Why this ride
A 354 km one-way ride from near Honchō, about 7 h 06 of riding. On the way it passes near Ishige and Ōtsuki. The climbs: near Sakai and Scenic stretch near Hannō. It tops out at about 1,150 m.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bandai Azuma Skyline Weekend · short arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 354 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 06
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Honchō
Honchō is the central district of Funabashi, a big commuter city on the northern shore of Tokyo Bay in Chiba Prefecture. This is not riding country in itself; it is the urban sprawl you have to pass through to get from Tokyo towards the mountains and coasts beyond, and the best attitude is patience and a full tank.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Honchō write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bandai Azuma Skyline Weekend is where the day begins. Next is Food stop near Ishige.
2. Food stop near Ishige
Ishige is a rural district of south-western Ibaraki, now part of the city of Jōsō, on the Kanto plain between the Kinugawa and Kokai rivers. It is a gentle, open landscape of rice paddies, vegetable fields, groves of trees around old farmhouses and shrines in small woods, with Mount Tsukuba standing alone on the horizon to the north-east.
Read the complete Food stop near Ishige write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food stop near Ishige is where this day stops to eat. Next is High point near Sakai.
3. High point near Sakai
Sakai, in the far south-west of Ibaraki, sits on the Tone river, Japan's largest river by drainage basin, at a point where the river makes a broad sweep across the Kanto plain. In the Edo period, Sakai was a busy river port, where boats loaded with rice, soy sauce and other goods passed on their way to and from Edo, and the town grew rich on the trade.
Read the complete High point near Sakai write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
This is where the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch near Hannō.
4. Scenic stretch near Hannō
Hanno is where Saitama's flat suburbs run out and the green ridges begin, at about 100 metres above the sea, on the Iruma river at the mouth of the valley that leads up toward Okutama and Chichibu. It is a city of about eighty-six thousand people, so a fuel stop is easy, and it has a long history as a timber town. For centuries the cedar and cypress felled in the mountains upstream were floated or hauled down here to supply the building boom of Edo, and the old lumber trade gave the place much of its wealth.
Read the complete Hanno fuel gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The high point of this section. Next is Tokyo / Kanto rides return.
5. Near Ōtsuki, on the way back
The Katsura river runs below, cutting a gorge near Ōtsuki that is crossed by Saruhashi, the Monkey Bridge, one of Japan's three great strange bridges, a wooden cantilever construction that has been rebuilt many times since the Middle Ages. Enzan, to the north-west, is the gateway to the Daibosatsu mountains and the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park.
Read the complete Near Ōtsuki, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tokyo / Kanto rides return sits at 261 km, late in the day. Next is Photo stop near Ōiso.
6. Photo stop near Ōiso
Ōiso is a quiet seaside town on Sagami Bay, west of Hiratsuka, and it has an important place in Japanese social history: in 1885 it became the site of Japan's first public sea bathing beach, promoted by an army surgeon who believed that sea bathing was good for health. Wealthy families from Tokyo built villas here, and the town became a fashionable resort for politicians and aristocrats.
Read the complete Photo stop near Ōiso write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 354 km.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Honchō to Food stop near Ishige
Fuel stop near Honchō → Food stop near Ishige is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Ishige to High point near Sakai
Food stop near Ishige → High point near Sakai is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Sakai to Scenic stretch near Hannō
High point near Sakai → Scenic stretch near Hannō is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Scenic stretch near Hannō to Near Ōtsuki, on the way back
Scenic stretch near Hannō → Near Ōtsuki, on the way back is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.