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Izu - September 9 and 10, 2016

Chuck

Maximum Pace
Feb 7, 2011
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Took a couple days and explored Izu.

Day 1 - Shinkansen to Mishima, train down to Izu-Nagaoka then...
Route 17 down to Matsuzaki. I loved 17. Beautiful scenery, little traffic after getting out of town. Some climbing involved. After Matsuzaki, rt 136 going all the way down the coast. Again, beautiful scenery, lots of switchbacks, lots of ups and downs, little traffic. Towards evening I was nearing my destination (Irozaki). Some of these places look like something from a Bond film.

Day 2 - Woke up and on the road by 6:30. Fuelled up at the local conbini, then set off north. Loved the scenery on route 121, although there was a pretty significant climb involved. Then downhill to Matsuzaki. After that, rt 59 up, and up, and up. At first things were relatively OK, but a about 10 km out of Matsuzaki, the climbing began in earnest. Crested Nishina pass, finally, but was wondering if the climb would ever end.

Took 59 down the mountain and got a good view of Fuji. All downhill. Didn't touch the pedals for about one hour. After I got on 414, I was pretty much in a defensive crouch. Lots of traffic, trucks. Just trying to survive till I got to Shuzenji. Rinko, train to Mishima, shinkansen to Shin-Yokohama, then bike back home. Ahhhhh!!

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Nice. I used to live in Matsuzaki and loved every minute of it. I'm heading down there in two weeks to do a similar ride.
Pro tip: if you don't mind a bit of extra climbing after climbing Nishina Pass take Nishi-Izu Skyline to its northernmost point then descend via route 18 to avoid 414 traffic. Except for occasional nutters on motorcycles Nishi Izu Skyline is a really nice ride.
 
Used to live in Matsuzaki? You must miss it. Saw about 100 places in Izu I'd love to live.

I had originally planned to do the Skyline route but after two days of riding, and not being sure just how much more climbing it would entail, I decided to take the shorter/downhill route. Probably a mistake since Fuji was visible and I'm sure the views would have been great.
 
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