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Akiba kaido Rt.152

araim1

Speeding Up
Jan 7, 2007
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This is the over 1000 years old route where salt from the pacific ocean was carried to the ruling lord in mountain area, where samurai warriors marched for battles, where religious folks used to visit a famous Akiba shrine.

This is also a magnet for those modern roadies and bikers from old days. This route, Rt 152, starts from Chino station of Chuo line and heads down south to Hamamatsu city in Shizuoka pre. The distance is about 210Km.

I did this route with Okey-san during the last weekend in two days. After all rides, this could be one of the most memorable rides for me. The route is quiet, and people in the small villages alongside the route are nice. More than that, this was challenging to me with total climb hit 3600m in two days. We did this in two days. However, for those who deem themselves masochist, you are the ones to do this in one day. I know some who took an early express and returned back to Tokyo in the same day.

You can see the route in this page.

here.http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/japan/chino/875945926010

You will be challenged by five major toge, each of which is approx. 500-700m climb.



We took a very early morning regular train to Chino station, arriving at 7:45AM. Departing from the station at 8:40, we soon encountered with the first toge, Tsuetsuki toge, 1245m. After this one, we were rewarded with 20 Km down hill. Gradient was just perfect to go down without pedaling.

Passing the town of Takato, we faced with the second toge, Bunkui toge 1427m. Then we took a quick lunch at Oshika village. There are no convenience store along the route. A few restaurants only.

From Oshika village, we started climbing toward the Jizo toge, 1330m. From Jizo toge beyond, no car can proceed due to rock slide in front.

Right after passing Jizo toge, we parted from Rt.152 since we wanted to try Shirabiiso toge, which most roadies do to challenge the climb. This toge is 1833m.

On top of the toge, a fancy hotel, Shirabiso High land, is there to stay if you want. The view should be great if you are lucky, but we were not. It was foggy.

From Shibabiso, now it is the time to climb down and enjoy it. But the route was too steep to enjoy riding. This is as steep as Wada toge and the distance is over 20Km. We saw two roadies and one biker with full of load climbing up this route. I really admire them and salute them for their courage.

We spent almost one hour to climb down to the minshuku in Shimokuri area. This Shimokuri area is called "Japanese Tyrol" from what the houses are scattered around on the steep slope. It was really amazing to see houses in such a small land on the slope. It is simply as small as "a forehead of a cat" as Japanese way of expression.But the minshuku was great.

Following day started with the 300m down hill toward a village. From the village, we started climbing Hyogoe toge. This is another detour since original Rt 152 goes to Aokuzure toge but this toge is decoupled and only mountain trail is left. This toge is 1180m and we were forced to climb over 700m from the village.

After all these climb, we totally enjoyed the over 40 km down hill, which I think is well deserved.

We reached to Hamamatu city at around 2:00PM and took a Shinkansen to Tokyo.

Again, this was the most enjoyable ride and I really thank okey san for his accompanying and supporting me.:)

Minoru Arai
 
Nice! Next time my wife wants to go back to her hometown, I'll let her take the Shinkansen directly and I'll head up to Chino and take this route.
 
Hidden Gem!

Thank you for the excellent write-up Arai-san and Okey-san. I always wondered what lay in the mountains on the other side of Fuji-san. This looks great! 4km of climbing in 220km - that is a serious days ride. I think I could get on a train for the first time to do this ride.

Cheers, Philip
 
Arai-san, Okey-san,

Wow ... I took a look at your pictures on the gallery... absolutely fantastic ! !
I'd love to do this route right now but (...due to the small matter of a broken hip socket:eek:uch:...) probably won't have a chance for a while. Looking at the photos, it seemed a little chilly in some places - do you think this route would still be passable in mid-November ??

Thanks -- Steve
 
Awe inspiring

ride and one that will live long in the memory I am sure. I would like to tackle this over three days !

Thanks for posting and perhaps this will stimulate some new thoughts for 2009 rides and beyond.

chazzer
 
Arai-san, thanks a lot for writing it all - really precious info... will definitly explore this area after your introduction!
 
Thanks for the map and report. I've done some hiking through the Southern Alps, including sleeping the night on Kita Dake, Japan's number 2 mountain. An absolutely beautiful part of the world. I'd love to ride that route you posted. Philip, this is a must sometime soon!
 
Kita Dake !

I also climbed and stayed over in the mountain hut ! What a fantastic place that was......must be fifteen years ago now since I did that. Coming down was so hard, my legs turned to jelly and I had black toenails for a year as I did not tie my boots tightly enough and also cut my toenails short enough !!

chazzer
 
You pussy for staying in the mountain hut Chazzer:p You should have slept in a tent like me. A huge summer storm came in overnight and I thought I was gonna be swept off the mountain. Lightning and thunder all round me. It was quite frightening and to be honest I wished I was in the hut too!
 
Great account and fantastic pictures. Thanks very much for posting!
 
Beautiful photos and very empty looking roads. Would also love to do this.


due to the small matter of a broken hip socket

You alright Steve? Was wondering a little why you've been off the radar for a bit.
 
Arai-san . . .

Which train did you take to Chino to arrive at 7:45am?

The earliest Chuo line train from Shinjuku arrives at around 9:00am.

Cheers,

Philip
 
Which train did you take to Chino to arrive at 7:45am?

The earliest Chuo line train from Shinjuku arrives at around 9:00am.

Cheers,

Philip

You have to start Nakano at 4:27(the station of origin)

and chenge at Takao 5:16 and chenge at Otuki 5:55 and chenge at 6:45.
 
I would rather become a couch potato than get on a train at 4:30AM. This requires an overnight stay.:confused:

Would love to ride those roads, though...
 
Afraid I agree with Aaron here. We should do it with an overnight stay, then it's not all a rush and we can enjoy the scenery without worrying about getting the train. Can you stay over on the Sat night Philip? If we make it a 2 day assault I would be very interested, and not a 4.30am start:confused:
 
Arai-san, Okey-san,

Looking at the photos, it seemed a little chilly in some places - do you think this route would still be passable in mid-November ??

Thanks -- Steve

Steve,


Absolutely yes. November should be the time to visit there for the colorful mountain. Enjoy!

Minoru Arai
 
Kita dake

Thanks for the map and report. I've done some hiking through the Southern Alps, including sleeping the night on Kita Dake, Japan's number 2 mountain. An absolutely beautiful part of the world. I'd love to ride that route you posted. Philip, this is a must sometime soon!

Mike


I was also a mountain climber, used to climb a lot in my twentys, over 30 years ago , ahaha.

Looking at the wall of Kita dake from the other side, I once saw a huge avalanche triggered by a climber in January. Oh, God!
 
Afraid I agree with Aaron here. We should do it with an overnight stay, then it's not all a rush and we can enjoy the scenery without worrying about getting the train. Can you stay over on the Sat night Philip? If we make it a 2 day assault I would be very interested, and not a 4.30am start:confused:

We could start from Hamamatsu (Shinkansen leaves Tokyo 07:03 arrives Hamamatsu 08:33) and ride to Chino (elevation 4,283 meters :D ).

We then have a choice - get the late train home from Chino - or (my preference), stay in a nice hotel / Ryokan with an outdoor onsen in Chino (lots of nice places around Chino) and ride back to Hamamatsu the following day (elevation 3,515 meters).

Would that be a great weekend of riding?

Philip
 
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