Mt.Bandai hill-climbing to Yonezawa(B-1)⭐⭐⭐⭐ ’22.24th,Jul
This route(B-1) is in Area-B “Tohoku". See Area-B map/ See Japan Map
Sight & Entertainment ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Foods & Drinks ⭐⭐⭐⭐（Yonezawa)
Easiness ⭐
Road Condition ⭐⭐⭐
Safety ⭐⭐⭐
The weather forecast had told that it would be cloudy. So I had a planB to go to south from Bandaimachi station because South area route didn’t have any special view. But when I reached the station at 9:30AM, It was sunny(pic.1). So I took the original plan to go to North, hill-climbing.
As I imagined, soon climbing started and I knew it would be much tough later. So I took a rest in 10km, at golf club house(pic.2). Soon after restarting, I could see the nice Mt.Bandai view(pic.3). My speed became around 5-7km/hr already but still tolerable since the temperature was around 25C whereas it was around 35C in Tokyo.
It took 1hrs to reach pic.4 point, 12km from starting, from which Lake Inawashiro could be seen. Still there was steep slope toward the pass, which accumulate fatigue in my thighs gradually. Pic.5 point is a trailhead toward Mt.Bandai and this is the 1st pass of my route. From here, steep downhill started up to Goshiki-numa(lake)
These lakes are the dammed lakes which have many types of blue colors and it needs over 2hrs to walk through(pic.6) all main lakes. I’ve been once before and still had a long ride, so I just saw 1st lake, Bishamon-numa(pic.7). It was around noon. Here I didn’t take a proper lunch since I planned to eat Yonezawa Beef around 3:00PM.
From Goshiki-numa to another starting point of hill-climbing, Lake Hibara could be seen on the left side(pic.8). 10km beside the lake was a flat road. But once the hill climbing started again, it was relentless. The seamless up-hill continued, which doubled lactic acid in my thighs. I regretted to plan such harsh riding many times as I do in every hill climbing. To make it worse, many motorbikes passed by(pic.9) whereas very few cyclists could be seen. Now I understood that this route is a pilgrimage for motor bikers, which means tough route for cycling.
The higher I climbed, the steeper the road became as you can imagine by pic.10, zigzag steep roads. Even after pic.11 point, there were 5 zigzag turns which became just tapas for empty feeling, but the view from the observatory(pic.11) was the privilege for those who have overcome the tapas.
It was 2:00PM when I reached the hill top, and the gained altitude was 1500m totally.
Encouraged by an old couple, I restarted to downhill. It was no breath downhill until entering Yonezawa city. I happened to find a water fall at a corner, so I stopped to take the picture(pic.12). It was just 10m from the road to the basin but I didn’t go inside the bush since I was afraid of encountering a bear since some had been witnessed recently in this area.
Within 1hr, I could reach Yonezawa city where some old-styled housing remained. My train starts 4:23PM, so I searched Yonezawa beef restaurant near the station. Yonezawa beef is one of the best well known Japanese brand beef like Kobe-beef, Matsuzaka-beef, Ohmi-beef. Unfortunately it was passed 3:00PM on Sunday and most restaurants were closed. Finally I entered a cafe who served the beef as well. The market price of Yonezawa beef sirloin is \6000-9000 as other brand beefs cost. I ordered lump which has less tallow(pic.14) at \3000-, but its taste was enough good. A slight sweetness with solid beef taste could be felt, which made us convinced that Yonezawa beef is one of the best brand.
Now I had to go back home in a long way. Here Yamagata prefecture, Yamagata Shinkansen(bullet train) is running but it uses a local trains’ facility from Fukushima station. So the car is narrower than other Shinkansens’. Besides, the train is not designed to carry a big luggage like bicycle, my bicycle couldn’t be stored enough(pic.15). Fortunately I could book the last seat of the last car, it didn’t be an obstacle for other passengers but otherwise, I had to stand near the doors with my bike and change trains at Fukushima station to wider Tohoku Shinkansen. It should be taken care in riding this area.
<Transportation info>
From Tokyo to Bandaicho (1st train): Tokyo 6:40AM Yamabiko Shinkansen 203(E5) to Koriyama arrival 8:19AM, then 8:29AM JR Ban-etsu-sai line to Bandaicho arrival 9:24AM \8,580-
From Yonezawa to Tokyo(Last train): Yonezawa 9:17PM Tsubasa Shinkansen 160(E3) to Tokyo arrival 11:28PM \10,530-
<Other recommendable spots near my route>
Toko sake brewing museum *Yonezawa is also one of the best place for Sake brewing.
<Connection route>
To south; Aizu, Oouchijuku to Shirakawa(B-2)
To north; Yonezawa to Oogawara town(B-3)