Today I begin the last 3 days of my journey - my 100km ride into the heart of the Tokyo metropolis spread out over the Kanto Plains. First stop, Kumagaya City in Saitama Prefecture, northwest of central Tokyo.
Leaving at around 8am this morning was a huge mistake. Due to the heavy rush hour traffic, I had to ride on the pavements all the way from Kiryu City to Isesaki City on my way to Kumagaya. But that wasn`t the worst of it!
Somehow, I guess all the schools in the area are located in Kiryu City because even as I was riding south out of Kiryu, there were throngs of teenaged school kids riding their bicycles in the opposite direction, going into Kiryu. Of course, this meant that they took up most of the pavement and every few minutes, I had to get off my bikes to let them pass through! This made my journey to Isesaki City rather draggy but as everyone went off to work/school, the streets became less crowded and the ride more pleasant.
Entering Saitama Prefecture
Crossing the bridge into Saitama
Finally, after more than 30 days since I left Fukuoka in the beginning of May, I see directions for `Tokyo` on the street signs!
The rest of the way was rather uneventful except that it started to drizzle a bit just as I entered Kumagaya City. According to the weather agencies, Japan is officially entering its rainy season now, so I guess the next few days are gonna be wet ones!
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