Day 20: Takayama to Kusatsu

October 15, 2024

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It rained lightly overnight. From inside the tent, you'd think it was a typhoon. Our dreams of fully drying out the tent were shattered, and in fact the floor of the tent got wet too, which rarely happens. Must be something about the ground. Too bad, because otherwise it was an excellent pitch.

While we both could have slept better, our legs were in much better shape than yesterday. We wanted to make it to Kusatsu in time to be foot tourists for a while, so getting an early start and making good time were both important.

Up at 6, on the road at 8. Pretty normal for us after a wet night.

We got off to a nice good downhill start. Then the elevation chart started ticking up. It was a mild incline with a few rollers here and there. Quite pleasant, actually. Traffic was mostly okay but I was hoping for it to be lighter on a Tuesdsy.

Dig this brutalist bridge. I was about to call it a trestle, because it supports a rail line, but I don't think that's correct. However, calling it a "train bridge' sounds wrong too.

I have three Google Maps overlays. One shows free and cheap campsites. One shows guesthouses, minshuku, hostels, and riderhouses. One shows free campsites and michi no eki. I almost never use the latter one because I think it's redundant with the first. For some reason I pulled it up today and noticed that there were THREE michi no eki on today's route. An embarrassment of riches! It was my goal to spend quality time at all three of them.

We were at the start of a river gorge that had been dammed further upstream. Roads flanked both sides of the gorge, with surprisingly frequent bridge crossings to connect them. We spent time on both sides. There was no clear favorite, although the south side had a 1.8km tunnel with a very wide sidewalk. It was a great way to gain some elevation rather painlessly.

One of those silly amphibious tour boats. I do enjoy the shape of the wake it made.

We ate and drank well so that we'd have energy for the big final push to Kusatsu, which consisted of a few more kilometers of rollers, only steeper than before, then a few kilometers of switchbacks, then a few kilometers of milder climbing into town. Kusatsu itself is hilly, so one might as well get used to the idea that there's no summit, no peak. Just hills.

There used to be freight and passenger service around these parts. This must be an homage to those days.

At the third michi no eki, just before the switchbacks. We often park our bikes at the first table we see, and it is often the designated smoking area. Smokers tend to give us the side-eye because we're invading their territory. Or sometimes they try to surreptitiously photograph us because we're a novelty. I'm OK with that but it'd be nice if they at least introduced themselves.

Now THIS is the two-tone color scheme we really like! There's also a white and rose version that's just as cute.

A fork in the road signaling the start of the switchbacks

The switchbacks. A couple of them, anyway

We trudged up the last of the hills and found our guesthouse. It's a charming traditional-style house that's tastefully furnished. It's a great deal for a shared-bath situation, and even then, the toilets are close by and rarely used. The dorms are upstairs, and I assume they have their own facilities.

Our host advised us that restaurants around here close early, so we felt some pressure to get going, because we did want to eat out this evening. We found the main attraction first, and the restaurants and other shops form a circle around it. The attraction is called the Yubatake. It's the geothermal water source for all the onsens in town. It filters through a bunch of sluices to make the water cool enough to bathe in.

It's pretty neat, and the vibe is pretty neat. It's bustling but not overcrowded. People are mellow and happy. There are free public onsen, but we have no yukata. That's fine. We're thrilled just to be able to take a shower, do some laundry, and rest.

Tomorrow it's off to Nagano, where we'll enjoy an off day. It'll be our first true "zero" day of the tour, i.e. no riding or even thinking about bikes! Also, I've remembered some of the things I wanted to rant about, so maybe I'll get to writing those during the down time.

Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 1,351 km (839 miles)

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