Here is a shot of the main river from the main road. If this isn’t picturesque, I don’t know what is…

Today’s Plan – Part 1: Find Gohei-mochi

Actually, today I wasn’t initially planning on going to Korankei. My initial plan was to just cycle in the mountains and enjoy the Fall colors. I started by riding up Mikuni (三国山) and stopping for gohei-mochi (五平餅) at a restaurant on the peak. Gohei mochi is difficult to explain, but it’s like a grilled rice based stick covered in miso paste, and I strongly recommend that you try it if you haven’t yet..

Today’s Plan – Part 2: Find Korankei

While I was resting at the restaurant, I was looking at some pictures people where posting on instagram, and one of my friends had gone to Korankei (香嵐渓), and the scenery looked fantastic, so I decided to try and head there next. It wasn’t super close to where I was, but I had the full day to enjoy myself and riding in the nice weather and beautiful nature, so I didn’t mind.

It became obvious that I was getting close, since I went from zero traffic to a large number of cars backed up on the small country roads. I could feel that I was in for a treat..

Here are some photos I took while walking around Korankei.

Taigetsukyo Bridge is one of the popular destinations at Korankei. It was a little bit too busy for me with my bicycle, so I only looked from a distance.

As I was walking around, I came across another gohei-mochi shop, and I couldn’t resist!

Dare I say it, but this one was even bigger and better tasting than the previous one!

After my snack, I soaked in the sights one last time and got ready to ride back home to Nagakute.

There were still a large number of people trying to get to Korankei, and the traffic was severely backed up. I was really lucky that when I went I did not ride directly from the city. I was already in the mountains, so my route was much less busy.

As I was riding back, the traffic heading towards Korankei was not moving for at least a good 10km. If you plan on going during peak tourist times, I would suggest going by bike like I did. There’s plenty of sidewalks, so you can get by even if the roads are backed up.

Today’s Strava route

If you’re interested in seeing my route for the day, here is my ride on strava
https://www.strava.com/activities/780407884

The post Ride to Korankei Beautiful Autumn Leaves – 香嵐渓 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

After my return to racing in last month’s Hirata criterium where I finished in the top 10 in the C2 race, I decided to increase my training intensity so that I could compete in the C1 in this month’s Hirata criterium to see how I could perform.

Unlike the last race, which was a rain fest, today was a nice clear and warm day. The pace started fast, and there were constant attacks. Unlike the C2 race, where I was the one doing the most of the attacking, this more aggressive style of racing was what I was more used to.

Since it was my first C1 level race attempt in a few years, I decided to play it easy for the first half and just follow wheels. This strategy seemed to work well since it came down to a field sprint. I led it out going around the last corner, but was passed by two people in the long finishing straight.

Very happy with a 3rd place finish in my first C1 race. Definitely need to work on improving my sprinting power / speed if I want to get that win though.

Today was also my first race on my new race wheels, which are made in Tokyo Japan: Imezi’s Project 167 carbon wheels.

Thanks to Catarina for the race day photos!

The post 2016 Hirata Criterium #9 – 3rd Place C1 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.