The Missing Expedition - Updated Photos

Zen. Bike leaning against rock in garden on the shores of Lake Suwa, Nagano Prefecture.

After a delicious and filling dinner at Jerome's house, some preparations and about 4 hours of sleep, Jerome and Yutaka appeared as scheduled at 3:15AM outside my house, as they went ahead with Jerome's crazy plan to ride to Kansai on the 30th and 31st to see the sun rise for the New Year from Mr. Rokko above Kobe. I had agreed to ride out with them today and see them well on their way.

And Yutaka seems to know how to take care of himself in these kind of cycling adventures -- he is one of the Kinki Audax organizers in Kobe, rides around 20,000 km in a typical year, and has done 1000km+ ride events in Canada, the U.S. and Germany within the past year or two. (he mentioned something about a Canada event which involved three 1000 km rides in succession, with a day or two off in between, and also the Cascade 1200 in Washington State).

The only problem with the plan, what made it crazy, was Jerome's insistence on taking the "interior route" through the Kiso Valley via Nagano Prefecture -- a region recommended more for ice skating and downhill skiing in winter than for cycling. And after a fairly dry and warmer than usual early season, normal seasonal conditions had appeared in recent days and weeks.

In any event, the temperature gauge on the hill west of Takao read -1 degree C before 5AM, and as we had passed Uenohara and headed toward Sarubashi and Otsuki, another gauge read -3 degrees C. Our water bottles started to freeze, and it became impossible to get any liquid from them. We pulled in to the 24 hour family restaurant "Gusto" just at the far end of Otsuki, 80 kilometers into the ride, and enjoyed the breakfast special, with an extra order of pancakes and many refills of hot soup and coffee.

Thawing the water bottles as we wait for our breakfast.

Yutaka and David -- guess who is faster going uphill?

The climb toward Sasago tunnel was welcome after we remounted our bikes. I pounded my pedals in a bigger gear than usual, the work generating heat and warming my extremities. The tunnel was warm and almost empty -- only a few cars and trucks passing us each way during the 3.9 kilometers. Then the long gradual descent toward Kofu, blanketed in a layer of thick smoke from wood burning fires -- reminded me of the view of Los Angeles on a summer day, except the smog was greyish white and lacked any brown tinge and, of course, this was no time for shorts and flip flops. We pulled off Rte 20 and headed North into Kofu, seeking a less unpleasant, alternative route through town, eventually (after a quick stop for me to tighten a spoke on my Fulcrum "2 way" tubeless wheels) passing around Kofu Station and heading out to Nirasaki on Route 6 (Yama no te Dori), to rejoin National Route 20.

+1 degree in Nirasaki!

We stopped at a Lawson just a few hundred meters from the Nirasaki checkpoint location for Tokyo-Itoigawa. The store had a counter and chairs INSIDE, where customers could eat their food and drink their drink -- Now after 11AM, and as warm as it would get, the temperature gauge outside the window showed +1 degree C. A Positivo number and the only one we would see!

Then we continued up the long gradual climb toward Fujimi at the Nagano border. At the top, the few flakes of snow flurries picked up, and mixed with some drops of rain. The air was clammy and damp, and getting even more so.

Jerome, after lagging behind on the climb to Sasago and again when he ran out of fuel just before Nirasaki, was getting stronger as usual, and he and Yutaka waited for me at the top. Yutaka always patient with us ... when he no doubt could have zoomed ahead at any point.

On the climb to Fujimi, looking back down the hill toward the South.

The weather ahead looked pretty bleak and there were at least a few centimeters of snow continually along the side of the road -- narrowing the "rideable" surface and making it more difficult for cars and trucks to pass us as we stayed on the dry pavement. I decided to ride as far as Kami-Suwa (190 km+ for the day) and hop the train home for a 5:15 arrival, a hot bath and then dinner with family. I gave Jerome my photocopied map pages -- a lot more detailed than what he had printed from the Internet -- said my goodbyes, and took one last photo of the expedition.

As I took the Azusa limited express train back, looking up at the first of the many lines of mountains that separate Chino from the Kiso valley further west, I could not but wonder whether they would make it, or disappear into the white void and end up on a list of missing explorers and adventurers -- Amelia Earhardt, John Franklin, Jean-Baptiste Charcot -- or whether they might, like the great Norwegian Amundsen, reach their destination, or at least like Ernest Shackleton, eventually make it back to civilization, to try again another day.

The weather closes in on Chino. Not really riding weather in the mountains toward the West.

UPDATE 12/30 10PM: A telephone call this evening reports that the expedition struggled up over the little hill North of Suwa -- as snow was sticking at the higher elevation, descended to Shiojiri, and made the turn onto Rte 19/Nakasendo and headed into the Kiso Valley. They made it about 275 km for the day, through the one longer tunnel, into the valley and to Kiso Village. By then dark was coming and the road was too icy and treacherous even for them. They have found shelter and sustenance for the night and will assess the situation in the morning -- whether conditions permit them to press on, or whether they will use their last remaining lifeline -- the conveyance known as the "Chuo-sen", which can magically extract them out of the Southern end of the valley and to the land known as "Aichi", from which it should be possible to continue by bicycle. Unfortunately, the weather forecasts suggest that even if they can get out of the mountains, more snow may await them.

Ice and gunk stuck on Yutaka's rear brake.

Nothing a little hot water won't cure.

Is this Jerome's host mom in Gifu?

UPDATE 12/31 11:30 PM: An email "where are you" inquiry gets a response, after midnight, of "stuck in Ritto" -- a city in Shiga Prefecture on the SE side of Lake Biwa, near Kusatsu and entering Kansai. The NHK TV midnight broadcast welcoming the New Year shows the monks ringing a huge bell at a temple in Kyoto. There is snow on the ground and on the temple roof. Other live broadcasts show ... more snow in Western Japan, Northern Japan, huge snow being dumped along the Japan Sea, even in Kyushu (Saga). Just about the only place without any hint of snow on this last day of the year seems to be the Pacific Coast within a few hundred kilometers of Tokyo each direction.

Suzuka Pass -- 11:45PM New Year's Eve

UPDATE 1/1 8:00 AM: After waking and going back to sleep early, I am awakened a second time just before 8AM to the ringing of my cellphone -- a New Year's greeting from both Jerome and Yutaka. They are in Yamashina, in Kyoto (if I heard correctly), and are taking the train, having abandoned due to the icy roads. They were stuck in lengthy traffic jams because of the weather, unable to go around the cars as usual b/c of snow and ice on the shoulder.

I will get the full report when Jerome is back in Tokyo -- he is driving back with his family after celebrating the New Year with his wife's parents (and no doubt some time with cyclist friends) in Kobe.

The plan may have been crazy, but the riders demonstrated sanity, at the margin. And you don't get the memories of a lifetime from an easy spin on a warm day.