This blog is about travelling through Japan on a bicycle. Initially on a foldable bicycle (Brompton) and more recently mostly by road bike (Spezialized)... but also by train, ferry, plane, bus or any other transport, if sea, weather, mountains or the like come between me and my desire to ride.
I have tried to summarise information that could be potentially helpful also for other bicycle travellers through Japan, such as list of bicycle roads, helpful web pages etc.

Saturday, 10 February 2024

D1 - Long weekend around Mito

Route: Tsuchiura - Kasumigaura - Mito
Bicycle: 62 km
Train:
Total ascent: 184 m
Average speed: 20,6 km/h
Riding time: 2:59 h
Weather: sunny and cold, 8C


An other long weekend in the winter. I won’t be working a lot in February. Last weekend was a long weekend as I went on Monday and Tuesday with friends to Odawara (only that midway through it started to snow and we “evacuated” to the train). This weekend is an official long weekend with Monday being the National Foundation Day. It commemorates the foundation of Japan (or better to say the ascension to the throne of the first emperor in 660 BC). Actually in looking it up , I just noticed that the holiday is on Sunday, but Japan has a system that if a holiday is on a Sunday (not Saturday) it gets moved to the next Monday. 

Next weekend won’t be long, but the last weekend of February will be long again. Current emperor’s birthday on the 23rd. 

Seeing a few days ago that weather was going to be good albeit cold, I reserved on Thursday a hotel in Mito for 2 nights. 

Today I hadn’t an early start, so only was on the bike a bit before 13:00. Starting from Tsuchiura. Initially the same ride as a few weekends ago. Along the Kasumigaura lake…

… then over the bridge, some hot noodles at the roadside station, and then into the countryside between the lake and Mito. This countryside is really very remote, or so it feels.There isn’t anything special about this countryside it’s just countryside. So unremarkable that I did not take any pictures, until I came to a second much smaller lake.


The hotel had a small communal bath which I had completely to myself where I washed and warmed up before, having dinner at the restaurant close by.


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