A Lovely March 20 -- 200km ride in Chiba ... by AJ Tamagawa

I've done AJ Chiba rides that never entered Chiba. I've done an Audax Nihonbashi SR600 in Fukushima (and a corner of Yamagata), nowhere near Nihonbashi.  So I guess it should not have surprised me that AJ Tamagawa had a brevet course that is nowhere near the Tamagawa river, and instead goes back and forth across Chiba!

The course looked like a perfect 200km for late Winter/early Spring. And the start was near Funabashi Station, just over the border from Tokyo into Chiba. This was an easy train ride from Shinagawa, not too far from my house. It was as if the event had been designed for people coming from Tokyo! ... as most of the Tamagawa regulars would be doing. This event was listed as the Tamagawa group's Audax Japan 20th anniversary celebratory brevet. I guess all the local clubs are supposed to designate one of their rides this year for such treatment. And I think this course was good enough to merit the distinction.

For a start that was easy to get to, there was a trade-off of some urban riding the first and last 30 kms, until well past the center of Chiba City.  Some of this was nice, open, along Tokyo Bay past Makihari. In the morning there was almost no traffic. But on the way back it was not pleasant, alongside zooming cars in the dark. I guess if I had one criticism of the course ... I might suggest they push the start further along the same train line, to somewhere near Chiba Station. They could eliminate 2/3 of the slogging and replace it with more countryside and coastline! 

This brevet, similar to the 300km in Izu last month, had a pancake flat start and finish, and a very hilly middle. In this case, the first and last 35kms was almost flat (a few gentle rollers for part of the return, but nearly flat), and the middle 130km had around 2300 meters of elevation gain.

The course profile: Flat at both ends. 2300m of elevation gain in the middle section.

Bike check

A lovely morning -- cold but it would warm up soon!

I rode out solidly in the middle of the pack (with my start group -- 20 minutes after the first wave).  

Early in the ride.

On the bigger climbs outbound, a number of smaller, lighter riders passed me, but I was still making decent time.  I kept my stops relatively short -- just a convenience store, not a sit-down meal with others, at Kamogawa, even though some riders I had been leap-frogging with mentioned that they were going for a Chinese restaurant. 

Somewhere along the reservoirs around Katakura Dam and Kameyama Dam, after the biggest climbs of the outbound leg ... but still heading up before a final descent into Kamogawa.

Leaving Kamogawa, we climbed up prefectural route 81 to Seichoji Temple -- the same climb as Jerome and I did in our "thunder snow" Chiba 200km in January 2024. 

On the coast near Kamogawa.

On the climb out of Kamogawa

But this route had an additional 500+ meters of elevation gain compared to the "thunder snow" brevet, much of it in the second half.  Instead of taking the most direct route back north, our route zigged toward the East over lots of nasty shorter climbs, eventually going to a hilltop PC called "Miharashi Terrace", then another control point in Mobara, and only then cut back toward the NW.  

Spectacular view from Miharashi Terrace

Proof of passage.

This was not the "nasty" part of the climb up.

Miharashi Terrace had a very nasty entrance climb from the main road. I walked part of it.  From there, we were riding pretty much into a headwind as we approached the Mobara checkpoint, slogging on the flat sections.

Then we finally turned NW and the wind was mostly at our backs. By the time I was up the last climb after Mobara, around 100m elevation gain, I could feel the goal approaching, almost taste it. The goal may have been 30kms away, but no more climbs, and a tailwind. 

We took a fast small road alongside, sometimes in between, various golf courses, gradually descending.  Then once we got closer to Chiba City, from Midori-ku west we took a limited access road that also was fast, below grade in some stretches but with room for bicycles.  I felt strong at the end ...  the feeling itself exhilarating after my 400k DNF and 300k slogs in recent months. 

My time was not fast -- nearly an hour slower than the "thunder snow" brevet 14 months earlier, but still under 12 hours.  The extra 500+ meters of climbing and additional urban slogging at lights explained the time. That, plus I had done only one other ride in March that exceeded 150kms, and none with over 1000 meters of elevation gain. Finishing strong made it feel like a fast ride, at least.

To get my proof-of-completion time stamped receipt, I waited what seemed like at least 5 minutes as a part-time worker slowly checked out someone buying a week of groceries at the convenience store.

I chatted with the AJ Tamagawa leader upon my arrival at the goal ... embarrassed that I don't remember his name as he is always extremely friendly and encourages me to do more of their rides (which was a natural a decade ago when I lived near their start in Futako Tamagawa, less so now). The staff gave me a "stamp card" to fill in for the Audax Japan 20th anniversary event ... which I promptly lost so will not complete, despite other rides that would "qualify" for stamps. ... there goes my chance of a door prize.

Anyway, this ride was everything I could expect in a late-winter brevet in Kanto, and Chiba has some wonderful riding country for this time of year, once you get away from the congestion near Tokyo!

After dawdling at the finish, I got back to Funabashi Station, rinko'ed my bike, and hopped the 20:04 train that got to Shinagawa 33 minutes later.

First Brevet of 2019

The Oregon Randonneur at Tateishi on the Miura Peninsula, looking toward Mt Fuji

Japan Audax local affiliates offer many 200km brevets in early January. They usually fill up, and this year (a PBP year) especially so, as everyone wants to get in a ride while off from work.

Last year, 2018, Jerome and I rode our first brevet on January 7 in Shizuoka, 200kms from Numazu to Fujieda and back, with a detour up Nihondaira. It was a very nice day and, despite some heavy traffic at places, a nice course.

In 2017 I did an AJ Tamagawa brevet from midnight on New Year's Eve, watched the first sunrise of the year along a beach on the Miura Peninsula, with a few other riders and thousands of visitors to the area. I was done and home before Noon on January 1.

This year, AJ Tamagawa, among others, is offering a "brevet week" of events -- it is possible to ride 200, 300, 400 and 600km events, complete the "SR" (super randonneur) series, and qualify to ride Paris-Brest-Paris, all during the first week of the year! Taiwan's audax group has a similar series, and one Japanese randonneur I know had already completed the SR series before I started my ride on Friday. Another, Ijichi-san, staff of AJ Tamagawa who is one of the core Audax riders (he rode Susan Otcenas' Seattle Intl Randonneurs' Cascade 1200 last year, as well as Maya Ide's Tohoku series over Golden Week), told me that he would do the full series this week -- but he already did the 200km on the pre-ride check (which counts under Audax rules).

But this idea of an SR series in the northern hemisphere in winter is, well, crazy. It is going overboard. It MAY work well this year, when the weather is good, but it is hard to plan a good 400km or 600km ride that will work in mid-winter, even in typically dry Kanto. Indeed, the AJ Tamagawa 600km will have probably 300 or even more (500?) traffic signals. So many stops. So much traffic ... to keep on a route near Tokyo and out of the mountains. One long boring slog. Worse, if the weather is cold. No, the first week of January is for riding during the day. A 200km is the perfect challenge.

The moon, Venus, riders, high rises, trees, and train station, all before first light.

The same view a few minutes later. Wave of riders at the ready!

Jerome missed the signup, and was unsuccessful in asking AJ Tamagawa to accept a last minute (late) entry. I think they just have too much on their plate to accommodate such requests while running a brevet week. So he rode out over Yabitsu Pass, and did meet us at the Oiso control. Mindful of the Audax rule that non-participants cannot provide any assistance to riders outside of controls, we rode the same course, but never close enough to draft. I gave him some directions ... but not vice versa. Still, with about 50 stops for traffic signals, and another control, we could chat enough.

Which bike to ride? I wanted to ride the Parlee ... but broke a cable and did not have time to replace it. The Ti Travel bike, Voyage Voyage, is disassembled for installation of a new group set. So I was happy to ride the Oregon Randonneur. I had not used it in months, so needed to lube the chain, pump the tires, and rode it the evening before to a fondue feast at Jerome's. It felt a bit sluggish. And on the ride out to dinner the rear fender was rubbing, and I got a flat tire on the way back home.

I switched out the wheels and tightened the rear fender ... and it was as good as new. Still I am not a fan of the Ultegra 6700 shifting -- far more sluggish than 6800 (or 6600, in my opinion). It turns out that the DT-Hugi hub on the rear wheel ... needs maintenance. The freehub was barely turning, as if the grease inside has gotten clogged with other material. So I I switched to other wheels. I was glad to have others to use for this ride -- the bike was a joy once I got it ready to go. (If anyone needs a spare wheel in a pinch ... I have them!).

Mt Fuji while crossing the Tamagawa on Route 1 (from the side walkway)

Anyway, I made it to the 6AM start with almost 15 minutes to spare ... only to be told that I was in the 630AM "wave". This was a bit disappointing since I knew that the traffic through yokohama would not get better as time passed, to say the least.

The course was kind of like a combination of my recent Miura ride (to the tip of Miura Peninsula), and my recent Shonan coast ride (the segment from Enoshima to Oiso where we had lunch). But this time I would take Route 1 through Yokohama and then Route 16 all the way to Yokosuka. I prefer my route from Christmas Eve, which skirts the harbor edge of Yokohama, goes through Minato Mirai and to Hakkeijima via the Sangyo-Doro. And I would prefer to avoid the coast road between Kamakura and Enoshima, where it is basically a parking lot. It is not fun to ride through a parking lot, even when the view is glorious and drivers don't pull over to the left and block your way.

On the parking lot/road between Kamakura and Enoshima.

I did not take many photos. Only one stop on the way between Yokosuka and Misaki-ko, none between Enoshima and Oiso -- both where I was taking photos last week with a far more dramatic sky.  These are from elsewhere -- Hayama area mostly.

Mt Fuji from south of Yokosuka

The Oregon Randonneur takes a different riding style than a modern carbon or titanium racing bike. It requires a kind of spinning style. It is a bit heavier, and the narrower steel tubing will flex a bit and absorb stomping. But it responds very well with a slightly lighter touch and a faster peddling cadence. And once it gets going ... it keeps going, fast.  The randonneur-style bars have comfortable, large/wide "drops". Then again, to move fast up the hills on this bike, I must get out of the saddle. It is almost like running up a hill on the peddles. Once I adjusted to this style of riding ... which took the first several hours ... the bike was fast and comfortable, and I could finish in a reasonable time, given the stop-and-go nature of this course and the relatively heavy traffic.

More from Tateishi

Sunset at Marukobashi ... almost done!

Even as I grumble about the traffic on this course, it was a great way to start my cycling year. I just need to keep it up to be ready for Tasmania next month and France in August.

Strava for the entire day is here.

Okutama 200km brevet

At a stop for water refill near Tachikawa, tree heavy with fruit in the background.

On Sunday I joined the AJ Tamagawa 200km Okutama brevet, my last Audax ride of the year. 

The course was a loop entirely within Tokyo prefecture -- from Koenji down to Haneda, then up the Tamagawa to Fussa, then up the Akigawa to Musashi Itsukaichi, the very popular cyclists' route climbing to Tomin-no-Mori, Kazahari Pass (Elev. 1138 meters or around 3800ft), and down the back of the hill to Lake Okutama. Then back down the Tamagawa to Oume, and along Oume Kaido all the way bak to Koenji.

You can see the ride here on Strava.

What's not to like? Much of this route -- the rural part -- used to be an almost "routine" one day Positivo Espresso weekend sortée, but I have not done it in recent years. These days, if I start the climb up the Akigawa, I always turn left mid-way and go through Kobu Tunnel (Elev. 625m), descending down to Uenohara, with another shorter climb on the return (Otarumi Elev 392m), or maybe instead return by climbing the west side of Wada Pass (Elev. 600m), as these significantly shorten the return to town.

The day before the ride, I printed the cue sheet, downloaded the GPS track and took a closer look at the route. From Koenji to Haneda, we would travel most of the way on Kan-nana Dori. Kan-nana is a major "ring road" and, while cyclists are permitted, it is one of the routes I avoid. Still, with a 6AM start on Sunday in the middle of a 3-day weekend, traffic would be very light, so I thought it must be fine. I looked more. The route would continue via Kan-pachi Dori for at least 7 kilometers, to Shimo Maruko. I had never even considered riding on this part of Kan-pachi, another major ring road and one to avoid. Still, it would be early Sunday, and so must at least not be too dangerous.

The route continued up the Tamagawa, on road, not the cycling path. I prefer road to path on most stretches. But further on, the organizers had us take an almost 10km stretch on Shin-Okutama-Kaido, through Tachikawa and beyond. This is another road I try to avoid, at least the stretch through Tachikawa. Jerome likes it as a fast alternative. I am terrified of the traffic and lack of any shoulder. Still, we would be early on Sunday, and so traffic would be light. ... well, actually, by that point, it would no longer be early, but mid-morning. Traffic might not be so light.

My alarm rang at 445AM Sunday as planned. My bedroom felt hot and humid. Indeed, the passage of a typhoon in the Japan Sea north of Tokyo had brought warm, if sticky weather. The high temperature Sunday would be over 30 degress Celsius. Lack of enough sleep and humid weather had me on the defensive from the get go, but at least I had everything ready to go so just needed to grab a quick bite (and a cup of cold brew coffee), clean up, throw on my cycling wear, get on the bike and shove off, almost sweating from the start. I made it to Koenji by 545AM, well ahead of the 6AM start. 

Bike check 

No bicycle parking allowed!

Really, "no bicycle partking allowed"

In fact, I had been assigned to a 630AM "C wave" of riders, so I need not have rushed. I wished I had slept another 30 minutes ...

The C wave was called, and my bike inspected, so I headed out. No one was following, and I made it through the first traffic signal to cross under Kan-Nana and head South just as the light changed yellow. I made the next few signals likewise just as they changed, and for the next 20-25 minutes I saw no one behind, nor anyone ahead from the B wave that had left 10+ minutes earlier.  I enjoyed a side/tail wind and made good time. Of course, it was nearing 7AM, and there was starting to be traffic on Kan-nana, but manageable. And even on Kan-nana, there are traffic signals, and bicycles cannot take the crossing overpasses, but need to take the surface level exit/entrance ramps, and wait at the signal. 

Shrine gate at the entrance to Haneda Airport

Near our turn off from Kan-nana, I caught up with a large group of B wave riders in a line -- maybe 7 or 8 of them. I joined but found they were going too slowly. In Japan Audax riders are very polite about passing each other. But the result is that sometimes one, slower rider, is pulling for far too long. No rotation. And with infinite traffic signals, a large group is awful. The start-up time to accelerate is very long, and it is impossible to time one's speed to try and sprint through a signal, seeing the walk light change from solid green, to flashing green, to red, and the signal go to yellow. You inevitably get stuck. So I passed the group as soon as practical.

Marukobashi

 It was after 730AM by the time I entered Kan-pachi. There was heavy traffic around Kamata (as always), but there were other brevet riders not so far ahead and behind, so at least the cars and trucks would be on the lookout for cyclists. We finally turned onto Tama-dzutsumi Dori and reached the river again at Marukobashi.

Crossing the Tamagawa at Mutsumibashi

Crossing the Tamagawa at Mutsumibashi

From here, the ride upriver was very familiar, and no surprises, just some wind gusting from the front and side to contend with. I made it to Mutsumibashi and the wind seemed to weaken a bit on Mutsumibashi Dori out to Itsukaichi. Our first timed control point was at a Seven Eleven across from Musashi Itsukaichi Station, 79 kms from the start, and over 92 kms from my home. The place was mobbed with cyclists (not from our event) and motorcyclists. Wow. Everyone seemed to have the same idea -- what a great day to head up the Akigawa by bike. But it was getting quite warm now.

Entering the Akigawa gorge area.

As I headed up the Akigawa, I noticed many cyclists coming DOWN the hill already back toward Itsukaichi. Some were alone, but many were in groups, larger and smaller, and many had rucksacks. Cars, motorcycles, and bikes all mixed. Finally, I noticed this sign on the left side of the road:

The road had been closed from 6 to 8AM for the Hinohara Stage, Tokyo Hill Climb. That explained the riders. They had done the Hinohara stage hill climb first thing in the morning, and were headed back down and home. No doubt they had brought an overnight change or warm gear in rucksacks that were delivered at the top. Of course, today no one needed warm gear even on a long descent. The gear stayed in the rucksack.

waterfall at 770m elevation, just past the former tollbooth site.

I really struggled on the climb, overheating if I pushed hard at all on the sections exposed to sun. By now it was almost midday. I had been hot since the beginning of the ride, my feet felt hot. I rested once at the turnoff to Kobu Tunnel. Many riders passed me. ... but as I got back on the bike and continued the climb, I passed many of them. They had just chosen their rest stops a bit further up! I had forgotten that there is actually some up and down, and more up and down, on the middle part of this climb. And the "up" can be steep. I rested again -- laying down -- at a turn off around 600 meters elevation. And rested again briefly at the former toll booth, before a push up to Tomin no Mori. Nothing good about my climbing speed nor these rests, but at least I had plenty of company. The lack of enough sleep, what seemed like a hundred start-stop traffic signals, the heat, and the swirling winds had taken their toll. Still, I knew that once up the hill, I could roll it home, pretty much assured of finishing if I were just careful. So I rested and then continued. 

Tomin No Mori

One reason to avoid the area around Kazahari used to be the motorcyclists who would practice racing through the curved stretches at the top. Then there was a year when motorcyclists were banned, and it was blissfully peaceful.  Well, the motorcyclists are back, and were out in huge numbers on Sunday. I guess after the 6-8AM road closure for a cycling event, they wanted to make sure everyone knew who really "owns" this stretch of road. A group of 6 motorcyclists kept doing a loop between two parking lots near the top -- I think they zoomed past me at least 5 times, some of them passing within inches, as I slogged from Tomin no Mori to their parking lot just shy of Kazahari Pass. I could smell exhaust, and hear their shrill engines, the entire stretch.

Then, I was past their turnaround point. It was like night and day. Peaceful, quiet and beautiful. Then all too soon, I was onto the descent to Lake Okutama, around the lake, and heading down the hill toward Oume. 

The stretch along the lake and the hill toward Oume on Route 411 includes many dark, noisy, damp tunnels. And there was very heavy traffic on Sunday afternoon. At least we were in our Audax gear - reflective vests, good front and rear lights. There were many motorcyclists as well, zipping around the cars and passing, zooming through the tunnels and other stretches. Before long, we came upon the scene of an accident, a car and two motorbikes pulled over, ambulances, police, the whole works. Some time must have passed as the injured were out of sight and the authorities out in force, and the driver of the car was being interviewed by the police. A few minutes later when a Ducati motorbike zoomed around some cars and cut in just in front of me ... I having foolishly left a safe distance between myself and the next car -- I screamed at him. I doubt he could hear. Another ten minutes, and I could hear more emergency vehicle sirens ... they seemed to be coming from across the river, on the bypass route. In Okutama-cho, near the train terminus, I passed a huge new fire station that has been built in recent years. At least the emergency vehicles do not have so far to travel now for these inevitable motorcycle accidents. Another 10 minutes on, I passed two motorcycles with sirens, ridden by blue-uniformed firemen/paramedics racing up the hill. These fire department motorcycles looked outfitted for medical care. I don't remember seeing them before. How many accidents in total?

I once knew that it is best to avoid Route 411 between Oume and Okutama mid-afternoon on a warm weekend day. This was buried somewhere in the depths of my local cycling knowledge. I needed, and got, a reminder.

Wow, Sunday's route included long stretches of Kan-Nana, Kan-pachi and Shin Okutama Kaido, as well as Route 411 (Oume Kaido) tunnels around Okutama and down to Oume ... so many roads that I usually want to avoid, all in a single event!

From Higashi Oume, we cut inland less than 1km on Nariki Kaido then took a road along the edge of the hills. This was a nice route, at least in the Sunday late afternoon. It was noticeably cooler, with the sun far down. I missed the next control point -- a Family Mart across the road -- as I focused on traffic congestion and turning cars at the relevant corner. A few hundred meters further, I approached a brevet rider at a red light. I said "we should be at the control point soon." His response "we just passed it". I thanked him and turned back.

After the control, we took Iwakura Kaido, which goes just along the western edge of the Oume tea fields (茶畑). The sky was beautiful and blue as dusk neared, the fields stretching out to my left. 

The last 30 kms back to the finish was unmemorable. Many, many, endless traffic signals, and long lines of cars. We took Oume Kaido most of the way. The last ~10kms it was a wide road with several lanes each direction, and a real tailwind. But before that, there were long stretches of standing single-file traffic, and bicycles needed to pass in a narrow space wedged against the curb. It was impossible to make good time. At least I felt strong again, fully recovered from the earlier struggle on the climb.

What can I say about Oume Kaido? Well, it is better road into town toward Shinjuku than Koshu Kaido. But not much better. I think there is a very good reason we take the Tamagawa in and out of town to the West and NW.

At the finish there was a party going on. The always professional Yoshida-san logged me in. Naito-san and a team of volunteers were serving us ramen wearing "Ramen Naito" or ラーメンないと t-shirts.  I wondered, is this "Naito" a play on his name and "Knight"? They were like knights to us.

I sat at a table of Audax regulars - Ryuu-san from Saitama Audax, Yoshiaki Philippe, Sugibuchi-san and others. They all did the 5AM start, or just came by for the ramen and company.  The ones who had ridden looked as if they had been at the finish already for hours by the time I arrived. Takemura-san, the head of AJ Tamagawa (now Vice Chair of Audax Japan), sat down and joined me. He said he welcomed me participating and sounded eager to get my help. He struggled in English, but I got the general idea. I think realizes that with a role in the AJ leadership, he will be called upon to coordinate with the global Audax organizations, and he will need help when they hold events that are open to riders from overseas. He said AJ Tamagawa wants to host a 1400km event in 2021, with international participation. I told him that, subject to time, I am delighted to help out.

The ramen was delicious. What type of ramen, I asked Takemura-san? Hakata? Sapporo? Some other region? He said it is "Jiro-inspired".  Jiro-inspired?! Jiro is the famous Tokyo ramen whose HQ shop is just next to Keio Mita campus. A Keio institution, where the line forms before the shop opens in the morning. But if this is Jiro-inspired, where are the bean sprouts? Where is the garlic? The massive portions? Well, he explained it is all in the style of noodle and the broth.  In any event, it tasted delicious:  Perfect noodles, delicious pork (cha-shu), and the salty broth really hit the spot for a dehydrated rider.

I chatted for quite awhile, then got back on the bike and rolled home, bathed and slept. 

Spring is Sprung! 4/14 AJ Tamagawa 300km Brevet

In Gunma on Route 299, between Kanna Town and Ueno-mura

I was really looking forward to yesterday's April 14 brevet. This type of event, after all, was the reason I joined the AJ Tamagawa chapter of Audax Japan.
-- A start and finish about a 35-minute spin from my home.
-- That would take me on familiar, but beautiful roads I do not see often enough.
-- That gets out of Tokyo before the traffic, and returns after.
-- With a tough, rewarding first half ... and an easier, forgiving second half.
-- In a beautiful season for this part of the world (and, as it turned out, with ideal cool, cloudy but never cold cycling weather -- the kind of weather in which world records are set (by those in the shape to do so).
I was not disappointed!!!

At the start area at Futako Tamagawa ... last minute repairs to a randonneuring bike?
Or just one of many abandoned mama-chari?

Our route -- clockwise, out through the mountains, back on the plains

We started a few minutes after 6AM. (I was in the second wave of starters, officially slated for 6:10AM, in fact a bit earlier). Another group would start at 7AM. 90 people had signed up, but there were 25 DNS's, according to the staff. I guess the forecast for afternoon and evening rain scared people away?
In any event, I was the first rider to go through "bike check" for the second wave, and was off. Within 45 minutes, I passed a few of the riders who had left 10 minutes earlier. Around Tachikawa, our route left the river and switched to some major roads -- roads Jerome likes but I usually try to avoid. Fortunately, traffic was still light.

On Nariki Kaido. Flowers and flowering trees.

At Higashi Oume Station, we entered the Nariki Kaido, the cyclists' most well-known route into Chichibu. After several short climbs and 3 tunnels, I was in Naguri and slowly ascending the valley that ends at the base of Yamabushi Pass -- all very well-known, rewarding territory for a road cyclist day trip from Tokyo. Then, a quick water stop at the "holy fountain" (our name for the shrine 1-2 kms from the base of Yamabushi).

The "holy fountain" -- delicious water, and free

Looking toward Yamabushi from the holy fountain - no cars even at 830AM.

Looking back from the holy fountain ... an Audax rider in the distance - no cars

Here, a few riders passed me, ... and a couple more on the climb. I am overweight and not as strong as in some years. I really needed this event for training, and I was not surprised that I struggled a bit on the climbs. Then again, I made it, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If I can get in some decent GW rides in series, keep swimming on weekdays, and then make it through the Chubu Audax 400 next month ... I just may be back in shape.

Hairpin turn - steepest section on the Yamabushi climb.
Spectacular new buds and light green leaves on the adjacent slope, even on a cloudy morning.

Anyway, from the top of Yamabushi I was down and at the river in Chichibu in no time, it seemed. From 625m elev. to 190m ... the low point between Yamabushi and 800m Elev Shigasaka Pass.

The Arakawa, early on its journey from mountains to Tokyo Bay.

I remember the first time I made it to Chichibu by bicycle, back in the Positivo Espresso heyday. It was a hot day, and the town seemed dusty and downtrodden. Not yesterday! The roads have been repaved (including a formerly nasty, bumpy, even dangerous stretch of Route 299 coming into town from the East), pedestrian areas widened, historical buildings fixed up, and even some convenience stores have bike racks (and inside seating). The town looks, well, worth stopping over sometime to spend an afternoon and night, and getting to know a bit instead of just riding through. Of course, it still has the lovely hilltop "Muse" park across the river, and it still is a gateway to many mountains and rivers.

Route 299 between Ogano and Shigasaka Pass - VERY light traffic.

An example of the typical farmer's garden on this road.

And we saw lots and lots of small solar farms, even more, and larger, later on around Tomioka and Fujioka.

After Chichibu, we stayed on Route 299. Of course, the only thing that remains the same about the road at that point is its Route number. Once past Ogano ... just a few kilometers west of Chichibu city, the traffic volume drops to near zero. The climb up Shigasaka Pass was tough, for tired legs and an overweight body, but beautiful.

From the Shigasaka Climb

From the Shigasaka top

Entering Gunma, finally

Then it was down the hill to Kanna, past the dinosaur exhibits, and onto the grinding 0, 1, 2% uphill to the west toward Uenomura. This area is known as the site (up on one of the mountains) of the crash of a JAL 747 jumbo in 1985. But I know it for its lovely, peaceful nature. My favorite stop is the "Kawa no Eki" (a play on the typical "Michi no Eki") at the west end of the town, where one can sit and watch the river from an amphi theater, bamboo on the opposite bank. I bought some "tako yaki" to refuel a bit for the climb to the entrance of Yu-no-Sawa (湯の沢) Tunnel, at 710meters elevation.

On the short (3km) climb to the entrance to the 3km+ tunnel from Uenomura to Nanmoku/Shimonita

Once in the tunnel, the grade turned into a descent, losing at least 50-75 meters elevation in the 3km tunnel. The descent continued after the north exit, and it was a quick descent to Nanmoku and the next checkpoint at a beautiful "michi no eki".

Beautiful "Michi No Eki Oasis Nanmoku "with delicious breads for sale
And lots of vegetables too ... alas no room to carry them home by bicycle

I bought some delicious dark bread, filled with nuts and other goodies, weighty. I gave away part of it, ate part of it, and took the rest with me (where a few bites at a time helped keep me fueled the remainder of the ride.

By the time I left the Nanmoku checkpoint, it was almost 3PM. I was only 1 hour ahead of the cut off for that point, shockingly slow, with half the distance left! If I was done with the climbing, the weather forecast for the rest of the ride had looked grim. We were about to head east along Route 254, with a stiff headwind predicted. Then sometime around 5 to 7 PM, the rains were supposed to it.

In fact, over the next stretch the winds were light to non-existent so I could make good time. And the rain held off to the finish. If the scenery was boring after dark, at least I was riding many roads I knew reasonably well, or at least could recall having ridden sometime in the past, if not in a few years. That really helped in the dark. By the time we headed downriver from Oume again, the winds had picked up into a swirling gust. At first, this was a crosswind. But then, it became mostly a tailwind and pushed me the last 20-25 kms home. This video from near Sekidobashi (where I stopped for the last of the bread) gives some idea, though it was actually taken during a "lull" in the gusts:

As I munched on my bread, I saw two riders zoom by. They were gone long before I mounted up, but I thought (maybe, just maybe, I can catch them). Sure enough I could finally see them and made it through the same traffic light (barely) at Tamagawaharabashi, and was only 75-100 meters back passing the Keio Oval and as the road bends left. Then there is a right turn at a traffic signal.  They were stuck behind cars waiting at the light. I crossed the road, so that when the light turned green, I could use the crosswalk and immediately turn right. I did so and was off with a zoom. I had passed them without even figuring out who it was ... immediately, I thought, perhaps I should have been more social and joined them for the ride in? But with a tailwind, and my eye on the clock, trying to get to the goal within 17 hours, I felt not a moment to lose.

AJ Tamagawa had commandeered a room in small structure in Futako for the finish. It was not easy to find ... for a newby. Only one Audax PBP reflective vest hanging outside in the dim of a streetlight, and a couple bikes inside the fence, gave it away. Precious minutes lost finding it ... so a 17hr 02min finish -- plenty of time given the 20-hour cutoff, but not fast enough to do really long events (600, 1000, 1200) and get enough sleep/recovery during the event.

The check-in building was little more than a shed, but there was space for us to check in, plenty of light and warmth, and a place to sit and discuss the ride and get some small snacks and a cup of tea. I rode this event alone pretty much the entire way -- so I was glad to chat with some people I had passed, or who had passed me. Eventually the two riders I had passed came in ... and one was the tiny woman rider from Kansai who had zipped through the Isabella Byrd series last year, riding some with Jerome and me on the 600k leg. Sure enough, she had started at 7AM, so instead of finishing 5-10 minutes behind me, was actually 45-55 faster. Many of the others at the finish are familiar faces ... but none who I know well.

Jerome missed the event, returning from a business trip Saturday evening. So as I was eating a late lunch, I got an SMS from him:  he was 100kms into the ride and on Shigasaka!  As I write this, he is well over 200 kms and heading through Saitama toward Oume, and on a pace for a 14 hr ride.