SBK Japan

03 Oct 2008

Woke up to another nice day. Managed to get on the ferry back to Oma. A bit of confusion about where to get a ticket and where to load the bike, but it got resolved with some sign language and pidgin Japanese. But again, I forgot to show my JAF card. I understand there's a discount for members. Oh well, the fare was only 3,070, so a discount wouldn't make a big difference.

Really enjoyed Hokkaido, but nice to be back on Honshu. After the chill winds of Hokkaido, it feels positively tropical in Tohoku. High of 20C today!

From the ferry, took R279 to Mutsu. I've mentioned before that this is a great road. I've been here and posted photos before, so didn't take any more this time. Then R338 to the Pacific coast, then South. I've also been here before, so just one shot of Lake Ogawara and the wind farm.

I forgot to check the weather forecast this morning, so I thought the safest thing to do is to overnight in the middle, in Aomori. Then tomorrow I can go East or West, depending on conditions.

I've already done R103, and I know it's wonderful, so I went inland on R394, just on a whim. Turned out to be quite an acceptable road. Just the occasional tractor, but there was no traffic, so didn't even have to slow down. This road starts off through small villages and farms. Not a high speed ride, but very pleasant. Looks like they're all getting ready for the rice harvest here.

Then the road starts climbing into the hills and gets very interesting! Scenic too.

When I got to the top of the plateau, got on R40, which is flagged on the maps, and is quite good. Runs along lovely alpine meadows.

The sun was starting to get very low, so time for an artsy-fartsy shot and head downhill.

Continued down on R40, which now gets very twisty, all the way to Aomori for the night.

No anecdotes, nothing unusual ... I must be slipping! ... just another pleasant day.

04 Oct 2008

Well, my concerns about weather were unfounded. Poured all night, but cleared up in the morning into another fine day!

Headlamp burned out, so replaced it first thing. That's the second one this trip, and the 4th one this year. I'll never buy PIAA again. It's just the normal 3200K, not any silly tinted bulb, but maybe that BS "double power" thing is just pushing the technology too far. Slapped in a standard Stanley bulb and it appears to be just as bright as the other one (still PIAA).

Anyway, Craig's route sounded pretty good, so I decided to follow his footsteps. Up R103 and R394. Been there before, but it's a blast and worth doing again and again. Then R102 to Hirosaki. Nice sights along the way.

In Hirosaki, lunched on the local specialty: scallop and apple curry. Sounds a bit weird, but tastes all right. Apples are the major crop around there, so also bought a couple to munch on later.

Yet another dude who kicked enough ass to warrant a statue.

Hirosaki castle is well worth a visit (a bit of culture never hurt anybody). It's small, but very neat.

It's located in a huge park, with lovely Japanese gardens. Very picturesque.

Then got on R3 to Mt. Iwaki.

Had to check out this Iwaki Skyline that Craig was raving about.

Sure enough, it has 69 switchback turns on the way up! And, by one of those amazing coincidences, it has another 69 switchbacks on the way down too!

Made it to the top, unscathed!

If you're feeling energetic, which I wasn't, you can take the ski lift part way up.

Then hike the rest of the way to the top. (See all the little ants?)

These guys seem to have enough gear to tackle K2! Top quality gear, all colour coordinated. :roll:

Nice fall colours around there.

I agree with Craig's comments on this skyline. Loads of fun! I didn't wear down my pegs quite as much as Craig, but scraped the crap out of my boots. That counts for something, right? Yeah, yeah, have to remember to lift my foot. But see, Craig, I too have obliterated that pesky Michelin man, and there are NO chicken strips, so I'm not a total wutz!

From there, continued on R3 to the coast. Very nice ride. Only one pucker moment. Got into a bend a bit hot, flipped the bike in, powered out, just to realize that it was a double apex, with the second a bit tighter. Oh shit ... oh shit ... lean some more ... bit more throttle ... oh shit ... slip, slip, both tires over the white line along the gutter ... microns to spare ....... made it! Whew!

Anyway, made it to the coast. Right where R3 meets up with R101, there's Yaki-Ika Dori. Sure enough, they all sell barbecued squids. Yummy! :drinking:

This road is another great ride and it's quite spectacular, very rugged, with lots of nifty sights along the way.

Did I mention nice road? 8)

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My original plan was to stay at the same camp/onsen that Craig used, but the temperature was dropping dramatically, so I wimped out. Pity, because I would have liked to see that big "hachi" lit up on the mountain in Hachimori. But it's a small town, with no hotels, so I ended up in Noshiro for the night.

This was one of my best days yet, with great riding and lovely sights, all day!

05 Oct 2008

i've done R341 to Lake Tazawa before, but it's so wonderful that I decided do do it one more time. Headed inland on R7 and R103. Just pleasant country roads, but had some fun with a gang of local riders. Fairly spirited ride, so go there in no time.

At the start of R341, there's, of course, yet another foot bath. :roll:

R341 is really wonderful. Nice twisties, running up along Mt. Hachimantai, then along a river and dam.

All the way to Lake Tazawa.

Boy, I wish I had a pet ferret ... :roll:

The ride around the lake is excellent, but I've already done that, so I tried something different. Headed East on R46, which is a pretty neat road. It runs over very tall bridges and through long tunnels, punching through the mountains towards Morioka. But not a single spot to stop and take a photo!

Then I took a gamble and headed down R1. Turned out to be a good choice! Starts out through farms and small towns, then winds along the gorge of a nice river. Good riding and good sights along the way.

Then West on R107, to spend the night in Yokote. Another pleasant day!

06 Oct 2008

Rained all day today. Guess I can't complain, considering that I've had it good for 3 weeks! Anyway, I have good rain gear, so it's more of a nuisance than a problem.

Started off going South on R13, which is a major artery and not very interesting. But then peeled off on R108, which is quite nice. It goes along a river gorge, with more bridges and tunnels punching through the mountains, and nice fall colours.

This tunnel is about 5 km long.

Then went right on R47, which is also quite similar. Then continued South on R347 and back to R287. Right at the beginning of R287, made a cultural pit stop at Jionji Temple.

I already rode R287 before, on the way up. All the roads seem to funnel through the Yamagata valley, so R287 is one of the few good choices. But it's a good choice. Then, from Yonezawa, headed West on R113, which turns out to be very similar to the roads this morning, with more bridges and tunnels.

Digression: I'm very tolerant of cultural quirks and, as a guest in this country, I'm hesitant to criticize. I normally allow very little to bother me, but one thing that irritates me here is the large number of drivers who only engage their turn signals at the last bitter moment. What's the point? Once they're turning already, it's too late to signal me their intentions. :roll: I was coming up on a car, fairly fast, when his brake lights came on. Is he just slowing down and being cautious, or maybe there's something on the road? Crikey, he's not slowing down, he's stopping! Middle of nowhere. Why? Bet he's going to turn ... but which way? Road's clear on both sides, so I can easily get by him without even slowing down, but if I choose the wrong side, I'll T-bone him. So in the interest of safety, I had to come to a full stop before he finally stopped, flashed the turn signal and slooowly turned. Grrrr!! :bad-words:

Anyway, ended up in a nice minshuku in the small town of Oguni, with no internet.

Computer died just as I was organizing my files. Sigh!  Need to do something about that.