Today's ride was pretty grim, the whole sky was grey and the rain started the moment I started cycling. It was unfortunate because the area is famous for five great lakes, where you can see Mount Fuji in the reflection of the water or surrounded by flowers during different seasons. I ended up taking the … Continue reading Japan Day 51-52: Riding Fujiyoshida to Fujinomiya and Rest Day
I procrastinated for most of the morning, helping myself to some cereal, which I haven't eaten in months, then lounging around until 11am. I knew today's ride was going to be rough, I looked up the elevation profile and saw that there was a tunnel at 950m above sea level, while I was currently sitting … Continue reading Japan Day 49-50: Riding Kofu to Fujiyoshida and Rest Day
I was naive to believe that today's ride would be flat, there were two main climbs to push through and then I flew downhill to Kofu at the end. There wasn't anything I really wanted to photograph, as most of the route was parallel to a major highway. It was just amusing to see Hotel … Continue reading Japan Day 47-48: Riding Matsumoto to Kofu and Rest Day
I finished off the last bit of bacon and eggs and enjoyed the cruisy ride, almost entirely downhill to Matsumoto. I cycled through twelve tunnels and luckily there was maintenance occurring on the fourth tunnel, which meant only batches of cars could go through at once. The tunnels were much busier, longer and bumpier than … Continue reading Japan Day 43-46: Riding Norikura Kogen to Matsumoto and Exploring
Today's ride was rough, but unfortunately my Garmin bugged out and I couldn't get the stats for my efforts, but hopefully these snippets should tell the story. The 1000m of elevation was split into two parts, the first 500m at the very start, across 8km before the insane section with 11 consecutive hairpin turns. With … Continue reading Japan Day 40-42: Riding Hirayu Onsen to Norikura Kogen and Exploring
The Norikura Skyline is the road leading up to Mount Norikura from the Gifu side (west) and it opens mid May, while the Norikura Echo Line is the road on the Nagano side (east), which opens start of July. Since it was late May, there was still heaps of snow at the top and there … Continue reading Japan Day 39: Cycling the Norikura Skyline
After listening to thunderstorms and rain last night, I was pleasantly surprised by the clear weather this morning. My mission was to ride up Norikura Skyline, a 14km stretch of road that rises 1000m up to the 2700m point, making it the highest road in Japan. It was an epic ride and it's in a separate … Continue reading Japan Day 39: Riding Honokidaira to Hirayu Onsen
Today's ride was short, but I chose the Honokidaira Ski Area because it's close to the Norikura Skyline, the highest road in Japan, peaking at 2700m above sea level. Assuming that the weather is okay, I plan to ride my bike up to the top tomorrow and see Mount Norikura for myself. However I had … Continue reading Japan Day 38: Riding Takayama to Honokidaira
The weather wasn't looking great in the morning, lots of grey clouds and a fair amount of humidity, like it wanted to rain at any moment. My weather forecast said that the rain wouldn't start until the afternoon, so there was enough time to make it to Takayama without getting soaked. After getting up a … Continue reading Japan Day 36-37: Riding Shirakawa to Takayama and Rest Day
Today's ride was surprisingly easy, it was mostly downhill with a few tunnels along the way and hardly any traffic. I just rode along Route 156, which took my along Miboro Dam, part of a hydroelectric plant, however after it was built it flooded some villages and shrines. Two giant cherry trees were taken from … Continue reading Japan Day 34-35: Riding Hirugano to Shirakawa and Rest Day
Jenny on Wheels 