Gando Toge & Lake Tsukui

I have been thinking for a while to ride the closed forest road on the north side of Lake Tsukui and took this oppurtunity on my ride to Gando Toge (巌道峠) using my cross bike.

It was a cloudy day and left early and plan to be back for lunch (or late lunch). I took the quickest path to the wild west using Tsurukawa Kaido and then followed the nice cycling/walking path just north of Machida Kaido until Route 16. Did a small diversion ride to Lake Shiroyama for a quick hill climb before Lake Tsukui.

The view from Lake Tsukui is great as usual with the nice twisty small road. Now for the challenging part of crossing the closed forest road, the first problem is always, 'how do you get your bike across the closed gate?'... I solved that quickly with the small opening on the right side, just small enough for people to squeeze themselves in rather than lifting the bike over the fence. The road was really bad with remnants of past small avalanches. It took great focus to traverse this small wet and slippery stone pathway and have to walk a lot, not to mention spider webs. I was rewarded with a nice waterfall flooding the road. I probably go back again during the dry winter months and without the hassle of thick vegetations.

As a transition to Gando Toge, I took the nice hilly backroads south of Lake Sagami. The climb to the pass was very nice and I have the road all by myself. There were part of the climb that was pretty steep, probably greater than 15%. GPS slope reading didn't show because the climb was too slow on the steep portion. The descent was technical, with stones, roads made into river and lots of twisty steep descents. Though the view was very nice.

I finished the ride with the hilly portion of Doshi Michi and passing a few roads off the main highway.

Ogano-machi (Oku-Chichibu) Loop

Did a half day ride around Ogano Town in Saitama Prefecture on my cross bike. The course passes thru beautiful forest, rivers and mountains. I started at Ryokami Michi no Eki (両神道の駅) and followed a clockwise route to Otaki, then follow Nakatsu river taking me to an old mining town Nichitsu and loop back using R299.  This route also takes me to two mountain passes.

From Ryokami Michi no Eki, I rode K35 going south and turned west before the tunnel and followed a small tributary with a 15 kilometers of tough dirt forest road (Ontakesan Rindo) peaking at around 900+ meters. I have the road all by myself expect for a couple of motocross riders, who were racing on this track. The gravel is loose and lots of mid-size gravels making it difficult to have traction.  After the very steep descent, I joined the major road R140, which connects to Yamanashi via a long tunnel, and pass thru scenic Otaki village. I stopped by the bridge connecting to an school and took a few pictures of a 'small' river (Arakawa River). R140 splits into two and I followed the north road and then to K210 following Nakatsu River.  Along K210, there were remnants of the old road and I ride it as much as I can. These old roads, not passable by cars, is dedicated for hikers or walkers and is rewarded by picturesque views of the gorge. Would like to come back again during fall to view the kaleidoscope autumn colors.

Upstream of Nakatsu River is the old mining town of Nichitsu, mostly abandoned but still working with minimal activities. 'Do not enter' sign dotted the road. After the town, a long dark, cold and wet tunnel brings you to the other side of the mountain for a long descent to Chichibu. The entrance of the tunnel was a little bit scary because of dense fog blowing out of it. I hesitated for a moment....

Start of Ontakesan Rindo　（御岳山林道）

15 kilometers of off road. This part is relatively good road.

Still climbing....

Abandoned shelter on the steep descent.

Shot from Otaki bridge (大滝）

Takizawa Dam (滝沢ダム）

Old bridge on the old road...

Old post office at old mining town Nichitsu.

No entry abounds in front of deserted buildings...

Dense fog blowing out of the tunnel after visiting the deserted town...

Inside the tunnel... cold, wet and chilly...

Resting on top of the mountain pass.

Hoyo Temple (法養寺）at Ryokami

Small garden at Ryokami.

Golden Week

Part I: Ootaki Village (王滝村)

Ootaki village is located just south of Mt. Ontake, which is the second highest volcano in Japan situated northeast of Nagoya and just recently changed status to 'active volcano'. Ootaki is the place of the famous 100km Cross Mountain Bike race (Self-Discovery Adventure). I did the 100 km loop a couple times in the past few years and also joined 2011 100 km race. Last year race was cut to 75 km due to heavy rainfall. I finished 290 out of the 307 finishers despite a broken chain on the last 8 km and have to finish by foot (and pushing the bike)...

I kind of like this place with the little hamlet overlooking the lake and always try to visit at least once a year. I wanted to join the race this spring but unfortunately conflicted with the 600 km brevet schedule. I try to see if I can join the autumn race.

Did some fun ride along the valley...

Recently created lake due to an earthquake in Ootaki (王滝村）

Spring is just arriving in Ootaki.

Next stop was Narai-juku (奈良井宿). This stop along Nakasendo had the highest spot along the Kiso route going thru the Torii Pass (鳥居峠). I followed the old trail to the top of the pass with my cross bike and found the route to be narrow and steep. One can easily fall to the deep ravines if not careful. It sure came across as one of the difficult pass of Nakasendo.

Famous bridge in Narai NakaSendo (奈良井 中山道)

On the way to Torii Toge (鳥居峠)

Taken from Torii Toge famous Tea House

Torii Toge

Full blossoms at Narai Station (奈良井駅)

奈良井宿

Reliable Sturdy Work Horse.

Part II:
In spite of the rainy forecast from mid-week, I pushed thru the plan to cycle to Gunma for a couple of days during the golden week gap (aka, working days). This is a back to back endurance ride (long and slow ride) to help build my endurance for the upcoming long brevet. It also turned out to be a good training for riding in the rain... probably too much of it.

I like riding in the rain and getting wet, as long as it is not freezing. I was happy that the temperature forecast wasn't that cold. I bought along a rain pants in case I needed the warmth and I ended up not using it. I was happy with the rain wear I had (for three season riding in the rain).

The Good:

• Helmet rain cover
• Clear eye protector
• Rain Jacket with vents
• Base layer
• Water sports gloves
• Shimano cycling sandal

The Bad:

• Short front fender mud flaps
• Feeding while riding in the rain

With the default length of the SKS front mud flaps, there are still HUGE amount of craps hitting the bottom brackets, crankset and my feet. I brought a thin rubber and extended the mud flaps to almost near the ground. This sorted out the front fender. As for the rear...

On the way to Gunma... rain, rain and rain...

Mid-way to Gunma with a rain break.

Cycling feet after 10 hours of continuous rain.