S-11 Gongendo-Bank in June & Nagareyama cafe
This route is in “Short trips". See Short trips map/ See Japan map
June is the rainy season in Japan and basically not suitable for cycling in southern Japan. But it’s the beautiful hydrangea season. So I searched the place to go by my bike then found Gongendo bank in Saitama prefecture which is around 50km from my home. And I noticed it was a good timing to complete Tone-gawa(river) cycling by riding from Kashiwa city to Sekiyado where I often visit through Edo-gawa(river).
But there was no cycling road on the bank in this section and I had to ride on narrow farm roads for a while. Even I found the bank road near Sekiyado, I didn’t feel any special atmosphere.
Since there is no bridge at Sekiyado(pic.1) toward west, I had to go south along Edo-gawa(river) for a few KM to cross the Edo-gawa. From the bridge to Gongendo-bank, there was only normal roads.
Finally I reached the bank and was surprised to see the carpet of hydrangea(pic.2,3). It was worth a visit. This bank is also a good spot of cherry blossoms in the end of March. Maybe visiting here after doing Edo-gawa cycling in a proper season will be a nice plan.
I took Edo-gawa bank road to return to my home(pls refer to my S-11 article of Edo-gawa cycling). On the way, I dropped in a nice cafe, Antigua(pic.4) which renovated an old house in a quiet residential area. I sit on a outside table so I could feel breeze of the garden. BTW, this area, Nagareyama has many nice cafes. One example is Barn&Forest148(pic.5,6) near Antigua. And Tronc where I could not enter since it was fully occupied is also a atmosphere cafe. It would be nice before returning to Tokyo. From Nagareyama to Tokyo, it’s about 25km.