Bicycle: 29 km
Train: 80 km
Total ascent: 206 m
Average speed: 15.2 km/h
Riding time: 1:55
Weather: very sunny and hot, 29C
I had so many plans how to return from Kawaguchi to Tokyo:
- through Doshi michi to Hashimoto
- over Ashigara pass to ShinMatsuda
- over Nagao pass and Kintaro Hakone line to ShinMatsuda
- ...
But finally none of them were put into action due to the heat. While yesterday the temperature was perfect for climbing up Mt. Fuji today it was definitely too hot to enjoy cycling. I got side tracked early on in my route to Yamanakako by the clearly visible Fuji and the pagoda... so I went first to the pagoda to get an iconic picture.
As an iconic place it gets a lot of tourists. But today at least there was a very clear view of Mt. Fuji. Yet some tourists complained that the place was overrated. Well, I guess if you are by train or by car, it is quite cumbersome to come here, just for one picture, but as a cyclist it is kind of okay. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here... but I was in the area anyway.
But the better view I had on my roll down towards Otsuki at this rice field reflecting Mt. Fuji:
Otherwise the ride was eventless. I have done this ride down to Otsuki already a number of times... So far I only managed once to cycle back from Mt. Fuji in a meaningful way (I cycled down to the city of Fuji on the Pacific coast), but else I always took a train or just rolled down to Otsuki. I really want to get over Mikuni pass some day. But today was not the day and I was happy with my decision to just get down to Otsuki and home early. It even allowed me to do some gardening tasks in the afternoon in Tokyo and some other things at home on my day off.
