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.

Leaning against...

Didn't realize I have been into this "leaning against" act for so long until Dominic rekindled my fetish...here's right against the drug lord's arches. Next time, I will use the cacti as a support.

Here's leaning against....waraji

Sabotaged work today, invested instead my time in a visit to my Saitama sanctuary...six-hundred Rakan Arhats I hadn't met in a long time....

Bike, leaning against a pole

Well, it can be done.
Good luck and have fun in Saiko on the weekend.

The Other David Hasselhoff

Still your idol?


Not only big in Germany apparently....


and a bike leaning against a fence.

Celebrating Emperor Meiji's birthday non-Euro style

Wednesday was a national holiday originally to celebrate the Emperor Meiji's birthday but is now known as Culture Day. On Culture Day one traditionally promotes culture, the arts and academic endeavour. Rather than promote academic endeavour it was a day for James and I to get a proper ride in. While waiting at Ebisu station I was debating whether I was going to have to implement the 3 minute rule and leave without him. 200km alone could be a little tedious. I then checked my vmail to find my riding companion was actually holed up in Starbucks about 50m down the road. Why hadn't we thought of starting winter rides there before?? Kinda Euro but a quick glance at the Eurocyclist Rules shows I failed on many fronts: I was wearing black bib-shorts, my shoes were not at least 80% white, my saddle was not white, I had a seat bag, my bar tape was not white, I wasn't riding tubulars, my legs were not shaved, I was not wearing cologne, I had some Shimano equipment and I don't drink coffee. I couldn't decide which photo is of the ultimate Eurocyclist so I offer two (the same person):
Remember: "Image and style shall be your primary concerns."
Contrast and compare.

Getting a little tired of the usual routes we headed towards Takao via Rte 160 off Rte 20. This is a longish, steady incline a little like Hospital Hill. Along the way I chatted briefly with a guy on a nice carbon finished Kuota. I wouldn't mind one of those.... At Takao we stopped for refreshments and broke the rules by visiting FamilyMart directly across the road from 7-11 only because it was in the sun. Here we met Fixie Tim and a new recruit with a beautiful Wilier (I need one of them) who he was about to take up Wada. Reading the TCC blog it seems they changed their plan and went up Odarumi and around the lake instead. From here we rode on towards Tomin no Mori and stopped at the last 7-11 for water. It was a pleasant surprise to bump into Pro-Dave (a.k.a. James M) who was training with a group of local lungs-on-sticks. We quietly let them go ahead.....


The weather was beautifully clear but perhaps a little colder than anticipated. However it was ideal for taking the required mountain photos and photos of leaves changing colour. To complete the set I took a photo of my bike leaning against a fence because all Positivo bloggers seem to do this. We had agreed to climb the 750m vertical up to Tomin no Mori at a sensible pace. Not going into the red line on a long climb was a new thing for me. I experimented by going up all the way in my 24 which was comfortable. On the way up I caught up with and chatted to a guy on a 2010 Pinarello FP3. Nice looking bike but I'll wait for Santa to bring my a Dogma.
At the top of Tomin we were passed by an ambulance and I assumed a lunatic motorcyclist must have overcooked a corner. However, it turned out that a little yellow car had overturned. I'm still not quite sure how the driver managed to do this. Not being a paramedic I was unable to help out. It seemed the driver had merely hurt his wrist and had a bruised ego. The descent was cold so we headed straight for the Shangri La of Watanabe & Watanabe's where we devoured katsu-don and hot tea. We were served by a friendly woman but I cannot be sure whether she is the great, great, grand-daughter or great, great grand-daughter-in-law of Taro Watanabe or even his brother Jiro.
Fueled up by katsu-don we hammered it towards Ome. The road was uncomfortably busy and the tunnels unpleasant with traffic and water cascading from the ceilings. Both of us started to suffer stomach cramps so we took a short break in Ome and tipped our helmets to the Aurore Bakery. Once back towards the river the return trip is rather anti-climactic but we did encounter this interesting vehicle. Note the dog in the bag.
I returned home having ridden 199km and climbed close to 2000m. While stretching, or trying to, I was mauled by Humphrey (pictured here with a chain-ring tattoo on his muzzle) who was not only excited to see me home but wanted to make sure I knew it was time for him to be fed. I ate a huge dinner and was still eating loads to next day.

Autumn leaves winter

After spending a busy week on a job fair in Gelsenkirchen, pearl of the Rhine/Ruhr area where I tried to entice students to start their academic career at your institution, I came home to find my kids in urgent need of assistance for home works, tests and the like. I was able to escape finally on Sunday afternoon after the rain has stopped for a short autumn ride.


During the night before the clocks have been turned back one hour: winter time has officially started in Germany and the weather was wet, grey and generally miserable. Autumn is special in Germany and perhaps even more special in the North of Germany. Although the annual precipitation of 750l/m2 is half than in Tokyo, the number of drizzling, light rain days must be much more. This is in particular apparent during the autumn and winter seasons which are dry and favourable for rides in Japan whereas one would prefer to stay at home in Bremen.

Spring is a season of pleasant anticipation of the things the year will bring. One thinks of the rides and races ahead in the year and considers to fall in love again or to get a divorce just in case. In autumn we are glad that we are still married and instead conversations focus on the more relevant topics in life. And death. In Gelsenkirchen I had a very interesting dinner conversation about the alternatives to commit suicide under special consideration of not providing too much hassle to the beloved and the environment in general. This, I believe, describes the feeling of autumn here well.

The surface was wet and there were many leaves on the road but temperatures had risen higher in the last few days to around 10 degrees C. I could not sport my new orange Assos airjacket but at least I could wear my new Cervelo cap. Now that the Cervelo test team has raced its last race I found it appropriate to buy some discounted team stuff and wear it outside. But I have left the Cervelo in the stable and opted for the Gazelle which is much more suited to wet conditions. In addition, as I didn't had too much time on hand for the ride, I thought it might have a better training effect to get on the "slower" bike. One doesn't need to drag tires behind the bike necessarily.

The air was foggy and I explored some more farm roads in the area of Borgfeld, Lilienthal and Fischerhude.

After a while my body warmed up, long finger gloves and shoe covers hold it warm and it was very pleasant to ride. The Gazelle offers only 2 x 6 gears but I hardly noticed a difference to the Cervelo in the flats. On the contrary, over the rather rough farm roads the combination of steel frame and wider saddle was much more comfortable than the very stiff Cervelo setup. I hardly used more than one gear anyway.
When I came back into the area of the university I noticed for the first time the newly built minaret. No I was joking, this is the beacon of my orientation and can be seen from almost everywhere in the flat landscape.

I came home in much better mood. That mood was immediately spoiled when I (Spain) lost 9:1 against my son (England) in world cup soccer on the Sony PS2 playstation.