive today however were the mountains all around. Everywhere! I know that Japan is a very mountainous country, but somehow I just didn’t really realize it. And today there was no denying it. 

(Yesterday all these mountains were hiding behind the rain clouds). 

My first official stop was a battle field, now transformed into a serene park used by the locals to walk their dogs or play with  their children. But once upon the time it was the witness to one of the bloodiest battles in the Sengoku 戦国 (literally “war country”) period of Japan. 

Continuing just over the river were the remains (well actually the re-build remains) of the Matsushiro castle. 

What I hadn’t expected was the village around with many other sightseeing spots. Among them the residence of the feudal lord of the castle (when he decided to no longer live in the castle itself), a school for the children of samurai, some other old houses and a much more modern construction. 

The residence had a lot of tatami rooms and a very nice garden. 

The only other place I visited was the modern construction in the last months of the war of an enormous underground tunnel system that was dug mainly by Korean forced laborers. Only a relatively small part of it is publicly accessible, but that small part is still pretty big and requires a lot of walking underground in the cold. In total apparently 6 km of tunnel were dug to host the government and all kind of government facilities. Somewhere else (not too far away) also a special bunker for the emperor was dug. None of this ever got used as the American advances were faster than the digging. Thanks to local residents the site has been opened since a few years. They also had a good English pamphlet explaining the history. 

Originally I also wanted to visit a shrine on a hill in that valley but I got lazy and had lunch instead and then returned to Nagano, where I packed up my bike for one last time on this trip to take the Shinkansen back home. I had bought my ticket already in the small station  of Tsunan a few days ago and the JR employee there had suggested to go with unreserved seats, so I could be sure to get a place for my bike behind  the last row off seats. Luckily there are Shinkansen starting from Nagano. If not it would have been impossible. 

This is a “slow” Shinkansen stopping at every possible station, but still since Takasaki all non reserved seats are taken and people are standing in the aisles. But I am sitting and more importantly my bicycle is standing behind my seat.    

Oh yes, and it is “cosmos” time. Yet another of the season defining flowers of Japan.