Nikko cycle trip
Got back today from a 4 day cycle trip to Nikko and back.
Thanks to Chris for lending me his digital point n shoot. No *serious* photography on this trip unfortunately.
Distance: 416km
Days: 4
Highest Point: 850m
Highest speed: 52km/h
Average speed: 20.7km/h
Day 1: Tokyo to Oyama, 110km
Started off around 8am with clear skies. Being a national holiday the roads were quiet and I rode directly through the middle of Tokyo without any bother. After hitting the east side of Tokyo I followed the Edo river cycle path North, then the Tone cycle path for a few km’s then followed a very busy route bypass which had a small road running beside it with barely any cars at all (I maybe passed 3). Apart from the centre of the city section, the entire ride was along rivers or beside farmland. Of the 110km, I’d say less than 40km was amongst actual traffic. Almost the entire way was flat, making it a very easy and pleasant ride.
Day 2: Oyama to Nikko, 95km (including cycling around Nikko)
Cloudy weather, but no rain and wasn’t particularly cold. My route had me on highways without too much in the way of scenery, until about 20km from outside of Nikko. The road was lined with forrest for about 15km, this is what I’d come to ride in! The only downside is that the entire 15 or 20km was uphill. It wasn’t steep but after a while the long distance slope starts to eat away at you.
I’ve been to Nikko before and think it’s still one of, if not my favourite place in Japan. I did a bit of sightseeing on bike, enjoyed dinner with 2 American girls staying in the same Bed and Breakfast and then later we hit the hot springs for some nice relaxation.
Day 3: Nikko to Kago, 110km
My planned journey was scrapped 2 nights before I left as I found the route I was basing the whole trip on is now totally blocked, even to hikers. The alternative being a route that includes a 2.5km tunnel, which after reading a couple blogs sounds like absolute hell. I instead took a very small mountain road which turned out to be amazing. The climb wasn’t very long, maybe only 2 or 3 kilometres but the steepness gave me a good workout. The downhill was bliss though, through beautiful forrests, surrounded by mountains and following a lake. The downhill probably lasted a good 15km. In that whole time I passed 2 cars.
After leaving Nikko:
Day 4: Kago to Tokyo 100km
Pretty much followed the same route as day 1 so not many new pictures to show, except of a castle beside the Tone river cycle road. I managed to skip it on day 1 as I went on the roads to go a bit more directly. The ride back through Tokyo however sucked. Traffic lights, pollution, impatient drivers.. Give me my quiet mountain roads any day. I think I might get a bike bag and skip this part of a ride in future.
3 Responses to 'Nikko cycle trip'
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wow, what a great trip!
this area of kanto is fantastic for cycling.
der steppenwolf 28 Nov 09 at 10:35 pm
aye, was definitely a memorable experience
looking forward to the next 2 or 3 day getaway
tim 30 Nov 09 at 12:08 am
Great trip! I recently cycled 200km across Borneo over 3 days. It was a great experience and one of the best ways to see the country!
Really enjoyed your photos
Rohan 11 Feb 10 at 12:05 am