D3 to temple #34

Route: Otaki - Temple #34 - Chichibu
Bicycle: 63 km
Train: 70 km
Total ascent: 924 m
Average speed: 15.9 km/h
Riding time: 4:00 h
Weather: surprisingly cool and rainy in the hills, dry in the valley, 20 C

For this last day I was considering various options between riding all the way back to Tokyo or riding more into the mountains. Finally I decided that I would stay here in the mountains and take the express train back from Chichibu to Ikebukuro. After all, cycling on boring Arakawa I could do anytime (but I don't), while cycling in the mountains around Chichibu I can do only when here. 

In the night it had rained, but by breakfast time the rain had stopped and just left atmospheric clouds in the mountains across the road.

The ride started downhill, first on a road with a bit of traffic, but soon I took a turn and traffic became lighter. After a while I came by a temple, that wasn't on my plan... but hey, it was right at the road side. It wasn't anything special, but the guardian deity looked dutifully scary.

Soon I turned on a much smaller street with practically no traffic, so my fear of bears set in again. And up and up it went. 

Until reaching on the very top of that street above the village of Minano (皆野 - literally: everyone's field) a overpriced (at least for a rainy day) BBQ place. This was huge, specially in Japan. A huge outdoor terrace (and actually no indoor part at all) with a live music stage, a woodfired outdoor oven (where my sausages were grilled), and places to have your own BBQ. On a weekend this place must be teeming, specially with bikers. However it was Monday and rainy so I was the only customer. I say rainy, because, well it was wet... but it wasn't really rain. It was simply that I was in the cloud, so it was wet. But further down the valley there wasn't any rain. 

On the downhill I had seen in google maps a waterfall. Just before arriving to it, I saw more waterfalls indicated... and cycled up again... trying to see those. But the footpath in the forest was a bit too adventurous for my liking, so I turned back. Didn't want to fall down in the middle of a wet forest with warning signs of bears. 

However the main waterfall was right at the street. Per their self advertisement it has been selected as one of 10 best waterfalls in Japan. I have no idea who voted for this waterfall. It isn't bad, but for making it to the best 10, the voting must have been rigged. Kind of confirmed by the list of the other 9 waterfalls, which didn't contain Nachi Falls or other very famous waterfalls. Anyway, this one seemed to be famous enough. It had a good sized parking lot (for being in the middle of nowhere), a public toilet, a ice cream seller (on weekends only) and a tea house and souvenir shop (also on weekends only I presume). And there were even other visitors apart from me on this wet Monday. Someone who seemed to dress up to shoot some special photos. 

BTW, note the Buddha figure on top of the waterfall. 

Now finally to temple #34 of the Chichibu pilgrimage. I had done several other temples in the past, but last time I gave up on cycling up to temple #34 as it was too hot for me. Although it was October! 

Now looking at my pictures, I realize I didn't take a single picture of the actual temple #34. But I did take a picture of a buddha on the grounds. Frankly, the temple itself, seemed pretty average. The monk was kind of expecting me to want a goshuin, but I actually don't collect them. 

Down into the valley and then through a secondary valley full with poppy fields (and potato fields), I cycled back to Chichibu station. I was resting on the wayside when a local farmer came home with a big cart full with freshly harvested potatoes. A short time after, she went back to her field, but did bring me a freshly cooked potato, which was very tasty. 

At Chichibu station a few years ago an onsen opened annexed to the station. Which for a cyclist is kind of ideal. The onsen is a new supersento and I can imagine that on weekends it can be quite full, but not so on a Monday early afternoon. It had several pools outside, however they decided to fill most of them with brightly pink coloured water. Artificial onsen water with the best qualities (per their description) and evoking the "shiba-sakura". Call me a traditionalist... but I am not fond of pink coloured water. 

D2 Mistumine Jinja

Route: Otaki - Mitsuminejinja and back
Bicycle: 50 km
Total ascent: 1046 m
Average speed: 14,7 km/h
Riding time: 3:25 h
Weather: cloudy and fresh, 22 C

I came here without any specific plan. So yesterday evening on the suggestion of the owner of the guest house I looked into Mitsumine jinja, which seems to be very famous in the area. He said that the climb up was very difficult, but in Komoot it didn’t look that terrible. Just a few red sections but otherwise similar to a lot of other climbs I have done. So I settled for it.

The day started with breakfast out on the street in front of the guest house  and then I collected my cloths I had washed yesterday under the shower and dried over night using the bicycle as a rack. 

The guesthouse apparently was a ryokan in the past when this village (per the information displayed at its entrance) was a thriving place on the main street between Saitama and Yamanashi. However since this region has become pretty remote, although there is still a considerable amount of traffic on the road. 

The house is very old and for sure outside of any building regulations. One needs to tread carefully but it’s very atmospheric. 

I set off after breakfast climbing and climbing. This was a picture somewhere halfway up the climb. 

Before reaching the top there was a long row of cars waiting for the parking lot, but s as a cyclist I passed them all. Surprisingly there wasn’t any bicycle parking space, at least no official one, and well admittedly I did only see 3 cyclists the entire day. It’s probably simply a bit too difficult to reach from Tokyo. 

The entrance gate is a 3 entrance torii, apparently something quite unique, as are the wolves. 

Here people were praying to the 3 high peaks around. If I understood it correctly this is (yet another) origin of Japan. 

The actual entrance to the shrine is this massive colorful gate.

Also the shrine itself is very colorful and full of carvings. 

While I was still looking at the shrine it started raining ever so slightly plus it was surprisingly cold, so I didn’t linger too long and mar my way back downhill. At the bottom of the climb along a dam I met this local family:

These are only 3 members of the family, there were many more around. 

I had thought about riding a bit more to a dam, but the road I had chosen was so small, that I was a bit unsure if it was a good idea to ride there all alone, so instead I continued downhill, had a break at the only conbini of the valley and then entered into Otaki onsen. A simple onsen with 2 indoor pools, however one with a huge open wi Dow over the river and narrow valley. The water was very smooth and silky. 

After this proper test, I continued downhill for another 6 km and returned to my guesthouse and tonight’s dinner outside on the street. 

The place is incredible cheap. 11040 yen for 2 nights and half board. 

D1 From Hanno to Chichibu Tama Kai National park

Route: Hanno - Sanno pass - Yamabushi pass - Chichibu - Otaki
Bicycle: 67 km 
Train: 45 km

Average speed: 16.1 km/h
Total ascent: 884 m
Total riding time: 4:08 h
Weather: sunny and warm but not yet humid hot, 28 C

It is crazy. I woke up in the biggest metropolis of this planet with nearly 38 million inhabitants (in the entire Tokyo area). Took a train from the third most busy train station in the world (Shibuya station) for just one hour and then cycled 60 km and ended up in a village so small, that the owner of the hostel puts the dinner tables outside on the street as there is absolutely no traffic.

This trip to Chichibu is thanks to me searching a house in Tokyo. That doesn’t sound logical, right. Well , I am looking for a piece of land close to where I am living now and then to build a new house to my specifications there. I went last weekend to see a model house exhibition where there is a house from a company I liked the material they sent me. Very Japanese houses. They had an actual house they just finished building which one could go and see before it is handed over to the new owners. And that was in Hanno . I saw that weather this weekend was still okay, not too humid hot, so decided to make it into a long weekend as I needed to take anyway a day of vacation in June for my “birthday vacation allowance”. 

So off to Hanno it was, where I first visited the house.

Then changed back into my cycling clothes, had a quick conbini lunch and started the ride only at around 12:00. Up it was over Sanno pass (I came up here nearly 2 years ago with some other cyclists I had organized) …

.. and then gradually up into the mountains with a few stops (there were a lot of public toilets along the road) and finally over Yamabushi pass. 

I didn’t take that many pictures. The area is nice, but also not THAT nice to stop continuously to take pictures.

Riding down towards Chichibu I stumbled over one of the 33 (or is it 34?) temples of the pilgrimage. This one in the middle of a cement factory.

A string for a downtube?

Route: Tokyo - Kamifukuoka Silk Cycle and back
Bicycle: 77 km
Average Speed: 17.3 km/h
Total Ascent: 312 m
Riding Time: 4:28 h
Weather: Sunny and clouds but no rain, 14 C

This weekend friends wanted to go visit a very special bicycle shop... only that it looks like your totally normal neighbourhood bicycle shop... but it isn't. The owner of the shop previously worked at Giant in Japan in an important position designing bicycles. And now still designs his own bicycles. Bicycles with a cord for a downtube!

The string looks really thin and feeble, but we all tried riding the bikes and they feel surprisingly normal. Only that they were all way too small for me. 

The purpose of the rope as a downtube is obviously to be able to fold the bicycle. And yes, it gets reasonably small very quick. Not as small as a brompton... but the bikes ride much more like a normal bicycle. 

One friend was so convinced that he finally did order one... which arrived in early September. The shop owner had the frames constructed in Taiwan and then assembled them here in Japan. These bikes are also surprisingly economical for a full blown bicycle. 

On the way to the bicycle shop we passed by Riken. By the entrance and exit gate where I always got into Riken now nearly 30 years ago ! (in 1995). I hadn't been here in such a long time. 

After the visit to the cycle shop we started returning back to Tokyo... but before that one of my friends told me that it was his wife's birthday today... so after a bit of thinking I proposed to ride back to Tokyo fast and bake a cake while they would cycle at a more leisurely pace and join me in Shimokitazawa where we went for dinner... and then back to my place... where the freshly prepared cake was waiting. A big surprise... to the friend whos birthday it was. As everyone had tole her that I needed to head home quickly to get some urgent work finished... while everyone else knew what I was up to. 

Hanami in Kumagaya

Route: Up Arakawa and down Arakawa and over back to home

Bicycle: 140 km

Train: 20 km

Average Speed: 21.3 km/h

Total Ascent: 278 m

Riding Time: 6:31 h

Weather: Perfectly sunny and getting nice and warm, 18 C

The same meetup group with whom I went to Kasumigaura a few weeks back, announced an other ride to Kumagaya along the Arakawa river for some hanami. I know that those guys are fast. Crazy fast... but they claimed for this ride that intermediate riders would be okay, and it was a flat ride plus, worst case, I could just drop. 

We met at a conbini close to Arakawa river and set off. As always with this group, only road cyclists, mainly young men, a crazy fast German lady and then there was me. But all nice. 

When entering Arakawa river we were greeted by Shibazakura (phlox moss in English... but Shibazakura, i.e. grass cherry blossoms just makes so much more sense):

And then we cycled up Arakawa river. This river probably has the best cycling road around Tokyo... broad, well paved, not too many pedestrians... but it is a heavily dammed river in an otherwise built up area, so not really nice. But you can get to nice places from there. Only that from my house cycling all the way to Arakawa is a long (20+ km ride) just to be on a cycling highway. But today there was the goal of sakura in Kumagaya. 

I had no idea that this spot in Kumagaya existed, and it turned out that the organizer only knew, because she had bought what she thought was a normal map of Japan, but turned out to be a map where you "need" to scratch open sightseeing spots that you have been to. And apparently there isn't that much to see in Saitama (really?) that this Hanami spot made it on the list. 

Along the way out and back again, we stopped at a farm with ice factory. This has become quite a thing in Japan (I don't remember seeing that a few years ago (between 2015 and 2017 when I last was living in Japan), but now it is quite a thing. Farms selling their own ice cream. 

But the main attraction of the day were the sakura and rape, skillfully planted together and blooming at the same time. 

On the way back the rest of the team road all the way to Tokyo on Arakawa, but I wanted to cycle home and not need to rinko, and cycling all the way back to Tokyo would have brought me to the wrong side of the city. I knew from a ride with my NPC cycling friends last year in December a good road from Akigase park to Shibuya area of Tokyo, so thanks to komoot and Strava I found the route, reprogrammed it and dropped off at Akigase to cycle back home all the way.

Curiously on the very next day (I am writing this blog post many months later, while lying in my hammock in my garden on a not too hot summer evening), I was again in this very same area, riding back the very same road from Akigase to Tokyo. This time riding at a good speed in order to get home in time to bake a cake for one of my friends who had her birthday on that day. 

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 

Vgyftyy

4 prefectures, 3 days - Day 3: Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama & Ibaraki ３日間４県〜本日：栃木県、群馬、埼玉、茨城

Bicycle: 63.5 km

Route: Ashikaga - Sugito

Total riding time: 4:31 h 

Total ascent: 133 m 

Average speed: 14.0 km/h

Weather: Very Sunny, no clouds, some wind, perfect weather,  14 C

Todays highlight was probably visiting Gunma, while the bicycle was in Tochigi (front wheel) and Saitama (rear wheel):

Front wheel: Tochigi; rear wheel: Saitama, rider: Gunma

And only 3.5 km later, I was in Ibaraki. And only because I hadn’t planned this ride carefully enough, I missed Chiba, which would have been only an other 4 km from my route today, and actually quite feasible. But well, then I would have needed to change the title of all 3 days’ worth of posts.

The day started in Tochigi city, which to my surprise I found out yesterday evening, still has some old buildings. It is not so nice as e.g. Sawara, where the old buildings are all very much centred around a small channel, but the interest in the old buildings in Tochigi is more that there are also some from Taisho area, clearly influenced by Western architecture, as this hospital (which continues to be a medical center to today)…

… the restaurant where I ate yesterday evening and the old city hall, which however was totally in refurbishment. There were also some more normal old Japanese houses in town:

The one attraction I had found before going to Tochigi was the New Ginger Museum, which was definitely a very pink (and strange) experience. This awaits you at the entrance:

And it is not what it seems to be… or well, actually it kind of is, but by saying that it is a ginger root, it becomes totally acceptable to dedicate a complete, pink museum to a penis.

All possible things one can prepare with New Ginger, which actually isn’t fresh, but pickled ginger. I even took a sweet with ginger and a ginger soda.

But the highlight of this museum, without doubt was this video of the entire company dancing the New Ginger dance:

After these first touristic stops the ride of today could start. When I planned, I had not really found anything else interesting in the area, so set as a goal a super-sento with a convenient train station closeby, at a reasonable distance. For the ride itself I handed over the planning mainly to the komoot app. However I entered a few changes to avoid any major roads, and the ride was really great. Nothing by itself outstanding, but just a nice enjoyable ride through Japanese countryside with some mountains in the far distance. Some, closer to Nikko even with still some snow on the top, but not a lot, for end of February. This year was unseasonally warm in Japan. Mainly I rode on small country lanes and then on the typical Japanese bicycle path along a heavily dammed river. The rivers in that region still show the signs of the flood last year October, and are still being cleaned up from debris (mainly vegetation) lying around.

I finally came to a big water reservoir which has a cycling road right through the middle of it. On the center is a small artificial island, where I hate some cookies I had bought on the first day. Shortly afterwards, and just before the point with the 3 prefectures, there was a Michi-no-eki, where I got the best grilled sweet potato I had in my live. Only grilled, nothing added, but so creamy and sweet.

After the picture of at the prefecture boarders, the ride continued through similar landscape, although become a bit more built up over time, as I was approaching Tokyo.

The super-sento for today, was really nice. With 3 pools inside, and a whooping 5 pools outside and a small forest in which to gaze (although the supersento is in a built up area, there are no houses close or high enough, to warrant a high wall around it. Very nice. I had a long soak in the different waters, followed by dinner and am now sitting in the Tobu express train, back to Tokyo, heading for Otemachi, where I should be arriving in about 5 minutes. Perfect timing for this post. 

4 prefectures, 3 days - Day 1: Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi ー３日間４県〜本日：埼玉県、群馬県、栃木県

Bicycle: 68,2 km

Train: 30 km

Route: Omiya - Ashikaga

Total riding time: 4:19 h 

Total ascent:  193 m 

Average speed: 15.8 km/h

Weather: Cloudy, sunny, windy (but tail wind),  13 C

For this 3 day weekend, after considering several options, it seemed that starting in Saitama prefecture was the best bet weather wise... and so far so good. The weather forecast had rain in Chiba and Nagano prefecture for today, but not in Saitama. So that finally swinged it against Boso Flower Line and against a ride down from Karuizawa through Bessho Onsen to Nagano. 

What I didn't realize when planning this trip on Wednesday this week, that I would be riding through 4 prefectures, in 3 days. Today I touched already 3 of them: Saitama, Gunma and Tochigi (and I even started in a fourth: Tokyo... but did ride only a few km to Shinbashi station, where I took a commuter train out to Omiya. A city which I had never considered for tourism, but while probably the city itself isn't interesting at all, the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum is a true treasure. 

For me, this tree here below alone, made the visit worthwhile. It really moved me. I cannot explain it, but the beauty of this tree arrived straight to my heart. A very peculiar emotion. The terraces (I am sure there is a much better word for it) in which this tree is shaped, the small gap to see the trunk, the overall harmonious form... a true beauty. And still very young, only 70 years!

Before I made it to the Museum though I paid a visit to the Big Shrine = 大宮 which gives Omiya its name. The shrine was nice enough, but really not different to a lot of other shrines I have visited across Japan. What was remarkable though was the amount of people close to the shrine and in the park around it that were playing Pokemon Go. Players of nearly all ages, probably with the exception of teenagers. But even the elderly where avidly playing and there were hives of people standing around in the park trying to catch a pokemon. I did not join. 

When I continued I noticed that the lowest gear didn't click in. Not so much of a problem for these 3 days... but will be quite a problem next weekend (Izu peninsula!), so I decided to search out a bicycle shop to get it repaired right away. It isn't the first time this happens (actually I think the 3rd, and on both bromptons). This time it happened after earlier this week I had my back tyre changed, because of a drastic loss of profile at a brompton dealer very close to my office. 

Before        -          After

I found a bicycle shop in a big shopping arcade, and for 770 yen got it fixed in less than 30 minutes. Although to say the truth, in both Tokyo and Leiden I had got the same problem fixed in a brompton selling store in a few minutes for free... but well, fixed is fixed. 

Then I made my way to the highlight of the day, the Bonsai Museum. There was currently an exhibition of a bonsai master. This exhibition both contained actual bonsais (inside the museum) as well as very detailed explanations about the different Bonsai techniques. Including all the information in English. All of the trees were utterly remarkable. Very varied. Some were entire landscapes out of one tree. (But no photos were allowed inside). Actually bonsais are meant to be a part of a Japanese room, and there were also 3 rooms where one could admire the entire room setting around the bonsai.

In the garden there were more Bonsais, including the beauty above, but also some cherry trees already in full bloom:

and several pine trees. The oldest was over 1,000 years old! Must have been handed down from one bonsai master to the next, I guess. 

In the big garden of the museum photos were not allowed, but a video from a slightly elevated point was:

After the museum it was already past 14:00 so I ate in a small restaurant right in front of the museum. At that point I had only made about 6 km of today's ride... So I decided to skip all the other bonsai gardens (of the bonsai masters) that are close by and start the ride in serious. 

First I was riding along the train lines, which seemed to be particular popular with the local trainspotters. Not sure if some special train was going to come through? Or if this is simply for any weekend day with decent weather. 

Thanks to komoot I had for over 30 km a quite perfect bicycle route along a small river. 

This cycling lane is part of a bigger cycling infrastructure in the valley, as one can see from this map:

When I crossed the Tone river, we were already close to sunset... unfortunately in Japan it gets dark early... and I am not an early bird... so the last kilometers into Ashikaga were in the dark... but not too bad, I have light, the streets didn't have that much traffic... and an onsen awaited me quite close to the hotel. 

Actually a very nice onsen, with 4 tubs inside, plus a pool and a collagen room, which had red light, and NOT a collagen bath. Not really sure how this is supposed to work or what it is supposed to do... but well. Plus 4 tubs outside! 

Plus there weren't really a lot of people either. And they had all kind of amenities (scrubbing towel, tooth brush...) free of charge. So definitely a great place where to finish the ride today... well... finished, finished I did in my hotel close to Ashikaga station, but that was only an other 2 km down the road.