Hakone Skyline - What a ride!

If you look at a map of Japan (in detail, or you won't see Susono!), you will see that Susono is just in a valley below Hakone. Hakone is a resort town and is considered a great getaway for Tokyoites. The skyline is a toll-road where you can have a scenic drive, but are usually overtaken by speedy sports cars driven by hobby-drivers with no real place to go so fast.

Today, despite my fears of another rained-in weekend, dawned cloudy but stable, so we decided to go for a longish, hardish ride - all the way to the Skyline. We rode 15km straight uphill. I can't tell you the grade or altitude, but it was tough on the singlespeed, and we passed through several weather changes. We started out in some mild sunshine in the foothills, then climbed steady (and sweating profusely) into some dark cloud, and finally passed through a thick fog which began spitting rain. Back down was a reverse ride - rain to fog to cloud to sun.

The road up is mostly paved, but is an unused farmer's road - narrow, steep and bumpy. At the top, there is a row of trees and overgrowth, preventing us from actually getting onto the Skyline without difficulty. This is a picture from the top of our ride - you can see the Skyline as it winds through Hakone:


We recharged with a granola bar before heading back down the mountain: