Western Tokyo does not look like much from the train, a continuous sprawl of houses and stations, but walk a little and the old landscape shows through. Springs emerge at its foot, feeding small streams like the Nogawa, and some of the paths along them feel almost rural, with bamboo groves, old trees and the sound of running water.
History runs deep here. In the eighth century, Emperor Shōmu ordered a provincial temple, a kokubun-ji, to be built in every province of Japan, and the one for Musashi province stood here, giving the area its name. The foundations of the great temple can still be seen in a park, and a smaller temple continues the tradition nearby. A spring-fed path known as Otakanomichi, meaning the falcon's road because the shoguns once hunted here, leads past a pond and through gardens.
Koganei Park is one of Tokyo's largest, famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and home to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, a collection of historic buildings moved from across the city, including farmhouses, shops and a bathhouse. It offers a rare glimpse of the Tokyo that has largely disappeared.
The riding starts once you escape the city. The Okutama ride follows the Tama River west past Ōme into the mountains, where the road winds along gorges to Lake Okutama, a reservoir surrounded by forested peaks. The Myōgi, Karuizawa and Haruna rides go northwest into Gunma, with Mount Myōgi's jagged rocks, the highland resort of Karuizawa and the hairpins up Mount Haruna, made famous by the street-racing manga and anime Initial D. Expect traffic and lights through the suburbs, and use the tolled expressways if time is short.
Fuel, convenience stores and restaurants are everywhere in the area, from ramen shops to family restaurants near the stations. Riding in Tokyo means keeping left, watching for bicycles on the pavements and finding parking, which can be scarce and strictly enforced. In summer the heat and humidity are oppressive, and typhoons can bring heavy rain in late summer and autumn, so spring and late autumn are the most comfortable seasons for riding.