Start of Spring Training - Tokisaka Pass and Nokogiri Mountain

After not much cycling in January and even less in February when at least I swam over 75 kms), Spring training started with a short Onekan ride on Thursday morning, and a somewhat longer, much harder, classic ride up the Akigawa to Tokisaka Pass, then over Nokogiri and back from Okutama-machi to Oume. 

Looking back from Nokogiri (elev ~1000m)

I met Peter J. at "the toilets" (aka Komae-Shi Nishigawara Park) at 730AM. We headed up the Tamagawa, crossing at Route 16, continuing past the Takigahara baseball fields, then up the Akigawa via Mutsumibashi Dori. After a food stop at the Family Mart on Hinohara Kaido just before Tokura, we continued to make decent time to the "T" intersection at Hinohara Village Hall (Mura Yakuba). 

Tokisaka is a lovely climb -- very low traffic (except some places where hikers were walking on the road), varied gradients, varied scenery, and a real reward at the top.  The 300m vertical gain are enough so that, even if you need to turn around and head for home, you can feel like you did some real work. 

We chatted with some hikers, cyclists, and a couple who had arrived by car. Two young women hikers took Peter and my photo, and we took their photo.  We offered the same service to an older male hiker, but he declined. 

Just after the pass, there was a bit of an obstacle course. The first part was a logging operation that stretched entirely across the road.  But the loggers did not seem to mind our marching through carrying our bikes.

Then there were more obstacles --  a big mound of gravel at the beginning of the descent, snowy/icy areas, rocks in the road of all sizes and shapes. A lot more walking was required than the last time I went down this hill. And I still hit a smaller but sharp rock and got a flat.

Eventually we were down this descent and headed back along the Kita Akigawa to the turn-off for Nokogiri. After a gentle climb for the first few kms, the route became steep and the surface very bad -- lots of gravel and other crap entirely covering the road surface. Peter continued to ride ... but I walked quite a long way. I was slower, but not THAT much slower than if I had ridden. At some points there was snow and ice.  Anyway, it was a slog. I remounted and rode a few kms, but needed to walk again high up for at least 5-10 minutes. Finally, we could see the top, then look down from it!

That visible roadway is just one short switchback from the top.

We relaxed a bit at the top -- not TOO cold. I worried that we might need to return down the south side, if the north had more snow. Peter said a motorcyclist he had spoken to informed him that the north side did NOT have snow or ice, except the first few hundred meters. That proved accurate. 

The north side - snow/ice for a few hundred meters, then relatively clear.

It was still a slow descent, sitting on the brakes way too much, trying to be sure to avoid any rocks and handle the steep, technical sections without coming off the bike (it reminded me of the Gunma descent where I DID come off the bike in September 2020 and broke my collarbone ... at least this time it was dry weather and still hours of daylight).

We ate in Okutama-machi, just across from the train station at the "Hikawa Service Station". a lunch place with soba/udon and a delicious ki-no-ko-gohan (mushroom rice).

After lunch, I never really got my engine restarted. I made decent time with Peter back to Oume, but felt the jet lag from last week's travel and waking up at extremely early hours since. I hopped the train. Including the ride from Yotsuya home, the total was around 116kms, with just under 1500m elevation gain. The average speed was very slow due to all that walking and crappy road surface. 

But it was a lovely day on the bike. If I can do a ride of this difficulty, or greater, every week for the next few months, while interspersing some longer brevets (200, 300, 400, 600, and a couple others), I hope I will be able to get ready for Cascade 1400. 

Dip in the Akigawa and "Sashimi Konyaku" at Michiko's Sobatei in the Woods

A hot day last Sunday, but I still got in a nice ride with Jerome to the Akigawa.

GPS off for a few stretches. Around 135-140kms total.

Faded signage along the Tamagawa.

A nice stop early on at Lohas 24 cafe and coffee roasters

It has fast become a cyclist mecca. ... like MOB's future shop in Bremen!

The roasting equipment, apologies for reflection in the glass.

In no time we were past Itsukaichi

Left at the "T", less than 50 meters, and the steps down to the secret swimming hole

Ahh, looks nice!

Sleeping Frenchman

Beached whale

Up the hill 300 meters more elevation, to Tokisaka Toge
And the Toge no Chaya Soba-tei Michiko! 

An Edo era building hidden back in the woods

Konyaku Sashimi - a Positivo Espresso favorite.

Still Ajisai here!

Gorgeous

And these too were beautiful, ... what are they?

Golden Week Ride Number 1 ... on the Renovo Firewood

I took my first Golden Week ride today, Friday May 1.  Well, I did take a short spin on Wednesday, the first holiday of GW, and did ride 98 km yesterday going into town and out to Keio SFC, so I guess that also might be a GW ride, technically, even if in spirit it was a commute.  Or one could argue that GW does not really start this year until tomorrow, Saturday May 2, since next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are public holidays -- the "main" part of GW this year.

In any event, hard to worry about such definitional issues.  In spirit this was definitely a GW ride. Beautiful weather, new green growth on all the hillsides, hot sun, but cool breeze and nice in the shade.  Just heavenly.

The Tamagawa just South of Fussa

I stopped briefly in Fussa to look at the Ishikawa / Tama Jiman sake brewery and beer hut. There were pre-school kids getting a tour of the grounds.  Beautiful place ... but isn't this a bit like giving kids a tour of a cigarette factory in Kentucky?

Kids, this is where they make the really good stuff.

In Itsukaichi I stopped at the little onigiri and bento shop that Tom S. showed me awhile back.  The old man gladly filled my water bottle and posed for a photo.  Then he gave me a free can of tea --"service" as they say.  Now I will need to go back when I pass through.

No name onigiri shop.  Either 2 or 3 signals up the hill from Musashi Itsukaichi Station, on the right side.

Master of the shop.  Never seen him open his eyes further than this.

This morning's colorful foods.

I rode the Renovo Firewood.  It got lots of oohs and aahs from the group of cyclists who were resting at the Togura 7/11.  And it rode beautifully.  I felt really strong on the way back in ... I think because it is so good at absorbing shocks, yet plenty stiff when I accelerate -- even when out of the saddle.  The Di2 shifting is incredibly smooth, and the Shimano disk brakes are, well, even better than the Avid BB7 I have on the front of the Yamabushi, and great for the descent from Tokisaka Pass.

Also, I climbed well on the Renovo.  I might have set a personal record on Tokisaka Pass ... except I stopped several times for photos.  Hard not to stop on a day like this. The photos say it all:

The Akigawa

Approaching Motojuku

On the climb to Tokisaka Pass

Looking up the hill. Thatched house.

This short video gives an idea of the breeze on the hillside ... lost in a photo.

At the tea house.  Wood bicycle next to wooden bench.

Must be fed by spring water.

From just below the 7-11.

Simple out and back route

Sunday ride with the next generation

Today was probably the nicest weather for riding in the Tokyo area since May.  My son Henry (not to be confused with other PE founding members' sons Henry) is visiting home before returning to the U.S. for Fall quarter of university, so we took a Sunday ride.

Henry has done the Hakone Ekiden ride as far as Odawara several times, and last year we did a climb from Chino through Tateshina then down to Ueda, but never gone over 100 kms by bicycle, and he has no bicycle in Chicago at university though he does plenty of other exercise.  Yesterday he rode to Yomiuri Land and back, and did a couple of repeats up Yomiuri V Dori.  Today, we decided to head toward the Akigawa and Tomin no Mori.  It has the benefit of being only a single climb, so possible at any point to bail out and return home if it proved too much.

The traffic -- both cars and, on the Tamagawa path, bikes/pedestrians -- seemed heavy as we headed up the Tamagawa.  It got even worse as we headed out toward Musashi Itsukaichi.  Places where Tokyo Route 7 normally clears out completely instead were full of cars.  Going through Itsukaichi there were preparations for the Aki-Matsuri (fall festival).  And more traffic.  There was a line of cars several hundred meters long waiting for the traffic light at Tokura, the last 7-11 before the climb up the Akigawa really starts.

At Motojuku / Hinohara Town Office, we decided we would be better off to avoid the traffic of the climb to Tomin no Mori.  Instead we headed for Tokisaka Pass -- my third trip in the past several months.

View from the Tokisaka Toge no Chaya

Henry at the pass

As usual, there was almost no traffic on the climb, and there were a few hikers and motorcyclists at the toge-no-chaya.

We decided to head for the main soba restaurant -- Michiko no soba tei -- in the woods.  I could practically taste the delicious tempura and soba as the building came into view.  But it was closed! Perhaps the staff were part of the Aki Matsuri going on down the hill?

We decide to head for the "main house" (本家) soba place and Edo period magistrate's resting place.

The spectacular old building comes into view.

But it is closed!

In any event, we got soba at a restaurant off the main road and across a bridge on the way back to Tokura/Itsukaichi.

Bikes at the soba place where we ended up.

Where we ended up eating lunch.

The matsuri was almost ready to start as we passed through Itsukaichi.  And we could hear drums beating and traditional instruments at various places along the ride home.

Matsuri!  Henry's PE jersey still looks like new.

Flowering trees .. as I manage to catch a break in the line of cars to snap a photo.

Then a nice -- if slower than usual -- ride back into town, the weather still pleasant, the roads still crowded.