Weekend at the Odawara Hilton with Friends

Day 1
Route: Tokyo - Odawara
Bicycle: 99 km
Total Ascent: 601 m
Average Speed: 17.7 km/h
Riding Time: 5:36 h
Weather: Sunny and quite warm for early February, 8 C

One of my friends from the Night Pedal Cruising (NPC) is a concierge in the Shinjuku Hilton hotel and he gets employee discounts in stays at other Hilton’s. So he organised this ride to Odawara. For the group this was already the 3rd ride, bit for me the first. 

We met on a Monday morning around 8:00 in Futakotamagawa and set off through the non-countryside around Yokohama towards the West. It took a while before we hit a river with a good cycling path along.

We took regular rests and at some point arrived on the coast where there is for a while a nice cycling path right behind the beach. It tends to be quite sandy, but with some caution was well rideable. At this monument to the city of Chigasaki we took an other group picture, all doing a little C with our hands. 

Soon after it was time (albeit so late that most of the dishes had already sold out) for lunch, which we had in the harbour restaurant of Chigasaki. Fried fish was it for me. On we went to Odawara where it was starting to get dark just about at the time when we started our final ascent to the hotel. The Odawara Hilton is high above the city on a rather steep hill. So steep that everyone was talking about this hill weeks before. And yes, it is steep, specially at the beginning where it seems to be more like a wall than a hill. I managed that part only partially and then had to push the bike, but soon after it got a bit flatter so I could jump back on the bike. With a few more rest stops from there I made it up the rest of the mountain. Apparently this hotel was originally built and owned by the city of Odawara. However as the bubble burst th deity needed money and someone more expert than themselves to run a hotel so sold it cheaply to Hilton who managed to keep the hotel afloat. It isn’t only a hotel it comes complete with an onsen, a swimming pool , a play bath, a wedding church and a lot of other facilities. 

On Day 1 after checking we went quickly to the play bath area, but couldn’t stay for long as the Buffett dinner was waiting for us  and definitely a good buffet (as far as buffets go). We had been instructed to bring dr8nks along for the after party in the “boys room” but after only about 1 beer per head (craft beer brought along by one of my friends who is very much into craft beers) we were all pretty tired (and it was late) and retreated to our beds.

Day 2
Route: Odawara - Shin Matsuda
Bicycle:24 km
Train:
Total Ascent: 83 m
Average Speed: 16.6 km/h
Riding Time: 1:27 h
Weather: cloudy and colder than the day before, 12 C 

Day 2 to most part was not spent on the bike but rather in the pool or on a recliner close to the pool. It has been ages that I haven’t been in a pool. What was surprising that so many people (at least the younger women but also some men and children) were wearing a kind of jacket and trousers in the water. The older people who came here mainly for swimming or participating in one of the water gymnastic sessions were generally wearing normal swimsuits. 

Ou day had started with an other very rich buffet. The hotel was actually full with a conference by Roche Taiwan, so when we first came down for breakfast it was quite busy, but after a while they had to leave for their meeting sessions if the day , and we had the rest of the buffet to us. 

Around noon we got going and headed down the steep hill back to Odawara.

Down in Odawara in the harbour we had lunch, more fried fish for me and then went to the castle and a small coffee shop in its park, to relax a bit more with some hot drinks under the trees that just very shiny started to bloom.