Japan by Bicycle: Ride 5: Kofu (甲府) to 富士见高原 (near Yatsugatake Mountains)

55km, cycling time 10AM until ~5:30PM, with a long lunch break and a visit to Suntory's Hakushu (白州) whiskey distillery, and some pushing in the last few kms (luckily JJ called around 5, otherwise would have been a very lonely push...), arrived at Yozo ryokan just before 6PM. Weather, crisp and sunny; wind, strong to moderate coming through the valley but in the wrong direction. Managed only ~12-14km/hr on the flat. Very tough uphills from Route 20 turnoff to Route 195 through Shinanosakai and then more straight line uphill (Mt. Aka direction)

Well, first off a map of today's journey (recorded from Gallileo):

Coming out of Kofu, followed Route 20, due northwest towards Fujimi. Before Fujimi, took Route 195 turnoff towards Shinanosakai, where the railway station is located. You would think the railway would be located lower than the highway, or at least similar height. Not here - Shinanosakai is located on top of the foothills. After Shinanosakai, continued uphill for another 4km to arrive at 富士见高原. More than I had bargained for! I forgot to take out money at Sinanosakai and was so much in the woods afterwards that I didn't have enough cash for my night's stay! The ryokan lady owner was kind enough to drive me to the nearest "combini" (7-11) ... She is a very good driver! Driving through the woods at night remind me of upstate New England. This seems like a well to do area (at least 富士见高原) with beautiful ryokans and golf clubs...

A closer look at the last leg of today's journey:

Being progressively more organised, I've booked next two day's accommodation at Matsumoto and here's the route I plan to take tomorrow. Total 62km, the first parts should contain some downhill to ease me into the day. Uphills expected going up the valley thereafter to Matsumoto.

Mt. Fuji

I got out of Kofu, cycled maybe 7kms and turned around - wow, a great view of Mt. Fuji! It's second time that I've seen it but the views from here are much better than from just outside Tokyo. Visibility is very good - Mt. Fuji must be around 40-50km away.

I found a side road with a better angle to take a proper photo of bike and myself:

Came across this baseball park - must be one of the coolest baseball parks in the world :)

Another view of Mt. Fuji with cycle path in foreground:

The road I'm taking is Route 20, otherwise known by its old name "甲州街道", here is a plaque marking the beginning of the old road. This was around 25km away from Kofu.

View of cliffs and sky. There is actually a hawk just hovering off the cliffs but I couldn't really capture it.

The Yatsugatake Mountains form the prominent feature to the north east (part of which I found I had to climb!)

Lunch and Convenience Stores

Now something about food. I figured that after 30km (i.e. more than halfway) I should start looking for lunch. Wanted to find a local mom/pop store but town after town, there were no shops! I was thinking about why this is and it was obvious - the ubiquitous vending machines, the multifuncational 7-11s, Lawsons and Family Marts. Business must be hard for the SMEs! While Japan has preserved its agricultural communities (at the expense of consumers), I guess they let this one go.

Where I stopped finally. This was a supermarket with a restaurant next door (respectively below):

My lunch - very nice indeed. The further out from Tokyo, the more plain the food. I think the fancy ramens we get in HK and Shibuya are a city phenomenon!

Restaurant seemed to be run by a local cooperative. Most the patrons seemed to be retired. Serving certainly wasn't in a hurry!

Arh ugggg, the ubiquitous convenience stores...

I'm a big fan of farm produce. Snipped a few photos of apples and cabbages. Prices much more reasonable than in Tokyo. The Chinese cabbage was 250 yen.

Suntory Hakushu Distillery

Saw this big distiller (is that what its called?) along Route 20 after lunch and decided to take a look. Suntory has got itself a really nice patch of forest! I didn't do the guided tour of the actual factory as that would have taken 1 hour but took a look at the fairly impressive museum.

Next time you have this, you'll know where it is from.

Inside the grounds, also a bird sanctuary.

Me outside the museum doors.

Original Suntory whiskey bottle, along with other bottles used in the past.

Best part of the museum is the viewing deck - views of Yatsugatake Moutains and Mt. Fuji (quite small now) respectively:

The Road to 富士见高原

Well, more than I had anticipated for sure! The winding roads of Route 195 on way to Shinanosakai and view of my bike on way.

Awesome view of Mt. Fuji as I approached Shinanosakai

The town is built on top of the hill!

On way to crossing the railway lines - and slanted fields growing the usual vegetables

According to OpenStreetMaps, this is an overhead road pass. Oh well, carried bike down and out the other end...

Not even a road on the other end!!

Pushed bike for this part. The combination of stones and uphill makes riding impossible ... It's actually much darker than this already at 4PM ish. Lumix playing tricks...

Didn't take photos of the last 3km uphill - but that was a road with big trees on both sides. Pretty dark already and I saw 3 spotted deers, 2 by themselves and one spotted with my torch! By the time I arrived at 富士见高原, it was quarter to six and truly dark!