Colin's Blog

A week in the Japanese alps

Steven and I discuss the day's itinerary over oat milk lattes at Paddler's Coffee in Tokyo. We were already in a good mood because they remembered us. Regular status. Paddler's is a great place to have a quiet morning and maybe pet a dog.

Two coffees on little round wooden stools on the deck at Paddler's Coffee, a black coffee in a hand-painted ceramic mug and a latte in a white cup, with our feet poking into the frame and plants behind

That day we needed to get to Shinjuku station, pack our bikes into rinko bags, board a train destined for Nishi-Matsuida where we start. Then we rebuild our bikes and start climbing.

We find a relatively quiet corner outside of Shinjuku, take apart our bikes, put them in rinko bags, and get going.

On a busy sidewalk in Shinjuku, Steven bends over a lime-green bike with red grips, sorting bags before packing it up for the train, as pedestrians and tour buses pass behind

Steven’s routes are some of the best I’ve ever ridden. The first day we saw some twisting mountain roads and impressive brickwork on railroad infrastructure spiraling up the mountain. We stayed in Karuizawa the first night, which was way too fancy for either of us. We are, however, both huge Terrace House fans. We simply had to stay near where they filmed the season that takes place in Nagano.

Our accommodations were not fancy: we were in a backpacking hostel that was very cool and very chill. The manager Yusuke confirmed the sickness of Steven's routes and gave us some places to check out along the way.

A dark green gravel bike loaded with bikepacking bags leans against a tiled wall outside a 7-Eleven, next to an orange Japan Post mailbox

We took some trains to avoid the cold rain the night before, and ended up approaching Lake Shirakaba via the Venus Line: a mountain route with amazing mountain views on the way up. We stopped in the world's fanciest konbini and continued to Utsukushigahara, an area of highlands where we saw a bunch of cows and talked to some high schoolers about our bike trip (Steven talked to them in Japanese and I tried to look friendly). The descent out of Utsukushigahara included a short gravel section and then 12 uninterrupted miles of descending on fresh pavement with very few cars. It was some of the most fun I've ever had on a bike.

Seen through the rusty frame of an open-air shelter, Colin in sunglasses holding a snack beside our loaded bikes, with forested ridges and distant mountains stretching out under a cloudy sky

We stayed in another backpacking hostel in Matsumoto and started our day by dropping off unneeded weight at the Yamato to send along to our hotel in a couple of days. The person who helped us was so sweet and kind and helped us address the box properly with nicely written kanji. Steven told her all about our travels in Japanese.

At a Yamato Transport counter, an employee in a green uniform and apron writes the address on a cardboard box with a black cat logo while Steven looks on

We had a long climb up route 158 with a stream next to us that was both vibrantly teal and clear as glass. Our descent into Hirayu was cold and wet but very fast and fun. We got into our accommodations dripping from the mist outside and chilled to the bone. Our hotelier rushed to get us out of our dripping wet jackets and shoes and get us checked into our room. We had a private onsen connected to our room that night that warmed us up from the cold ride down the mountain.

Our room's private onsen: a square wooden soaking tub full of water, light wood-paneled walls and frosted windows, and a dark tiled washing area with a small wooden stool and bucket

The climb up Mt. Norikura had three distinct phases: waterfalls at the base, the woods from Twilight in the middle, and grass and an alpine lake above the tree line. This was the third consecutive day of breaking my lifetime climbing record and I was dragging. At some points I was going three miles an hour. Once we got over Norikura, we descended for 14 miles, transitioning from fall colors down to sunny green mountain towns.

A two-lane road winds down through low green shrubs and boulders above the tree line on Mt. Norikura, with clouds spilling over the ridge into the valley below

The next two days we wended our way through the Kiso valley. We met a couple from Bristol bikepacking along the same route and ran into a New Zealander an improbable 4 times in two days. Both were so excited to share where they came from and where they were going and asked the same from us.

We ended our time in the Kiso valley biking the Sapphire Road into the Atera valley. The entire ride we were along a crystal mountain river speckled with huge boulders. We ended at a campsite right on the river that rushed all night and lulled us to sleep.

A clear mountain river rushes around mossy boulders in the Atera valley, with the forest leaves just starting to turn Our two loaded bikes, one lime green and one dark green, parked on gravel beside a small white pickup truck with a green tarp in a sunny mountain town

The next morning we descended the Sapphire road and incredibly ran into our New Zealand friend for a fifth time at the bottom. We were leaving the region that day, so we had to say our goodbyes but I still think about the odds against running into someone so often across so much land.

We left Nagano via the Shinkansen, traveling at around 170 mph towards Kyoto and the next phase of our trip.

Find our routes on RideWithGPS.