Shonan beach to Odawara(C-3)⭐⭐⭐’21.15th,May
This route is in Area-C “Kanto". See Area-C map/See Japan map
Sight & Entertainment ⭐⭐⭐
Foods & Drinks ⭐⭐⭐
Easiness ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Road Condition ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Safety ⭐⭐
My friend from high school days came to know I had begun cycling through Facebook and invited me for cycling in his living area, Shonan. We gathered at Kamakura station in the morning and headed toward Odawara city, for 35km ride.
This area’s beaches are the Mecca for sea bathing and surfing for the young people in Tokyo area and many youngers visit here in all seasons. So there are many nice restaurants and cafes along the streets but for the old guy like me, the fresh seafood is much more intriguing. The “Shirasu"(whitebait, pic.3) is well known in Shizuoka prefecture but here in Shonan, they are also landed. And May is the starting season of Shirasu, so we dropped in a famous seafood shop(Hamano suisan) ran by fisherman. It opens at 9:00AM, so we had to wait for 30min in front of the shop(pic.1), but I could enjoy the freshest Shirasu at Shonan beach park(pic.3). The one pack was at \500-.
The Enoshima island seen in pic.4 is also well known sightseeing & sea bathing spot and too many people crowded in this area especially in Summer but it’s not the place for cycling. After chatting at the park, we started toward west. The seaside road is wide and many cyclists were cycling. My friend told me that this long straight road is nice training road for athletes like triathlon so many high speed cyclists would pass by. And many cars and trucks also were running at high speed so it was not suitable for easy cycling.
On our way, we could sometimes see a wide, long coast on the left side and could stop at a famous beach to take a rest(pic.5). But it was too early to drop in some nice cafes along the road or beach.
When we came closer to Odawara, the cycling way departed from the car’s road which becomes a highway bypass and we were led to normal road. Gradually the width became narrower and number of signals increased. Now we set the Odawara castle as our destination and turned our way to city area.
Odawara castle, located in the center of Odawara city which can be seen from Shinkansen, was one of the most important strategic point to guard Kanto area in the past. The first generation was built in 15th century and changed the lord many times, and current one was built in 20th century.
We arrived here around 11:30AM and took a lunch around Odawara station. Odawara city has many sophisticated Japanese style restaurants, so I thought we should have reached here in the evening so that we could enjoy a dinner with drinking..
<Transportation info>
From Tokyo to Kamakura: JR Tokaido line to Totsuka, then JR Yokosuka line to Kamakura, 50min. \935-.
From Odawara to Tokyo: JR Tokaido line 1hr20min, \1,518-. JR Shinkansen 33min, \3,280-
<Other recommendable spots near my route>
Kamakura city: Historical city which has many sight seeing spots.
<Connection route>
C-2: Miura peninsula to Kamakura
D-2: Hakone-pass climbing