Baldrick ... Tunnel Count = 8 Today was absolutely AWESOME The ride took me North and away from the cities, it was basically 50 miles uphill then 20 odd miles down to Mutsomoto. Even before I left Nakutsukawa I was delayed as I passed a beautiful park beside a bridge, the park had enormous boulders in it and little shrines, a red bridge and plants and trees. The Road bridge was decked with pennants and there were statues of a boy and girl on the railings. My route avoided the main road and as a consequence had sharp climbs on little roads along a wooded river valley ... The legs were good ! At 10am the gilet was off and the limbs were out - I would remain so all day, even in the mountains where it was very mild / warm. I was in beautiful countryside and even though I had 50 miles of climbing I was stopping every mike or so to get photos of the incredible scenery. The little riads had frequent roadworks and diversions and I was even stuck at red lights out in the sticks ! After 13 miles I reached a dam, but to my disappointment it was gated off to public access so I had to make do with a few photos from roadside, The countryside just kept getting more and more spectacular - the river was wide but shallow and full of enormous boulders which must crash down from the mountains in winter. I reached Nagiso and there was a very old double suspension bridge, it spanned a park and the river. In the park people were playing golf/croquet like I had seen in Korea. They basically had putters which resembled mallets and were hitting snooker sized balls at holes about 60 yards away. The bridge had old concrete towers and a wooden deck and I had a walk across despite being way behind schedule due to the frequent stops for photos. It was Noon and I had covered 19 miles out of today's 74 ! I had however reached over 2000ft up. Todays ride was basically 50 miles uphill then 24 miles downhill to Matsumoto. I was now level with the snow topped mountains and I started to hit tunnels with extremely narrow paths - so I had to use the roadway, fortunately I wasn't yet on the National Route 19 and it was quiet. I eventually peaked out at 3262 ft after 48 miles, higher than all of England ! and went into a noisy, busy tunnel with a quite narrow cycle path - fortunately it was raised and behind a barrier making me feel safe as the wagons flashed past. After 1.7 km I emerged - Job done, 24 miles to go, all downhill into Matsumoto - a normal end of day ! But the scenery wouldn't relent, I saw a glimpse of Sakusa (Cherry Blossom) along the river in the town below and although I didn't get a clear view I did get a great view of the station surrounded by blossom and even better a park lined with blossom leaving town, Next I stopped and took two photos of my bike next to a field and in the other direction next to a line of vending machines. Why ?? Tis was the 1000 miles in Japan point ! Soon after as I cycled past a line of houses I glimpsed pink and green - I could see blossom and fields beyond and as I turned left a wonderful view opened up. The sakura was out in full force and as I took photos I was getting giddy ... I think I had a touch of Wisteria Hysteria ! Like Baldrick I had a Cunning Plan - that was to start in the south in mid March and follow the Sakura north and today my plan was totally vindicated. I breezed the last 12 miles and was in my hotel before 6pm easily before dusk ... I could have dallied a bit longer !