Over the last couple of weekends I’ve managed to get out for some morning bike trips for a change and got to see some great roads, and it has to be said, some odd tea shops.
On the first run out, I got some video together from the GoPro Hero2 mounted on the handlebars for a change – and even a reverse angle at one point! That’s almost cinematography!
I took in three main routes – Route #134, the Pacific Coast road along Sagami Bay, the Toyo Tires Turnpike, a twisty mountainous toll road from near Odawara up to the Skylounge Cafe, and then the Izu Skyline Parkway, another long stretch of twisting toll roads with some great views of the coastline as it snakes south down the Izu peninsula.
The Vimeo is below, and as you can see it’s a combination of time lapse, and normal video. I’m a bit of a timelapse fan.
YouTube version here.
The second weekend trip I met up with my old friend CS, and his rather nice Triumph Daytona 955i at Lake Kawaguchiko. After a 100Km ride up via some fairly nice but normal roads and the fast but dull Tomei Expressway we meandered back homewards down the 413 Doushi road, another relaxing, scenic road through mountains and valleys, except this time we had to break out the rain gear as the dark clouds which had been threatening for a while fully opened up on us.
We also stopped off at Cafe Gout Temps which has to be seen to be understood – it’s a Japanese house with British castle and tea shoppe fascias bolted on, and crammed with authentic looking church pulpits, pub statues, doll houses and all manner of oddities. It serves a good avacado and mushroom pasta dish as well as some fine English tea as well. Quite why it has a seemingly French name, I’m still not sure.
