Motorbiking to Koganezaki, Izu

This weekend, the delicate and ephemeral sakura (cherry blossoms) were at their peak in many places in our region of Japan. Anticipating a sunny Saturday, we made plans with a couple of motorbiking friends to take a day trip to Izu where we could enjoy some hanami (cherry blossoms viewing) under the sunny sky. When Saturday dawned, it was rather cool and cloudy, but otherwise still good for a bit of motorbiking to the Izu peninsula.

When Brian and I biked to Izu a few times last summer, we opted for the fun, traffic-free and scenic route along the Izu Skyline. This route crossed our minds again yesterday morning, but we followed instead a more direct route to Koganezaki, on the west coast of Izu. Though we'd anticipated more sitting in traffic than actual fast riding, after a bit of traffic in the Mishima area, we then found ourselves zipping along the 136 by-pass and the Shuzenji toll road, over the mountains and smoothly down to the coast.


View Koganezaki in a larger map

The views along the way were at times breathtaking - cherry blossoms along the mountain roads, beautiful vistas over the ocean...

[caption id="attachment_1642" align="alignnone" width="368" caption="Cherry Blossoms"][/caption]

The views from Koganezaki park were also stunning.

[caption id="attachment_1643" align="alignnone" width="368" caption="View from Koganezaki park"][/caption]

And you could even see Mt. Fuji from there (look just to the right of Brian...)

[caption id="attachment_1644" align="alignnone" width="368" caption="Mt. Fuji..."][/caption]

After walking around Koganezaki, enjoying the ocean view and some cherry blossom viewing, we rode to the town of Ugusu where we had a traditional Japanese set lunch at this rustic little restaurant:

[caption id="attachment_1645" align="alignnone" width="368" caption="Nonbirija restaurant"][/caption]

And that was just Saturday! Today we have a cloudy but pleasant Sunday and are looking forward to a drive-and-run along the ocean in Numazu.