D2 - Towadako and Oirase

Route: Kazuno - Towadako - Oirase and back
Bicycle: 29 km
Car: 42 km 
Riding time: 1:49 h

Total ascent: 236 m 
Average speed: 16,1 km/h
Weather: mostly cloudy , 27 C 

When my friend first suggested this trip she proposed to cycle once around Lake Towada.  Which I agreed to, but also pointed out that although this is only about a 50 km ride it has more than 1000 m of elevation gain. It’s a lake. But it is a volcanic lake in an old crater and in one place the road goes up to the rim of the crater. So it was quite unlikely that we would manage to do the ride. 

Luckily a good alternative appeared. We had a relatively late start and until we were actually sitting on the bikes (we drove up to the lake from Kazuno by car) it was already 11:00. We parked at a road side station and started from there which was the flatter part of the ride. On our way I saw that the road along Oirase stream would be open from 12:00 onwards. 

My friend was very happy to see that news as it meant we could alter our overly ambitious plan to make a full round of the lake to a much more easy but tourist-worthy ride along Oirase stream. Actually I had hoped that we could walk along the stream, but only the road had been opened for traffic, the walking path officially was still closed. Which didn’t stop all potential hikers but did stop us from attempting it. Oirase stream is very popular and has become very popular with foreign tourists as well. But thanks to the closure yesterday there were very few people today and no bus tours. So we could ride leisurely along the road , stop every now and then and walk a bit to see some highlights. 

The River was fast flowing still showing the damage of the strong rain a few days ago. 

As this is a River flowing out of the lake the road along it is downhill. Not steep at all, but it also meant we would need to ride it uphill again  so relatively early we returned and started on our way back to the car.

The main road in some places was still very dirty from the rain that had washed down parts of the forest. So our bikes (and we) got pretty dirty.

Back at the car we put the bikes back into their bags and in the car and then drove back down to our excellent ryokan. We did stop at a very new road side station in our village that even had a foot bath. Kind of mandatory at a road side station called “big onsen”.

Back at our hotel we had a relaxing hot bath in the rotenburo before another excellent dinner and an early night on two very comfy futons. 

D1 - Towadako with a friend

Route: Tokyo -  Hachinohe - Towadako- Kazuno

Bicycle: 12km

Walking: 2 km

Train: 650 km

Car: 110 km

Weather: Sun and clouds and much cooler than Tokyo but still warm. 29C

A friend of me wanted to go for some summer vacation.  I hadn’t any plans but insisted that it must be up North to flee the scorching heat of Tokyo. I hadn’t any plans made some potential plans to go to Towadako, so that’s where we went. We met up a few weeks ago to plan everything, found a very nice ryokan in Kazuno (all the places on the lake itself were either extremely expensive or had bad evaluations). 

A month before we bought the train tickets, which turned out to be more complicated than we thought. Although we took an early morning train out of Tokyo on a Friday morning when we wanted to buy the tickets, there were no rear row seats available anymore and overall the train was already pretty packed. But she managed to get some reasonable seats in the second but last row. 

However this morning we had to wait for 1,5 h for the train. Somehow there was a delay in rail works between Omiya and Sendai so no trains of the Tohoku Shinkansen could leave Tokyo station.

 So although I got up at 4:30 we were only at around 12:00 in Hachinohe. 

Towadako is pretty hard to reach by public transport and probably impossible with a bicycle in tow, so we rented a car (my first time driving in Japan after converting my driving license again back in 2022… I had driven here sometimes between 2015 and 2017 but not since)  but luckily driving is slow and automatic cars are easy to drive. 

As a typical Japanese my friend found a perfect spot for a light lunch in an old farmhouse. 

Our original plan was to do some hiking along the famous Oirase stream… but when we got to the upper parking lot we learned that both the road and the hiking trail were closed since a few days due to damage by too much rain. So we did a mini walk around that information center … 

.. and then continued by car onwards to our ryokan. Which was actually good timing as we arrived around 17:00 and had all the time to enjoy the rotenburo while gazing out into the big Japanese garden with an even bigger pond…

… before our rich dinner in the room.

SW D9 Ueda to Suwako

Route: Ueda - Shinonoi - Matsumoto - Suwa
Bicycle: 73 km
Train: 57 km
Total ascent:  635 m
Average speed: 16,5 km/h
Riding time: 4:30 h
Weather: for the first part rainy, for the second part windy and dark clouds but no rain anymore, 

The original plan was to ride over from Ueda through Aoki to Matsumoto and then either by bike or train to Suwako. A road I had seen a few months ago when I tried (and failed) to cycle from Bessho onsen to Matsumoto. But that plan didn’t count on a cold rainy day. When I started there was only very light rain, but t this transformed into proper rain quite quickly and at a conbini already in direction to Aoki I reconsidered my options. Being alone in the mountains on a small road up and (!) down with so much rain wasn’t going to be neither safe nor fun. So I reconsidered my options:

1. Cycle to Komoro and get a local train to Kobuchizawa. 
2. Cycle to Ueda and take a Shinkansen back to Tokyo and call it off. 
3. Cycle to Shinonoi and get a train from there to Matsumoto.

I went with option #3. Option #1 has considerably less trains. Option #2 was tempting because then I could have participated in the evening in Tokyo at the NPC ride, but weather tomorrow in the lake Suwa area seemed to be so nice plus I already had booked a hotel which at such short notice was not going to be refundable. So option #3 it was. 

So I cycled down again on the same bicycle road along the river all the way to Shinonoi. Uneventful but wet ride. 

However as soon as I arrived at the station, had packed up my bike and changed into dry clothes, the rain stopped and the sun made an appearance. But this wasn’t going to fool me. Now I was sold on the train option. 

From the train I was surprised to see a lot of damaged trees. Apparently dried out. How is that even possible on Japan with the humid summers? Or were those trees simply killed by heat not lack of water? Japan has more than enough trees, so it’s probably not a problem. And maybe even a chance to plant something else that hasn’t half of the nation sneezing in spring with allergy.

I arrived at Matsumoto station shortly before 12:00, found a very good karaage restaurant where I had chicken nanban. After lunch I changed back into my slightly damp cycling clothes, put the bike together again and then set off towards Suwako. On google maps it seems like an easy ride, but in reality there is a 1040 m high mountain pass in between and the road has a lot of up and down. 

But one gets a nice view of the lake below, and on days with less clouds the Minami and Kita Alps would also be visible. From a distinctively brutalist viewing platform. 

From there on a very small and incredibly steep (I walked) road down to the lake, a short stop on the shores in a foot spa and then off to my hotel for the last night of this trip.

Around Tsuchiura

Day 1

Route: a part of Kasumigaura 
Bicycle: 81 km
Train: 85 km
Total ascent: 51 m
Average speed: 21.4 km/h
Riding time: 3:46 h
Weather: very sunny, weak wind, 7C

For this weekend I had reserved a hotel in Tsuchiura , Thinking that cycling in the mountains around Hashimoto was maybe not a good idea if there was some snow. There probably isn’t, But now I’m here anyway. I’ve been here in this region last year in February and March several times, and in one of the visits I did ride around the entire Kasumigaura lake with a group of very fast cyclists, at least for my standards. Today I took things more relaxed. Enjoying the very sunny and windstill day. Sunny enough to ride with short sleeves, thanks to the Castelli ROS jacket with removable arms. 

The view of the lake with the sun is really nice, But I think now I do prefer riding in a more hilly environment. 

The day concluded in a typical super sento in Tsuchiura with a special treat: nearly naked men in one of the rotenburo. On tv screens though and fighting for the sumo winter title. What a Japanese experience! 

Day 2

Route: Tsuchiura - Sawara - Abiko
Bicycle: 129 km
Train: 56 km
Total ascent: 131 m
Average speed: 19.8 km/h
Riding time: 6:31h
Weather: cloudy, no wind, colder than yesterday , 6C

On this second day I did a ride that reminded me a lot of my rides in the Netherlands. Nearly always cycling lanes, very flat and a lot of water alongside. Either the lake of Kasumigaura or the Tone river. 

The destination of the day was Sawara. One of my first rides with my old Garmin was to Sawara. Back then I had stumbled across Sawara, not knowing that it is known as a nice small traditional town. This time I knew. 

There was a moderate amount of tourists, mainly Japanese. Sawara although close to Narita is pretty complicated to reach from Tokyo. But much nicer in my eyes than Kawagoe, which is the other famous traditional town close to Tokyo (and gets many more visitors).

After lunch in Sawara (soba) I took the cycling road on Tone river toward Abiko a station on the line back home  at least when you manage to get a JR train that transforms into a Chiyoda line subway and an Odakyu line train, like I did. It’s a slow train stopping everywhere but direct back home. 

Also today concluded in a super sento. This time in Abiko.

D2 Oigawa valley

Route: Yoshida - Kawanahoncho - Kawaneonsen 
Bicycle: 81,8 km
Train: 26 km 
Total ascent: 1119 m
Average speed: 14,3 km/h
Riding time: 5:30 h
Weather: sunny and still very warm (for end of November), 16 C

For my first full day in Shizuoka I cycled up Oigawa. A river that can be very big, but currently only is a shadow of itself. For a more impressive river, I would need to come here again in late spring, when the snow is melting in the southern Alps. 

Still down in the broader valley close to Shimada was this submergible bridge. I didn’t cross it though slightly afraid of the strong side wind on a bridge without any rails. And well, I wanted to get going. If I stop for the first sightseeing a mere 10 km or so into the ride I’ll never “arrive” at destination. 

A little bit further along, I saw again the mountain with the kanji for tea 茶 where I had been cycling yesterday in the distance.It’s kind of hard to take a good picture of this character. Yesterday it was too dark.And today it was a bit too far.

Still down in the broad valley I came through this area off citrus plantations. Mainly みかん but also some Yuzu and other citrus trees. Surprisingly it didn’t smell of citrus, much in contrast to the intense apple smell a few weeks ago in Nagano. 

When I planned the ride yesterday, I made komoot not to choose the state road. Instead, I manually set it to the road on the other side of the valley, thinking that the state road for sure must be the busier of the two. I was wrong. The state roads actually is pretty small and currently even cut for a few kilometers where a landslide came down, after some major typhoon not too long ago.  That landslide did not only destroy the part of the state road, but also part of the train line. So nowadays the train only goes to Kawaneonsen. Which has a very cute old station building. I didn’t see it today, but this train company still uses steam machines and rides about three or four trips per day with them. 

Probably the highlight of today was this hanging bridge, which, in a day with a lot of wind, was doable, but scary to cross. Specially in the middle part where one is furthest away from the river banks, and very much exposed to the fierce winds that were reining  today.

Crossing this bridge however helped for the ride. Because I looked at the road on the other side and although this was the state road, It had barely any traffic. So I crossed over a normal bridge to the other much more tranquil side of the river and continued my ride there. 

After lunch, a few kilometers upstream I went to a Buddhist temple which claimed to have koyo in autumn. It was right but nothing stunning apart this one tree. Apparently this year in general the koyo season isn’t very good because it was too hot for too long in summer so the trees instead of going colorful go bare very quickly. 

From here I returned did a quick round around a light blue mountain lake (well dam) on very quiet roads, specially on one side of the lake. That road seemed to get less than a car per day. 

So quiet that I put my new bear bell in action.

From here it wasn’t too far and downhill to the onsen were I spent about 1,5 h soaking in salty hot water while looking at the mountain tops around. When one was standing on the rest area of the onsen one could also see the river and the railway bridge. There was even a timetable to know when the steam train would pass. 

But I took a regular old style train back down. 

D3 Nozawaonsen to Nagano

Route: Nozawa onsen - Hirataki - Nagano
Bicycle: 110 km
Train: 250 km
Total ascent: 1078 m
Average speed:  17.4 km/h
Riding time: 6:30 h
Weather: sunny and warm (for being November), 18 C

As I was already halfway up the mountain I decided to continue going up through the ski slopes. 

The road had very little traffic. I think there were more cross-country skiers that overtook me than cars. And overtake they did at a speed so fast I didn’t have time to get a good picture. A bit later another smaller group arrived and I was prepared and got them on video but they were nowhere as fast as the first group. Not sure if they were the Olympic squad or something like that. 

I however stopped a few times during the ascent to take pictures, enjoy the scenery and catch my breath. 

When I arrived at “the top” (it wasn’t really the top but the place from where a road descends to the valley), I decided to continue just a little bit more before turning and going downhill. From the map I thought that this road was a bit larger than the one I had come up from Nozawa but it was even smaller, and from tomorrow until end of May (!) will be closed for the winter. A bit early maybe considering how warm it was even on top today. There was so little traffic that on the entire downhill I only met 1 car and 1 motorcycle. The gradient of the descent was also good I did break a lot, but still doable. And not too many curves. 

The topic of little traffic surprisingly continued down in the valley thanks to two roads on both sides of the river. One with and one (nearly ) without traffic. 

Many varied roads and most of them with nearly no traffic! What a treat! 

While I am writing this I am sitting in the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. This being a long weekend, the shinkansen were really full. There were no more reserved seats on any shinkansen (which is fine by me as I prefer non-reserved)... but in such circumstances this also means that the non-reserved section will be really full. So well, I lined up at the unreserved car. The first Shinkansen that came was already full, but still a lot of people squeezed in. So many that they needed to apply the "backwards entering technique" you see so frequently with commuter trains in Tokyo. I waited for the next one, an "Asama" shinkansen, which starts in Nagano, so I was assured a seat and a cozy spot for the bike behind the last row. Surprisingly this shinkansen did not get overcrowded, not even in Karuizawa where I have often seen the Shinkansen to have standing space only. 

Nippara Cave

Route: Ome - Nippara - Haijima
Bicycle: 69 km
Train: 105 km
Average Speed: 16.8 km/h
Total Ascent: 832 m
Riding Time: 4:05 h
Weather: Sun and clouds, warm, but an early start helped, 26 C

Probably my last ride before the summer heat does grip Tokyo and the rest of Japan (probably with the exception of Hokkaido... but no plans to go there anytime soon). Today I did manage to get up early take a train before 6:30 am and start already at 8:30 am in Ome. A few weeks ago I had cycled from home to Ome... but today, that was only an option for cycling back... not for cycling out, as it is going to become too hot. Thanks to the early start I was already in the shadows of the forest when it started to become hotter. I took it easy (as always), cycled up to Ome first, had a break there for some onigiri, and then onwards to Nippara. A dead end road along a mountain valley full of green, a wild flowing river ... 

... and at the end surprisingly a village.

Above the village is a lime stone cave which claimed to have some stalactites and stalagmites, well... it has some not very impressive stalactites but it is still a great cave and so coooooool (but just about okay).

All this without ever leaving Tokyo! 

On my way up I had noticed a small restaurant with fishing pond besides the street which seemed to have a nice terrace overlooking the river, so instead of having lunch at the cave I road down and had a surprisingly good (but small) pasta dish here while watching the paying fishermen not fishing any fish. 

On the way back I had considered riding all the way back to home along Tamagawa... and while it was getting cooler.. it was still pretty hot, so decided to give up on that idea, and take a train back from Haijima. But instead of going home, went to a famous bicycle shop, in principle only to get a new saddle (as my old one had broken a few weekends before when I feel while standing with the bike)... but turned out there were other things also to fix... so finally I handed in my bike for the next 4 weeks for a general overhaul. Was about time after about 25,000 km!

Narita with friends

Day 1

Route: Funabashi - Hanamigawa - Narita

Bicycle: 54 km

Train: 35 km

Average Speed: 15.6 km/h

Total Ascent: 200 m

Riding Time: 3:27 h

Weather: Surprisingly sunny and getting hot (although the measured temperature seems to say otherwise), 19 C

This weekend friends had organized a ride out to the Hilton Narita. The same friends with whom I went to the Odawara Hilton back in February and to the mountains of Tokyo last October. One of them works at the Hilton in Shinjuku so gets discounted rates for staying at other Hiltons and these two are the closest to Tokyo. 

This ride was organized as two of the group soon will relocate to Thailand and unbeknown to us before the ride had just got married the day before... so kind of this was their honeymoon ride. At least we were nice enough to give them a double room. 

The day before typhoon #2 had come bashing through Honshu, but it seemed that from the late morning the rain would have moved on and we could cycle. So we decided to meet for lunch at a famous Ramen place close to Funabashi station and only start the ride around 14:00. With our speed we made it to the hotel just in time for dinner. No washing before though. 

One of the team lives in Funabashi and did plan the ride. To a good part it was along Hanamigawa which I had ridden a few years back on suggestion of yet another Tokyo cycling friend. 

The intense rain from the previous 2 days, had inundated some parts of the cycling road, but still mostly rideable. Only one of the rest stops along the way was deeply inundated... 

... it is that little hut in the background. But the water was nicely cold in a warm day, so it was actually quite nice to wade out there. (Keep in mind the water height to compare how much the water receded already on Day 2 below). 

On one of the many rest stops we had, we took a picture of us as peanuts, famous local produce apparently. 

 And on we went... to our next photo opportunity.

Day 2

Route: Narita - Hanamigawa - Funabashi

Bicycle: 83 km

Train: 35 km

Average Speed: km/h

Total Ascent: 282 m

Riding Time: 5:38 h

Weather: Sunny, humid and warm tending to hot, but still okay, 23 C

On the second day we started early... well earliER... probably we only got started at around 10:00 am. Also today was a day full of rest stops and photo stops. For this group of friends the important thing when cycling together is the TOGETHER... not so much the cycling itself. And that is also fun. Sometimes to me it can seem a bit too slow... but then just enjoy the moment, the time out there, the time on the bike and the next rest stop. And obviously the time in the evening in the hotel. 

Japanese are quite used to travelling with friends and sharing rooms (which I don't mind either). And while this Hilton didn't have very big rooms, some other hotels and specially ryokans in Japan are geared towards groups sharing one big room. 

The first one was on a hill just outside of Narita airport plane spotting. A hill apparently buildt only for this purpose with many "professional" plane spotters that were listening in to the conversations of the tower on small radios plugged into their ears and who did seem to know every single plane where it came from, where it would fly. In a country of train spotters they must feel like an exotic breed. 

Through some quiet country lanes ...

... we went on to Narita-san, a big temple in Narita city. There were some big celebration that day for the founder of this specific buddhist sect. 

More country lanes did bring us back to Hanamigawa river and lunch closeby. By now it was quite hot... but still kind of bearable, but the lunch break was welcome. However 2 of the friends didn't feel well. One with sleep deprivation (it seems he sleeps only a few hours every day and has a hard time falling asleep at all) and the other with a bout of pollen allergy. But luckily we were in never too far from a train station, so dropped them of at a train station, helped them back up their bikes and after a while (and by now a bit cooler) continued back to the river and riding towards the Pacific. 

Also today still parts of the way were inundated... 

... but the water from the rest place had receded... and one could "sit" there again:

And on we continued versus the Pacific where we arrived shortly after sundown. And were still not in Funabashi, hadn't entered an onsen yet and hadn't had dinner yet either... 

So on it was to Funabashi, a supersento and dinner at the supersento before catching a late train back to Tokyo. It wasn't the last train... but I think I arrived home at around 1:00 am, after a good day out with friends.