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Ride Noto Peninsula tour

jwabullfrog

Cruising
Feb 8, 2019
9
2
I am looking for some tried and true routes through the Noto Peninsula for bicycle touring. Preferably concentrating on the the rich culture and traditional crafts of Japan. Anyone out there with some advice on good routes? I just did the Shimanami Kaido. and want to experience more of this wonderful country.
 
Noto:

Do it over 5 days or more so you can both wander and see some things (not the 3 days of the tour de noto--just riding, and no sightseeing). And avoid those days, since everyplace will be booked up--is already booked.

Tho you could do it (a bucket list item?), riding the chirihama beach is overblown (imo). It's not that long a stretch, and while it can be deserted, they also allow cars to drive it, and at popular times it can be pretty busy/crowded. And, you'll be riding in sand--firm and ridable in many places--but you'll be walking thru loose/soft/dry sand, too, to get on and off that.

There's a dedicated bike path along one of the main roads (里山海道) up that way (between kanazawa and hakui), but it is poorly maintained and I'd strongly suggest not using it. There are some local roads just inland of that that are better and more interesting.

As a coastal ride, it's not too interesting until you get up north, and the best part (IMO) is across the top (tho there are some nice spots on the way to that. Most of that is from Wajima onwards to the the tip of the peninsula, but there's a bit more of the same back the other way from wajima, too. This area is called the Sosogi (曽々木) coast--also called 'outer' Noto, or the male side. The 'inner'/female side is comparatively flat, from the tip back down to Notojima/Nanao.

One road I like thru the middle is route 51, which combines with 50 to Anamizu, or 7 down to Sojiji (総持寺)--which is very worth a stop on any noto trip. (And wajima, well known for its lacquerware.)

From inner noto, you can sometimes see Tateyama in the distance (立山, = japan alps), same if you go on south from Nanao along the coast to Himi.
 
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