這うようにのぼる（自転車の）日記 （15） 碓氷峠の鉄道遺構 / Crawling (Cycling) Diary Visiting Rail Ruins in Usui Pass
9月半ば、季節外れの真夏日に横川から旧熊の平駅跡まで「アプトの道」を歩きました。アプトの道は歩行者専用遊歩道で自転車の走行はできないので自転車は押し歩きになります。そのあと国道18号線旧道で碓氷峠を越え、軽井沢までのサイクリングを予定していたのですが、土砂流出により国道18号が通行止め。予定を変更して途中霧積ダムに立ち寄って帰宅となりました。一方、予定のルートは走れなかったものの、国道が通行止めとなっていたためか観光客の姿はほとんどなく、静かな遺構巡りを堪能することができました。大半が徒歩となったため「這いのぼる自転車」のシーンはありませんが、人がまばらな鉄道遺構の様子をお楽しみいただければと思います。
The video covers my day trip to visit railroad ruins around the Usui pass, on an unexceptional summer heat day in the middle of September. To cope with the steep slope, the ancient rail road, opened in 1893, employed Abt rack and pinion drive train Now it is converted to hiking path which attracts many tourists to visit the ruins. The path is designated for pedestrians and riding a bike is prohibited. I originally planned to walk with my bike on the path and start riding from the end to Karuizawa over the Usui pass. Unfortunately, the highway was closed due to recent typhoon damages. Though I could not complete my planned route, but on the other hand, I was able to enjoy quiet circumstance as there was few tourists because of road closure. Different from my other movies, there is little bike crawling. I hope you can enjoy quiet rail ruins as I did.