Sunday Ride - 8AM, Kaminoge - Ride Report Added

By the time we reached Tsukui-ko, it was a beautiful day.

Graham, Jerome and I rode today -- a little more than 110 km for me, add 20 more for Graham coming out from, and returning to, the center of town.  Tristan sent a note saying he was sleeping late and then heading to Oi Futo.  Tom left early with the VLAAMS team toward Enoshima.  Ludwig left early with his cyclocross bike and grippy tires and headed for the hills.  He was kind enough to send an email message about 30 minutes before our departure, warning about ice on the streets.

Plenty of gunk this morning.

We thought about going to Enoshima as well, but Jerome vetoed that, not wanting to ride the first stretch out Rte 246 or Nakahara-Kaido.  No fun slogging along one of those roads.  Instead we decided to head out toward Tsukui-ko. 

Our ride almost ended a minute or two after it started, as we turned off Komazawa Dori at the bottom of the hill onto the street that parallels the tiny Marukogawa, toward Futakotamagawa.  I was in front of the group, slowed down, almost stopping, and started to turn right gradually, and WHOMP -- my bike came out from under me on some black ice.  Fortunately, no consequences but a bit of road rash on my arm under the jacket and a sore hip ... which did not feel really sore until after the ride had ended.  And an out-of-alignment rear derailleur, that seemed to regain most function after several attempts to bend the cage back to the correct vertical, front/rear facing "plane".  A relief not to break a bone every time I fall off the bike.

Lesson learned, we crept toward Futako, being extremely careful on any pavement not obviously dry and in direct sunlight.  We saw many other icy patches, and but were able to stick pretty much to dry road surface.  After a trip down Onekansen Doro and a stop at Starbucks, the weather felt noticeably warmer and the ice was a thing of the past, at least at low elevations.  We climbed the hill North of Tsukui-ko, cut across the first bridge (not taking the forest road) to the South side, climbed over the ridge on the South side and took the road that is the "T" at the base of Doshi Michi, looped around and climbed the back of Otarumi ... and on home.  Jerome and I felt a bit extra left "in the tank" given the relatively short ride, and rode as if our lives depended on it coming back down the Asagawa and Tamagawa.  Graham held on valiantly, and we all lived to ride again another day.

Otarumi Pass -- our lowly high point for the day.

__________________

Too  much blogging and not enough riding this week.

As feared, weather was ugly on Friday's holiday and Saturday is not looking nice either -- a bit wet this morning and rain then snow predicted in late afternoon/earlyl evening.  But Sunday is supposed to be sunny and, in the city, with a Noon temperature around 10 degrees C (50 F).  So a good day to ride somewhere.  Probably not a good idea to try any higher passes or to go too far inland, though we can decide in the morning based on actual conditions.
Maybe go to Tamagawaharabashi, then head out Onekansen to the area around Tsuikui-ko/Sagami-ko, then decide next steps based upon conditions?
Or maybe go toward Enoshima then along the coast around the tip of Miura Peninsula (or the opposite direction).

Jerome and I plan to head out around 8AM from my house (off Komazawa Dori, 2 blocks/1 traffic signal inside of Kanpachi Dori).  Tristan W. has said he will join (he would be leaving Ebisu around 7:35 if coming from in town but not sure if there are others such that there would be a separate Ebisu rendezvous).  Ludwig is still considering his plans (something about a possible cyclocross ride in the snow as one alternative).  Just let me know by comment or email if you plan to join.