May 9, 2009

Back to Saturday Morning Mountain Biking - Mount Rokko

For all the traveling we have done around and outside of Japan, some of the best times can just be the small local adventures. We are lucky enough to live very close to the Mount Rokko mountain range. If you follow the Sumiyoshi-gawa river up up and up into the mountains, you find a wonderful set of hiking trails from which you can hike all over the Kobe area. It is a truly beautiful area, with cedar and pine forests, mountain views, and some pretty (though man-made) waterfalls. Mike has spent some good times just exploring local Kobe neighborhoods by bike in recent weekends. Last year, he hit the hiking trails, by bike, but hasn't been since.
Now that Spring is back and the weather is beautiful, the mountain biking is again beckoning. This past Saturday (early) morning, Mike went with a group of more-serious-than-he mountain bikers, back up to Mount Rokko. (This is the same group and a similar route to last year's, but it had been quite a while!)

Saturday was a picture perfect day, and it felt terrific to be back out there. Unfortunately, I am not yet a very good mountain biker (to say the least) and do not have a very good bike (to say the least). This can be a difficult combination! Although much more practice is required, it was amazing to be out on the trails in the wooded mountains that are so close to where we live.

3 comments:

Semsavblanc said...

So beautiful. How much longer do you have in Japan?

Mike said...

...less then 2 months :(

Semsavblanc said...

That really is very sad!