かつて群馬県高崎市の高崎駅から、長野駅を経て、上越市の直江津駅を通り、長岡駅から新潟駅へと続いていた信越本線。1997年の長野新幹線の開業に伴い、横川駅と軽井沢駅間が廃線となりました。
横川駅をスタートし、廃線の遺構の残る旧国道18号を登るのがメジャーですが、残念ながら台風での通行止め。気を取り直して、バイパスを登り軽井沢に出ました。その後、中軽井沢を経由して、峰の茶屋を越え、吾妻線の長野原草津駅からの戻りです。距離としては60㎞程度ですが、獲得標高は1670mとなかなかの登りです。サイクリングのタイムは4時間弱でした。
The Shinetsu Main Line once ran from Takasaki Station in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, through Nagano Station, Naoetsu Station in Joetsu City, Nagaoka Station, and Niigata Station. With the opening of the Nagano Shinkansen in 1997, the section between Yokokawa Station and Karuizawa Station was abandoned.
The standard route is to start from Yokokawa Station and climb the old National Route 18, where the remains of the abandoned line remain, but unfortunately it was closed due to a typhoon. I pulled myself together and climbed the bypass to Karuizawa. After that, I passed Nakakaruizawa, passed Mine no Chaya, and returned from Naganohara-Kusatsu Station on the Agatsuma Line. The distance is about 60 km, but the elevation gain is 1,670 m, which is quite a climb. The cycling time was just under 4 hours.
信越本線の行き止まり、盲腸線になってしまった高崎横川区間の終点横川駅まで輪行です。横川の町は中山道の宿場町の雰囲気をかすかに残す程度。駅前に、峠の釜めしで有名なおぎのやがあります。
I took my bike to Yokokawa Station, the end of the Takasaki Yokokawa section of the Shinetsu Main Line, which has become a dead-end line. The town of Yokokawa only faintly retains the atmosphere of a post town on the Nakasendo road. In front of the station is Oginoya, famous for its Touge no Kamameshi (rice cooked in a pot).
旧道が使えなかったため、国道18号線のバイパスを走ります。交通量が多いですが、道幅もありますし、傾斜も旧道ほど厳しくはないので小一時間で軽井沢駅に到着です。
Since the old road was unusable, we took the bypass of National Route 18. Although there was a lot of traffic, the road was wide and the slope was not as steep as the old road, so we arrived at Karuizawa Station in about an hour.
横川駅の標高が386mで、軽井沢駅の標高が940mですので、高低差556mを登ったことになります。ここから、中軽井沢の星のエリアの抜け、峰の茶屋に到着です。峰の茶屋は標高1450mですので、さらに510m標高を上げることになります。ただ、星のエリアまではゆっくりとしたのぼり基調で、意外と標高を稼げており、最後に10%を超える坂を2㎞くらい踏む感じです。
Yokokawa Station is at an elevation of 386m, and Karuizawa Station is at an elevation of 940m, so we climbed a difference in elevation of 556m. From here, we passed through the star area of Nakakaruizawa and arrived at Mine no Chaya. Mine no Chaya is at an elevation of 1450m, so we gained another 510m in elevation. However, the climb up to the star area was gradual, and we gained a surprising amount of elevation, and at the end we felt like we were walking up a slope of over 10% for about 2km.
峰の茶屋からは国道146号線をひたすら下ります。鬼押しハイウェーは残念ながら自転車は不可ですので、ご注意を。山の中を走るのかと思いきや、結構別荘や店も多く、北軽井沢と呼ばれるエリアもなかなか栄えておりました。吾妻川を越えると、進路を東にとり長野原草津駅へ向かい、そこから輪行で戻りました。
From Mine no Chaya, we headed straight down National Route 146. Unfortunately, bicycles are not allowed on the Onioshi Highway, so please be careful. I thought we would be riding through the mountains, but there were quite a few villas and shops, and the area called Kitakaruizawa was quite prosperous. After crossing the Agatsuma River, we headed east to Naganohara Kusatsu Station, from where we returned by train.
インスタもよろしくお願いします
