CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 253 km round trip from Gotenba - roughly 3 h 58 in the saddle. On the way it passes “Oshi” Lodging House, Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove and back through “Oshi” Lodging House. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
On the southern flank of Mount Fuji, above the town of Susono, a quiet shrine stands among tall cedar trees at the start of one of the oldest climbing routes on the mountain. The Suyama Sengen-jinja is dedicated to the goddess of Fuji and marks the beginning of the Suyama trail, used by pilgrims for centuries before falling into disuse in the twentieth century and being partly revived in recent years. It is one of the component sites of Fujisan, Sacred Place and Source of Artistic Inspiration, listed by UNESCO in 2013.
Read the complete Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine is where the day begins. Next is “Oshi” Lodging House.
Mount Fuji has been a place of pilgrimage for a thousand years, and the lodging houses in Fujiyoshida are what the pilgrims used. Believers in the Fuji cult, called the Fuji-kō, travelled in confraternities from Edo and farther away, and when they reached the foot of the mountain they stayed with an oshi, a guide and priest who arranged their prayers, their meals and their climb. The streets of old Kamiyoshida still have a few of these houses, with deep entrances, long rooms and a small shrine inside, designed for groups to eat, sleep and prepare. UNESCO lists one of them as part of the Fujisan cultural landscape.
Read the complete “Oshi” Lodging House write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
“Oshi” Lodging House comes up 57 km in. Next is Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove.
Miho is a thin hook of land curling out into Suruga Bay, and Mihonomatsubara is the pine grove that covers it: tens of thousands of dark pines behind a long beach of grey, pebbly sand. People come for the view. On a clear day Mount Fuji sits on the other side of the bay, framed by the trees and the curve of the shore, and that image has been painted, printed and photographed for centuries. It is why the grove was included in the UNESCO listing for Fuji in 2013, as an artistic setting for the mountain rather than as a piece of nature in itself.
Read the complete Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
114 km in you reach Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove. Next is back through “Oshi” Lodging House.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete “Oshi” Lodging House write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through “Oshi” Lodging House, late in the day. Next is Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine. That is the ride.
Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine → “Oshi” Lodging House is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
“Oshi” Lodging House → Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Mihonomatsubara pine tree grove → back through “Oshi” Lodging House is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through “Oshi” Lodging House → Suyama Sengen-jinja Shrine is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.