Second ride from Chichibu to Nagano. This time I went a bit further than Saku. It was a one way trip to Matsumoto and the road took me over 4 mountain passes the highest although not the hardest being at over 2100m. The total distance was 195km with almost 3500m climbed. The weather was gorgeous. It was the record breaking fourth day after the typhoon with a beautiful and dry European kind of weather. The sky was blue and the visibility almost perfect to enjoy views in the mountains. The first pass was the Shigasaka-toge between Saitama and Gunma prefectures at about 760m above the sea level. It used to feel like a proper climb, but now it is no more than a 5km long hill :) . The second climb was towards Jikkoku-toge pass between Gunma and Nagano prefectures located at over 1300m above the sea level. This climb although neither the longest nor the highest was the hardest of the four with sections of over 16%. It was the detour to Jukoku-toge since the R299 from Ueno to the pass has been closed down for the last 2 years due to a massive landslide. The detour itself is about 8km long and the first 3 or 4km are the hardest constatntly going up at the gradient of10% to 16% . I prayed for switchbacks knowing that they would at least give me short breathers between steep sections. I met a lonely rider here working hard on his hybrid to reach the top. After 8km the detour joins R299 and continues along the ridge towards the pass. This section is relatively easy and pleasant to ride. When I finally reached the top, Ewa and Olek arrived no more than 5 minutes later. The pass is a nice place to rest. There is a tower from which the views especially of the Gunma side are magnificent. Then it was a pleasant descent down to Saku and delicious lunch in front of Tsuraya supermarket where we bought a can of Hachinoko (bee larvae in sweet sauce). It has been our tradition for years to buy hachinoko and grilled grasshoppers (traditional snack of the mountain folk) whenever we visit that part of Nagano. And then came the third climb up to Mugikusa-toge pass which I feared the most, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be much easier than the climb to Jikkoku-toge. From R141 to the pass it is 26km and it is a stage for Yotsugatake Hill Climb which takes place every spring. The gradient here was not bad with sections at 8% and 9%, so although long it is a pretty fast climb. It took me, however, a bit more than 2 hours to climb due to my bad left knee. Surprisingly, I passed a roadie near the top who had to stop on the side to catch a breath. When I finally rached the top it was a real pleasure to see the sign saying 2127m above the sea level. It was time for CHAŁWA bar (Eastern European sweet snack) which I saved for this special occasion. From the pass it was a long (about 30km) way down towards Chino. The surface here, especially the first 10 or so kilometres is not what we usually get in Japan. Full of cracks it feels like descending at high speeds on a cobbled road. Besides a tarmac being in a very bad condition, a bright sunny afternoon and trees sections of the road do not create a good mix. At times it is very hard to see upcoming turns hidden in the shade and going at a high speed it can be very dengerous. Further down the slope the views on this side of the mountains were really great. The scenic sea of yellow rice fields at the foot of the mountains were a great sight under the dark blue skies. Many farmers were harvesting it already and the fields were busy. From Chino I headed up a river towards Lake Biwa for another rendez-vous with Ewa and Olek. We found a Canadian Steak House near the lake where we had dinner. It was delicious after a long ride, but I wouldn't recommend it since the menu there doesn't differ much from Gusto's, but is much more expensive. And finally from lake Suwa I started the last section of the trip to Matsumoto. And here was a surprise, a climb which I did not consider as a climb before the trip, but which turned out to be higher than the first one of the day (Shigasaka-toge) at about 995m and quite painful after more than 150km in my legs already. On top of that the route follows a busy, truck infested R20 and when I reached the bottom of it, the skies were black already and I had no lights. After a long and although fast, but painful ascent I flew down on the other side sometimes in total darkness and very often with trucks zooming next to me at fast speeds. It was not a pleasant descent due to the darkness and when I finally reached R19 which took me all the way to Matsumoto, I was relieved. About 15 or 20km later I was riding across a nicely looking downtown full of tourists walking the streets on a pleasant, warm evening and masses of drunk people returning home or hopping from an izakaya to an izakaya. I located the castle, already illuminated, took a few pics and headed for the Hotel New Station for the final rendez-vous with ewa and Olek. And finally, after a long and tiring ride came time to soak my painful muscles in a hot Japanese bath.