110km is a good distance to cover in a day of touring, about the average distance I want to do. Maybe a little short, but over the mountains makes it a bit tougher. Getting out of Lake Towadameant climbing out of the crater some, some about thirty minutes of switchbacks left me with this view looking back over the lake.

After this the rest of the morning was easy riding through the valley, a long descent out of the mountains. The road the whole way through was lined with spectators ready to watch an upcoming relay race that would follow the same route I was cycling! The spectators would cheer me on sometimes as I passed, and when I passed a group of school kids they pretty much roared at me when I waved at them. It was great.

I stopped for some lunch from my pack at a transfer spot for the race and let it pass me.

After this break I left the valley, I had crossed all the way to the other side and had to now climb up the mountains again in order to reach the next lake of Tazawako .

This climb was long and difficult but once I got a hustle going the gradient was smooth enough that I could keep up a steady rhythm and got over in a bit over two hours. The long descent from the top was once again an exhilarating reward for a long climb.

It was pretty much downhill all the way from there to Tazawako, but I still had about 60km to cover. The sun was setting by the time I finally reached the shores of the lake. Seeing the sun dip behind the mountains that ringed the lake made the hard climb all worth it, much like the journey to
Towadako.

My campsite at Tozawako