More mountain passes and tunnels

April 24, 2025

We know that we have a big day of riding ahead of us. Like yesterday, we will ride over 2 more mountain passes and through lots of tunnels, so it will be interesting. We feel tired from yesterday, but we know that we can pace ourselves and get it done. As our friend Leslie likes to say…”we can do hard things!” Here’s to another day in the mountains.

Fresh fish for the shop next door being delivered as we were checking out.

So much fresh fish…we can only identify a few of them.

It looks like a lot of fish for a small fish shop. However, the demand for fish in Japan is huge and this order will probably sell pretty quickly.

Note the incredible retrofitting of earthquake protection for this building.

Barry kindly translated this photo. We can’t read the Japanese writing, but the message is clear from the image of the cyclist….we will be riding uphill and it registers two sweat bubbles, so it will be strenuous.

The ride today began immediately with a climb and it continued for a several km. We will be riding through about 12 tunnels today and this is number one. Here goes…

We applaud Japan and its proactive efforts to provide safety for travel on roads where there are steep cliffs. We see cement barriers like this or steel fencing that go up and up.

Walkers of the Kumano Kobo will be hiking this trail.

Walking sticks are an important necessity for pilgrims and hikers. These are locally made and for sale at the Michi no Eki.

We hadn’t realized that bears are a problem in this part of Honshu. Hikers we have spoken to carry bells that they ring to warn the bear sof their presence. Suddenly, we feel better about cycling. Yikes.

Michis and stores have a place like this to store your wet umbrella at the door while shopping. In this area, it is mainly used for walking sticks.

The sign for this Michi tells us that they have good facilities for us…. bike tools, bike stands, restaurant and bathrooms

Liked the murals that decorate this road shelter. This one shows a hiker suffering and sweating in the hot sun. It looks like the cat and rabbits are watching and wondering why do people do this to themselves.

We like that community police regularly cruise through their towns keeping an eye on things. Their presence is friendly. We did wonder when he pulled us over if there was a problem, but he basically wondered where we were from and wished us well. We had a disjointed but nice connection with him in English/Japanese.

We see many hibiscus trees growing in the forests and alongside the road.

This collection of Koinobori are on display ahead of children’s day, May 5 and the colours signify the family members…black for the father, red the mother, and the additional colours are for the the children. In some parts of Japan, cities will have them strung across the town or rivers. Some towns have been known to have over 3500 strung across the town.In the city Tatebayashi, more than 5,000 Koinobori are in place, the largest display on Japan.

The joys of riding a trike…we’re close to the ground for dog licks, children love us and we can stop and smell the flowers, up close.

All of the tunnels we have encountered are the older variety without a sidewalk. The traffic is so light that riding through without a sidewalk is not an issue.

We are lucky that it is orange season….the fruit is available everywhere.

A mini lunch break at Family Mart…a delicious pork dumpling.

It is pretty sweet when we have a designated bicycle/ pedestrian tunnel.

…and we have it all to ourselves! Tunnels we share with cars are ok but the sound can be deafening.

We have a choice to make…take the mountain route or the seaside route. I think we chose well…

Another Michi…we will stop and admire this Sunfish.

A sign giving more information about the danger of bears on the hiking trails.

It is swallow season…We are seeing so many nests like this but the babies haven’t arrived yet….the calm before the storm.

This Michi offers support for cyclists with tools etc provided.

It is so much fun exploring Michi's and seeing the products that are grown and crested in this area.

Bear bells are available for hikers to rent.

Barry and the Sunfish getting acquainted.

This man was intrigued by what we are doing and how old we are. It is nice that he was surprised that we are 71. He retired at 62 and is loving his retirement riding his motorcycle.

Such beautiful palm trees adding to the charm of this forested region.

Oh dear, the two blue sweat symbols tells us that we will be working hard on this incline.

These stunning views back to the coast make the hard work of getting here worthwhile.

Taking a break to study the map and see where we re headed.

The final 10 km were a soft downhill which was a delight. The scary part was that due to how hard we had to work in the hot humidity of the day, I found myself almost drifting off. I had to push myself to stay alert.

We stopped at the first commerce we saw so that we could get a snack and have a break. We thought it was a grocery store but it was small store featuring the dairy products of a local farm. . We enjoyed a small tub of ice cream and a bag of cookies. It made it easy to carry on.

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 485 km (301 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	3
Comment on this entry	Comment	0