June 10

Hiraizumi - Kakunodate 


Well, it was hard to leave our fabulous hotel from the last 2 nights.  The weather forecast today was waaaaay better than the weather we rode in with two days ago.  Temps were mid-teens in the morning, and high teens in the afternoon; pretty perfect for me.  We were down and up for the first 15 km and then a pretty steady up until about 58 km.  But really - even the pretty steady up was a moderate grade for the most part.  It was a really pretty ride all day, but given the distance and elevation to cover today I didn't stop for many pictures.  I might still be out there if I had stopped for all the great opportunities.  

I wonder what's behind this door??


A short gravel section at about 8 km.


Ho hum.... just another quiet, pretty road.


So many rice paddies.  Morning and afternoon.  


We also saw some bigger barns and the smells of livestock.  And this rather interesting structure......


Some nice views down into the valley.


Lots of hay bales today, and some more familiar farming sights.



Miscellaneous (pretty) views in the morning.



Oh - and snow over yonder...........


But the snow poles along the sides of the road aren't as tall as others we've seen.


Another huge dam comes into view at about 35 km.  And, yes, we get to ride right up to the top of it.  I believe this is the Isawa Dam.  Google tells me it is the largest rockfill dam in Japan.


Apparently it gets windy up here.  And we're still in bear country.






We travelled (and continued climbing) beside it for quite and while.  Lots of tunnels today - both before and after lunch.  A couple of them near the dam were a little scary - not well lit and I was riding on the elevated sidewalk (and hoping to stay on it!).  Some snow sheds as well.   




Lunch was at about 66 km today.  Not even halfway....  We were told the climbing was pretty much done by then.  Well...........  we had done (according to my Garmin) about 4000 feet, but we still have about 2300 feet to go in the afternoon (although no really sustained climbs).  Coming up to lunch and then again after lunch we did have some pretty sweet downhill, though.  We left the wildness of the climb behind and headed back in some semblance of civilization.  The only bear scat spotted by me today we on the final big climb.  One we came down in elevation again we had so many beautiful reflections in the many rice paddies today.  And lots of (what I'm assuming is) retractable snow fences.







At some point we traded rice paddies for orchards for a while...........




Back to more and more rice paddies.  I never tire of these, especially on days with great reflections.





So that I didn't risk missing dinner, I really didn't stop for many photos.  It was a beautiful riding day, though, and although I'm very slow I wasn't totally drained by the end of the day.  Beautiful dinner again tonight.  There may have been an ice cream run to Lawson Station after dinner.  We get to do it all over again tomorrow.



Stats for the Day:

Garmin:  137.0 km.  6275 feet up.  6564 feet down.  Lost some mileage in the tunnels.

RWGPS:  140.5 km.  2294 m up.  2390 m down.  



Kakunodate

Population:  14,000

Kakunodate was a town located in Senboku District, Akita Prefecture.  In 2005, Kakunodate, along with the town of Tazawako, and the village of Nishiki, was merged to create the city of Semboku.  The town is famed for its well-preserved samurai houses and the proliferation of cherry trees.  There are the ruins of Kakunodate Castle, and Kakunodate-matsuri is an important intangible Folk Cultural Property.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

Image
Here I go again.  After taking last year off from big bike trips, I thought this one looked interesting.  A totally new part of the world for me.  A new (to me) company, although I know a few people who have been repeat guests with them.   The company is TDA Global Cycling.  It's a Canadian company but they do epic tours all over the world.  Their flagship ride is the Tour d'Afrique.  The trip I'm doing is called "Journey to the East", and is one of their easier trips.     We cycle the length of South Korea from north to south and then fly over to Japan to cycle south to north through that country.  Big miles and lots of climbing, although a few more rest/tourist days than I've had on some tours.  I'm looking forward to being able to experience some of the culture along the way.  I'm always a bit nervous about whether I've bitten off too much, but so far I always manage.  I think I've reached the point in life wh...
Read more

May 2 & 3

Woke up to a notification that my flight was delayed until 5:30 pm.  No problem - time for a long walk, laundry, and a few last minute things. Thanks to Ursula for the ride to the airport. I was there really early, as planned, and beat any rush. The check-in agent hadn’t processed a bike before but with a bit of help I think it got through ok. As the boarding is about to begin, the AirTag shows it in close proximity to the plane. I ate my fill in the lounge and probably don’t need to eat again until sometime tomorrow. Next up - nearly 12 hours on a plane - ugh!  Last I looked, the seat beside me was empty. Fingers crossed….. Once on the flight, they were clear to announce that the flight would be 11 hours and 59 minutes.  Maybe some different regulations are required for a 12 hours flight?  In any case, it was all good.  Well, except for the screaming child directly behind me.  Couldn't listen to audiobooks/podcasts for a few hours at the start of the fligh...
Read more

May 4

Image
Seoul Seoul (according to Wikipedia):  Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea.  The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, emerged as the world's sixth largest metropolitan economy in 2022, behind New York, Tokyo, LA, Paris, and London, and hosts more than half of South Korea's population.  The population of the metropolitan area is over 25 million. Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC.  In the early 20th century, Seoul was occupied by the Empire of Japan.  The city was liberated by U.S. forces at the end of WWII.  The Korean War (1950-1953) brought fierce battles, with Seoul changing hands four times and leaving the city mostly in ruins.  One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins.  Nevertheless, the city has since undergone significant reconstruction and rapid urbanization.  After a numb...
Read more