Economic Emergency

A new economic crisis struck this weekend.  No, not the possible collapse of the Euro, or the prolonged high unemployment and sloppy home mortgage foreclosures in the U.S. -- swimming in a vast ocean of debt -- but something even worse:  The end of 30 years of seemingly endless growth of the Japanese convenience stores, one of few bright spots (until now) in Japanese retailing.

The CEO of Seven & i Holdings, Toshifumi Suzuki, summoned his counterparts at Family Mart, Lawson and Daily Yamazaki to an emergency meeting for Sunday evening to discuss countermeasures against these developments.


What triggered the sudden sense of crisis?  On Sunday afternoon, Suzuki received reports from the automated monitoring systems of franchisees in western Tokyo of a cyclist who rode about 150 kilometers without a single stop at one of their stores.  No ham and cheese burritos, no crappy sports drinks, not even yogurt products or a Snickers Bar.  Numerous stores recorded the cyclist passing (first picked up by the RFID chip in his train pass, and confirmed by automated camera footage of him passing nearby, on the same route he had taken only 8 weeks earlier (Tamagawa, Akigawa, Tomin-no-Mori and back).  A quick check of the POS databases of the other chains confirmed he had not stopped there either.  How was it possible?  What to do?  Perhaps another new flavor of Kit Kat was needed to lure him into the store (Jalapeno and cheese Kit Kat)?  Or maybe it had been a mistake to double the ham in the ham and cheese burrito -- making it sit heavily in the stomach of a cyclist well onto the next climb?

Apparently, the cyclist survived on High5 products, a combination of energy bars, two gels on the last stages of the climb to Tomin no Mori.  He filled one water bottle with a 4:1 carbohydrate/protein mix drink, the other, larger bottle with water.  "Bootleg imports", as Suzuki referred to the High5 products.  "How can Japan meet its food security goals if people can order this stuff with free shipping from Wiggle and get it at their doorstep the next week?"  And the cyclist was able to refill his water bottles at public faucets, avoiding even the need for a 2 liter water refill from Seven Eleven. He did stop for a bowl of mountain vegetable (sansai) udon at Tomin no Mori, but no economy ever got wealthy off of mountain roots and tubers!

Anyway, it was a beautiful day for a ride, warm for mid-December as I basked in the sun at Tomin no Mori.  I made the round trip as quickly as I have ever done, and improved my former "toge baka" time by about 2 minutes -- 1:08:43, down from 1:10:38 in April 2008, just before Itoigawa Fast Run, and almost 6 minutes faster than when I did this climb on October 17 this year (1:14:36).  This time I used the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels with tubeless tires -- a bit slower on the descent and a bit more work to maintain speed on the flats, especially into headwinds, but also 200 or 300 grams lighter than the HED Jet 6's, so noticeably more spin-worthy on the climb.

Then finally, it was time for the very last ride.

As James rightfully commented on his blog, there were quite a number of Sayonara rides during the last week. But having now finally arrived in Bremen, looking out of the office window on the grey sky and rainy weather, I can finally confirm that the last right was on last Saturday together with Ludwig.

As I was suppose to leave home for good on Sunday at 6 AM, Ludwig and me planned only half a day or riding on Saturday. We planned to ride out to Itsukaichi first, then climb Iriyama and Wada from the North side and try to set a new and final Togebaka record on Otarumi from the Sagamiko lake side before returning home. Needless to state that everything turned out completely different - as usual.

Ludwig did a long and gruelling ride the day before and therefore we met only late at 8 AM at Tamagawahara bridge. We were proceeding at medium speed along the Tamagawa and crossed over to Charles country road before we wanted to hit Mutsumibashi road to Itsukaichi.
Just when we climbed up the short hill leading from the river to the main road I heard a loud bang from the back of my bike and suddenly the handling started to feel strange. When we checked we found out quickly, that one of the spokes of my brand-new Shimano Ultegra rear wheel has broken and that another one was loose. This resulted in an extreme untrueness of the wheel which rubbed not only on the brake pads, but also on the cable stays. Impossible to ride and unfortunately the standard tool set didn't provide anything to turn Shimano spokes so we couldn't repair this somehow on our own.

I have to say that I am a little bit fed up with broken spokes. My Campagnolo Zonda back wheel gave me some troubles this year (three broken spokes) und I wanted to take countermeasures by buying the relatively cheap and reliable Shimano rear wheel everybody was talking about - only to become disappointed again. Perhaps it would be a good idea to let Nagai-san built a robust wheel for me just as he did for David ..... but then unfortunately they do not look as cool as a set of Zonda wheels.

Luckily we found a tyre shop close to the main road that provided as with a pipe - and a monkey wrench so we could at least adjust the wheel in such way as to make it "almost" true again. The tyre team there was very nice and helpful. So please, if you need tyres (for your car, of course, not for the bike) in the future, please buy them there. For some reasons the guys over there hate Bridgestone and are huge fans of Dunlop and Continental. Schwalbe of course, they have never heard of. Great guys.Despite all the trouble I felt great, almost like having my own pro team of mechanics and later Ludwig and me went to a Combini and bought some cans of beer for them.

I didn't felt very comfortable with the rear wheel minus one spoke, so we decided to return to Y park on the Tamagawa and get the wheel fixed. When we arrived, the mechanic there told me that they didn't have any spare spokes on stock for Shimano. No, they couldn't true the wheel as well. No, they didn't have any wheels to lend out. Quite desperately I took the stairs to the second level and asked for the cheapest rear wheel available to buy - Shimano R50 that is for about 7.000 to 8.000 Yen. With this I went down to the mechanic and asked them to exchange the cassette from the Ultegra wheel to the new one. So I was asked to write my name in a list and to wait until it is my turn. Couldn't I be placed in the front of the list, as this was my last day in Japan? No, this wasn't possible. So could I exchange the cassette by myself? No, also this wasn't possible. OK, Sayonara Y.

So in the end after spending a great deal of time for nothing at Y (An experience that many Y customers are making as well, should I believe other blog entries), we decided to ride home to my house and get the Zonda rear wheel for exchange.

Here everything went smoothly expect that my wife was very happy that I have arrived back from the trip in time for some family activities and I needed to tell her that the ride has now finally started and that I won't be back before 6 PM. That created some friction that were substantially bigger than the rubbing of my rear wheel on the cable stays. Wives cannot be kept in closets and exchanged when causing friction as in case of back wheels. We need to consider this when making decisions about one thing or another and we have to be careful not to mix things up. In this case however, and as this was now scheduled to be my very last ride in Japan for a longer time, the decison was quite clear. I excused myself and without wasting too much time Ludwig and me paced along the Tsurumigawa river on our way to Hashimoto.

And finally, afte getting almost lost one more time and crossing over some hills to Takao, we arrived at 3 PM and after having done more then 136 km at our traditional 7-Eleven in front of Takao Station. What is normally a two hour , 50 km ride from my home, turned into almost 8 hours of despair and friction. But we have made it.

When one is out on the last ride, everything turns into symblic "last" meanings: The last time to meet at Tamagawahara bridge in the morning. The last time to take a photo of Ludwig pissing with his back to the camera. The last time a spoke breaks. In Japan, but elsewhere they will continue to break. The last time to set a Togebaka record.

So, this was the very last time to give Otarumi a try and after 136 km of warm-up the condition was not the best one. On the one hand. On the other hand Ludwig gladly agreed to let me draft behind him. On the other hand Ludwig had by now more than 300 km within the last 36 hours in his legs and he wasn't sure if he would make it up fast. Plus there was a nice headwind.

We started at 25 km/hr all the way to the Family Mart where the TT starts and then we accelerated to 30 km/hr plus while I was staying closely behind Ludwig. "Hey - that is nice and easy", I thought as we rode fast through the flatter parts of the approach. If this continues, I would have enough power to overtake Ludwig and sprint to the top. I thought foolheartily.
Because once the gradient started to become steeper (not steep, but steeper) and Ludwig was still going strongly, I could barely stay on his back wheel. At least I had the feeling that I was fast. About 11 to 12 minutes into the ride Ludwig pulled away and I was on my own. In the distance I could see the final corner, after which the overpass should have been. Looking at the watch I thought that I was doing well. I mean, if this is really the last curve because going up Otarumi there are two curves which look almost the same and I always mix them up.

"Hey, I am the god of speed .... ups .... that was not the final curve, I still need much more time to go" is what I have been thinking many times at Otarumi. Perhaps one would erect a signboard on the second last curve "THIS IS NOT THE LAST ONE" and another one at the last curve "STILL THINKING YOU WERE FAST?".

This was the last one. One more push out of the saddle and I achieved a new personal best of 13:34 min. Ludwig was of course faster, as I can name at least ten more riders from TCC who can kill me easily on this hill, but please remember: I walked up this hill in 2004 when I tried it for the first time. I have come a longer way at an older age than most of you guys.

This was a very nice good-bye present from Ludwig that I will remember for a very long time.
We then took some final photos on the top. There seems to be a huge wolfhound beast lurking around at the Ramen shop which is always closed on the left side, but perhaps you need to understand Japanese and be afraid to encounter him.In order to shave off time, we rode down the same side in direction Takao station and I made it home before 6 PM so I could "true" the relationship with my wife.

When Ludwig and me said good-bye to each other we had a final, typical conversation. Out of nostalgic considerations, I wanted to state some of the beautiful rides we did together and the high mountains we have climbed together for the first time as well. I thought of our ride up to Mitsumine Jinja and to Haccho Tunnel in Chichibu. But Ludwig wasn't too impressed about these two rides. We thought long and hard which other passes over 1.000 m elevation we have climbed together for the first time and coundn't come up with any. And we couldn't agree on any single ride that was great, except for a vague feeling that we did something quite interesting sometimes in Chichibu...somewhere. So we parted.
Meanwhile in Bremen: My Cervelo bike is with me and now ready to ride, but I didn't had to time to do any junk miles yet. No wonder, grey skies, light rain and a temperature of 10 degrees almost all of the time. I better get used to that weather quickly or I will not ride at all.

I checked out the race events yesterday and much to my surprise there is a kind of brevet hold on Saturday for 210 km. I first laughed when I read the desciption of the route: "There are almost no elevation gains. The biggest challenges will be to cross railroad lines and highways."
Then I stopped laughing when I noted that one has to do the 210 km in nine hours time. Not impossible, but surely not for the easy-going ones. I completely stopped to make any npoise when I checked the weather forecast for Saturday.

So I called the organizers: No. it isn't a problem to register at the start on Saturday. Yes, the route will be marked and there will be supply stations. Yes, there will be even something warm to eat. They expect about 500 riders (for various distances between 60 and 210 km). Yes, I can pay 20 Euros (2.600 Yen) at the start.

This is great. No registration two weeks before the race, paying at the 7-eleven, than not starting because of bad weather. So I will wake up on Saturday morning, check the weather and .. not start AND not loose any money, great. Or perhaps I start. Will let you know later.

The other good thing is, that even in May the sun sets only after 9 PM, so there is still time for a short loop after work. Theoretically.

Need more latex.

The Wild Sheep Hunt

Yesterday, Tom rode the giant Yanagizawa Loop, consisting of the climbs to Yanagizawa, Kamihikawa, Sasago, Suzugane, Hinazuru und some other minor ones. Today, David, Jerome and me did the same loop. Almost.

Well, at least that was the plan, when the three remaining Positivo Espresso founding members gathered at Tamagawahara-Bashi at 7:30 AM. The (former) Tamagawa bicycle path, now a major walking path for the hanami-crazy, was full of people so we decided after a while to ride the normal road up to Ome.

Which brings me to the discussion about the Tamagawa path and the recently added obstacles (see for example here). Honestly, I don't care. I don't even want to put the argument forward that riding along the Tamagawa is boring and not very challenging and that I have been there a hundred times. Yes, all true but not of general interest. The point is, in my opinion, that the sum of total obstacles doesn't increase too much, if some fixed obstacles are added to the enormous number of moving ones.

There were simply not that many people when I started to ride along the Tamagawa about ten years ago: people, people with dogs and bicycle riders on the path. It was a fast and simple way to get out of metropolitan Tokyo. But by now, this has changed dramatically: too many moving obstacles. Even if the speed bumbs will be removed, that wouldn't change too much.

So, riding the (normal) road to Ome was comparatively much more pleasant and we were speeding towards our target like a fusillade of human bullets shot from an AK-47. Or perhaps more like a set of RPGs, given the shape of our bodies.

And so we arrived in Ome in 2 hours and 5 minutes - from my home in Yokohama that is. It cannot be done faster (today). And after a short break at Aurore bakery, we continued our fast ride towards Okutama and further up to the Okutama lake, without any longer breaks. This was the first time that I did the stretch between Ome and Yanagizawa in one go and as you can see on the right side this has now become the CHO TOGEBAKA (cho, in the double meaning of 長い and 超える), given the distance and elevation conquered. This is the mother of all Toge Baka (so far).

Now, when we made the turn at Okutama lake, Jerome was shouting from the top in front of me. Actually he told me, that we should wait for David who was further behind. But I didn't understand that properly, plus I didn't saw Jerome waiting, so I was assuming that he would be still riding in front of me. Now, as I don't wanted to be beaten up Yanagizawa, I accelerated and went quickly around the lake, supported by a nice tailwind. No sign of Jerome. "Jesus", I thought "He must be in really good shape." So I tried harder and exhausted myself completely on the climb. No Jerome came into sight. I had this vision that I was so slow, that David would overtake me with double my speed from behind.

So I run up Yanagizawa at full speed; until 200 elevation meters before the pass when I finally was convinced that Jerome must have been behind me. And I had run out of power. The climbing started to become really, really hard after being in the saddle for almost three hours. All the houses up there are deserted and all the curves looked alike and finally, well, there was the final one and I arrived at the restaurant on the pass which was also luckily opened. Jerome wasn't there.

I had a bowl of Soba, when Jerome arrived about 10 minutes later. We waited for David, who joined us after further 30 minutes, looking pretty wet and exhausted. In the moment he entered the restaurant, Jerome and me got up from our chairs in good, old Positivo Espresso tradition and said "OK then, let's go!".

But the truth was, that I was also pretty much done and I wasn't fully hydrated and recovered after some days of sickness last week.

So I made the following proposal: "We can do now Kamihikawa, Sasago, Susugane and Hinazuru, so about 34.786 meters (BBiT) of climbing plus an estimated 6.732 km (BBiM *) of distance, or we ride down to Ensan (now Koshu, by the way) and jump into an Onsen." Surprisingly enough, all of us opted for the Onsen visit, so we mounted our bikes and made the fast run down to Ensan. There it was pretty hot. The sky was blue, the thermometer showed 17 degrees and after all the cold weather before, we suddenly didn't felt in the mood any longer to linger in hot water.

So we rode the Fruit Line to Route 20, climbed up again and then took a right turn up to the haunted Sasago tunnel. We took it really easy, at least David and me, while Jerome was frolicking around in faster speed-hemispheres.

Shortly before the gate we met a woman who asked us, if there would be an old hotel further up the road. No, only a haunted tunnel with transparent octopuses living in the vaults. Later David said, that we should have taken a photo of the women in order to check if her body and face would show-up on the print, then perhaps she was only an epiphany of a Fox deity.

The old Sasago Tunnel was filled to the ceiling with maximum horror as usual.

Here we can see David and Jerome, still not suspecting anything, while entering the tunnel from the Ensan side. And here we see David and Jerome and me coming out on the other side, after we have experienced pure terror in it's most terrifying form in the darkness inside.On top of that there was also a strong wind and it was extremely cold inside the tunnel. And the weather on the Otsuki side of the tunnel was about 10 degrees colder than on the Ensan side.

So we made a fast run down to route 20 and almost froze to death. Then we made another superfast run down to Otsuki station on route 20 which was even more fun. And then we had a superfast express train from Otsuki home; all in all it took me less than 2 hours from arriving at Otsuki station to the door of my house.

A very nice trip with 167 km distance and more than 2.500 meter climbing (mapmyride checked). Could have been warmer, though. The last two rides (Chibchibu and this one) were some of the coldest rides ever. I enjoyed reading about the other rides on the weekend by Ludwig, Tom and the large PE group as well. It is good to know that so many activities are going on and there are so many groups to join.

Notes: I wrote this post yerstday after the ride, but didn't had the time to edit it and include the photos. So, please take this as an addition to David's post on the same subject.

(*) BBiM : Blind Believers in Me

Mitake Attack

I had a lot of correspondence to finish in the morning, so when I finally left the house for a ride It as already 14.30hr and naturally I chose another stupid target for the day: Mitake-San. With Bad Boy.

Originally I had much bigger plans for the day but the bed was so cosy and the wind blowing strongly from the wrong direction.

Mitake-san, for those who don't know, is the mountain on the left side of the Yoshino Kaido just after the entry to Umenoki-Toge in the vicinity of Ikusabata. There is a road leading from Yoshino Kaido through a bright red gate up to the cable car station, about 1.5 km away. From there onwards is a very small and extremely steep road leading up to the small village on top of Mitake-san. Mini-cars can drive up and down but normal cars are impossible, although the whole road is asphalted.I was blessed with a nice tailwind, so I could ride out fast from Yokohama to the Tamagawa and then along the river. At Wachi's bicycle store I crossed over to the other side of the river and rode along Yoshino Kaido. When I finally arrived at the road leading to the cable car station it was already 10 past 5, so I didn't wasted much time to start the TT (see Togebaka #20).

This climb is only 1.5 km long and Jerome had ridden it in less than 11 minutes this week. "Ha", you might want to say, "I can walk 1.5 km in 11 minutes!". Well this might be true, but on this type of road there is hardly a difference between walking and riding.

The first 400 meters are rather easy and flat, but after that the road becomes steep and the surface shows the famous "donut" pattern which seems to be a must for concrete roads with a slope of more than 10%. And after that it is getting steeper. And steeper. And steeper. There seems to be no end to the increase in steepness. Unlike many other roads there is no place where you can rest and you just pray that the cable car finally appears around the corner.

Which it does at one point an than there is the final and steepest piece to climb waiting. I was so glad that I was on my Bad Boy with a triple gear in front, otherwise I must have zigzagged up on a normal road bike. It will be interesting to see Ludwig doing this one with his SRAM 28 cassette mounted.So my original plan was to ride up also the road up to Mitake-San, but it was already too late and honestly, my fighting spirit was very much broken by this 1.5 km.

So I rode back to Ikusabata and checked the house of Ryoko and Stephen which I haven't seen since last summer. The house looked ... lonely. Just like nobody has been there for ... months. So I gave Ryoko a call but couldn't reach her.

I then made my way back to Ome on the other side of the river and took the train home. A completely pointless ride.

The earnest Positivo Espresso blog reader might have noted, that the climb to Mitake is actually the mother of all pointless rides and was first attacked by James, Dominic, Graham, Michael and me last summer when we were on the way to Kazahari. Still to this day it remains, completely ... pointless .......

.

TCC Yabitsu Ride

On Wednesday I joined a ride organized by Sergey from TCC attacking Yabitsu from the South.

In preparation for the ride I did two things: First I spend the night before with a friend drinking beer and eating yakitori at a very nice establishment on Roppongi-Toge and secondly, I made a post on the TCC blog what I would do after I have ridden up Yabitsu.

So the next morning I had a hard time to get out of the bed. Tuesday was a wonderful spring night in town, or so it had seemed after a lot of beer riding back on the bike, so I left the window of the sleeping room open. It was very cold in the morning and I had to dress with additional layers before I left the house.

I met Sergey at Hadano station, by chance he took the same train and soon after Mike and Dale arrived as well. We started almost on time in direction Yabitsu pass and pedaling ahead full speed. I immediately made the pace in the front, so when I looked back everybody was gone. Later I learned that they have stopped to look for water but in this moment I was feeling like a miniature edition of Deej.

Then we made a very brief stop at the road 246 crossing which is the official start for the TCC Hall of Fame South Yabitsu Time Trial (and now is also the same for the Positivo Espresso Toge Baka). Although everybody said that they would not race and take it easy, I fell back almost instantly on the steep slopes at the beginning and couldn't possibly keep up. So, I felt like a miniature edition of mob.

I hate to get out of a train, assemble the bike and immediately start climbing. I need a proper warm-up, if possible 40 km. A long time ago David, Juliane and me got out of the Shinkansen, assembled our bikes and rode up from Atami to Atami Toge and that was one of the hardest rides I ever did.

Yabitsu is mean at the start but then it gradually gets flatter and I enjoyed the ride more and more. I was going steadily in the 10 - 15 km/hr bracket, I could constantly keep the tension and even accelerate on the flatter parts. When I made it to the top all three riders were waiting for me and I clocked a time of less than 48 minutes. Which I found very respectable, given the fact that there is much more elevation to cover than on the North approach, so being faster up on the South side seems pretty good.

Note: Of course the North side is much flatter and much longer: 18.6 km compared to 11.7 km.

But then, looking at the TCC Hall of Fame later, I noted that there is a notorious rider from the club who went up the South side in 31 minutes. And all the other good TCC riders are up in 40, 41 minutes so I really felt very weak again.

Anyway, I said goodbye to Sergey, Mike and Dale who have provided good company at the station, at the top of the pass and app. 3 minutes during the climb.

Then I rode down Yabitsu on the North side, a little bit of snow was left on the sides of the road, but basically the road was free of snow and water. I wanted to explore a new forrest road which is roughly halfway down and leads to road 64 (the fast road down from Miygase lake to Hon-Atsugi). I have watched cyclists coming out from there from time to time and one can see a nice bridge of the road from the Yabitsu main road.

There was a barrier which was no match and the road went down. From Mike's post onthe TCC blog I expected a road leading down all the way, so I was surprised when I had to climb up 100 meters, then go down again, then climb up again. The road conditions were not good, typical rindo but much better than right-left-entry pass some days before. At one point I encountered a huge wild boar on the road, first I thought that this would be a small bear. Luckily it had no interest in me. The road went on forever and I easily added another 300 meters of climbing before I made it to the gate at road 64. In the end the road went down to elevation 200m and so I had to climb up road 64 for another 150 meters before I came back to Miyagase Lake.

I then followed the road on the other side of the lake through a continuous series of long tunnels and bridges before I arrived at Tsukui. After all this slow riding all day long I was glad to find a nice, wide and fast downhill road and speeded down at more than 60 km/hr.

Yeah, that felt good. But suddenly I noted that almost right in front of me there was a white passenger car on my side of the road. It was completely unclear what he was doing there, trying to overtake a car that was parked on the opposite lane or making a right turn. I braked as much as I could so that the bike was heavily swearing to both sides and I braced for the inevitable impact if the car would make a right turn indeed. Luckily it just had intended to overtake the parked car and moved back to his side of the road, so I flew by through the opening but it was very, very close and I was screaming.

I could have been dead or seriously injured if I would have gone faster and missed the time window when the car moved back to the right. I felt like the hero in one of the strangest movies I have ever seen called "Jacob's ladder" about an American guy (Tim Robbins, great as usual) who leads a normal living but has terrible hallucinations about Vietnam until at the end of the movie it is revealed that he had died already in Vietnam and that all of this was his dying hallucination.

It reminded me also of the first time I climbed up Jacob's ladder on my bike which was 2005 in Hawaii when I mistakenly rode up the ramp to a highway (having lived in Japan for such a while I couldn't possibly imagine that it could be so easy to enter a highway) plus I was so stupid, as the entry was on the left side of the highway, to cross over the complete four lanes to the right side before finally finding the next exit and disappearing in white smoke. Cars were honking and people were looking at me if I were crazy (understandable) and I am sure I made it into the radio news.

Anyway, after that my spirit was completely broken and I sneaked along through Tsukui North lake road (The druglord had visitors and I also noted that he had planted cactus plants on the other side of the road) to Hashimoto where I recovered eating a large bowl of ramen noodles.

After that I rode the tank road and Onekan home, it just wasn't fun any longer and I was glad to be home again.

But thanks to Sergey, Mike and Dale for the invitation and good company, I wouldn't have made it out of the bed otherwise and that was good.

Some other news, before I forget: I went to Nagai-San from POSTIVO to fix my Zonda wheel that was damaged in the attack down from Right-left-entry pass. He told me that he will move his shop to a bigger location on Meguro Dori, close to the crossing with Kamapachi Dori (at the entry of Daisan Keihin). I think the move is planned for May.

And Jerome did a Togebaka approach from Yoshino Kaido up to Mitake Cable Car station. Not knowing that this ride hasn't been included in the Togebaka List yet. James, Michael and Graham will remember that this is the mother of all pointless rides, which started the venerable tradition to include pointless rides in all unorganized club rides last year.

Ekiden in Pictures

Rather than to add further writings about the Ekiden event, I post some of the pictures Ludwig and me took along the ride.Ok, I can not restrain myself and will add some comments nevertheless. This also should serve as a reminder when I plan the event next year again.

It took me about 45 minutes from my house to the meeting point at Route 15 at the Tamagawa. The meeting point is easy to miss if you come from Tokyo as one has to leave the main road and ride down from the flyover.

James and Dominic came shortly thereafter and as the Tokyo group was not in sight we started at 8:25. The first part is not so pleasant, I found. There is still a lot of traffic, many police on the streets and many red traffic lights. One is probably as fast as the runners on this stretch.

We kept our group together, had some talks with the police here and there and then one of the spokes of my rear wheel decided to break. As I was organizing and perhaps a little bit more nervous than usual, one spoke missing made me even more nervous. The wheel was still true but I limited myself to about 40 km/hr on the downhills.

We were late for the meeting point in Fujisawa but Kori has hold out there, so I was happy that this went well, after we have missed the Tokyo group or vice versa.After Fujisawa is there is a fast stretch on the coast road where we gained alot of time and where riding was fun with Fuji-san clearly visible right in front of us. Also Ludwig and David A caught up with us there.

Then we all had together a last break an a Combini in Odawara before the serious portion of the ride started. Now Ludwig was also pushing to start, so I could relax a little bit from my organizing role. It was clear that we wouldn't stay together as a group on the climb from the beginning.

I don't know why, but the road between Odawara and Moto-Hakone is not a very pleasant one. There is only a slightly incline, but it feels like 10%. And we almost got stopped by a policeman again, but Ludwig and me could ignore him and continue. We could also see another pair of pinchers from hell on the rights ide of the road, but they refrained from grabing us.

At the beginning of the official Togebaka climb at Asahikawa Bridge, Ludwig, James and me were together with me leading and the others were somewhere behind. We stayed together for about 6 or 7 minutes and then Ludwig and James went ahead. David A also overtook me some minutes later. But that was it, I overtook some more riders on the way up. The traffic was rather bad with a lot of buses and sometimes I had to squeeze my way up between a bus and a line of spectators. One time I even had to stop. And I was slowly running out of power. I particular dislike the slope after the Fujiya hotel which isn't that steep again, but for some reasons hard.

Then I reached the huge Yunessun Onsen at about 600 m elevation and this is always the point on this climb where I think, OK I have almost made it and now it is only a few more meters. Some minutes later I was overtaking a struggling Japanese rider, I thought and shoute "Gambatte" as encouragement, only to find out that it was Graham. I wanted to be up fast, so we didn't talk too much and then I saw James taking a break at the roadside in front of me. Before he saw me, he started again and I could caught up with him. We then stayed together until the ENEOS gas station where he said "Oh, that was hard", while I said "It is not over yet!", as we still needed to go down one hill and do one more short climb. 55 minutes an something was not a shabby time for me, better than last year (always important) and much better than the 1:35 hr I needed some years ago. Ludwig was by now already at the goal.So James and me ride together into the finish area, seeing all the cheerleaders, hearing all the bands (Playing "Popeye, the sailorman") and watching the Supporters of Tokyo Nogyo Daigaku (Agricultural University) swinging big radishes in support for their team.

I opted for the Assos Fugu jacket, which was the right choice for the first 20 minutes in the morning but was afterwards simply much too warm. Too cold was never an issue on this day. Luckily the day was sunny so I laid it upside down in the sun so that the sweat could dry.

Dominic also made it in front of the runners, very well done. And Graham as well.
So after watching some of the runners, we rode up to the Michi no Eki restaurant where we had some Soba and Udon and told each other our stories. Ludwig and me wore our JCRC championship jerseys of 2008 and 2009 and we made some photos.There was nobody elase coming so we made our way down to Atami. The traffic was bad up to Route 20, but from there onwards it was OK. The road was beautiful as usual, but I was very catious with me spokeless rear wheel so I didn't enjoyed it as much as I do normally.
And in Atami we were greeted by an assortment of Geisha in the 60 - 96 years age bracket who congratulated Ludwig on his JCRC championship while all of us got there "Otoshidama" from them.
Then back on the Shinkansen, very crowded but only 25 minutes to Shinyokohama for me with a beer in my hand.A very nice start into the 2010 riding season. I felt a little bit sorry about the rider we have left behind or didn't made it, so as some of the other have checked with Yair, I checked with Kori later. As we started also much more earlier the climb this year, than last year, there was also les stress that the runners would overto\ake our leading group. And of course we were faster but I would assume that the last runner of Toyo is stil faster on the stretch between Odawara and the finish than I was. Amazing.

SUPERFAST - SLOW - FAST MEMORIES

At Hakone pass in 2001 after climbing up the old Takaido. Please note the helmet which now my 8 year old daughter refuses to wear for reasons of general coolness.

[Preliminary note: This is a cycling-performance related post which emphasizes (and exaggerates) one's own mediocre performances on a ride the day before. Don't continue to ride if you expect something humorous].

I have to admit that I have problems to get out of the bed in the morning. It has been always like this and reached it's highpoint during my rather long university career where I refused to go to lectures starting before 1 PM. So where can one do a meaningful ride at 11 AM?

I wanted to ride out to Hakone on Sunday but couldn't get up in time. I also coulnd't get up on Monday. Each time I tried to convince Dominic to join me. Then suddenly it was 11 AM on a Tuesday.

That's when I left the house after spending the morning reading reflection papers from my students. I took the train out to Kamakura where I arrive at 12:10 and assembled my bike under the blue winter sky. I was slightly overdressed as it was a relatively warm day for the season.

SUPERFAST

But it was super day for cycling along the coast in direction Odawara, with a very strong tailwind. I guess I have written that many times already, but I would like to reiterate the point that I love riding along the roads at the sea. As a bicycle rider one tends to forget that Japan is an island. I like MOSBURGER because i am a MOS guy. And MOS is the abbreviation for MOUNTAIN OCEAN SUN. Oh, you didn't know?

Sometimes I take other riders out to the coast at Miura or Shonan, but everyone finds the traffic three quite terrible. This is true however, the fresh, strong wind, the smell of the ocean and the sight of many familiar places compensate me for that:

I pass around my favorite German restaurant in Kamakura, the legendary SEACASTLE [Please check out the story in Japanese], then I pass my favorite Italian restaurant AMALFI just before passing Enoshima. And everytime I am passing Enoshima, I think that I should finally take a look at the naked Benzaiten, something I plan to do since I first heard about in October 1990. I never do and it is something which could be included easily on my list of new years resolutions just between "climb mount Fuji" and "try to be nice to wife and children".

Surfers were still in the water. Surfing is now a full year around activity and I saw many bikes which were refitted so that surfboards can be mounted for transport.

Lots of memories. Actually the first longer bike ride I ever did was in 1990 from Setagaya to Enoshima with my friend Tobias. I didn't had a bike yet so I rented the "Samurai" steel frame bike from my friend Juergen with toe clips. which I bought at a shop in front of Yokota USAF base.

Tobias in Enoshima, 1990. Still wondering if his hair had a perm.

We spend hours trying to get out of Tokyo on the road to the coast. We had maps which we showed to some local by passers which seemed to be rather surprised of the concept of maps at all. Somehow we made it to Enoshima where we arrived so late that we had to turn back immediately to reach home before dark.

Of course I forgot to get my foot out of the toe clip at a traffic light and toppled over towards Tobias who than fell as well. Domino-theory, I guess. Did I ever apologized? Someday I will.

Anyway, that was the start of a more or less serious cycling career and after that ride I bought a proper Panasonic steel frame bike in Meguro which I kept riding until 2000, when it was stolen.

So I was thinking about this and that when riding along the coast in the 36 - 40 km/hr bracket. The traffic was bad but there were almost no traffic lights and there was enough space on the left side to pass. Then I saw another rider going relatively fast in front of me. Good bike (TIME), old clothes, so this could be a rather competitive one, I thought. And indeed he was. When I overtook him he immediately got into my draft and continued to follow me for the next kilometers. So what to do, in the spirit of Deej's recent TCC post?

I turned out that he couldn't keep up with me anyway. One reason seemed to be rather large ears which were mounted perpendicular to the head and significantly increased the Cd-value (also speedplay pedals wouldn't help here I guess). Another reason also might be that he also stopped at traffic lights quite often.

Then I passed another rider on a GIANT bike with an Oakley backbag [not competitive looking acc. to Deej's classification] and he also stayed in my draft. And he wasn't bad at all, overtook me from time to time and all this despite the fact that he was new to cycling evidenced by (a) listening to a music while riding on a public road and (b) giving hand-signals all the time.

Yes, hand-signals, a difficult topic. I try not to overdo it and restrict them to the most basic ones. But this guy needed at least four hands to give signals and keep one hand on the handle. He tried to signal something which, if I understood correctly meant:

"I am going to stop at the next light and make turn for the left to Odawara station, by the way, thanks for the nice ride"

Or, perhaps he wanted to signal instead:

"I have an itching eczema on my butt which I treated at the local doctor and the bill I got is that long."

In the end I enjoyed 72 minutes of fast riding at an average of more than 32 km/hr without any stops and only a few slow downs. This was probably the longest, fastest stretch I did in a long time.

SLOW

Followed by a very boring piece of road between Odawara and Hakone. The only interesting thing to note about this road is, that one can see on the right side another "Pinchers of Hell" monument to traffic safety which I could pass unharmed.

Instead of continuing the Ekiden road 1 up to Ashinoko and Moto-Hakone, I took a left turn at Sanmaibashi (? 三枚橋) to road Ken 732 which seemed to be the old Takaido leading up to Hakone and took a rest at the (approved) 7-Eleven at Hatajuku (畑宿). I knew this road as I have tried to ride up to Hakone in 2001, one of the first rides on my new Cannondale bike. I never tried again after that.

I have a lot of respect for that climb. Hwen I was doing it in 2001 I took many breaks, walked a large stress on foot and was completely done when I reached the top.

Nevertheless I decided to define a new Toge-baka (#18) and went slowly for it. After about 100 meters of climbing up I noted the house where I had asked an old lady in 2001 if it would still be far up to Ashinoko. She said very politely that it wouldn't be that far anymore, went into the house and gave me two bottles of green tea. I needed them because it was still 600 meters up.

This is a much nicer climb that road #1. There is much less traffic and the houses and resorts along the way are slightly more upscale. There are also some interesting shrines and temples of new religions with a battalion of guard men. The only disturbing thing is, that you sometimes get a good view on the new toll road almost running parallel at some points. Compared to road 1, the distance is shorter (10.6 to 13.2 km), covers less elevation (700m to 745m) but as in the end you arrive at the same point, some of the slopes are brutally steep.
For example there is the 七曲 hair needle section which is a nice challenge.
So after less than 53 minutes I arrived at the top and dutifully recorded my time on the blog. By the way, the top is even higher than the mighty Van Hai pass.

FAST

There was only a short stretch to Ashinoko where I took a rest at the (approved) 7-Eleven. It was very warm there as evidenced by the photo below.Then up to Hakone pass (which is not the highest point) and further on to my beloved route 20. The weather was beautiful and the road offers beautiful views to the pacific on the Eastern side (Odawara) as well as to mount Fuji and the pacific on the Western side as it is running on top of the ridge. And I just love the gentle incline and the many curves which leads on a fast and demanding ride to Atami Toge.

From there onwards it is brutally steep and fast down to the city of Atami. I had a shouting match with a minibus driver that overtook me in one of the curves and it got really close. The maneuver was completely senseless as he had to stop anyway in front of a right light some meters further.

The usual argumentation enfolded: I told him, that he was almost killing me and that he drives recklessly. I was told that if it was that dangerous I should stay away from the road. After all this a 車道　(car road). Well, it is not for the sole usage of cars, technically speaking： "自転車は車道が原則、歩道は例外" （Bicycles shall ride on the road in principle and only in exceptional cases on the walkway) is stated in the pamphlets distributed by the local police station after revision of the basic traffic law in June last year.

I hate to be rude to people but I also dislike to be killed. Reckless drivers shall be shouted at in exceptional cases and only in regular cases not.

After that and within now time I was a Atami station where I took the Shinkansen back home. About 80 km, 1.100 meters of climbing and only 3:30 hrs of riding time. All together 6 hours away from home. An excellent alternative to not do a ride I guess.

Which brings me to the point that it doesn't always have to be the long, demanding ride. I do a lot of one hour rides along the Tsurumigawa and I have found another road along the river that brings me within one hour to Onekan. This is good for a tow hour ride. I can combine this with Onekan and extend this into a three hour ride. I also commute to the university in Tokyo. In November I rode 19 out of 30 days, only four rides where longer than 100 km. Nevertheless I made more than 1.100 km during the month.

A late start is not an excuse for doing nothing.

Silver Rides

The extened "Silver Week" is now finally over and a lot of riding has taken place. It started exactly one week ago.

On Sunday Ludwig and me met in Ome, had breakfast with "Aurore" the French mistress of the equally French bakery which is beloved by everybody and headed out in direction Chichibu. We tried to find Tom's new road but had initially some problems. Not sure, neither Ludwig nor me are efficient explorers of new frontiers and we use google maps for the way to the toilet in our house.The matter was complicated by the fact that a Japanese rider tried to draft with us. When we let him do some work in the front he drifted against the curb in a right curve and almost fell just in front of me. That was enough: we increased the speed and almost had him completely exhausted when we noted that we had lost the way.But then we found the road and it was beautiful indeed. No traffic, lot's of up and downs and a beautiful view into the main Chichibu valley leading to Yamabushi pass. After lunch a TT up to Yamabushi and a lunch at Shomaru we went down on the other side and up to Karibazaka. Many riders were out there and we continued along the green line to Sadamine pass, then took a turn North and went up the backroad over Kayunita pass to Nihongi. Boldly we decided to go further and discovered some new passes, such as Samugami, before we finally arrived at Nagatoro, the famous gorge which is mentioned in every sightseeing pamphlet about Saitama (although there aren't many).

From there onwards we rode further North and rode over Mase pass, a somewhat harder than expected climb before we finally arrived at this Shinkansen Station which is supposed to actually have a meaning. Somewhat. I am talking about Waseda-Honjo.

A nice ride and something more of Chichibu discovered.

The next day I rode to Shibuya to register for the Cycle Messenger World Championship. An event which is tailor made for me. I realized this when I came to the registration bar: I was the only guy with a road bike and also the only one who demounted by moving the right leg over the rear wheel. Everybody else swings the right leg in front, get somehow ride of the hands and the handle and turns the leg over the handle bar. Still much to learn. I checked for the jerseys but they were sold out already - only S size left. Also the XL t-shirts were gone. At least I got a free snicker bar. The registration was chaotic. David also wanted to register, but despite the fact that he went there two times he couldn't in the end.

My ID card was still in the made but I had to leave as I wanted to visit Positivo with my son and choose his new bike. We made a very reasonable choice (I hope). I would have loved to make the less reasonable choice.

On Wednesday Graham, Michael and me met at precisely the same spot in Ome and rode out in direction Chichibu again. WE took the fast run route this time. I "pushed" Michael over Yamabushi, staying behind him and applying psycho-terror tactics in order to make him fast over the hill. That worked pretty well and he made it in about 20 minutes up.

After a fast run on route 299 and the Laurent/Dominic/mob 7-Eleven on road 140, we continued until the intersection with road 37 and made a turn to the North. From there onwards we found the perfect point to follow our main tradition "the pointless ride".

You see, every time Michael, Graham and me are riding out, perhaps also in a group with other riders, we are obliged to do at least one stretch to an obscure location which involves heavy climbing and does not serve any other purpose than to arrive at this point for the sake of arriving at this point. We started this tradition this year, when I volunteered to show James, Michael and Graham the entrance to the incredible steep climb up on Mitake mountain, completely forgetting that the road to the entrance is already longer and steeper than anything we normally climb anyway. All of them were very favorably impressed and our bold undertaking and my leadership skills were the topic of many conversations made when the rest of the tour led the group up to Kazahari Toge in great pains.

So this time we decided to make a pointless climb up to Tsuchizaka Toge, a nice 700 m high pass connecting West Saitama with the Eastern Democratic Republic of Gunma-ny, famous for strong winds and tough women (Angela Merkel, and some 100 kg female hammer throwers, shot putter and discuss virgins). As the border was tightly controlled by tough women that hide so well that they were not seen AND this was our pointless ride anyway, we went back where we came from and rode further North to enjoy a fast lunch at a "michi no eki".

Michael and me took a new Keirin "0,00%" beer and when we tasted it we found out that was something missing. It was not only the alcohol but also any hint of taste similar to beer. I found also out that Graham is the other person in Japan who has read Julian Barnes. He is also the only person in Japan who has read "Peeling the onion" by Guenter "Waffen SS" Grass in a simplified English version.

And when we continued to ride and I wanted to shoot a photo, I was stil so dizzy by 0.00% of alcohol, that I forgot to un-cleat the leg I wanted to stand on and felt flatly on the road, much to the amusement of Michael who continued to tease me about the lack of alcohol resistance for the rest of the ride.

And then we made it to Nagatoro again. Beautiful and serene it is indeed. Actually it is so quiet, that almost all tourists who come there fall asleep immediately as we can see in the photos below. Also Michael, Graham and me took a nap and we woke up when we were kissed by a beautiful prince. But this is a different story. Again, a fast ride over Mase pass, one of my new favorites and then further on to Waseda-Honjo where we took the Shinkansen home, had a real beer in the train and made it home well in time for everybody's mongen.

The following two days were stuffed with commuting 41 km to the university and doing a training ride for the track race event of the CMWC at the Tsurumi river close to my home.

And then on Saturday I rode to the Keio Kaku and wanted to take part in the CMWC race there. The usual bunch of gaijins and Japanese messengers was already there: more tattoos could be seen than on the bodies of the Kansai chapter of the Yamaguchi-gumi, piercings enough to supply raw material for the great leap forward in China and haircuts like I would have had if I would been 20 today. Fine.

Then they didn't let me register because I was on a road bike. You can read the whole ordeal here on their blog site where I vented my complete frustration which these guys who are as flexible as the Hamamatsu police officials when I asked for my driving permit in 1998. OK, they are dressed differently, but the concrete in the head unfortunately remains the same.

Luckily David was there so I didn't felt so alone and after we have watched the TT event we decided to ride out on Onekan, have a coffee and talk about our favorite subjects: International Law and Jerome.

I was still so angry that I decided to ride to Takao and try to achieve a good time at Otarumi, which I did - first time below 14 minutes despite the wind plus with a heavy rucksack on the back.

And as I was still angry I thought that I could also add Yabitsu on top of this, so I continued. I started the climb at precisely 5 PM and when I made it to the top it was already pitch dark. Strange noises in the Forrest, wild animals and "warumono" cracking through the underwood ... alone almost as scary as Sasago tunnel.Then down on the other side - very slowly in the dark and right into a big matsuri at Hadano. Luckily the famous bento capitol of the world was still open and I had an excellent Oknomiyaki for 240 Yen.

In the end it was a beautiful day. Or a beautiful night.
So what's next : Yokohama endurance race on Saturday !

Yabitsu Curry Chicken

On Sunday, before the official remounting permission came from the hospital, I decided to try Yabitsu Toge with my bad boy.

I had some objectives, first I decided to ride to the next station on the Yokohama line, Nakayama and take the train out to Hashimoto. That went relatively easily, however bad boy is pretty heavy and difficult to carry around.

New Train Company poster clamping down an illegal mama-chari riders in trains.

In Hashimoto I found out that I still need to ride 7 km around town before arriving at the Tuskui Ko North route which was silent and beautiful as ever. I proceeded to Miyagase Ko, but before I took a short break at a Family Mart.

Yes, you have read right, I was making purchases on a ride out at a Family Mart and not in the traditional 7-Eleven and I have to apologize profoundly as I am caught now red-handed in an orgy of evil.

However, in my defense I need to tell you, that Family Mart is not only selling the new COCA COLA PLUS with green tea whatever, but they also have launched a product line extension to their very tasty musubi line which is "Curry Chicken Onigiri". That is in fact the best onigiri I have ever eaten and it gives awful power and stamina to bicycle riders.

Actually I could have never gotten up to Yabitsu Pass, if I wouldn't have eaten Curry Chicken Onigiri and it was still in my mouth when I reached the top.Now, the Togebaka Time was not so impressive, around 67 minutes compared to my best of 51 to 52 minutes, but hey breathing is not so easy if one kilogram of sticky rice is slowly disintegrating into your breathing system.

And of course I had again a flat tire on the way up which needed to be fixed. The air was coming out only slowly and I had my small hand pump was me, so I thought I give it a try and press on. When I reached the top there was still enough air inside, so I pumped it up again before riding down.

I wanted to test another theory, which is that my bad boy is the better, safer and stable choice for going downhill. I was a little bit worried about the rear tire so I tried to play it safe in curves but right fast on straight stretches.

And indeed I was going over 70 km on the last straight stretch which leads into the first villages on the Southern approach to Yabitsu. The bad boy felt great, no bumps with the dampened front fork and going very straight and very stable.

The drawback is of course the nano-crank which doesn't allow you to accelerate fast after braking in curves, so everything depends of gravity and momentum.

I took the train home from Hadano where I shopped at the Odakyu market which I guess is OK as I have seen other Positivo Espresso Riders doing so as well.

THE RIDE

Woke up in time, had prepared the bike already the night before and was ready to go out and ride based on a grand master plan. But would we be able to stick the plan? I mean, for perhaps the first time ever?

Weather was just fabulous, as David used to say, "world records are achieved under these conditions." But weather is one thing. Leaving the house at 6:45 AM another. And then dragging the bike through boring but unfortunately hilly Yokohama before finally arriving at the Tamagawa. I was too early, had splendid time to drink my coffee and waited for James, David, Graham and Jerome to arrive. They brought Jon and Craig with them who needed to do some more training before cruising Kyushu in mid May.

Up the Kan-One. Somehow I was very much in competition mood. I tried to climb up the hills as fast as possible and if there was any rider seen on the road I tried to catch up with him. That was maybe a little bit stupid in view of the long climbs we had in front of us, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Then along the tank road and through Hashimoto for the first break.

The "Tank Road" from David Litt on Vimeo.

A break gave me ample time to explain the merits of my gravity-zero wheels to Jon and Craig. By chance they are also for sale.

Jon and Craig had to leave us - strict mongen imposed by their better halves were given as reason - but Stephen was on his way to Aihara to add to our team.

So I phoned Stephen, who, to my surprise was on his way in his car, plus 30 minutes late as he had forgotten to take his cycling shoes with him. Plus travelling from Ome to Hashimoto is never a good idea (it is anyway not a good idea to get to Hashimoto in any fashion) plus that Stephen had no idea where he was, where to go and never ridden in the area. But hey, he has an iphone and Google maps which is as much compensation as life can offer.

But anyway, I thought I would never see him.

So the rest of us rode along our favourite Tsukui lake North road (thanks, Hiroshi)

Short descent on N. side of Lake Tsukui from David Litt on Vimeo.

... and then a short stretch along Doshi Michi towards Miyagase Lake where we made the first of many serious stops.

Miyagase Lake rest area from David Litt on Vimeo.

At one of the many soba shops we had a good meal of soba, Jerome had in addition some fish which I would never have eaten while on a bike trip. David had a "Kalbi" steak-kebob (kushiyaki) -- also not mid-ride food. We waited for Stephen but we couldn't reach him on the phone any longer. I recommended him to pack his car in a car-bag and take the train, as in Japan anything can be taken on trains provided that it is properly bagged. The amount of bags you can buy at Tokyu Hands is just amazing ; Bike bags, car bags, children bags, garden bags and of course Louis Vuiton bag bags.

And off we were to Yabitsu. Ah, Yabitsu one of my favorite climbs which never makes me tired. The wind was good and I was in good moos, so I started to go up fast. Within no time I was alone and started the real climb which leads to places like "hell swamps". In my head I was humming "highway to hell" but my body was slowly running out of steam. But what was that: "A rider with a yellow Wachi shirt was forcing his way up just before the final teahouse at the river - Stephen has made it and was attacking Yabitsu obviously to surprise us at the top : "Hey guys, finally here?". He has left his car in Aihara and has taken the short road to Yabitsu while we took the more beautiful and much longer one and had a long, long soba lunch at Miyagase lake.

The valley to Yabitsu from David Litt on Vimeo.

Middle stretch on Yabitsu climb from David Litt on Vimeo.

So I talked briefly with Stephen and then I accelerated again, my motivation now on the top and the goal only some three kilometers away. There is one stretch after the tea house which is a little bit steeper and harder, but after that it is OK. Although one thinks constantly that the pass is just around the corner, but it is not.

And up I was a final sprint : 51:39 min new record and 10 minutes faster than last year at the same point in season. Cool. I felt like Lance Armstrong winning his eighth tour.

Stephen came in second, followed by James, David, Jerome and Graham. Then again, no one else was racing against a clock (or each other). We didn't spend too much time on top and only briefly surveyed suicide opportunities. This is a famous love double suicide spot, you know.

The group (Graham, Stephen, David L., James and Michael K.), stopped for the view and a photo just onto the Yabitsu S. side descent:



Our own personal team photographer, Jerome:


Then a fast downhill to Hadano where Graham left us while the rest of us, believe it or not stuck to the original plan and proceeded to Ninomiya and then long route one further to Odawara and Hakone. Now we were on familiar Ekiden turf.

At the 7-Eleven before the start of the real climb in Hakone I tried to stop David, who just went on, and then James, who signed that he would continue to ride. But with Jerome and Stephen I could convince them to take a break.

And then we started the 850 meter Hakone climb. I used to do this once, in the peak of the season and after a ride straight from my home. This was already the third time this year, including two times after Yabitsu. But nevertheless with so many km in the legs it is a hard climb. We lost Stephen already at the start and up to elev. 600 Jerome and me were going roughly at the same pace. Then I was getting faster, maybe because of the food and finally I arrived at the top. Not in a good time, but at least without a stop in one go. I hate to give up in the middle. I hate to stop. I don't care if I am slow but I want to ride up in one go.

Up on Hakone the weather was still good but very cold. I met David and James at the Hakone 7-Eleven (I knew that they were waiting there - we always rest at 7-Elevens!) and shortly afterward Jerome came as well. Where was Stephen? After a few minutes I gave him a call at he was still at elev. 700, about 20 minutes to go. David was pushing that he needed to catch a train home and it was getting also cold and dark so we told Stephen to return while we went through with the original plan and continued to Hakone Pass and then to route #20.

Oh, beautiful route #20 (not to be confused with Koshu Kaido National Route #20 or Yaen Kaido Tokyo route #20). Many true things have been written about this extremely beautiful road, mainly by myself, rarely by others. But this is really my favorite road in Japan, slightly curved like the unshaven legs of Juliane, with a nice and steady gradient moving down like the underbelly of Jerome. Perfect views to the West deep into (no comparisons any longer, I am not Raymond Chandler), Shizuoka and via Fuji and to the East to Kanagawa-ken.

The bike is running smoothly at 40 km/hr plus and one has to navigate the curved but never ever to brake. David is so fast on this road, it is almost impossible to catch him. James is also fast, but sometimes he is overtaken by crazy mini cars who threaten to take them of the road.

The driving skills of mini car drivers : Mini cars - mini brains.

So with the first 8 km or so one descents on road 20 from elv. 850 to 650, along Jukoku Toge and then to the legendary Atami Toge. Then there is this brutal stretch where it goes down from 650 to basically 0 with 5 or 6 km. The hands are on the brakes constantly and white clouds are ascending from the brake pads. The rims can be seen glowing lightly in the night as they are becoming hotter and hotter. One moves his behind further and further back and finally touches the back wheel to add braking power. Only with this advances method it is possible to navigate this road downwards. Basically it is a free fall.

So we arrived before 5:30 PM at Atami station, bought more than enough beer and took the Shinkansen home. And who happened to join as in Odawara? Stephen who has managed the long way home from the Hakone climb back.

One beer was not enough to do all the trip justice and recount all the wonderful adventures we had. Also this post cannot do it. So I am hoping that James and David will add some photos, data and videos to show the full extent of this glorious trip. [I've added some videos and photos -- though my skills as a videographer obviously need improvement. David]

I mean there are many things you need in order to fully enjoy a ride out. A good bike, strong legs, perfect weather, a nice road, not too much traffic and good company. Only when "Set" and "Setting" are right the result can be perfect [The older of you may remember that this is original a concept by Timothy Leary]. This ride was a close to perfection as it can get.


A little more video..

Wed Apr 28 Ride from Knotty on Vimeo.