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I plan on biking from the Kauizawa area to Hakuba tomorrow, rain gods cooperating.

By the end, my loins will either be rock-hard or a gelatinous mass. Wish me luck, and don7t spit on me if you happen to drive past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS- It won't be by "sanrinsha" this time, i have a proper bike

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Oyuki, Come down to Shikoku. Excellent cycling. One of my favourite things to do down here. Lots of rivers to jump in if it gets too hot too. Check out some of the 88 temples or find a nice beach in the South West of Kochi... Oops, a little off topic.

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ger what did you pick up? Im thinking about bringing back my old trek carbon, but its quite old...might be better off investing in a new road bike. Got some sick areas out here to ride. Id love to go over to Shikoku sometime - maybe a ride and some rafting? biggrin

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Got this one. Replaced my old beat-up mountain bike-hybrid that had been through thick and thin. I rode it about 100 km a week for years but hardly at all recently. Went to change a cable and realized that the whole bike - all the parts had fused into one rusty block. violin

The new bike is a fast and light machine but not too prissy like a more full-on road bike. thumbsup

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Oyuki, I'd love to join you next time!

From Karuizawa to Hakuba, is it about 100-120km?

Could you put your route on bikely.com?

 

ger, CB, let's do Shikoku ride together!

Some of my bike friends went to Shikoku during Golden week, they said it was really nice ride. Jumping in the cold water after cycling in summer is sooooo good!

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Hey Slow, that sounds good. Having another person around might help me from making some of the weirder decisions i made over the weekend.

 

From my place (Miyota) to the Nagano city limits took only about 3 1/2 hours. Way faster than i expected. I took the lovely and scenic route 18, so i could see all the car dealerships, pachinko parlours, and ramen shops on the way.

 

Ileft my place at about 6:45, and got into downtown Nagano with time to spare, the restaurants weren't even open for lunch. Hung out and waited for the indian place with the curry 食べ放題 for 850 yen.

 

Left Nagano around 1ish, and because i made such good time, i took route 406 (407?) over the mountains from Zenkoji to Hakuba, through 鬼無里. THAT was tough. 4 hours going up, up, up. It was getting a little dark, and it started to rain a little, so i was a little worried. But made it into Hakuba at 6:30, and dropped my stuff off at Powder Lodge, and went straigh to an onsen.

 

On the way back, i was wondering which day to leave. The Yahoo forcast said that it would be rainy on Sunday, and just cloudy on Monday, so i decided to leave then.

 

I woke up at 7, Monday morning. Rain. Went back to sleep. Woke up at 9. Still rain. 10. Heavier rain. i said screw it, it won't kill me, and left anyways. I sawm back to Nagano city, taking the toll road. It was not bad, and mostly a gentle slope all the way down. Even in the heavy rain, i think i made it in about 3 hours. But i, and most everything i had, was soaked.

 

I had enough of that, left my bike at Kawanakajima station, and took the train back to Miyota. Its nce to be dry again.

 

But yeah, its cool that a piece of technology like a bicycle can let a human go from Karuizawa to Hakuba, just using leg power.

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>ger, CB, let's do Shikoku ride together!

Some of my bike friends went to Shikoku during Golden week, they said it was really nice ride. Jumping in the cold water after cycling in summer is sooooo good!

 

I would love to! But, always have work during GW, we teachers, dont get the full time off like corporate people, so would only have about 4 days. Actually, next GW is 5 days for me! I just remembered that! Maybe could jump on a train and find a way of meeting up somewhere...Ewok looks to be getting a bike sometime soon as well...'though if I have that much time off, since its been several years, Id like to go touring some m(_ _)m Maybe we could look more into it next year. Summer time as well!

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The JR station i got on would not allow me to bring my bike on without a case. They were very adamant about that point.

 

Most of the roads on the trip had cycling lanes/sidewalks most of the way, except for the 406 over the moutains. It was windy pretty narrow in parts. Not as bad as the Nakasendo, tho

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I havent seen any bike bags for mtn bikes, only smaller, fold up bicycles. I imagine they have them though, just havent seen em. It would be worth having for trips where you dont have much time but want to ride in a certain area. Actually, outside the doinaka station of mine, there are always cyclists who come out this way to ride. We have nice cycling paths along the river which go all the way to Nara. The mountains are here are nice as well smile Id really like to ride around Shikoku, especially the center part of the island.

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You can get cycling bags for road bikes pretty easily. All you need is quick release on the wheels. They fold up small enough to hang from the rails of your saddle.

 

I've driven along 406 a number of times but always turned off to Togakushi. I didn't realise it took you right into the road in front of Zenkoji.

 

We got our second kid blessed at Zenkoji on Sunday. Its always a great day out. Good to see the gate is finished now.

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Most bike stores should have bike bags for normal MTB or road bikes. It's just a big, non-padded zippered nylon fabric bag. The better ones have a divider so your frame goes on one side and your wheels go on the other.

 

From what I understand, JR is mostly concerned that chain/gear oil/crud doesn't get on their train interiors. The bag really doesn't do anything other than that. The size is still awkward and cumbersome and causes inconvenience to other passengers. The rule's the rule though...

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