Yup, I’m very happy to say that today I got rid of the ‘chalk marks’ on the tyres of my bike on my first real bike tour. Myself and a couple of friends took a day off and did a run through Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures.
We met up near Chofu in western Tokyo at about 8am, and headed off, mainly along the Chuo Expressway as Route 20, until we got to Otsuki, turning to Route 139, stopping for a bite to eat (and the infamous soft cream) before getting off the Chuo, and getting into the real riding – our first destination was Gotemba Gogome on the side of Fuji-san (the 5th and final road access point) via the ‘Subaru Line’ then back down and off to Kawaguchiko town for some lunch, before what turned out to be the best section of the day, running twisties through villages and valleys around Ashigawa (Road 36) before getting back on the Chuo and heading home.
All in all it was a fantastic day, with fantastic weather. In those few moments of being stationary, I also managed to take some pictures! I’m looking forward to another tour out, and yes, I’m very happy I decided to go with a 400cc bike instead of the 250cc I was thinking about!
