Hill climb to my parents' for the golden week

2009/05/05 at 10:13
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It was the last summer I thought I would ride to my parents' home at the bottom of the Yatsugatake mountains in Yamanashi prefecture. I remember I read the blog entry by Kondo-san who rode his bike for Kobuchizawa for his friend's wedding ceremony and I sent him an email to ask if the tunnel in the middle of the route was too dangerous for a novice rider like me. He responded immediately that it should be just fine because even a rude driver would take a little more care in his/her driving in a tunnel, especially when it is narrow without shoulder; I should just turn on the tail light and front light and it should go fine.

I wasn't able to go there by bike the summer, but it was always in my heart - that I climb all the way up to 1000 meter elevation where my parents live.

After attending the last video conference call before I started my golden week holidays, I rode my bike from the office to Yotsuya station where I packed the bike in a bag and caught Chuo Line Rapid Service to Takao. I then took a lunch in the next train bound for Kofu, which I got off at Otsuki Station around 12:30pm. It was another beautiful day at Otsuki while I was unpacking the bike and setting up eveything.

Starting from Otsuki station, the first check point is the tunnel I asked Kondo-san about - New Sasago Tunnel. It was a gentle climbing to the tunnel and in the tunnel was a gentle upslope too, where many big trucks passed me, sometimes so close to scare me a little. But it was not a dangerous ride in the tunnel and I appreciated Kondo-san's advice because otherwise I may have chosen to climb up the Sasago Touge, for no good reason.

After the tunnel, it was all the way down hill to Kofu city. Kofu city is a very flat land which is surrounded by mountains. I marked 55km/h on the road at which I was really scared - too scared I wasn't even able to put on the break. I was thinking about when I was watching the UCI World Championship Cycle Road Race on TV, in which the fastest a racer marked was near 90km/h. I was calling myself a wimp when I realized I missed the crossroad where I should have turned to the right.

Passing the closed grapeyards around Katsunuma, Isawa and Koshu, I arrived at Kofu at around 2:30pm. After taking a short break and called my parents to tell that I was still alive and well, I started again, this time for climbing. It was around Nirasaki where I missed the turn the second time, but I didn't realize until I finished climbing up the hill. My Garmin GPS told me to turn right again and again and I finally obeyed to its instruction and... went down the hill I just climbed all the way to the bottom of the Kiyosato line. It would be just like starting over.

Cherry Blossom

Kiyosato line was also a steep uphill to as the name suggests, Kiyosato where a popular farm first established by a missionary who also introduced american football to Japanese, was. It was around 8km/h when I was pedaling to climb the last mountain. My legs cramped and my arms hurt. However I didn't feel hard to breath and I even felt easier and happier. It may not be the true second wind that came to me but it was a strange experience.

My parents' home and the streets around it had cherry trees and they welcomed the winner of the one-man tour with their late blossoms. I then went to a public onsen bath near there to relax and stretch. I was able to relax in the bath watching Mt. Fuji but was hardly able to stretch because my legs and my arms cramped too much.