Izu on Nanikore

Ride Report: West Izu

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 07:53:49 +0000

I know it has been a long time since I wrote up any ride reports. In truth, the first half of 2019 was bad for ’long’ rides for me for some dull medical reasons which I’ll skip here as it’s not an exciting story. Anyway, it was late July 2019 and the road was calling.

Since it had been a while since I did anything more than running some errands, and I was planning to go a little over 350Km., I went over to Kurviger, and started to plan a route. I had a look at a route TougeExpress had put together a few years back, and merged it with some roads I wanted to check out, along with some actual expressway riding up front, since I don’t especially like it, but it is a necessary skill and I avoid it perhaps too much.

So there I was, a whole day booked off work, and a gpx route all ready to go on my phone. That is a solid start to a day. On the map above, have a look at the altitude graph at the bottom - from sea level to 1Km high, and back again, several times.

I left the house just after 6.30am, so not super early, then made my way on to the Tomei Expressway west bound, away from Tokyo. Traffic wasn’t heavy and it was warm, so it was a nice easy bimble to the exit I needed, 7-2 Susono, and head into the Izu pensinsula, initially via route 337. Before that excitement though, let’s just stop and take a minute at the Family Mart for the obligatory onigiri (rice ball) breakfast. That morning’s was barley, beans and cheese - a first. It wasn’t bad.

The road from there starts nice and gentle, then suddenly turns into one car width twisty inclines, which isn’t too bad when you’re expecting it.

It wasn’t long before I was on the Ashinoko Skyline, a toll road which climbs to the ridgeline of some small mountains, and has several stopping areas for people to take in the views. Cloud had moved in though, and visibility was way, way down. Still a great road, but care was taken since my visor was getting covered in droplets, so I had to open it. It wasn’t much better with it open and now my face was getting wet instead. Fortunately there wasn’t much traffic and the road as far as I could see for about 40m was great. Fortunately I roughly remembered where the toll gate was, because it emerged from the mist seemingly right in front of me!

Fortunately that mist began to clear somewhat as I headed south on the venerable Izu Skyline, and then jumped off to a local forest road a kilometre or so from the southern exit to head west on the Ito-West Izu road until I hit the coast, through wonderful rural farmland, then a left turn south, to take in the mostly commercial fishing areas. I was planning to get some fuel on this stretch, but oddly, the JA station I’ve often used was fully closed. I’m not sure whether it’s closed for good, or being refurbished, but it definitely looked out of use when I passed. It wasn’t a concern, as I had a backup fuel stop, so it was East again for a short while, and back into the farmland.

On the 410 eastbound there are sections of steep winding turns, and I’ll confess that I had a misshap. I love this road, but for reasons beyond explanation I came to one corner, stalled and ended up dropping the bike. Yes, very low speed, bordering on stationary, but kind of embarrassing, as I should know better and took a terrible line. I picked it up, uttered quite a varied selection of profanity at myself, and as there was no traffic either way (and I had only seen a few cars for quite a while), I walked it to the other side of the road and had a nice cup of tea.

After a bit of a rest, I decided it was time to be off, but easier said than done. The flat area at the side of the road I’d chosen to take the break at, was covered in moss, which was incredibly slippery on such a humid summers day, and with my riding boots on it took a few attempts to get on the bike. Finally, I was off again, and was reminded about how much I really do like this part of the world - it’s a lot of uphill fun. I do like uphill roads.

Up on to the 411, that’s a pretty fast winding road at elevation, which has great views, though there can be road water if you’re riding after a lot of rainfall, which transitioned into the 127 for more of the same, before a turn again, back down to head to the coast.

One the way, I stopped in at Kurura Heda no Eki. To very quickly recap, they are rest areas which aim to promote local produce and sights, and generally I find them to be fun little places to chat.

It being late July, down by the coast was hot - quite a bit hotter and more humid that it had been during the more mountain stretches, so it was nice to take a break and have something to drink from my water pack.

This is one of the newer ones, and inside were the usual selections of local gifts and food, some images of local comedians, and a brief exhibit about local fishing, and certainly there was a sea faring theme to much of the place. Further down the road, I got the fuel I needed, and had a short chat with the owner about bikes - it’s amazing to me still how many people used to ride bikes, or have a bike still but dont get out, and work at petrol stations. Get out and ride!

As suggested at the Michi no Eki, I took a stop down by the quayside to look at the boats which were a collection of small inshore fishing vessels and a few pleasure craft. The place was pretty much empty, so I stopped and got some looks from a nearby workers cafe as I took pictures of the bike.

The road from there to the north western corner is narrow and winding, but a procession of beautiful views over the ocean on one side, then hills and trees on the other, passing through small village communities, some tiny beaches with local families on then, and the odd convenience store.

You can have enough of a good thing though, and mountain twisties were calling, so I turned inland once more, and climbed back up, before heading east for the last time on the 18, crossing the peninsula, and it is a great traverse, passing some local attractions, some farming communities and passing through the city of Ito, as it hugs its river. The town is quite nice and itself has been a tourist draw, meaning the roads are quite tight, and unforgiving if you miss a turn.

Then it’s back on these wonderful sweeping roads, passing golf courses, solar panel ‘farms’, and a few other bikes. Usually I would take the 80 down to the eastern coast, but if you take the real 80, you end up doing an fun, steep, narrow, declining road through a lightly residential area, under the train line, before seeing the ocean again - it’s more fun that the more relaxed other 80. Then it’s that usual ocean view ride, before indulging yourself in the twisty goodness of 75 near Hakone.

Overall, a great day, and for me, after 6 months of being limited to short hops, it was nice to ride for a couple of hours without stopping.

(As ever, it’s worth remembering that petrol stations are often closed, and it’s a bit of a gamble sometimes, so make sure you have a backup plan!)

That Old Skyline Again

Tue, 06 May 2014 01:43:07 +0000

Whenever I get a half day to take a run out on the bike, there’s always the decision to be made about whether I should go somewhere new, take some random turns, get off the beaten track, or go somewhere I know, tried and tested. Not always, if ever, an easy decision.

Earlier this week then, when I got that time, I went conservative and decided to do a run I know I can get through in about 6 hours, even with some vital stops for tea: down the Pacific coastal route 134, then up to the Dammtrax Cafe near Hakone in the mountains, then down the toll based Izu Skyline. Then back pretty much the same way.

I’ve written about this route before simply because I really like it - I even did a video for it over a year ago:

A Quick Run to Izu in the morning from Nanikore on Vimeo.

For me it kicks off with some nice straight and fast roads down towards the beach with great head-on views of Mt. Fuji in the morning mist, then out along route 134.

At 7am, there’s not usually much traffic, but since they’re widening the whole thing right now, there were some road works, but those of us on two wheels can usually get down the sides without too many problems - it’s worth noting that the vast majority of Japanese car drivers are quite happy to stay away from that left hand curb and give riders some space. Unless you’re being really obnoxious anyway.

It’s a mix of toll roads - none of them too expensive - until this point, but I usually take them over the free local routes to get that nice elevation above the beach and ocean. You can ride along, see the early morning fishermen on the piers and the beach, the waves coming up the beach - it’s very relaxing. Along this section there’s a service area often used as a meeting point for bikers, so if you’re looking for a quick drink and a chat with like minded individuals, it’s great. I remember stopping in early one February, the kind of morning where ice was forming on the front of bikes - chilly. Unlike on those spring and summer days when the place is packed, there were just three of us, all out on our own, clutching hot drinks next to the bikes, generally not understanding those who don’t ride year round, and also realising it was likely us that were a bit nuts

That beach section, like most roads here, is in good condition, but as it’s been assembled in concrete sections, you get that rhythmic bounce at each join, like a train on it’s tracks.

There are a few routes into the mountains, but the two I usually choose between are the Toyo Tires Turnpike, and the Hakone Pass. The latter is free, but the Turnpike takes you straight to the cafe, and I think is a more entertaining ride up.

Either way, from here on out, it’s twisties, twisties and more twisties.

The Dammtrax cafe is a part of a general service area - it would like to be the smaller sibling of the famous Ace Cafe near London - and has a lot of photos and memorabilia from that place, but it’s not, it’s a corner of a food hall which also offers ice cream and ramen. That’s not to say it doesn’t have the idea - the staff are great, you can buy random biker items, and on most days, you’ll be sat with a bunch of bikers. The car park is huge though, and in the spring and summer months, owners clubs, manufacturers and other motor vehicle related vendors set stands up to sell their products and often have giveaways. In peak season you could probably spend a couple of hours just looking around at all the cars, bikes and talking to the people.

From here though, it’s a short run down route 20 to the upper entrance to the Skyline, and from there, it’s just over 40Km of fun. There are places to stop along the way, and at the halfway mark there’s a service area which sell the usual Japanese selection of gift foods and vegetables and food.

One odd thing along the route, a few kilometres from the beginning is an abandoned building, claiming to be an Energy and Environment Building, if you’re into abandoned building (’ haikyo’) then this one might want to go on your list. I didn’t go inside, just walked the perimeter; I like the design, and that there’s a drive in ramp (though not I suspect for vehicles really). I’ve ridden past it so many times, but never stopped. Next time I’m up there I might take a closer look at the ramp.

The Skyline is a great road though, good surface, plenty of slopes, turns and enough straights that you can escape slow cars and buses if you get unlucky enough to be behind one. Don'

There’s also a lot of places to pull over for photos, since the road gets you great views of Fuji on one side, and the ocean coast on the other. If you keep your eyes open (so to speak) you’ll also see the odd farm track leading off the road - I’ve followed a couple of these, and they are a lot of fun. This time I rode up one for a few kilometres, and it was great to see a camp site I didn’t know existed, and a really nice stream and some waterfalls- a good place for a cup of tea from the flask.

The end of the Skyline is always a bit of a let down - there’s nothing there after the toll booth - just a long closed down restaurant place. A weird anticlimax, it’s also not very photogenic, though like the Energy Museum, I should probably look into it’s history.

Izu, Skylines and Odd Tea Shops

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:55:51 +0000

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.

https://vimeo.com/49389462

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.