Cherry Blossom Time

Almost three weeks ago, I went for an early spring getaway. The sky was mostly clear. The air was mild. Flowers were in bloom. It was time to back in the saddle. So I put on just a long sleeve jersey with undershirt and shorts. No more leg warmers and shoe covers.

It was a calm day with little wind. I left Tokyo very early in the morning, headed north east and made my first stop at the foot of Mt. Tsukuba. Somewhere near Ishioka. It was a very scenic ride to get there. But the roads were a little rough and had a few small potholes on them. Moreover, there was much traffic on the roads. I paid most of my attention to avoid both flat tires and accidents and eventually got tired in the middle of nowhere.




I then ended with nearly 80 miles in about 5 hours and started taking landscape pictures. It was a beautiful spring day after all.

A Bike Journey Around Lake Hinuma

After returning from 9-day business trip to Hong Kong, I decided to go on a tiny adventure with my Canyon Aeroad CF SLX. I drove for 1.5 hours on the Jouban freeway and went riding on my aero road bike around Hinuma, a Ramsar site and the 29th largest lake in Japan.

The lake is famous for migratory birds along with its brackish water inhabitants and attracts a number of photographers looking for sea eagles; nevertheless it has magnificently scenic, empty lakeside roads. I came here not for aquatic birds, not for a big catch, but for a wonderful ride!

I took the municipal road 106 straight from Mito to the Hinumagawa river bicycle route, which is called simply “the cycling road”, rode along the river and the north shore of the lake until I reached the Pacific Ocean.

Although there are a few intersections and stop lights on the route, there is not much traffic on a cold winter morning. I could fully enjoy silence, peace and pleasant solitude that I had longed for the most.




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