POSITIVO ESPRESSO: Return to Hakone and Ashigara

Along the Sakagawa

I woke up on Friday determined to get in a morning ride, before some mid/late-afternoon meetings. I need to teach on Saturday late mornings this month, so if I do not get out some Fridays, I will lose all the fitness I got in Tasmania.

Hakone the old road

No cars?!

I was out of my house at 624AM, good enough to be on the 640AM Kodama shinkansen to Odawara, arriving at 707AM. I was on the bike quickly and headed for Hakone.

Along the old road

This time I finally tried the "old road", the alternative route up to Moto Hakone and Ashinoko that goes up the same hillside as the Route 1 Bypass ... but had blessedly little traffic. I can see that this road would probably "bottleneck" where it joined Route 1 at Yumoto, and so may not be an automobile option, but for a bicycle it was far better than Route 1, or the Route 138 option to Sengokuhara. It was a lovely climb, from just above sea level to over 800m. I rode along Lake Ashinoko, past Hakone Shrine, along a familiar route through Sengokuhara and the T intersection to Route 138.

I passed two cyclists ... and none passed me!?!

Steep bend

Ashinoko - a cold stiff breeze

After a convenience store stop, I took Route 138 to the turn off for the road over Mt. Kintoku and down to Ashigara. The road is gated, and the only time I have ever taken it before was with Jerome once at year end. We went around the gate. This time, the gate was open, but it was guarded by an old man in a blue parka with an orange traffic-directing wand. "The road is closed!" "You cannot go through". I protested. "Surely a bicycle can pass. I will get off and walk around the construction." He would not budge. "But, but, I need to get to Minami Ashigara. Is there any other way?" He tried to tell me I could stay on 138 then take Route 246 down the hill. "Route 246, are you crazy! That is way too dangerous! I'll get hit by a truck, surely there must be another way?" "Well, there is another "michi" over the mountain -- the entrance is down there past the shrine ... but a "chari" (bicycle) .. can you make it? With that chari?" Anyway, I went to look at the alternate route. It was a steep paved road ... that turned into a rock strewn trail. A hiker was coming down. He said it would take me about an hour up walking. I pushed and carried my bike, then carried it over my shoulder.

Road construction ... easily passed by a bicycle

Anyway, after some tough climbing over rocks and walking with the bike, in less than a kilometer, I came to a place where the trail crossed the road that I had wanted to taken in the first place! I switched to the road. There was one crane I needed to pass on the way up, some more machinery inside the tunnel, and there was a LOT of work on the retaining walls along the road during the descent on the other side. All the construction folks were polite, even friendly. At one point, the road really WAS closed off, but there was a side route up over a mountain shoulder on a rindo (forest road) around the blockage. It was a very nice side trip.

Just came up that detour

Looking down at Minami Ashigara

Then it was down the other side, through the sakura along the Sakagawa again, opposite direction from last Sunday, and along the coast to Chigasaki before hopping the train home.