North Fork Akigawa in late January?

Bright sun, dark shadows. Akigawa Keikoku in Winter.

Sunday was a blustery sunny winter day in the Kanto (Tokyo) region. I was up fairly late on Saturday because of an event, so did not want to wake at 6AM to get out of the house by 6:40AM and to the Tokyo Cranks rendezvous at Futako Tamagawa. Instead I left home around 7:40AM and went direct to the Cranks' end-of-ride coffee location at the Seijo Gakuen Mae Starbucks. After coffee, conversation and a chocolate scone, Nils and I headed up the river.

It may be January ... but already Valentine's Day at Starbucks

"Have a good time"?!
I guess they wore out "have a nice day"?

We rode into a headwind, crossed the Tamagawa at Route 16, and headed out the Akigawa and the Mutsumibashi Kaido to Itsukaichi. This is mostly a flat ride, elevation gain only very gradual heading upriver and inland, so that after nearly 60 kms from my home, we were at just over 200 meters elevation at Musashi Itsukaichi. Nonetheless, the headwind made it hard work pretty much the entire way. We stopped at a 7-11 in front of the train station there and Nils headed back to town. I continued up the Akigawa and entered the Akigawa Gorge (秋川渓谷). I was thinking of going up the climb to Tokisaka Pass, and marveled that it was actually warm enough for me to be heading into the mountains in late January. By now it was after 11AM, and the sun was over the edge of the valley, so there was no danger of ice. I do not think I have ever ridden the Akigawa in late January.

This was once "Motojuku" or "Honjuku" ... now Tachibana bashi.
And Tomin no Mori is now "Forest of Tokyo Citizen"??

The Akigawa is almost dry, just a little flow of water.
Usually I photograph this view with lush greenery and plentiful water in the river ...

In the end, instead of doing the short steep climb to Tokisaka Pass, I just went up the Kita Akigawa (North Fork) to the end. It is maybe 12 kms from the Hinohara Village Office and the Tachibanabashi "T" intersection (the intersection formerly known as 本宿 - motojuku or honjuku) to the end of the main road up the North Fork, where it splits into three smaller roads. But this takes one from 275m elevation up to around 600m, as high as Tokisaka.

The bike pointed right, toward the Kobayashi House and its tiny "monorail"

From this sign, it appears there are some giant white toilets in this region.
Route 205 looks like Kazahari Rindo ... no cars past the mushroom center.

Only 3.9 kms to the Hinohara mushroom center ... and 350 -- 400 meters up? Not today.

Looking back down the North Fork route.

I did a further 1.5kms and 100m elevation up a narrow road (Route 67 on the map) to the parking area for visitors who hike to the Kobayashi House, a 重要文化財 (important cultural artifact) that is up on the mountainside here, from the 18th century. The trails all looked closed off, and the tiny "monorail" was obviously not running in winter.

At the parking lot for the Kobayashi House

I wanted to take the 3 minute hike to Amago Falls ... but the trail was blocked off for repairs.

I turned around and headed for home. My second snack stop was in Itsukaichi, at the Family Mart on Hinohara Kaido between the police station and the Tokura "last" 7-11. As I was leaving, in came Hara-san, an Audax regular. He said he was only 40kms into his ride, having come from Suginami-ku. At that point I was nearly 100kms in and my mind was focused on getting home, so we just exchanged a few words and I headed on. I quickly regretted not having asked him about his 2019 plans, PBP? Other events? But it was too late and I was not going back. 

Crosswind along the Tamagawa

There had been a headwind all the way up the river, and head/cross winds out to Itsukaichi. Fortunately, on the way home the wind was at my back (or side), and I made good time.

In the end, I was back home by 430PM, having done 154kms, with the 45-minute morning coffee stop and 3 other convenience store stops.  I never pushed into the red zone, but I did push and felt pretty strong the entire ride. Not bad. Not bad at all. Strava feed is here.