As promised, it pours. So much, in fact, that two of the roads we plan to take are closed. One closure we heed. One we don’t. It all adds up to a wet and adventurous day of riding.

After fueling up with egg sandwiches and plenty of Nescafé while watching the rain come down, we ride through the historic and well preserved “gassho” style village. Tucked into the misty forest, it has hints of the North Cascades.

We ride down the Sho River Valley and over the pass at Mt. Takashozu. More rain and mist.

Tired and waterlogged, we stop in a small town for lunch and completely luck out to walk into a small restaurant with this guy behind the counter.

An excitable baseball fan with Yankees paraphernalia on the walls, he immediately connects us with Icharo (famous Japanese baseball player who starred for the Seattle Mariners) and serves us up two delicious rice and sashimi bowls, including those large sea snails.

Well fed, we push on along the narrow and winding Route 10, back into the foothills. It’s a lovely stretch of road, remote and beautiful, until we get to our second road closure of the day.

This time turning back would mean 3+ hours of backtracking, so we drag our bikes around the gate and go for it. It turns out to be washed out in places but totally fine on a bike.

We roll in to our luxurious ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), mildly alarming the hostess with our dirty bikes and drenched cycling clothes, and quickly settle in; relaxing in the outdoor soaking tubs, donning kimonos and enjoying a delicious meal served in our room.