A lovely week-long cycle tour in Hokkaido was unfortunately punctuated by a road-side ditch excursion for Sarah. While she was able to soldier on and complete that tour, I wanted the second leg of our three week holiday to have a bit more flexibility in it.
After a few days rest and recovery in Tokyo, we checked out of our hotel and I dragged our two bike bags back to Tokyo Station. I took a bag with me to the "Travel Centre for International Tourists" so the agent knew what needed to come on the train with us, and soon had Shinkansen tickets to Nagano, just shy of 2 hours journey, in the hills to the north-west of Tokyo. We went to the platform early, so we could be at the front of the queue for our train.
We boarded the rear of our carriage and made a beeline for the storage space behind the last seats. I managed to squeeze one bag in (upended, so the widest part of the bag - the handlebars - was on the floor and under the seats in front), but that took a little bit of time, and feeling pressure from the people waiting behind us, I panicked and took the other one with us to our seats at the other end of the carriage.
We sat awkwardly with our legs jammed against the bag, and quickly realised we needed to stow the bag somewhere else. Once the train was underway, I slunk back to the rear of the carriage, and was lucky to find the space behind the other row of seats unoccupied.
The rest of the trip was low-stress, and we enjoyed seeing the Japanese countryside blast past at 280km/h. When the train started heading into the hills, we probably spent as much time in tunnels as we did out in the open, but it was all in the name of good progress, and we were soon alighting at Nagano Station.
We headed straight to the hotel I'd booked, and although we were too early to check-in, they were happy for us to leave our bulky luggage. Some 10 minutes later we were settling in at a restaurant for a wonderful lunch.
That done, we walked towards the Zenkō-ji Temple, parts of which were built in the 7th century. It was busy with other tourists, but we managed to find some peace and quiet as we strolled around.
For dinner, we settled on a noodle place that seemed to specialise in a pork bone broth. The high fat content in the soup was pretty intense, though very tasty and surely good fuel for some bike riding the next day.
North
After a good sleep, we headed downstairs to check out the hotel breakfast. The instructions I'd received via email had been kind of strange, and so I was pleased to find that in addition to going "next door to order your burger", there was a modest buffet.
After breakfast, we suited up to ride, and then took bike bags out onto the street to unpack them. I'd not removed the rear derailleurs, so it was just a matter of popping the wheels in, and pumping up the tyres. Our bags are very much the worse for wear, but touch wood, we've not had any damage to their precious contents.
While Sarah minded the bikes, I took the bags up to our room, washed my hands and then headed down to ride. Usually I plan a route before heading out, but on this occasion, I was looking forward to just following my nose along the valley floor. It would be a chance to ease back into the riding without any pressure, and I was keen to see how Sarah was feeling on the bike.
Once we'd made our way under the railway line, we happened upon a small bike shop, and I was glad to find they sold small bottles of tyre sealant. I'd used our only one midway through the tour, and was glad to finally restock.
Soon after we reached the Sai River and began following it, or at least until it became the Chikuma River. Fooled by the landscape I'd observed from the train, I'd imagined that the valley would drain towards Tokyo. To my surprise, the water was heading the other way and my strategy of heading against the flow on the way out so as to get a slight descent in the second half of the ride was an immediate fail! Doing my homework after the fact, I discovered Nagano is just shy of 400m above sea level, and somewhere on the train ride in, we'd passed over the "continental divide".
The river had a road built atop its stop bank, and while parts of it were completely closed due to maintenance, we were able to sneak onto sections that weren't being worked on. From here we had a pretty good vantage over the surrounding area, much of which was being used to grow apples.
When we couldn't ride the stop bank, the roads we were forced onto generally served up things of interest, and I loved the randomness of choosing the way that looked most interesting - something I do to some extent even when I've plotted a specific route. We stopped for a few minutes to watch some teenagers "snowboarding" down some wet artificial grass.
Eventually, we got jammed up against a hill, and decided to cross the Chikuma River. Despite grovelling up a hill only to end up on a slightly boggy dirt track through an orchard, my cobber was very patient with me! It reminded me of what a great platform the "gravel bike" is - a term I hate, but have resigned myself to using. In any case, a fat-tyred road bike copes with a great range of terrains and surfaces, and does provide a great sense of freedom.
Just south of Iiyama, we crossed the river again, and were finally able to duck into a convenience store for a pick-me-up. We started seeing signage for "Japan Alps" cycle routes, and again found ourselves riding along the stop bank, perched above all sorts of fascinating sights.
Finally, I decided it really was time to turn around - something I'd been putting off for about half an hour. We turned away from the river, and headed up a small hill before turning left once more to head back in the direction of Nagano.
Not long after we'd passed by a ski-jump complex, I noticed my rear tyre going soft and stopped to investigate. I could see the leak very near the rim, and spent some time with the wheel out of the frame, eventually using the bottle of sealant I'd bought that morning. (Easy come, easy go!) My tyre took a little time to settle down after the initial leak, but it eventually sealed up to my relief.
Riding along the base of the hills rather than along the river was lumpier, as you'd expect, but the route also took us past shops more frequently and so we were able to stop more often for a cold drink or ice-cream. Rather than cruise into Nagano on the flat, I inflicted yet another small climb onto us both, which did at least reward us with a 5km downhill run to the hotel.
As I'd anticipated, there was no storage space for our bikes, and I sure as hell wasn't leaving them outside the hotel. I headed upstairs to retrieve the bike bags, and then began my post-ride routine of whipping the wheels out and packing them away - not a huge hassle in the scheme of things.
After a wash, we headed out to find dinner, returning to our lunch venue from the day prior. We soon discovered that in the evening you tend to pay more for less - the great lunch set we'd had the day before had been struck off the menu.
I spent time after dinner looking for alternative accommodation. I'd chosen this hotel in part because the room was big enough to cope with the two bike bags, and despite the weird breakfast format, we'd discovered it wasn't too bad! The hotel had a cheap laundry (200 yen for a load of washing, about $2NZD), and it was conveniently located. The next best option seemed to be to pay more for an AirBNB without breakfast, and all we'd gain is not having to pack the bikes away. In the end, we decided to extend our stay another five nights - something I'd wished I'd decided to do before spending so long identifying alternatives!
Stats: 91km ridden, 950m climbed, 24 to 32 degrees. One annoying tyre issue.
West
The previous day's ride had gone well, and in particular, Sarah had felt comfortable on the bike. All said and done, it seemed quite appropriate to head into the hills for our second ride.
While pondering the merits of Nagano as a destination, my shortlist had included Matsumoto, sitting in the next valley to the west of us. It would have been a long ride to get there, but I did notice a gloriously wiggly road to Hakuna, some 60km down the valley from Matsumoto, and that was where I planned to have lunch!
It didn't take us long to leave Nagano and to begin the climb into the hills along the Susobana River. One of the first bridges we crossed had chunks of rubber (perhaps recycled tyres?) added into the road surface, presumably for added traction when it was icy.
I was surprised to find so many tunnels on our route. Despite the lack of traffic, the investment in the road was clear, and appreciated!
The small town of Kinasa - about half way between the two valleys - gave us a chance to pop into a superette for some extra coffee and a snack, and I even tended to some work emails! I'd realised an hour or so into the ride that I'd forgotten to have my second and third coffees with breakfast. Rookie error, which I hope never to repeat.
We continued climbing, and saw a couple of snakes warming themselves up on the pavement. Thankfully they weren't in the mood for photographer.
The road topped out at about 1100m, bringing the 37km climb from Nagano to an end. As we'd come to expect, we ducked under the ridge via yet another handsome tunnel.
We'd had a tantalising and very brief glimpse of snowy peaks on the approach into Kinasa, and I'd been very much looking forward to the descent into Hakuba, where I figured we'd finally have an unobstructed view of the mountain range beyond. Sure enough the mountains were there and would have been very visible but for cloud cover.
Traction control on this side of the hill was of the form of grooves cut into the road surface, and these played all sorts of havoc with my steering. The effect seemed much more dramatic than the innocuous cuts suggested, and my brain struggled to reconcile the conflict. I assumed Sarah was having the same sensations, though she didn't comment on them, and we rode into Hakuba upright.
At the main road we hung a left and started climbing in the direction of Matsumoto. I was looking forward to an immediate refuel, but we saw no convenience stores, and ended up pulling into the carpark of a huge supermarket. Inside, there was plenty of food to choose from, as well as a microwave I was able to use to heat the gyoza I'd chosen.
We briefly joined the Himekawa Cycling Road, aka a cycle path alongside the main valley road, and after only a few kilometres turned off to begin our return traverse of the hills we'd spent the morning crossing. The engineers had done well, and after a very short and mellow climb, we found ourselves descending.
This road was much busier, and I faffed around a bit trying to keep off the main road. Some attempts worked out better than others, and I could sense Sarah was getting a bit pissed off - unnecessary climbing was trumping cuteness...!
Luckily, there was plenty of cuteness, and in particular a stunning temple caught my eye and I used it to bolster my credit with Sarah!
After a good bypass, we were forced back onto the main road briefly, and then through a big tunnel which at least had a footpath. We crossed the Sai River at the Ogadiri Dam, which had a spillway open and was generally in fine form.
The run back to the hotel could have been a lot simpler, but I couldn't help taking us along some very narrow road parallel with the main drag. The comically small vans some of the locals drove were making a bit more sense when we saw how little space there is on some roads.
We got back to the hotel before Sarah's patience wore completely thin, and agreed the ride had been pretty lovely, all things considered. I was slightly bemused that it barely had more elevation than the valley ride the day prior. We celebrated with a beer, and some mighty fine Japanese food.
Stats: 94km ridden, 1380m climbed. 20 to 27 degrees.
North-East
Things had been going well out on the road, so for our third ride, I figured I'd really push my luck. Some big-ass hills on the other side of the valley beckoned, and in particular, the road over Shibu Pass - described in this handy blog as the highest National Road in Japan.
Mapping the route out, I discovered we'd be vaguely climbing for the first 60km of the ride, up on the tops for 15km (including a second pass), before dropping back to the valley floor and crossing it to get back to our hotel. We'd go near another of Nagano's major attractions, the Jigokudani Monkey Park, and while there wouldn't be any snow, it sounded like the monkeys still liked to drop by in the warmer months to see the tourists.
After breakfast (and a full complement of coffees!), we overlapped with our first day's route on the way towards Nakano, shaving about 10km off in the process. Having crossed the river, we began climbing, albeit subtly at first. At least we had plenty of convenience store opportunities, and some cuteness to distract us.
The road snuck around a ridge, and we began climbing in earnest through Yamanouchi. I was getting the occasional whiff of sulphur, and it seemed likely that the river we were following was at least partially fed by hot springs.
I found myself approaching a woman standing on the road waving. At first I thought she was waving at me, so I gave her a smile and waved back. She kept waving, and as I studied her, I realised she was a hotel staff member farewelling a guest. I bet you pay a pretty penny for that stay.
We soon came to a fork in the river, and began following the left branch towards the monkey park. We reached the dead end access road, took it, and soon began questioning our choices when the road tipped up to barely rideable gradients. Sarah was sure (in response to me asking "are you sure?") so we kept going, and luckily the road soon mellowed and turned into a lovely sidle, high above the river.
We reached a carpark and were ushered through by an attendant who didn't seem purturbed by our bikes. The now-gravel track soon deteriorated, and even necessitated some bike carry up a very steep flight of rudimentary steps. A little bit of mountain-biking later, we saw the first signs of our destination.
We reached a fork in the path, with signage indicating the "onsen for humans" to the left, and the "onsen for monkeys" to the right! I wondered if this was deliberately funny, or just a matter-of-fact translation of less humorous Japanese. In any case, it made me chuckle.
We crossed the river on a concrete bridge, and I was delighted to see two fellows pull up on motorcycles just ahead of us. That surely meant we wouldn't have to descend the "road" we'd just come up, and could rejoin our significant climb higher up than where our turnoff to the monkey park had been.
The track to the ticket booth was steep, but I enjoyed winching myself up it. We found a spot to leave our bikes and then bought tickets. A short walk later, we found the monkey onsen - unlike the human ones we'd been to in Hokkaido, these did not appear to be segregated! Presumably due to the absence of snow, the monkeys were all content mooching around without getting into the water.
The area was very busy with both monkeys and tourists, and staring down the barrel of a 25km climb, we weren't in the mood to linger and headed back on our bikes. The path the motorcyclists had come in on was absolutely delightful, and there were plenty of tourists on foot to make us feel less worried about the bears the warning signs regularly told us about.
At the far end of the track I took a wrong turn - climbing at first, and then descending to a dead-end. The track I was expecting to use was well overgrown (not to mention potentially bear laden), and so we made the painful decision to turn back, resulting in yet more climbing before we were back at the main road.
Had we looked, I'm sure we would have found a shop, but we had plenty of snacks with us and didn't feel the need to refuel. Instead, we began climbing towards a curious corkscrew I had seen on the map. After a few minutes we began the incredible stretch of road, where the engineers had mitigated a steep gradient between two switchbacks by building a loop into the road. The massive circular bridge was largely above the forest canopy, and the circular route had a diameter of about 100 metres. What's more, the switchback above it was also elevated above the forest on yet another magnificent structure. No expense spared, it seemed.
Up, up, up we rode. I tried to stop regularly enough to ply some food into Sarah, and while also encouraging her to keep moving forward instead of turning around!
We took a back road around a mountain lake, and this brought us to the winter resort of Shiga Kogen. There we found a gondola station - alas, not heading in Sarah's direction, though I doubted they'd welcome a bike on board.
An information panel told us that the area around Shiga Kogen was unusual in that the mountain lakes were basically filling depressions in old volcanic flows. Aside from education, we were also able to get an ice-cream each, before getting stuck into the climb again.
Above the resort, we saw a group of people with huge cameras, and hoped that we'd see a bear (at a safe distance, of course). The language barrier was real, but it did seem that they were merely photographing flowers. Soon after, we saw a man in his sixties blasting down the hill on a modestly loaded pushbike! Good for him.
We passed a major intersection with a turnoff back towards Nagano, but kept climbing, and eventually came to an open cafe at yet another mountain resort and stopped for a hot drink. Beyond that were a few avalanche tunnels, and a sense that we almost had the climb beat!
We reached Shibu Pass after 4pm, which was a touch late for comfort, given we were barely half way through the ride distance! With 62km ridden, we still had 50km left to go!!!! Fortunately, despite our lack of horizontal progress, we'd ascended 1800m (net) since leaving Nagano, and would have gravity on our sides for much of the rest of the ride.
At the summit, it was cute to see that people who drive up large hills still like taking photos to record their momentous efforts! We waited our turn, and availed ourselves of some nice reciprocity!
After adding a layer, we rode on, but soon stopped to admire the basin below us, beyond which was an exposed slope. It took a wee while to fully understand what we were looking at, and indeed, hearing! A noise we'd intermittently hear wasn't our imagination - it was geyser activity on the far slope.
We began descending, and I soon passed a strange looking goat on the roadside. I was too slow with my camera, not being in a rush to sacrifice a braking hand! Sarah's internet search suggests it might have been a serow - an animal local to this area that does look like a cross between a goat and an antelope - confirming that I was right to think it looked strange.
Unlike the serow, the road we began plunging down wasn't going anywhere, and I stopped to watch Sarah roll down it. I was nervous, not that she would have any issues with the road, but because I'd seen a turnoff (that she shouldn't take) while I was waiting!
Fortunately, she did go the right way (in very photogenic fashion), and I was soon with her again. We passed through some very desolate sections, where presumably the abundant geothermal activity prevented plants from growing, and where the absence of plants accelerated erosion.
We reached a small resort area, turned off again, and started the last of our climbing. While the relative speed did allow more attention to the views, another 45 minutes being chewed up was not ideal at this end of the day!
I was intrigued to notice a gravel path heading down into a valley which did show on my map. Perhaps one day I'll return and ride up it! Heading down it was out of the question - it was definitely the wrong time of day to start an adventure, and I imagined a mountain bike would be a better steed at least if heading downhill.
We began the main descent well after 5pm, and found ourselves dropping into the cloud! This made for low visibility at times, and it also got a bit chilly!!!
Fortunately, I'd packed some warm clothing, and we were able to ride comfortably enough. We didn't often get views to the valley below, but when the cloud and trees were both absent, we were treated to some spectacular sights with the late sun reflecting off Nagano in the distance.
The fast run through the suburbs of Suzaka was a bit hair raising, but we were soon done with that. I didn't fuck around with the route across the valley floor, and we knocked out the 10km on the main drag without too much fuss.
Some 10 hours on the road had made for a long day, but what a loop! It would have been a solid outing without the detour to see the monkeys, but that had provided some pretty special riding, and it is generally better to regret something you did, than something you didn't.
Stats: 113km ridden, 2530m climbed. 14 to 32 degrees.
East
The following day, I planned out an itinerary which I hoped would serve up a series of nice surprises for Sarah, using the bike as transportation between highlights, rather than as the highlight itself.
First task was to kill a bit of time between breakfast and lunch. Fortunately, Tour de Suisse footage was available on YouTube, and watching other people ride their bikes (very fast) made for a good substitute to riding them sedately ourselves.
Once the set-lunch window opened, we headed out in search of a bargain, settling on a nearby sushi restaurant that offered a discount for hotel guests. We sat at the counter, which gave us a nice chance to watch the master chef in action.
I'd found a pottery studio not far away, and we set off in its direction after lunch, Sarah none the wiser. It seemed no matter whether we were on big roads or little roads, there was always something interesting to see, including this massive elevated pedestrian crossing.
Once over the river, we made our way onto a track along the stop-bank, and enjoyed some traffic free riding for a while. Some of the infrastructure we saw made it quite clear water levels are not always so low!
Near the pottery studio, I found a way to get off the stop bank and under the freeway we'd been riding parallel to. A few minutes later, we were leaning bikes up outside, and went in to have a look. Sarah enjoyed browsing the shop, but wasn't so keen to try to get her hands on some wet clay! I asked "for internet privileges" (we've taken to buying a single eSim which we install on Sarah's phone, and she hotspots me on request), and then showed the proprietor some of Sarah's work on instagram. She was clearly impressed! Sarah bought a small beaker which I stowed in my saddle bag, and then we moved on.
Our next stop was the site of the Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters, built at the tail end of WW2 as a potential bolt-hole. A small fraction of a massive network of tunnels was open and all up, we walked about a kilometre underground - with bats flitting around our heads for much of it.
I'd noticed a recruitment office in Nagano for the "Japan Self-Defense Forces", which was an interesting and noble title. A panel outside the complex also fascinated me for its contrition. It included the text: "the remains forever remind us of the sins we committed during the war period" and in particular there was lament for the use of Korean captives to build the tunnels, and invasion of "other Asian countries". It seemed refreshingly honest, despite being difficult reading.
We saddled up once more, and in my eagerness to buy some food, I ran a red light while making my way into a 7-Eleven carpark. Moving off with a bit more care, we locked up our bikes outside the Matsushiro Castle Ruins, and spent 15 minutes or so browsing on foot.
Sarah's final surprise was going to be an onsen visit. I swung by a hotel that for a while I'd considered relocating to, but their onsen was only available to guests. That turned out to be a real blessing, as next stop was the Matsushiro Health and Welfare Centre. We'd seen similarly named places during our tour in Hokkaido, and like those, this looked much like a hospital complex.
This particular one did have a spectacular feature in the carpark! A "degasification tank" has been doing its job since December 1998 - most certainly long enough for the minerals in the spring-fed water to form on the outside of the tank, which now resembles a small mountain!
We had no qualms leaving our bikes leaning against the entrance, and inside, we paid 700 yen each for access to the onsen. We also bought a couple of small branded towels, both to make the washing and dressing processes easier, but also as a nice souvenir!
The male onsen was pretty simple compared to the resort versions we'd visited the week prior. It had about a dozen washing stations, one large indoor pool, and a smaller outdoor pool. I spent time in each, and then once suitably stewed, headed out to find Sarah waiting for me. We agreed that this had been a special experience, in amongst mostly elderly Japanese who presumably visit regularly.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a massive sports store, where I bought a couple of extra bottles of tyre sealant, and a foldable titanium spoon. Sarah browsed clothing, but couldn't find anything she wanted.
We arrived back at our hotel with a mere 40km on the clock. We'd been away a whopping six hours, less than half of which we'd spent on our bikes! As nice as that was in its own right, it was also nice that we could go in search of dinner immediately after showering.
Stats: 40km ridden, 25 to 37 degrees on the road, and about 42 degrees in the onsen!
South
So far we'd ridden down the valley, up one side of it, and then up the other - it was pretty obvious our penultimate ride needed to sample the valley in the other direction.
Strava's route builder plus Google Maps gave me a good sense of the road (and riding) network, and after a bit of experimentation, I decided we could easily ride as far as Ueda - the penultimate stop on the Shinkansen from Tokyo. I was hoping we'd be able to have a nice lunch there, before taking a shortcut through the hills to Matsushiro, where we'd enjoyed exploring only the day before.
After breakfast, I slotted into the now familiar routine out in front of the hotel, trying not to get in anyone's way! I'd taken to keeping a full sized Allen key in my jersey pocket - using it for our four axles, and needed to get the frames out of the bike bags, and then to stow the wheels.
Once underway, we soon crossed the Sai River - which we'd followed into town on our second ride. I shunned the road I'd mapped, instead enjoying a minor suburban road running parallel to it. When we reached the Chikuma River, we crossed that too, settling into the road atop the stop bank on the far side. At times we shared this with cars, probably to their frustration as the road became a touch narrow for safe passing distances. There were also sections undergoing major works and which were closed to everyone, and other sections that were bikes only. While there to prevent flooding, it is great for nosy cyclists too.
In theory, we could follow the river road all the way to Ueda, but when we merged onto a major thoroughfare due to a squeeze between the hills and the river, we crossed the river to check out the cycling infrastructure on the other side. It was actually a great improvement, but a nifty narrow bridge did its best to lure me back to the other side.
I managed to resist, and we soon found ourselves riding towards a tunnel. Instead of venture into it, we found a way under the road (not once but twice), and were soon sneaking around some concrete blocks to access a bit of retired road hugging the base of the impressive cliff the tunnel had disappeared into.
It was a lovely stretch of road, enhanced slightly by the fact we were doing something illicit. At the far end was a park, and from it we could see a partially exposed section of tunnel that had also been decommissioned.
One of the drawbacks of bike paths is that they tend not to have shops on them, and I was glad that we finally had an opportunity to do stop at a convenience store for some long overdue morning tea. We were in an outlying suburb of Ueda, and a proper lunch stop wasn't far away, but it was still a necessary stop.
Next we visited the Ueda Castle Ruins, which also served to delay lunch slightly. We toured the area by bike, which both sped things up and eliminated any stress associated with leaving them locked up somewhere.
We then began the hunt for a lunch venue - and a hunt it proved to be. Having shunned a Korean restaurant early in the process, we then rode around for ages, wondering where everyone was! The hour seemed right, and it was a weekday, but everything we passed seemed closed.
In the end, we rode to the railway station, and sure enough, we found a handful of places open. A brewery seemed the best option (we could lean bikes where we could see them), and while the lunch menu wasn't expansive, the food was both interesting and tasty, and not a style we'd had before.
After a much longer "lunch break" that I'd been expecting, we began our foray into the hills. The false flat riding along the river banks turned into a proper climb, and with our backs to the river, we made our way through farmland on the outskirts of Ueda.
I'd long been fascinated to note the different ways the land is being used in Japan. Most slopes seemed to be untouched forest, while on the flatter land around Nagano, rice paddies and apple trees were common.
Even quite close to town centres, there would be vacant sections with vegetable gardens, usually with multiple crops being grown. It was also clear that some gardeners were switching to growing electricity, and we saw many mini solar arrays which I assumed had only recently replaced vege gardens. Farmed animals were a very rare sight indeed, though we had seen race horses in the Hidaka region of Hokkaido.
Before too long, we reached the end of the built up area, and while occasionally we could take a small side road, often we were riding on the one and only road up the valley. I'd seen rain in this valley since well before lunch time, and unfortunately, we didn't escape it entirely.
We passed two men working in a pine plantation, and curiosity piqued, I doubled back to take a closer look at what they were doing. I'd completely misinterpreted what I'd seen, and discovered they were drilling short sections of log and implanting them with mushroom spunk. When I caught back up to Sarah, I shared this with her, only to realise she had a vast knowledge bank to share with me on this front!
We chipped away at the mellow climb up the valley, and just before the summit, passed through an onsen resort. At the saddle was a weird junk yard, which hinted at being a (closed) second-hand store rather than someone's personal treasures, but it was bloody hard to be sure.
We now had 700m elevation to peel off on our way back to Nagano, though we had to make do with occasional glimpses of the river valley below. A few kilometres from the bottom, I took a turnoff, which dropped us into Matsumoto quite near the onsen we'd so much enjoyed the previous day. I'd stowed the towels, knowing our route in advance, and as anticipated, Sarah was appreciative of the chance to stop. Sans timepieces, we were much more in tune at this second attempt, and emerged within a couple of minutes of each other.
A few minutes from our hotel, I found a cute little road under the railway lines that we hadn't yet seen. I was glad to be on my bike, as on foot I'd have been about 20cm too tall to walk upright.
It seemed like it was very hard to go wrong as far as routes went, but this was another great ride stowed in our legs and memory banks.
While new roads were great during the day, we were also enjoying a growing sense of familiarity with the neighborhood around our hotel, and in particular the dining options. This holiday format was really growing on me, and I certainly wasn't missing the pack-and-relocate routines of cycle touring one iota.
Stats: 92km ridden, 1050m climbed. 17 to 26 degrees, and a little bit of rain.
North-West
Our final ride of the trip loomed, and despite covering plenty of road over the last five days, there were still so many options to choose from.
Had I been on my own, I think I'd have been inclined to venture into the Matsukawa Valley to see if I could get up the goat track we'd seen on the way down from Shibu Pass. But, with my nearest and dearest in tow (who was still nursing painful ribs), it was not even vaguely considered an option! Instead, a network of mid-mountain roads tucked in between our first and second rides beckoned.
I appreciated not being given a hard time when I took us up a dead end, and we were soon properly underway, and circling around a bluff we'd tunneled through on day two, enjoying Nagano in the rearview mirror.
We found ourselves climbing up a very sweet little road, which was having some retaining work done on it, unfortunately at one of the few sections with great views below. There was cloud hanging around, which both stuffed and enhanced the scenery!
Despite loving maps, I don't pay too much attention to what I've planned out, once I've settled on a route. As such, I was surprised to see so many villages along our route, and similarly, I hadn't latched on to how many road options we had, as demonstrated by the handful of stylised maps we passed.
Unlike our earlier rides in the hills, the summit of this ride was due in the first half rather than towards the end, and we chipped away at this much of the morning. I had flash backs to Taroko Gorge in Taiwan when I heard a voice on a loudspeaker, only to learn that it was the police, hollering at Sarah to give bit more passing space on the narrow road!
I'm so used to NZ towns being near running water, that a massive sprawling town high up in the hills caught me by surprise.
We decided against poking our noses down a side road, hoping to pass a store on the "main" route. We were still lamenting a place on clearly indicated on Google Maps being invisible to us on the ground, when we stumbled upon the cutest little convenience store you're ever likely to find. Small, but mighty, and we were soon tucking into egg sandwiches, something similar to a lasagne topper, and a couple of top notch muffins!
The storekeeper, aka tiny-van-driver, spoke great English, and told us he came to this village - and only this village - four times a week. We hoped he wasn't expecting to sell out, as we'd probably just done someone else out of their treats!
Soon after, we stopped at a cake shop (of all things) for a decidedly weak coffee. Our flat whites were served to us looking very much like frothed milk, and they didn't darken much with stirring!
The town just kept on coming, and we were soon browsing a gift shop adjacent to a restaurant. It was apparent from the trinkets on sale that we were passing through an area famous for its ninjas, though unbeknownst to us at the time, we could have stopped into a Kid's Ninja Village to try out their obstacle course!
One attraction that didn't evade our attention was a very grand Shinto Shrine, in the forest up an imposing flight of stairs. (We cheated somewhat, and took a much less steep path up, and the stairs down.)
We decided against trying the local spring water, for sale via a vending machine on the roadside. Instead, we enjoyed sights from the road, including a large new building with a stunning thatched roof.
We did stop at a second Shinto Shrine, and Sarah got growled at on both our behalves for riding her bike on a ramp meant for pedestrians and wheelchairs. I felt a bit stink - I'd done the same thing, but had been out of earshot by the time Sarah was accosted.
Soon after, we began our descent towards Lake Nojiri, which is where we'd begin heading back towards Nagano. We passed some spectacular cliffs which were out of character with the rest of the landscape, and also had great views of the two mountains we were passing between.
Just before reaching Lake Nojiri, we at last found a bricks-and-mortar convenience store, and there took the opportunity for a bit of rest and recharge. My rear tyre was a bit squishy, and that got a top up too. Then, we had a very short ride to the lake, finding it to be much more of a tourist destination than I was expecting. We discovered plenty of people enjoying the water, in boats big and small.
I'd expected to be able to ride around the lake, but we soon came to a road sign warning of a closure. The map indicated the blockage was at the far end of a bypass, and because it did seem likely we'd be refused passage, we took the detour. That involved some additional climbing, but less than we would have had to do without yet another tunnel hilltop tunnel!
We dropped back down to lake level, and I completely forgot to scope out the road we'd meant to take - intending to resolve the question of whether or not we'd have been able to ride through.
We saw a sweet and strangely amusing sign asking motorists to drive carefully, because "Runners and Cyclists Are Practicing". I have to admit, I'd never thought that was what I was doing while out on the bike!
After the undulating road around the lake, we descended into Iizuna, and started sneaking around the town on some back roads. We were both feeling a bit hot and weary, so it was a real pisser when my tyre started playing up again. I stopped to investigate, but my poking and prodding pushed it over the edge and I realised a tyre plug was needed. Alas, while I had the plugging tool - I discovered I had no plugs, and I didn't think to try to improvise by jamming something else into the hole in my tyre.
Alas, said tyre was loaded with not one but two small bottles of sealant, so it was a very messy business installing an inner tube. We sacrificed water from our bottles to clean up a wee bit, but I was very glad to pass some running water soon after in which I could give my hands a proper rinse.
Before too long, we were at the top of the final 10km downhill run into Nagano, the first half of which was steep and fast.
We joined the route of our first ride ever so briefly, and then deviated to pass by the Zenkō-ji Temple that we'd seen on foot after getting off the train. The souvenir shops there were in the process of closing up, but we did manage to find a nice Nagano fridge magnet to add to our collection. A few minutes later, we were outside our hotel and began giving the two bikes a thorough wipe-down for their trip back into New Zealand.
I could have done without the last minute tyre drama, but on the other hand, I was glad it hadn't happened any earlier. That tyre will be going in the bin before too long - as well as the sidewall damage, 1500km of Japanese roads have taken their toll, and it is looking pretty worn!
Stats: 86km ridden, 1780m climbed. 19 to 26 degrees.
* * *
The train trip back to Tokyo went fine the following day, and we had a good couple of days together exploring Tokyo - mostly on foot. I tried to see if there was any space on Tokyo's Saturday-only, roll-on, roll-off B.B.Base cycling train, but their website seemed to suggest it was fully booked. I wasn't so fussed about wrangling the bikes again anyway, so it wasn't a great disappointment.
The express train we caught back to the airport didn't have the single seats we'd used into the city, and so I'd ended up sitting with one of the bike bags in the accessway to the carriage (which was a damn sight better than being refused passage)! Sarah helped me at the airport, and then we bade each other farewell - 24 hours later I was back in Karori, while she was settling into a 3-week visit to university friends and family in Mongolia!
Without Sarah's crash, I'd have had a very different second leg to describe than the one above. There really had been a silver lining, and that was to experience a fantastic week exploring the roads around Nagano. These almost all had incredibly low traffic volume, and I got the sense we were on routes that had been superseded at least a couple of times by much faster roads on which bikes were unwelcome!
This format was most similar to the approach we'd taken in Italy a year prior, though then we were on the move every few days, with stressful driving in between. Locating ourselves mid-valley, and in a valley with a truly extensive road network in every direction, gave us both choice and great control over terrain and distance. In the end, we covered just over 500km, and ascended a solid 8000m, with the largest single climb being almost a quarter of that. You can see from the road visible on the map, we barely scratched the surface (and there's even more at higher zoom levels).
While it was a slight nuisance that we had to partially pack the bikes every evening (and unpack them every morning), I did appreciate knowing exactly what we were up against. When touring, there's always an element of surprise, especially in relation to where the bikes are going to sleep. And, while touring, we don't have the luxury of throwing the bikes in their travel bags as an alternative to leaving them outside, if that's what's expected.
Using the trains was a touch stressful (and surprisingly pricey), but it was manageable with our bike bags - boxes are a pretty good airport option, but they'd have been absolutely hopeless on the trains, not to mention getting to and from the stations.
Sarah's riding was really impressive, especially when factoring in a relatively light "training load" prior to the trip, and not to mention her sore ribs. While I was having the great benefit of not hauling our overnight gear (compared to touring in Hokkaido), she was basically riding the same bike up the hills. On the other hand, I managed to keep the distances much more civilised, with four out of six rides being around the 90km mark on this leg, and only one in excess of 110km. I'd pushed it a bit on Hokkaido with two over 150km, and a further two over 120km - an unfortunate consequence of needing to find a new hotel each night, and being a sucker for windy road (shape, not air movement).
The temperature was really lovely, though not atypical for June. While chilly on a couple of descents, the air was generally warm but not hot. We had friends enduring a European heatwave while we were enjoying very civilised mid-20s temperatures in Japan. Neither hot nor cold suited us very well indeed, and it was never particularly humid.
I couldn't find it again, but I'm pretty sure I saw a sign during our first stroll in Nagano, that read "Nagano: We Are Still Here". I inferred that after the local tourism industry geared up for the '98 Winter Olympics, it now finds itself with excess capacity. I presume it is a great winter destination, and I can certainly vouch for it as a cycling destination in the warmer months. There's no doubt Japan is more expensive than e.g. Malaysia, Thailand or Viet Nam, both for accommodation and food (and the public transport) but the lack of pollution was the difference I appreciated most - almost every river and stream we saw was running clean, and the air was pristine, everywhere.
I do look forward to repeating this holiday format, and would even go back to Nagano for more - probably paired with relocation to Matsumoto for a week of exploring in that valley. Until then, back to work to start rebuilding the holiday fund - feeling all the better for an uplifting break, with plenty of exercise, great food, and even better company!!!!
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