Of course, it’s fun to ride a route you’ve carefully pieced together after agonizing over every detail, and it’s also fun to be spontaneous and steer your bike toward a path you discovered by chance.
But sometimes, doing that every single time can get exhausting.
At times like that, it feels good to ride your usual, well-worn route while chatting about nonsense with the same old crew.
Without worrying too much about the time, we eat lunch around our expected hour and head back home.
Once I’m home, I put on a load of laundry and hop in the shower.
After that, sometimes I’ll just lounge around the house, and other times I’ll head out into the city—maybe to grab a tea at “MART,” a cafe run by a couple I adore, or to visit a shop where a friend works.
A ride resets my head, and by meeting various people and seeing new things, I feel stimulated while also recharging my batteries.
A day like this is also a vital way to spend a day off.
For a casual day-off ride, I always turn my pedals toward Seto
On mornings when I spend the day like this, I always start by turning my pedals toward Seto.
I cut through the city, ride along the easy-to-cycle riverbanks, cross through Owariasahi, and enter Seto City. The meeting point is the usual convenience store in front of the station.
Sometimes someone is late, but that’s within the range of expectations. While it’s mostly flat from my house to here, from this point on, the ups and downs begin as you gradually get closer to the mountains.
The ride really begins after turning off the national highway onto the side roads
And then, we ride along National Route 363, a staple for local cyclists, before turning off halfway onto a narrower, moderately steep road.
From there, it’s basically just one long climb, and once the view opens up, you’re only a short distance from the summit.
The Mikuniyama Observation Deck is our go-to rest stop
Once we arrive, we always climb up to the observation deck to rest our bodies while enjoying the 360-degree panoramic view. However, at this time of year, cold winds blow and you start to get chilled in no time, so once we’ve taken in the scenery, we head right back down the stairs.
Even so, the other day, the view was the most beautiful, clearest blue sky I’ve ever seen. I endured the cold to gaze at it, searing the sight of the snow-covered mountains—the Southern Alps, Mount Hakusan, Mount Ena, and Mount Ontake—into my memory. Being able to clearly spot Nagoya Station was also quite impressive.
Also, thanks to the cold from the night before, the branches of the nearby trees were frozen, covered in rime ice—or was it frost-covered trees? I was moved by that as well.
When we’re short on time, we turn back at this Mikuniyama Observation Deck, but when we plan to eat lunch in downtown Seto, we go a little further. We descend from Mount Mikuni, pass through Prefectural Roads 112 and 19, and head into the forest roads.
To our favorite forest roads
Though there aren’t any sweeping vistas, riding through the mountains surrounded by trees always feels great. This road, where we almost never encounter cars or people, is a firm favorite of ours. We’re basically heading east during this stretch, but at a good point, we turn south to enter Prefectural Road 19 again and head back toward downtown Seto.
The Shikizakura (four-season cherry blossoms) were in full bloom
It just so happened to be the season for Shikizakura, and here and there we could see trees blooming with their small, cute white flowers. They lack the flashiness of the cherry blossoms you see in spring, but they have a modest, quiet beauty.
There are many places to eat in Seto, but lately, our favorite is the set-meal restaurant "Nasubi," near the Tosei Hospital. Every dish is delicious, but we find ourselves coming back because the owner’s personality is just the best.
This is one of our classic routes.
If you’re looking for a good place to ride nearby, please give it a try!