Atami Trip - Part 3 (Odawara to Atami)

I'm sitting at a McDonalds in Yugawara right now, which is saying something since I actively hate McDonald's - but I needed to take a rest somewhere.  (I ordered the green salad, edamame and corn, and iced coffee).

I haven't been inside of a McDonald's for over 10 years, so I was surprised to see they use paper straws and wooden utensils now.  I guess be good to the environment in some ways while you are causing deforestation? 

Anyway, I checked the route to Atami this morning, it seemed reasonable enough.  I started out irritated because there are entirely to many cars for such a sleepy little town as Odawara, and still enough houses that every corner is a blind spot with cars and people just waiting to pop out and surprise me.

In other words, it's urban enough to have a lot of people, and hence, cars.  Yet it's not urban enough to have a subway system, and not remote enough to actually have spaces between the buildings so you could see the death machines coming.

Still, I followed the route until it lead me to the ocean, and instructed me to take the high speed road going along the shore line.

I didn't want to take that road, so I tried Google maps, and tries different route types in Navitime.  The only route that didn't use the ocean side road was the "back roads" option in Navitime, which seemed to direct me to a road that didn't exist.

Only after going back and forth several times did I finally figure out that the "road" I was being directed towards was a very narrow and barely passable stone pathway.  Calling it a pathway is generous, but I'm not sure what else to call it.  

Nice 32 degree incline!

It was inclined at such an angle that I couldn't even ride it.  (Checking later, it seems it was technically "only" 32 degrees.  Still, I felt like if I rode it I would flip back and land on my head).  I had to push the bike a a little bit, squeeze the brakes to steady the bike while I took a step up, release the brakes, and repeat.  This continued only for a few meters but it was excruciating.

The entrance was barely visible even if you were looking for it, and there is no way a normal bicycle or motorcycle could ride this path, so it's amazing that it was recommended - or even in the map at all, for that matter.

Looking back down, though, the view was great.

From there it was ridable, and after a while, it was even paved.  The road seemed to mainly exist as a way for workers to service orange trees and other fruit trees on the mountain.  As I worked my way up the mountain, I basked in the thought that I would be rewarded by gleefully coasting down the other side - but sadly, it wasn't meant to be.  

When I was almost at the very top, I found the road was closed for construction (probably).

On the way back down I tried another road, but it was still under construction, so I had to climb back up again, until I finally found a passable road.  In fact, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to take the ocean side road originally recommended.  I was heading that way when I find another, higher road running in parallel.  That one had a speed limit of only 30 kph and was curvy and fun.  Not sure why none of the map programs recommended that one - maybe it required going through the mountain pass to get there?

Anyway, I got to ride up and down a mountain multiple times and see some great views at least!  The road I finally found was fun as well - but after all of that I still have about 8km left to go.  I need a rest before I continue on, so here I am in Yugawara.  

I can only say that this would have been an absolute nightmare if I had been riding at night, since I didn't bring my big PWR light and there are obviously no street lights in the middle of a wooded mountain.

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Since my last post I rode the rest of the way to Atami, which wasn't really that big of a deal.  Basically I continued on the 40kph curvy road, which seems to be called Route 135.  The road didn't have any sidewalk or much shoulder for most of the way, and since it was so curvy, it was a little scary to take on at full speed - but going slow would be scarier since I don't want some car coming around the corner and plowing into me.  So I rode the whole stretch from Yugawara to here (Atami) in one quick run.  

(Leomo Nav Data)

Anyway, between my mountain climbing shenanigans and subsequent need to rest, I turned what could have been a much quicker trip into a much longer one.  Good thing I left early in the day!

Leaving Yugawara I found another dilemma, The road heading out of town towards Atami has a Y shaped intersection, and it wasn't clear from the map which side I was to take.  It looked less than bike friendly, so I decided to ride on the sidewalk.  The sidewalk abruptly ended, though.  I then decided go back to the road and take the left fork - which after traveling about 50 meters had all sorts of "no bicycles / no mopeds / no pedestrians - Cars only" signs.  Hmm those would be better to put at the entrance, no?  So I turned around and went back (against traffic, since I had no choice!).  Amazingly, nobody honked at me or anything.  

So... I needed to somehow go from the leftmost lane of the road before the intersection to the leftmost lane of the right-hand road.  It's not really clear to me the "correct" way to do this, so I will usually take the pedestrian approach, using the crosswalks to get where I need to be, and then setting off as a road user again.  

In this case, there were no cross walks available from the left side.  

I decided to investigate the situation from across the street, so I doubled back, used an underpass to get to the right side of the road, and then went back to the intersection.  No dice.  There was no way to cross the road from that side, and no sidewalk to follow either.    

Back through the underpass and back to the left side of the road.  I waited until there were no cars behind me, and then hopped onto the road, shifted from the left lane to the center lane (which is generally a no-no for bikes), and then proceeded straight into what was the new left lane of the road on the right-hand side of the intersection.  There were bicycle markings there once I made it in - but it would have been REALLY helpful if there were markings telling you how to cross, as I can't be the only one who was hesitant to cross where I did, even though it ends up to be the only choice.  Perhaps I am just too timid?  Anyway all of that will be edited out of the video thanks to movie magic, because it isn't what people using indoor trainers (The main audience for my videos) want to see.  

Once I was actually on the road, it was mostly downhill, which means that for the trip back, it will be all up hill from here to Yugawara.  I will probably push it as hard as I can, and then rest in Yugawara for about an hour again.  After that, I have no idea how I will make it back to Ogawara, but I will see how I can follow Route 135.  

I had done the due diligence of finding a suitable parking lot beforehand, so that is what I had entered into the navi, and once I arrived I had no need to hunt for parking spots.  

I decided to book a hotel, and a nice one with a nice view of the ocean, and a big bathtub, and a big onsen area.  It was nice after several days of staying in net cafes.  I had some time to kill before check-in, so I explored the shopping arcade a bit.  After check-in I also visited the beach, which was surprisingly warm even at night in the Winter.  

I checked the weather report and was horrified to see rain in my future, so I decided to stay another night.  Since I had already blown my budget the night before, I opened for a cheaper place this time, but still with private onsen.  

In fact, the rain turned out to be nothing to worry about, it drizzled for about 30 minutes today and was finished.  Still, I decided that I needed to rest anyway before heading back.  

Heading back?  Yes, I am behind schedule anyway, and going all the way to Mishima would ass two more days (one day there, one day back) - thus I have decided to start heading back tomorrow.  It was a bit naive of me to think I could comfortably cover 50km per day.  In Tokyo, sure, no problem - but I don't know the roads here, and I have been riding mountains, trails, and in the middle of fields.  I run into all kinds of challenges I just wouldn't in Tokyo, and they take time to resolve.  That's all part of the adventure, but it takes time and it takes it's toll.  I simply can't do it for 8 hours a day right now, and 3-4 hours isn't enough with all of the complications.  I couldn't mind splitting the day into two sets of riding, but the problem with that is that the days are short in the Winter.  

Anyway the point isn't so much that I wanted to visit Mishima, as that I wanted to take some time off and go riding.  I wanted to visit some new places - and I've done that.  

(Youtube Link)

As it is, I'll not make it back home by Christmas.  Assuming the same rate of progress as on the way here, I'll make it to Odawara by tomorrow, Atsugi on the 24th, Machida on the 25th, and back to central Tokyo on the 26th.   

From that point of view, it almost seems that I may as well just add two days, visit Mishima, and change my return date to the 28th right?  Well, there is another problem.  I checked my bike today and was horrified to find the front tire flat.  One disadvantage of traveling to small towns in the extreme countryside is that there aren't exactly a lot of Bic Camera or Yodobashi Camera shops here.  In fact, there is no bicycle shop of any kind that could fix my tire - and even if there were, they probably wouldn't have stock.  This leaves me with two options:

a. Call in my insurance and have them transport my bike home (or at least to the nearest bigger city).

b. Fix the tire myself enough to limp home.   In fact, I inflated it this afternoon and listened for any telltale hissing sound, and there was none.  That, combined with the fact that it seemed fine when I arrived in Atami means that the leak is probably very slow.  I also had brought my "QuickShot" tire repair liquid for just such an occasion.  I sprayed that goop in the tire and slowly rotated it around a few times.  I'll check it in the morning to see if it is still holding pressure.  Even if not, as long as it can hold pressure for an hour or so, it should be fine to get home.  I have my small AirBone pump as well, so I can fill it up as needed.  

Wish me luck!

Return to Atami Trip - Part 2 (Atsugi to Odawara)

Proceed to Atami Trip Part 4 (Atami to Odawara)