A Recent Cycling Trip

The weather has improved at long last after an unusually cool and unstable spring in Niigata.  I took advantage of the favorable conditions last Saturday to make a 100 km cycling trip into the foothills of the Echigo mountain range, which raises its peaks some 40k to the south and east of the city. 50k into the ride I rested at one of my favorite roadside tea shops, Zensaku Chaya, established in 1868.