600km Birthday Ride to Kitakata and Back - Fox, not Bear, Sighting

Since I did not quite complete the lovely 1300km ride over last month's "Silver Week" holiday, I wanted to ride the "back-up" 600km event for which I had registered. The back-up was a Randonneurs Tokyo ride from Kawasaki to Kitakata, a town north of Aizu Wakamatsu in the same large valley in NW Fukushima Prefecture, and back. The theme title was a Japanese version of "let's ride to Kitakata and back to eat some ramen," as Kitakata is famous for its style of ramen. Kitakata is one of the 3 most popular ramen styles in Japan, along with Sapporo and Hakata (Fukuoka) ramens. Kitakata is not a big city, so I guess not a lot of people visit there for reasons other than its ramen, and it leads Japan in ramen shops per capita.

I did not choose this ride for the ramen, however (fortunately, as reported below). I chose it because this is the only weekend in October that I don't have a schedule conflict, and because it looked like another interesting trip into parts of Japan north of Tokyo, not dissimilar to last year's 600k, or this year's 1000k and 1300k attempts, all out of Yaita organized by Utsunomiya Audax. Also, October is prime riding season in Japan, at least in areas north and northwest of Tokyo.

The start of our brevet and a 300km event, at Todoroki, Kawasaki-shi

One of the benefits of an R-Tokyo ride is the usual start location -- far less than an hour's ride from my house in Todoroki area of Kawasaki, just across the Tamagawa at Marukobashi. This is just over 11kms from my house, less than half the distance to the Aoba Randonneurs start, and about the same distance as a Nihonbashi or Tamagawa start. Just about all the other Kanto-based groups -- Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba, Utsunomiya, among others--require either a train or car trip to the start and from the goal, utsunomiya typically requiring arrival the night before the ride given the distance from Tokyo. This time, I did not want to use/bring a rinko bag with me -- if I don't have one on the bike, then I won't be tempted to return home by train, right?

Another benefit of R-Tokyo rides is the large number of offerings. This time, they were offering a 300km and a 600km on the weekend when I could participate. 

I felt good in anticipation of the event. I would ride the RAMAX again -- it had worked perfectly on the 1300km attempt -- except I would swap out the Ryet saddle for an older, trusty Fizik Arione. I brought the same combination of creams I had used on the 1300km, and those, the dry weather, plus the Arione seat, meant I could make it through in comfort, at least as to my butt. The weather forecast was near perfect -- cool at night, warm in the day, but not too warm, not summer hot. And no major headwinds in the forecast, nor signficant risk of precipitation. 

The ride started at 6AM on Saturday of a 3-day weekend. It also happened to be my 64th birthday, and I figured it was my party so I could do what I wanted, and delay any other celebrations until the recovery phase. (My older sister called this my "will you still need me, will you still feed me" birthday after the Beatles' song "When I'm 64"). 

The 6AM start was great, especially after the 8AM start a few weeks ago in Utsunomiya. Why?  It meant the first day could finish up before 10PM, instead of extending to after midnight. It also meant an hour riding at the start before there was significant traffic.

Entering Tochigi, at 10:41AM. No photos up to here.

And oh boy was there significant traffic. The route north from Tokyo went through Tokorozawa, Saitama, near Kawagoe, and up into Gunma near Takebayashi and Sano, then over a modest climb and into the area around (just west of) Kanuma. The roads all the way through Gunma and into southern Tochigi were toward the awful end of the spectrum, in terms of heavy traffic and lack of shade or attractive features. At least they were fast and relatively direct. Then once we got over the hill and into the area around Kanuma, everything switched, 180 degrees. Now the roads were quiet, and much slower. There were even a few nasty little ramps on side roads in the forest. Maybe the course designer started out thinking "fast" and "who cares about the traffic!" then went out and had a delicious, filling lunch, and came back to continue the route plan thinking a "slow and scenic" route would be best. Anyway, I would hope the route planner would look at other Audax routes that go north out of Tokyo and toward this part of Gunma/Tochigi, and find a nicer option with less traffic.

The nicer country west of Kanuma, Tochigi

Approacbing Nikko ... camera lens needs cleaning!

The big surprise for me was the climb north of Kinugawa Onsen.  I had been through the area around Nikko many times, but never headed north up the river beyond this major onsen town. Or should I say formerly major onsen town. The place is known for having a number of larger hotels that catered to group travel back in the 1960s-1990s, but have shut down or become dilapidated. At laast that is my strong impression. Stil, on a sunny Saturday afternoon of a 3-day weekend, the place was full of tourists and did not seem dead. 

Kinugawa.
Below is a video of the river further up on the climb.

The climb up Route 121 north of the main part of Kinugawa town was lovely. It was mostly not steep, and it was something like 35 kms from the Lawson convenience store checkpoint to the border with Fukushima Prefecture, a climb from around 400m to around 850km elevation. The climb had plenty of flat stretches, including a ~10km long section with a reservoir (Lake Ikari), but mostly was just a lovely wild valley. Eventually, we reached a "T" intersection and joined Route 400 -- the same road I had taken out of Yaita into Minami Aizu on the Utsunomiya 600 and 1000km brevets this and last year.  

Approaching the "T" intersection with the route from Nasushiobara to Minami Aizu
17:21 and light starting to fade.

My feet still flared up, swelling and painful in the heat of day-1 afternoon around 135kms. The same happened again on the second day.  I had zero issues in the mornings or at night, so I really do think my feet were swollen in the warm of the day, after some hours on the bike each day.  I wore Lake shoes that fit well (with thin wool socks that would not constrain my feet even if they swelled in the heat), and with a custom molded insole. I lowered the seat a bit relatively soon after pain appeared, I used topical Voltaren, I loosened the shoes at rest stops, and the pain was manageable ... and went away not long after sunset, only to return late-morning on day-2.  What is the solution? Is there one? Flat pedals and more cushy shoes ... as I ride on the recumbent? I will need to experiment further.

Jerome, who also joined the ride, broke the cable on his rear derailleur relatively shortly after we got to the nice territory west of Kanuma. This is the kind of thing I once carried spares for ... but I use an electronic shifting groupset and Jerome did not have a spare cable with him. Also, his bike has internal cable routing, so changing one is no longer as simple as it once was. We stopped for lunch at a "shokudo" in the countryside. We were the only customers and the food was uninspired ... but he could call and locate a bike shop ahead in Nikko. There was some up and down in the stretch before Nikko, and I actually saw Jerome walk up one hill -- a new experience. As we went through Nikko, we were further down the hill than we had been on the 1300k last month, but at one point crossed the course, and Jerome veered off to go to the bike shop, Kamiyama. I continued on to the check point at Kinugawa Onsen falls area, and then onto the long slow gradual and, at a cool dusk on an October day, lovely climb.  I got a report from Jerome that he was done at the bike shop and back on course. He was 1 hour and 20-30 minutes behind me at the checkpoint, having lost that much time with the repair, but still way ahead of the notional time deadlines. 

Once I got to the intersection with Route 400, I knew the top of the climb--and entry into Fukushima Prefecture--were not far. Once on the descent, my hard work for the day was essentially done. I had ridden 230kms from home, around 215km on the actual brevet course. I had another 85km to go before I would sleep, but it was only just ~6PM and the rest of the course was almost entirely downhill or flat, without headwind or rain. What a contrast to Day 1 of last month's Utsunomiya 1300k!

I got a dinner of convenience store pasta at Minami Aizu Tajima, and kept rolling. I arrived at the Kitakata checkpoint -- the "ramen shrine" -- around 9:40PM.  All the ramen shops on the main street were closed! I was extremely disappointed with R-Tokyo for planning a ride to eat ramen and not giving any suggestions about where we might find it. I had asked at the start and been told if every place was closed in Kitakata, we could get some in Aizu Wakamatsu at a chain place open 24 hours. ... of course, we did not pass THROUGH Aizu Wakamatsu, the course went around. And we would not even touch the outskirts until 3AM on the return. And who needs to go to Fukushima Prefecture to eat chain-shop ramen? 

The ramen shrine ... closed for the night

I stopped at a Lawson convenience store en route to the guesthouse I had booked. I got some of their special Tohoku miso ramen, figuring I could at least eat it before I slept. At least it was supposed to be regional -- Tohoku.  I also got my breakfast yogurt, eggs, banana, etc. for a few hours later and headed to the guest house. It was a converted house with 3 or 4 spacious tatami rooms, a kitchen, bath, toilet, lounge, etc. facilities. The proprietors looked like two young men. They appeared almost immediately when I texted a question. I guess they also run the coffee house, gallery, and performance space in the adjacent building. It was nice to see them making a go of it in Kitakata.  Everything in the house was so clean, I was very worried about making any kind of a mess. 

Guesthouse -- I left the door to our room cracked for Jerome.

Anyway, I sent Jerome instructions ... he had closed the gap a bit and was around an hour behind me in arriving at the accommodation.

I had planned to sleep until 2AM, but I was in and out of sleep repeatedly and my eyes open wide before 130AM. I gave up going back to sleep, got up, dressed, ate, and was on the bicycle and headed out. 

The organizers had announced that they had modified the route on this next stretch -- the climb up to Lake Inawashiro -- due to bear sightings on the original planned route. Even worse, every electronic sign board since entering Fukushima Prefecture warned that persons should watch out for bears and check the latest reported sightings before going out.  Of course, I had no time to figure out how to do this, and now I was riding alone toward a forested climb in the dead of night. Worse, I was not sure if my GPS had the original or the modified course, and I was not very enthusiastic about going up ANY deserted, forested climb in the dark in bear country given all of the warnings. 

I decided I would just head up a climb up to the west and try to get onto Route 294 at its beginning. If I could connect with Route 94, I would be on a road with actual vehicle traffic, but not heavy traffic at 3AM.  This conscious deviation from the course ... did not work.  I climbed almost 150m elevation, through an industrial park then a mix of fields and forest.  As I was traversing the fields ... I saw a pair of saucer eyes reflecting in my bicycle light from 100m up the road. Then as I got a bit closer, a small dog-like animal crossed the road and hopped across the field. Its hop was very distinctive -- bounding on all 4 legs as if it had springs -- as it went through the field of tall grasses.  It was ... a fox!  I had never seen a fox on Honshu before. They are secretive, nocturnal, carry a very dangerous (to humans) parasite, and are at the core of many Japanese folk tales -- foxes who disguise themselves as beautiful women or needy children, or one's aging long lost mother -- and who trick humans.  

Anyway, the fox bounded on its way, and I found my road intersection and continued the climb. I got to a road that I thought would take me to Route 94 ... and after maybe 500m it started to wind down the south side of the slope I had just climbed from the west, twisting and turning.  Eventually, I stopped and got out my google maps.  I had lost at least 2/3 the elevation I had just climbed, and was approaching the bottom of the hill not far from where I had started the climb. I called Jerome -- he was already ahead of me and about to start the proper climb. I gave up my plan, went back to the bottom, back on course, and did the actual climb.  Other than losing time and wasting energy, I was back on course, and still on track. 

Quite a few riders passed me on the climb toward Route 294. On the one hand, this was reassuring that I was indeed on the correct route. On the other hand, I really regretted not sleeping longer, and my earlier detour. The climb was long but not steep, even if it seemed steep in the pre-dawn dark. Finally, I was up the hill and onto Route 294 ... but the climb was not quite finished.  The next stretch of 25km or so along Route 294 was basically flat, but with enough up and down to remind me how tired my legs were. Then there was a climb up another 100m of elevation to a tunnel, then, finally, a 15km descent from 650m elev down to just over 300m.  We had another 12-13 kms to the checkpoint, and could just roll it in well ahead of the notional closing time. 

Glorious sunrise with fog in the valley below. Another spectacular dawn in Fukushima Prefecture!

6:25AM, down the big hill and now a much flatter road to Shirakawa ... except the upcoming climb(s). 

Except there was another climb -- nearly 100m of elevation gain over a few kms -- before the control point. I arrived exhausted.  But I knew we would just need to get over the Fukushima/Tochigi border and then it would be a gradual descent and lots of flat areas in Kanto to get home. 

I was a bit surprised that, after a small dip, we had a 10km grind climbing over 100m elevation to get to the Tochigi border.  We were riding now on Route 4 -- the "main road" of Tohoku before the expressways were built. I usually avoid Route 4 like the plague, but I had never ridden this stretch and had no idea whether it would have heavy traffic or cars and trucks whizzing by. Most other brevets use a route that takes local Tochigi highway 76 -- a delightful low-traffic climb and nice descent maybe 5 kms to the east of Route 4. How was the Route 4 alternative? It was consistent with other stretches of Route 4. Lots of traffic at high speed whizzing by. Not a lot of fun for a cyclist.  I guess it was slightly more direct than a detour to local route 76 ... but I have fond memories of a Chiba brevet where we descended Route 76 into Fukushima and down toward Shirakawa and ... stopped at a wonderful ramen shop that was open, served delicious and filling fare, welcoming a large group of cyclists in from the wet and cold. Route 4 held no such charms.

We finally exited Route 4 around 40kms from the Shirakawa checkpoint, in Otawara area. We took a nicer, more local road for over 20kms, then could "enjoy" another 5kms along Route 4. This time at least we were riding along an access road, not the main highway, so were not exposed to traffic. Here there were lots of election posters of a local LDP Diet member, Yana-sensei, the new Minister of agriculture. He has been in hot water over threats of cuts to the road repair budgets localities that don't support the LDP. After riding some of the roads that might not get repaired in the future, I must say that I am not a fan of Yana-sensei.

Jerome and I had been together since the Shirakawa checkpoint. As we came into Mouka, I started to look for the next PC. Jerome was ahead of me and rode right by it, thinking it was still 1-2kms ahead. Anyway, there were at least 10 other riders in the PC at the same time.  We stopped briefly, then went down the street to a Mosburger for a sit-down hamburger lunch.

Our bikes -- especially the water bottles -- were warm in the midday heat, as we had parked them in direct sunlight where we could watch them as we ate at the Mosburger. 

The next stretch was unremarkable. In fact, I don't remember very much about it - flat, boring, with traffic gradually building up.  

By the time we entered Ibaraki, at Chikusei NW of Tsukuba, the holiday traffic jams were in full swing. Chikusei, Shimotsuma, Ishige, Joso, Moriya, and finally across the Tonegawa to Kashiwa and then the checkpoint at Matsudo. At places it seemed we were riding past lines of sitting traffic several kms in length, all to get to one red light "chokepoint".  In Moriya, a group of kids on their bikes "raced us" for what must have been a kilometer, we on the road shoulder avoiding a line of cars, they on the sidewalk avoiding other sidewalk users.  Eventually, we veered off with a right turn. I guess they won the race ... but I wanted to holler out "just try doing that for 500 or 600kms!"  If you think the Straits of Hormuz are a chokepoint ... just check out Ibaraki's Joso Fureai Doro and local Route 47 over the Tonegawa on a holiday weekend!

A shoes-off rest at roadside, watched over by the jizo-bosatsu in the shed

This congested course ... I do not pin blame for on the organizers. It is unavoidable riding pretty much anywhere between Tsukuba and central Tokyo on this kind of weekend. The roads are just too narrow, and never caught up with the population when it exploded decades ago. The only routes that avoid congestion tend to be along river levees, and the rivers were flowing perpendicular to our direction, so of no use to us.

Anyway, it was 7PM by the time we made it to the Matsudo PC.  Jerome was still stronger than me, but he was slipping a bit in alertness and judgment ... missing a turn as he had missed the earlier checkpoint. He was doing 80-90% of the pulling when we were riding in tandem, but mostly we were just rolling it home within 50-100m of each other, often with decent separation. Frankly, at this point in the ride, it is safer to have a bit of separation.

Finally, we entered Tokyo Prefecture and the roads immediately widened.  We rode down wide avenues, with thinning traffic in the evening, through Edogawa-ku, Koto-ku, and finally, Chuo-ku. We went over Eitai-bashi, passed the former Tsukiji fish market site, then Shinbashi and down Route 15 through Minato-ku to Takanawa, all very familiar roads and the last within a few hundred meters of my home. From here, we had only 7 kms to go to the finish, a convenience store on Nakahara Kaido just inside Kanpachi. We rolled it in, arriving with almost 30 minutes to spare (a bit less by the time I got my receipt for proof of passage). 

After a short chat with other riders, we went across the street for Indian food and Jerome treated me to a kind of birthday dinner. I think I have never ridden more slowly into town on Nakahara Kaido than after that dinner, as I retraced the final 7kms to home. 

I was glad to complete a 600km brevet this year, one that had a reasonable amount of climbing even if it had long flat, boring, and congested sections at beginning and the end. And there was no rush to the end or sense of desperation around time management or punishment to the body to get to the goal on time -- just a long ride back into Tokyo. The RAMAX again worked perfectly; no flat tires or other mechanical issues; no chafing; ... only that annoying foot pain. Still, I know that I will need to up my game substantially if I am to complete 1200k randonees in coming years. The Silver Week 1125kms and this ride have shown me where I am, and where I need to get to.  

Strava links:

Day one:  https://www.strava.com/activities/20528435703

Day two: https://www.strava.com/activities/20541510011

Go North, Turn Right at that Train Station in Akita Prefecture and head across Honshu, Turn Right Again at the Pacific

Having failed to complete the 1000km Utsunomiya Audax ride over Golden Week at the beginning of May, Jerome and I decided to try a similar event, a 1307km Utsunomiya Audax ride over Silver Week in September. 

If we could not complete a 1000km event, then why attempt 1307km?  We were not in any better condition, though at least I felt I was no worse, and Jerome can always somehow quickly ride into good form.  Well, the 1000km event had major issues with headwinds and unexpectedly cold rain, and those issues might not occur again at a different time of year in the latter half of September. If we could avoid typhoons, we would probably be okay. And the 1300km ride was under the LRM rules (applicable for rides that exceed 1200km). This meant much more forgiving time deadlines. We had 108.5 hours to complete this ride, whereas the 1000km ride had only 75 hours and a 1200km ride allows only 90 hours. Audax events up to 600kms require an average pace, including all rests and sleeping, of 15kph. The 1000 and 1200km events require a pace of 13.33kph. For rides that exceed 1200km under the LRM rules, the pace is 12kph. 

So for this ride, we could plan to sleep at least 3-4 hours each night, encounter some minor setbacks, and still make the time limit. Indeed, if we could meet our nightly targets (Iiyama -- 275kms; Sakata -- 600kms; and Ofunato -- 900kms), we should have plenty of time for the final 400km.

I booked the hotels and planned the daily targets while Jerome contributed by paying most of the meal tabs and, as usual, letting me draft far more than half of the time we rode together.

When the riders list came out, we could see this would be a typical small Utsunomiya event. There were 59 signed up, but that included the Utsunomiya staff who would do a pre-ride.  The list included a number of non-Japanese riders, mostly from around Asia but two who are based in North America and ride with RUSA (Hamid A and Jose B).  One had done Seattle-San Francisco. The other is based out of the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC.  There were 3 riders from the Philippines, which now as a very active randonneur community, 2 from Malaysia, and various others. Among Japanese riders, beyond the Utsunomiya staff/regulars, there was Tomatsuri-san (who ended up DNS but came by the start to say hello, as he had schedule conflicts), and Ijichi-san. Ijichi-san is an Audax regular, I think part of the Audax Japan leadership, and does these long rides regularly, as well as many around the world. A decade ago I could keep up with him, but not in recent years. There were lots of other Japanese riders with PBP jerseys, many of whom looked familiar but none who I know well. In the end, there were 17 DNS and 2 pre-riders, so only around 40 starters, of whom 10 DNFed and the other 30 finished. 5 were under 100 hours, 12 were 100-106 hours, and 13 were 106-108:30.

Ijichi-san on his custom Equilibrium bike, by Vlad

The start was in Yaita, at the parking lot for a day onsen, as has been the case on the other Utsunomiya rides I have done in the past few years. Jerome and I had headed up the evening before and dined at a small wine bar. We were the only customers on a Friday night. The food (and my share of a bottle of wine) were of good quality, and the master was quite helpful in explaining the current state of Yaita. It had fallen on a difficult time due to over-reliance on a large Sharp electronics factory that shut down awhile back. 

Yaita Station from my hotel room

The next morning, I left my hotel at 7AM, ate breakfast at a 7-11, and went to the start. We had received briefing materials on the website, and there was an additional briefing by Tanami-san to the assembled riders. I worried a bit about the non-Japanese participants, who could not have understood a word of what was said. At least there were no big safety warnings given only in Japanese.  The organizers had made an effort to make the online materials basically bi-lingual, to encourage foreign participation.  At check-in, they gave us tickets to use the onsen upon our return to the goal, as well as small commemorative tags to remember the event and hang on our bikes/bike bags.

Typhoon 25 caused 11 fatalities in Chiba and on the Miura Peninsula
 ... but it headed away from us and did not ruin our ride.

The major worry was Typhoon 25.  It was now south of the Izu Peninsula and was forecast to come up past Tokyo/Chiba and offshore of Ibaraki/Fukushima/Miyagi during our ride. There was some risk we would meet up with it late in Day 3 as we headed across Honshu to Ofunato, Iwate. In fact, the forecast just before our start suggested the left side of the typhoon would arrive at Ofunato around the same time as we did, early on the morning of the 22nd. It also looked as if it might be a major rain event -- dumping large amounts in Ibaraki, Fukushima, Miyagi, and the southern Sanriku Coastline where our return would take us, and plenty along our route in Akita and Iwate. If there were any road closures on our route, we would need to abandon.  The other concern was the counter-clockwise wind circulation of the typhoon. It looked as if we would be in a stiff headwind for at least 200-250kms on Day 2 as we went up the coast of the Sea of Japan through Niigata and Yamagata. This would continue for another 50km on Day 3 to Yuri Honjo in Akita. The ride planning "randoplan" software was suggesting we would lose 5 hours or more on Day 2, and 2 hours or more on Day 3, from the headwinds. I tried altering our speed, our sleep location/rest length, etc., but there seemed no way to avoid this type of forecast massive loss from the winds.  But it was hard to know with this typhoon. The storm had formed very suddenly, the pre-typhoon weather lacked that ominous, sticky with gusty wind feeling that comes before the worst storms. Who knows, it might veer off to the east and give east Japan only a glancing blow. We would need to see how things went.

Anyway, we were off in several waves, each 5 minutes apart. I was in wave 2 and was the first of that group to head out.  We took roads SW from Yaita through Shioya and toward Nikko. At Nikko, we went through the heart of the tourist town, and passed in front of Toshogu Shrine.  We passed the turn off to Iroha-zaka and Lake Chuzenji, and continued SW on route 122. Not long after, as we were on what was turning into a serious climb, we turned off the main road onto a forest road (rindo), the "old road". This avoided a lengthy tunnel and climbed, zigging and zagging back and forth across the mountain to a pass at round 1250m elevation. 

I had managed very good time from the start to Nikko, but gradually the faster riders started to pass me on the climb.  At one point on the rindo climb, a rider passed me on a relatively narrow road, where we were climbing at a double digit grade. I put a foot down, uncertain if I would be able to stay on the bike and clear the barrier at the side of the road.  I walked up to the next wider area, took a bit of a rest, ate a small nut bar and drank liquids, then continued.  At least 20 riders had passed me on the climb. 

Once over Hosoo Pass, we had a long downhill/flat stretch - nearly 45km. The first bit was descending on the steep old/forest road. A large monkey with a very thick furry coat crossed the road ahead of me, glancing in my direction before continuing his journey.  That was an alpha male of a Japanese forest monkey, I thought. An impressive animal.

No more blue sky as we head down the river valley.

I had passed Jerome on the climb where he was sidelined to change a flat, and I pulled into a michi-no-eki ahead of him at Kusaki reservoir/dam to get a quick snack. Some riders were going into the cafeteria, but we had been on the road less than 4 hours and had at least another 12 to go -- to soon for a sitdown lunch stop. Jerome pulled in and we overlapped for a few minutes before I continued the gradual descent on Route 122. He stayed behind for some soft ice cream.

Eventually, the route had us turn off of Route 122 and start a nasty, short climb on a local road over the ridge to our west.  This was steep, and one of the US-based riders -- Jose, the taller, thinner one -- came past me on the climb. He was waiting at the top for his ride partner as I finally reached the top and descended the other side. We were now on the lower southern slopes of Mt. Akagi, working across the mountain with some up and more down.  Eventually, I passed a yakuniku restaurant.  It was 1:50PM, so I pulled in and asked for a table for 2, knowing Jerome as only 10-15 minutes behind. They explained that 2PM was "last order" for lunch, so I ordered for both of us. He showed up a minute after 2PM, we enjoyed a decent and quick sit down lunch, and continued down into Maebashi. 

The worst traffic of the entire trip was going through the Maebashi/Takasaki area on mid-afternoon Saturday on the first day of a long holiday period. This was not easy. I felt we were battling with the cars and getting pushed over to the side of streets that lacked a decent shoulder.  But it ended eventually. 

I have been up the valley between Takasaki and Yokogawa many times, but the route was a bit different as usually I am heading from the SE toward NW or vice versa. This time I was heading from the NE, passing along the northern edge of Takasaki.

We ended up in a group with one or two Japanese riders, and the woman cyclist from Malaysia, Cindy.  She looked impressively strong - a lot more punch in her riding style after 130kms than I (or the others) had. I lost the group on a short climb, and caught up after the descent and several traffic lights. I needed a convenience store rest, so Jerome and I pulled off as Cindy and others kept going. 

My resting spot at the top of Sakamoto-juku, before the climb to Megane Bashi. Light fades.

By now we were on familiar roads. We took the old Nakasendo for a stretch of around 7kms that was quite nice. I had thought we might stop by in Nishi Matsuida to say hi to Tim Smith at GS Astuto ... but we were behind schedule, it was late in the afternoon, and we still had a huge stretch ahead, including the second of two long climbs for the day. Somehow I got ahead of Jerome on this stretch and was the first to get onto the old road to Usui Pass, and up through Sakamoto Juku.  I waited a few minutes for him to catch up -- but mostly because I really needed some rest -- before starting the climb to Megane Bashi and then Usui Pass. It was now pitch dark. Jerome was climbing faster, waited for me at Megane Bashi, and again, much longer at Usui Pass.  

On the climb I passed a kamoshika -- Japanese serow deer -- standing in the roadway a few meters across from me. It watched as I rode by but did not move.  Ten minutes later, I passed another one. This was on MY side of the road, and I passed what seemed like only a foot or two away.  I've seen a kamoshika before while driving down this road in a car once, but never been so close to one, indeed two. Fortunately, there were no bears.

In Karuizawa after Usui Pass, we made OK time.  We made a convenience store stop at the far end of town, again I needed food and rest.  It was now well into the evening and starting to rain.  We headed down the hill toward Saku, Komoro and Ueda. This should be a fast stretch, but we needed to be a bit cautious in the dark and wet, as tired as we were. Finally, we were in Ueda and found the check-point for a photo.  The rain continued, and we decided to backtrack a few blocks for dinner at the local Gusto family restaurant, one of the few sitdown choices at 945PM.  The rain had basically stopped by the time we left our dinner.

The Ueda checkpoint. ... rebuilt castle in the background.

I called the hotel in Iiyama, arranged for them to leave the key out for each of us at the reception, which closed at 11PM.  Japan is such a safe country they can leave the front door open and a key out on the counter for us. We still had 70kms to go at it was well after 10PM! I was hoping we might arrive by midnight and start at 5AM or soon after. Day 2 would be our longest day and another 8AM start was not tenable.  In hindsight, an unrealistic plan.

Zenkoji at night.

We rode together into Nagano City and up to Zenkoji, the famous temple in its hills to the NW of the city center.  From here, Jerome went ahead of me.  We were not on the route I knew between Nagano City and Iiyama -- which is a national highway just next to the river -- but instead were traveling in the foothills, on far more local roads, with more climbing.  The two men riders from the Philippines had passed me before Zenkoji. The woman rider from the Philippines and I leapfrogged each other for awhile on this stretch, her two male compatriots a bit ahead. She climbed faster than I, but I was faster on the descents and the flats. One place, I missed a turn and heard her voice from quite away back telling me that I had done so ... indeed, I checked my GPS and went back to where she had made the turn. I passed her on the downhill again. Cindy, the Malaysian rider, zoomed past me going up one of the short hills. How could someone who zoomed past me ... not be further ahead? I guess she must have had a good rest stop somewhere along the route.

Anyway, I was 20 minutes behind Jerome arriving at the hotel in Iiyama, at 2:05AM.  We had agreed to a 6:45AM departure. I slept like a log.

Day 2 we would head out of Iiyama and take a local road along the west bank of the Chikuma River, avoiding the highway on the east bank for the first 20kms or so, until we had no choice but to cross over. The route was generally flat, but it was rainy and damp. At least we were going along a river ... downstream ... through Tsunan, then Tokamachi, where we rested at a convenience store, our first stop of the day.  

Quick pitstop on the second morning

The headwinds hit as we started up the valley west of Nagaoka, heading to the north. This was what I had feared from "randoplan".  

 The headwinds start to get nasty

After a few climbs and a long slog into the wind, the route turned west and headed to the coastline at Teradomari and a photo checkpoint. This stretch of coast was crowded with holiday travelers. I went ahead and pulled over at a Family Mart to sit in shade and get some ice cream.  Jerome passed me by and went ahead and found a restaurant where he stopped. I caught up with him there and joined ... for some less-than-ideal quality pizza.  

Anyway, the stretch between here and Niigata City had its share of nasty climbs, and headwinds, and it was already sunset as we passed Niigata City on its western/coastal neighborhoods. Some houses and streets looked quite comfortable and nice -- better than my previous impressions of the city. We took a tunnel (which had an adjacent bicycle/pedestrian tunnel) under a big water channel by Niigata's airport. We followed a Japanese rider to eventually find our way through a jumble of roads and paths on the north exit from the bicycle tunnel, and eventually need to find our yakiniku restaurant for the day. The first place we tried was full, but there was an alternative a few hundred meters to the north. 

We were eating dinner well after dark, and still had over 50kms to get to Murakami, and another 100 or some from there to Sakata, all indications being we would have at least some headwind the entire way.

The ride to Murakami was uneventful, a bit of a slog, but very low traffic now, late on Sunday night.  Jerome wanted to sleep at Murakami and go on in the morning. I insisted we take a short nap then continue onward, and I knew just the place -- the benches at a gazebo in a park/viewpoint on the coast road toward Sasakawa Nagare just north of Murakami, where I had rested when I did my recumbent ride across Honshu.  It was after midnight when we finally got there. The parking lot had many vans with the sliding door open for ventilation as people slept inside.  But no one was sleeping on the gazebo benches.  We rested for 30-45 minutes, then saddled up and continued. 

The wind had quieted significantly now, in contrast to our forecast. What had happened to the typhoon?  It must be breaking up or heading further east than predicted, I thought. Anyway, it was a slog, but we rode through the night and made it to Sakata by 6am.

I had done some of this stretch in the evening back on my recumbent ride across Japan in 2023, but then I had a blessed tailwind, and I also had a mostly clear, moonlight sky. This time, the horizon and sky were just an inky black. Low, heavy cloud cover that foreshadowed the next day's rain.

The hotel had an 11AM checkout. This was the only night we needed to share a room -- I had been able to book only one and Jerome had never managed to find another.  I took the bed and Jerome the floor. I think either of us could have slept anywhere, we were so exhausted.

It was raining pretty hard when we left the hotel. We made it around 5 minutes before pulling into a Family Mart for breakfast and coffee.  It took awhile to ride out of Sakata and get onto the road north, but eventually we made decent time. Jerome said he would set a steady pace, but not a fast one.  There was a strong resonance in my mind with the 1000km effort, when we had left Shinjo -- close to but inland from Sakata -- and headed north, also on a rainy morning, and had quickly pulled off for a convenience store breakfast.  But this time I felt much better than then. I think even though I had 2 days or ridign in my legs, I had not "burned as many matches" this time. And the road we were on, along the coast, was less hilly than the route north from Shinjo into Akita. 

The day before we had looked at the photo checkpoint where we stopped heading north and went east into the mountains toward Iwate. It was a train station in Yuri Honjo ("Ugo Honjo" station). This looked identical to the checkpoint from the 1000km. Jerome even remarked something to the effect of "I have that photo already, I could just use that!" Indeed, even though we were on a different road, along the coast, we both somehow thought we were heading for the same checkpoint. I had remembered that there was not much in terms of restaurants nearby in May ... and in the rain of September the same remained true.  

About halfway from Sakata to Yuri Honjo, we came upon Cindy. She looked different than two days earlier -- tired and struggling a bit, and she said she was very happy to have other riders she could draft and borrow some power from.  She had rested near Murakami ... and ridden since 5AM, 6 hours longer than us. The three of us rode to the Yuri Honjo checkpoint, and with some difficulty found a Japanese curry place we could get a satisfying lunch on a backstreet near the station. The headwind had been relatively light in the morning, far less of an obstacle than forecast. And now we would head East!

The rain continued after lunch, but it was light rain, not massive puddles we were riding through.  I had gotten fenders from the ride -- some SKS Speedrocker clip-ons that work with my wider rims and 700x32mm tires. Today, I was very glad to have them. The bike and I were far, far less grimy than otherwise wold have been the case.

Anyway, after lunch we would have a series of climbs, first to get to Yokote, and then over a somewhat higher set of mountains into Iwate Prefecture. I was feeling good and went first ... eventually riding too fast and pulling far ahead of Jerome and Cindy.  Of course, this was a counterproductive strategy. I waited and we rode together some. Then on one stretch Jerome took a phone call and zoomed ahead, and I pulled Cindy until we got to a tunnel, where she could not quite hold my wheel.  We exited the tunnel and there was a rest area pull off. The two US based riders were there, fiddling with rain gear (poncho).  Cindy came out of the tunnel and pulled off, almost collapsed on her bike. She had blown a gasket and was distressed.  I guided her off to the rest area where there was a bench and we could sit. Jerome joined us.  At least we were basically up the hill, at least the steepest part. We rode up and down for a bit and eventually down the slope and into Yokote, where there was a Family Mart with "eat in" space and we could rest.  It was still raining, so nice not to be eating curbside. 

Brief respite from the rain in Yokote.

But there was more climbing ahead. At some point it dawned on me ... that train station where we took the photo during the 1000km ride in May, was NOT Yuri Honjo, it was here in Yokote!  I checked the photos. Very similar, but the Yokote station was lower and had some dark stained wood. I found it hilarious that we had confused them and thought we were in the same town earlier today as in May. Our brains were not functioning. 

Yokote Station in May -- not at all Ugo Honjo station!

Anyway, we continued into the next set of hills. These were somehow a bit wilder and more remote than the previous ones. Jerome stayed with Cindy this entire stretch, while I rode a bit ahead.  As we descended, there were lots of tunnels under construction built into the mountain alongside a reservoir, including plenty of "shed" half-tunnels, with some steep ups and downs.

One of many waits in the tunnels under construction ...

But eventually, at the end of a very dark and wet day, I made it into the valley of Iwate south of Morioka. Kitakami was ahead, but we would skirt it to the north, and there was a Family Mart here where I could rest and wait for Jerome and Cindy.  The family mart was in a building that also housed the local JA office, with a big lobby that the manager said I could use to sit and eat. I told him 2 friends would be along soon, and contacted Jerome to let him know where I was.  Meanwhile, the two US based riders arrived ... the manager assumed they were my friends and showed them in, and we ate and rested until Jerome and Cindy arrived and did the same. 

Shortly after we started to ride again, Cindy said she really needed sleep, and told us we should go on.  We rode together a bit more and pointed her to a coin laundry where she could at least nap while drying some clothes.  And we kept going. 

I learned that Cindy is a major long-distance cycling "influencer" in her part of the world, with over 21,000 Instagram followers, in addition to whatever her main gig is. I don't know if sleeping on the floor or on a row of chairs in a 24-hour coin laundry fits the glamorous "Instagram-able" life-style? But it is the reality. Randonneuring is all about glimpsing beautiful places you want to go back to, challenging yourself to ride superhuman distances at merely human speeds, meeting a few interesting people along the way, and resilience in the face of difficulty -- whether it be finding a place to sleep where others cannot or would not, or fixing/managing through a mechanical problem with your bike that would send most people to the shop or the train station.

Wet still in Esashi/Oshu area ... 

Jerome and I rode across then down the valley - the same road we had taken on the 1000km in May, zig zagging under the shinkansen tracks toward Esashi and into Oshu.  After a short stop, we kept on and Jerome told me he needed to adjust some things with his bike but I should continue.  I kept on most of the way to Hiraizumi when I got a text from Jerome.  He said he was being questioned by a police patrol ... what was he doing in such a dark place in the middle of the night?  They were very nice when he explained ... but they wanted to see his residence card (standard procedure) ... which he did not have with him.  Oops.  Anyway, this turned into an hour or more delay, as he called and woke his wife, who read the card info to the police, and they called and woke up their immigration contact, who checked Jerome's residence status.

Hiraizumi checkpoint. 

Approach from the temple complex

Meanwhile, I passed the Hiraizumi checkpoint at the famous temple complex there. I was glad I had actually visited it during the day in May, since you could not see much after midnight, in the dark.  At least the rain had ended now and the road was mostly dry. 

From here, the toughest part of the whole ride started for me. The route over the mountains to Ofunato included several nasty short climbs, and one nasty long one. I was in no condition to do this stretch, 3 days into the ride and 13-14 hours since leaving Sakata. I somehow made it over the first nasty climb, walking some steep parts. But I was not going fast. Jerome caught me 2/3 of the way up the big climb, and he waited for me at the top, and again on the descent. 

On the descent, I was losing concentration and it was becoming dangerous. I pulled off a few times, but almost missed Jerome as I was starting to doze on the bike near the bottom of the descent.  We finally made it into what signs told us was Rikuzentakata -- the coast!  I had imagined a ride along a flat (or nearly so) coastline to Ofunato. It was not to be. Our route took us on a very local road, through nasty hills, nearly all the way the last 10-15kms to our turn around point. This was really painful, and painfully slow.  As we got into Ofunato ... a police car pulled ahead and parked on a side street, and the officers waved Jerome over.  He said that they asked him about reports of two foreigners riding on the expressway ... nothing to do with last night's issue! They just nodded at me as I passed.  He told them he did not know anything about the expressway, and that it had not been us -- which was true.  Of course, I immediately thought about the US based riders. Had they made a mistake and gotten on the limited access (no bicycles allowed) road?!?  Anyway, I speculate. We made it to the hotel. The front desk was noticeably unfriendly for a Route Inn.  They asked for my residence card.  Jerome gave them his drivers license. We paid an extra 2000 yen per room for a 2 hour extension to Noon checkout, ate breakfast (it was nearly 730AM), then slept.

Finally, Ofunato!

It was warm, bordering on hot, and sunny, when we checked out and continued out of Ofunato, this time hugging the coast.

The town looked very active, full of tourists for silver week, everyone enjoying sunshine after far too much rain and cloudy weather. This time we went along the coast but we still had some nasty up and down to find the first checkpoint out of town -- on a little peninsula.  Jerome had ridden much of the next stretch on the 1000km, and said it was boring, at least through towns. I found it ... possible to make decent time, which made up for any other faults. And at places there were nice ocean views. All in all, the stretch through Kesennuma and Minami Sanriku was, I thought, one of the nicer bits of this ride. 

South of Ofunato

Late in the day, on the Minami Sanriku Coast - other riders just ahead.

Jerome pulled off at a roadside shack that sold cheeseburgers. I was behind him and struggled to locate him ... he was not showing location any more on Google maps, for some reason ... but eventually joined him.  It was now dark at 730PM as we arrived to the checkpoint between here and Ishinomaki. We reached the checkpoint with at least 4-5 other riders, including a Japanese rider and all 3 Philippine riders.  But we had done only 90 out of 243km planned for the day, what with our late start. At Ishinomaki, Jerome and I stopped at a convenience store for a significant (as these things go) meal and rest. Then we headed on.

After one "cat nap" beside the road, on a sidewalk behind a flower bed, west of Ishinomaki, where we got quite cold (!), we finally made decent time to Sendai, and then along the port/airport side of Sendai.  I think this stretch was probably far easier at night than it would have been in the day with traffic.  I pulled Jerome here and really wanted to make good time.  We just needed to head to, then up the Abukuma River, and another short stretch, and we would be at the 1142km final, manned checkpoint. 

Jerome wanted to find a coin laundry, and we did so in Shibata ... I think. But I remember we needed to take a confusing detour to find it, and we did not stay long. There were customers coming in and out, and the Lawson next door was being pulled apart for a thorough cleaning. It was well after midnight now, as we negotiated some rolling stretches of road along the hillside heading toward the Abukumagawa. I was dozing off and we pulled to the side of the road and I lay down for a short nap in a driveway.  An SUV drove by, stopped about 50m, and returned, the driver rolling down the window to ask if we were alright. We assured them we were resting so it would be safe for us to keep riding and they drove on. This woke me up ... but 30 minutes later I again needed to lay down by the road. 

At least now we were in the lovely valley along the river, with bamboo forests and the sound of water flowing. And persimmon trees. It was magical -- this place really is. I wish I had thought to stop and take photos, except I don't think my iPhone 16e would have done it justice in the very low light. We continued on again, and made it to the exit from the valley north of Yanagawa. Later I did snap a few shots of the dawn sky. Magical.

We were within 20km of the manned control now, and it was starting to get light, after 4AM.  We could still arrive well before the notional control "closing" ... but I still needed sleep.  I needed it badly. I was at the point where, as on the descent before Ofunato, I was worried that I could not ride safely. I also had some saddle sores after day 3's rain, and it was getting painful to sit on the bike saddle. But mostly I needed sleep. 

I was thinking. If I bail out here, I can sleep, then go by train to Yaita/Nasu Shiobara, soak in the onsen, then meet my wife a 215PM as she arrives from Tokyo and go to the onsen we booked for the next two nights.  Alternatively, I can push on, struggle to the control, sleep for an hour, then do a 450m elev climb and ride what I recall to be a quite tough stretch of hills in eastern Fukushima in the heat of the day, with an aching butt and aching feet and quite exhausted, give it my all, take a few desperate cat naps, and get to the finish before the 830PM deadline.  If I had not realized I was a few minutes from a train station, if I had not brought my rinko bag, if I had NEEDED to finish for some really important reason, if I had not just been through a magical stretch (the magic enhanced no doubt by the pre-dawn faint light and my sleep-walking or sleep-riding condition), then I would have just slept a bit then kept on going. But I did not. 

"The Dawn" statute in Yanagawa

As I rested, a few riders passed, including the two US based ones. Local farmers drove their "kei" vans and trucks by my resting place, back and forth.  I eventually went to 7-11 in Yanagawa, then on to the Yanagawa Station. 

Yanagawa Station

Eventually, after dozing off on the station steps like a homeless person, I rinko'ed my bike, went to Fukushima, stopped at a bakery for breads and coffee, then took the shinkansen to Nasu Shiobara. I left much of my gear in a locker at the station, went on the local train to Yaita, rode 2kms to the start/goal, enjoyed the onsen, chatted with Ijichi-san (who had already arrived there--the only rider I saw), then headed back to Yaita station, again rinko-ed the bike and went back to Nasu Shiobara.

Ijichi-san's Equilibrium and my RAMAX at the onsen in Yaita

My wife's train arrived shortly after I did, aroudn 2:15PM, she handed over the spare duffel she had brought so I could load all my gear. I emptied the locker, and we took the courtesy van to the onsen.

I began my recovery. 

I was very happy to begin my recovery.

Jerome finished around 6:30PM, two hours before the cutoff. 

Cindy, it turns out, finished with 7 minutes to spare, at 8:28PM (she started in wave 2 so had a 8:35PM deadline). She had rested at that coin laundry west of Kitakami until 3AM -- then started a VERY long day to get first to Ofunato then on to the manned PC. Then she pushed through to the end, without anything more than a few cat naps. Impressive resilience. And she wins the prestigious "lanterne rouge" award for being the final finisher within the time limit! Congratulations are due.

In the end, I rode 1125km in around 92 hours. I am pretty sure I could have made it to 1307 in 108.5 (183km in 16.5 hrs). The last 40+km is downhill/flat with only traffic lights as a barrier. So the real challenge would have been to get to 1267 -- the remaining 20km to and 125kms after the manned control, and much of that reasonably flat after the first long climb.

But this pace -- 1125km in 92-93 hours is still not fast enough to complete a 1200km ACP event -- which only allows 90 hours. And in the end, I would need to say that one day of rain, and one long day of headwinds ... is no worse than average. The rainfall was less and the headwinds not as strong as feared, indeed. And the climbing also on this ride, was no worse than average for Japan. PBP does not have anything like the first day climbs, the nasty stretch to Ofunato or the biggest climb in Fukushima, but it also does not have those long descents where you can rest on the bike. 

If I am going to complete 1200km and longer rides, I need to train much more, and ride faster, than I currently do. I have slacked off a lot this year, but at least I tried a few longer rides so have a good sense of where I am at, and what I need to do.  Will I do it? That is difficult to say. I don't have big plans (yet) for 2027, but I do want to make big ones for 2028. Those will turn upon me being in better condition than I am today, or at least than I was at the start of this ride.

At least I can say that, other than saddle sores (and I've had much worse), I did not feel that I punished my body in a really negative way during this ride. I felt good about the section I rode, and I felt pretty fully recovered by the time we left the onsen after two good nights' sleep, a few nice meals, and dozens of short soaks in our room's attached hotspring bath-on-deck.

About those saddle sores ...on the 1000km ride in May, I used a Fizik Arione saddle that works with the backpacking seat bag and Rixen Kaul adapter. That was fine, except I did have some painful chafing from riding in the rain.  Likewise, on the 600km ride in June where it poured rain at the start and for the first 12 hours, I had some chafing. On those rides I did not feel any discomfort, or notice any problem, ... until long after the damage was done and my skin was inflamed. This time, I brought extra chamois cream, and a zinc cream to prevent infection, as well as some "Orinin" cream to use if I did have any serious sores. AI also recommended a 3M Cavillon medical product that creates a very thin "frictionless" barrier when applied to dry, clean skin -- it works incredibly, until it wears off over a day of riding. When that wore off, I used the chamois cream, and added zinc cream where I felt even the most minor chafing.  Solved!  So the issue was not chafing. The issue was the saddle I used, and its placement. I used an inexpensive Ryet carbon 3d printed saddle, but one with a smooth top. I had used a similar Ryet on Seattle-San Francisco that has a honeycombed surface, and it was fine. I have uased another Ryet with a smooth top on 300km rides without problem. I prefer the smooth surface because it reduces friction if I move on the seat.  But the seat I used was an older one I pulled out of the drawer, not the one I used for 300km on another bike.  Look at the difference:

Ryet saddle used this trip:

Ryet saddle used on the 300km last year:

The one on the other bike has more coverage of cushion over the hard "lip" of the base, while the one I used this time has the carbon edge exposed where it can bite more into the back of my leg. Also, I think I placed the seat a bit too far forward, so I was riding such that the back of the legs was rubbing onto the edge of the saddle where it widens. The Fizik Arione, in contrast, is known for very flexible sides in this area so that the saddle moves with your legs rather than rubbing into them. I moved the saddle back some on Day 2, and a bit further on Day 3. ... but the damage was done, and no amount of creams could cure it while I continued to ride.

For at least 15 years, I used nothing but the base level of Fizik Arione saddles. They just worked for me. Some others work, some of the time, and the Ryet ones are crazy cheap and crazy light and work OK, but this time, it was not OK. I should not have swapped it in the week before the ride.

I also had more foot pain than I would like on Day 1 and 2 of this ride. And some minor stomach issues on Day 1. These all settled down, as they usually do.  The foot pain I would like to resolve a lot earlier, but I was still happy it did not get worse. I have one other pair of shoes I want to try ... 

Otherwise, I would like a shout out to my RAMAX titanium bike, and especially to the tubeless tires/ Continental 5000S TR tires and wide rim tire setup I used on this ride. I had zero flats ... in fact I needed zero tire inflation at all during the ride. Remarkable performance over 1125km including at least 400-500 kms of wet grimy roads. And the trusty Ultegra Di2 11 speed with 50-34 crank and 11-34 rear cassette worked beautifully ... though I would have been happier on the climbs approaching Ofunato with my 48-33 and 10-36 geared SRAM AXS Force. ...  

This ride was a perfect one for dynamo lighting -- I used my DT Swiss/SP Dynamo front hub and a Busch Mueller Icon IQ-XS front light as well as a tiny but bright Busch Mueller rear dynamo light at the top of my seat stay. I switched the dynamo lights off during bright daylight conditions to save 5-6 watts, but used them during the night and all low-light hours as well as in tunnels. I did not even bring a charging battery with me (though my spare, battery light can charge devices in a crunch).  I shipped a spare battery/charger to Sakata, in case needed for my iphone and Garmin, but I barely used it -- I lent it to Jerome and returned back to Yaita with it mostly full. 

I live to fight again another day.

Day One Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/20244282795

Day Two Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/20260478350

Day Three Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/20274342970

Day Four Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/20288178005