Riding the Rindo on Fat Tires

On Saturday morning, I finally took the slick tires off my steel-framed cyclocross bike (the "Yamabushi") and tried out the Continental 700x35 "speed" tread cyclocross tires.  They roll with much less resistance than the Ritchey CX tires I got last Spring, which have big knobby grips for going through mud.

On Sunday, I rode out to Lake Miyagase, climbed the closed forest road between Route 64 and Route 70, and headed home.  The ride was around 140 kms, and I think my average speed for the day was only 1~2 kph slower than on road bike tires, making this setup a reasonable trade-off for the ability to ride on gravel and hit the occasional rock without slicing a tire or hearing that awful hissing sound of air escaping.

The weather was cool, around 10 degrees celsius / 50 fahrenheit for much of the ride, and in the countryside traffic was very sparse, weekend fall foliage crowd scared off by the forecast of rain for the afternoon and gradually darkening clouds.  I made it back at 3PM, just as the first drops started.

Continental "Speed" Cyclocross tires, on A23 rims, Chris King classic hubs, and 32 spokes 3X pattern, with the drive side DT Competition and non-drive side DT Revolution.  So far, so good.

On the way back in along Onekan, I came across Gunnar and his wife, Nami, and rode with them for a few kilometers.  Gunnar is still basking in the glory of his victory last week at Hotaka.  He said it was the first time Nami has ridden Onekan ... but she seems able to take the rollers at a good clip, and will no doubt be leaving the rest of us in the dust in no time.

Rindo Entrance off of Route 64 just down the hill South of Miyagase-ko

On the rindo, no traffic, and no people until I came across 2 hikers quite close to the exit at Route 70. 

The road was relatively clear at first, but eventually I came across leaf-covered sections, which made it difficult to see the randomly strewn rocks and some huge potholes, requiring a slow pace.  I was glad to have the fat tires.

The fall foliage is out ... and would be blazing on a sunny day.

At Tsukui-ko, I took the eastern bridge for the first time in several years, instead of the west-end bridge that connects to the forest road along the North shore.  I do not even remember there being a pedestrian span--on the right-hand side.