Early Summer Touring in the Japan Alps
Riding Tours >
Nagano > Day 3 Ride Notes
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Arimine Dam 
After a long ride the previous day, a leisurely dinner
and a hot bath afterwards, we woke up nice and refreshed the next morning.
Great weather for the day's ride, although Ed had to go back to Tokyo,
so we checked out of Kaiserberg, and started heading back towards Matsumoto
to have breakfast, let Ed get on his way, and us to start towards Arimine
Dam.
Passing by a field, couldn't help but think, Hey,
that looks like a monkey. Sure enough. There was a whole pack (group,
family, pod, whatever) of them crossing the road from this little shrine
up the mountain.
If you look in the center, at the T-junction,
you should be able to see the little guy coming down the steps. It turns
out there was a whole group of them, about 15 in total, from young to
old. We thought it was a pretty cool way to start the ride.
Shortly after leaving Matsumoto, we got into some traffic
at Kamikochi (holiday travel), and once we got it, the road smoothed
out, and we cruised through a couple small villages. One of them had
a really nice set of Koinobori (carp kites) flying.
Having a coke and a smile.
A better view of the carp kites.
Back on the road, approaching the turnoff, we came into
this nice stretch. I thought it was pretty cool, and it was definitely
an enjoyable road to cruise along. At the turnoff
for the Arimine Dam road, at Miza on 471, we decided to stop, do a quick
leg stretch. The road we just turned onto is supposed to be 48 kilometers
long, with no traffic lights. We certainly didn't see any, and were very
happy for that.
Along the way, after a nice stretch of upward twisting roads
we stopped at the top to look back on the valley, and we could see the
road snaking up. This was a typical stretch of the road, and was super
nice to enjoy.
Further up the road, we came across this place on the right
hand side. A curious site, kind of alike a stonehenge...
@
Getting closer to Arimine, we come across a bad omen, typical
for the day. The road was closed to thru traffic. Doh, back to the map,
to figure out an alternative route...
Which meant we had to pass this place again. I wanted to
stop and take some photos...
Not sure what it's supposed to be, but it is pretty cool.
I like the little Tanuki (raccoon) on the side.
Kind of a strange sight on, but definitely a nice reason to stop and
take a quick break before getting back on the bike and booking it.
<< Day 2 Ride Notes
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