Mt.Tsukuba hill-climb, RinRin road(C-13)⭐⭐⭐⭐
This route is in Area-C “Kanto". See Area-C map/ See Japan map
Cycling log in Mt.Tsukuba: '21.26th,Sep. Only cherry blossoms: '21.27th,Mar
Sight & Entertainment ⭐⭐⭐
Foods & Drinks ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Easiness ⭐⭐⭐ *Hill-climb ⭐⭐/RinRin road ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Road Condition ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Safety ⭐⭐⭐
Tsukuba RinRin road is very famous among cyclists as the part of the long cycling road from Kasumigaura to Mt.Tsukuba. Our cycling team often hold a training camp here, Day1 for Kasumigaura 1 round and Day2 for Mt.Tsukuba hill climbing. This time just introducing Tsukuba RinRin road part.
It starts at Tsuchiura station, west gate and we ride along the blue mark cycling guide on the road toward North-West. Soon it becomes the exclusive cycling road and you can enjoy cherry blossoms on both sides of road in the end of March(pic.2-4). There is a river(Sakura-river) in the south of the station and Cherry blossoms can be seen in the season(pic.1) on its bank as well. But the RinRin road is a exclusive single road since it was paved on the abandoned railway site, so riding on it is very comfortable for cyclists.
After 10km ride from the station, gradually Mt.Tsukuba can be seen(pic.4) on the front-right side. In this time our 1st destination is “Fudou pass"(pic.6, point 6), so we turned right around 15km point toward Route-138. The road was flat for 2km(pic5) but once climbing started, suddenly the slope became steep. The restless slope continued for 3km and the last few hundreds were steepest(over 12 degrees). After waiting for slow riders at pic.6(Futou pass) for a while, we started toward next pass, ”Kazakaeshi pass". There were up and down and not so tough, but the Route-236 is designed for cars and motor bikes(pic.7).
After passing “Kazakaeshi pass", the road mostly became steep downhill. So I mistook the route to the restaurant “Uribo"(pic.8) and went down to the bottom, and had to climb back a little.
The restaurant Uribo serves French(pic.9) but it cooks Ibaraki prefecture local ingredients. As I introduced in other articles, Ibaraki is very good land for farming and its vegetables and grains are mostly more delicious than other Kanto areas’. So all dishes were so fresh, rich flavored, besides at low price compared to Tokyo area restaurant.
Now we were heading to Tsuchiura station. About 10km from the restaurant, there is ”Tsukuba rest spot" which is the hill-climb starting point to Kazakaeshi pass. There is a famoust Ramen restaurant “Matsuyaseimenjo" where many cyclists drop in. But we often drop in a famous Karinto bun(bean paste inside fried dough cookie) shop, “Numataya Honten“. The bun’s taste is sweet but somewhat crispy. I always buy a souvenir for my family and it always becomes this bun or baked sweet potato whenever I ride this area, since sweet potato is also a famous product here in Ibaraki prefecture.
<Transportation info>
From Tokyo to Tsuchiura: JR Joban line 1.5hr, \1,166-.
<Other recommendable spots near my route>