Snow ! Tunnel Count = 0 Yesterday evening after reaching my hotel I headed back out in the rain to cycle across town where a bike Shop fitted new brake pads for me having seemingly worn out the old pair which were screeching in the rain. A quick clean of the bike and lube on the chain and I was away - it was a bright morning and the bike was running well again. I had pretty much a 30 mile commute across the northern suburbs of Nagoya and although my route was good avoiding major roads, it was also pretty uneventful. I crossed the river Kiso leaving Hashima and at about 25 miles I hit my first climb where I stopped at a Torii gate - it was quite grand and seemed to suggest something worthy of seeing. The shrine was fairly standard although it did have some amazing woodwork carving of dragon serpents beneath the eaves. This was a complex with a walk up the rocky forest behind the shrine up to a cave and another shrine. It suggested 8km which was just a bit too far I thought. I did look behind the shrine however and there was a lovely liyyle rock pool with a bridge across to an island and a waterfall beyond, the sun was now well up and the trees were festooned with light, I returned to the climb thinking this is tougher than it should be all the way up I was thinking the legs weren't good today ... In no time I was at the top thinking that was easy ! At Tajimi I stopped for lunch and by now it was roasting, and I was too - I took shelter behind the Lawson store in the shade, Approaching Toki the road split and I got my first view of the Japanese Alps - they clearly had snow on the top so the next few days should be very scenic I hope, Between Toki and Mizunami I actually, briefly rode through what I would describe as countryside ! Today's ride was loaded with all the climbs at the end of the day and after about 4 more climbs I was approaching tonight's destination which is the city of Nakatsugawa which is 1200ft up and is the gateway to the Alps. With 2 miles to go the route put me on a main road into town on which my hotel sits - I looked for an alternative but it wasn't easy so I headed down the dual carriageway and in no time my Hotel by 3 pm - my earliest finish so far.