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

North to the Lone Sakura Tree ... and the home of the Esashi/Hiraizumi/Oshu/Northern Fujiwara

In May 2024 Golden Week, Jerome and I decided to join a Nihonbashi 1000km ride that left Tokyo and headed for Tohoku. The checkpoints were designed around statues of the famous Japanese Edo period poet Basho.  Basho traveled a lot, and documented his travels and wrote verses about the places he visited. He is an iconic figure. So Japan is full of Basho statues, and they make useful photo checkpoints for cyclists!

Anyway, I was certainly not in shape to do a 1000km ride, and after the riding 12+ hours and going up to a high point in Nasu Kogen near the “killing stone” of legend and descending down into Shirakawa, southern Fukushima, slogging all the way to the coast of Miyagi around Watari-cho,  we abandoned the ride. I made it 417kms in 27 hours then called it quits.

We took a train to Ishinomaki and the next day rode straight through to Shinjo in Northern Yamagata. After a second night, in Shinjo, I hopped a morning train back to Tokyo while Jerome rode down the coast past the beautiful  Sasakawa Nagare to Niigata and took a train the from there.

Anyway, that 2024 attempt taught me not to try and ride a 1000km event without careful training and buildup. It was kind of like when I tried to do the Okayama 1200km event in 2021 on minimal training and preparation. (“Ikinari 1200km”).  

But I have a short memory. 

So, apparently, does Jerome. 

Or maybe we had enough fun doing our ride to Shinjo in 2024 and enjoying the countryside on bicycle that … that 2024 Golden Week plan did not seem like a failure.

So this year, we again signed up for a 1000km brevet over Golden Week, this one sponsored by AJ Utsunomiya, with a start in Yaita at the same location as the 600km AJ Utsunomiya event I rode last May (conveniently close to my wife’s favorite onsen – favored for the quality of the waters, not the food nor luxury).

This time, we agreed, we need to complete the event! 

The course was not particularly easy, but also nothing looked fatally difficult about it either.  It would be the same start as my 600km last year … a long gradual climb out of Tochigi from Yaita through Nasu and Oku Nikko to 800-900m elevation, and over the top into Minami Aizu. Then a long gradual downhill to Aizu Wakamatsu.  After riding north through the inland plain from Aizu Wakamatsu, there was a second climb over Oo-touge  (and through some tunnels -- to shave off the highest points) into Yamagata, then a second long flat stretch up the valley to Shinjo, km 287.

I had booked a hotel in Yuzawa, Akita-ken, around km 360, on the theory that the first day should be the longest. But the event did not start until 8AM, so that would make for an arrival at Yuzawa long after midnight, perhaps after ~420AM first light. So at Jerome’s urging we instead booked Shinjo.

The second day would have lots of shorter up and down, then a flat section from Morioka to Oshu in Iwate, then we would go over the coastal mountains to Rikuzen Takata and Kesennuma – towns whose names we know all too well from the 2011 tsunami. Kesennuma was 340kms from Shinjo, so a long day again, but there was no place to stop really between Oshu and Rikuzentakata/Kesennuma area, and from Kesennuma the final stretch – a day, a night, and a final morning – was still 370kms.

The third day route followed the coast down past Sendai, then headed inland and up onto the highlands of Fukushima between the coast and the “nakadori” central valley. That hilly section, with lots of shorter nasty climbs and already 800+ kms done, looked like the greatest challenge. Again, I had experienced some of that on last year’s 600km ride and felt I slowed to a crawl for some time. At least this time I would be ready mentally. 

The last 90km looked not bad – again it seemed to track close to last year’s 600km. There were some climbs, but none too long, and once on the Fukushima-Tochigi border, we could just roll downhill and then through Otawara/Yaita the final 25km+. 

A few days before the event I checked the weather forecast on the “Randoplan” app, which uses Apple Weather (or one of several other weather sources). Day 1 looked fine, except for some risk of rain early on, and a very high likelihood we would be wet at night. Day 2 would start wet, then the rain would stop around 9AM. From then on, it seemed highly likely to be dry, but with vicious headwinds. Flashbacks of the fleche!

I decided to ride the RAMAX for this event. I had gotten it nicely “dialed in” during our attempt at a Fleche at the beginning of April, and a new rear cassette (11-34), some rear hub maintenance, new bar tape, a somewhat lighter and faster rear tire (Schwalbe One Pro 700x32) and a new bike bag from Rixen & Kaul (The Bikepacker Waterproof X) would give me plenty of space to carry what I needed, an easy to remove/attach bag and no “swaying” like some bikepacking bags. I went back to my old “standard” saddle, a Fizik Arione (R3), since my Ryet saddles’ carbon rails did not work with the Rixen Kaul “klickfix” attachment. Indeed, my bike setup worked almost perfectly during this ride. Zero flat tires (or at least zero that were not sealed up by tubeless sealant quickly enough so I did not notice). My only issue was some feet pain on Day 1 – solved completely when I lowered the seat by maybe just under a centimeter. Riding this bike with ~50psi pressure and 700x32 tires was a real “magic carpet ride” over what, a decade ago on 80-90psi 700x25 tires, would have been very punishing roads – potholes remaining from snow and ice that covered them only a few months ago.

My main concern with the forecast was the wind. Days 1 and 2 the wind was unlikely to be a problem. In fact, Randoplan reported that we would gain about an hour each day due to wind direction. It was the final day/night/morning stretch that looked problematic. The forecast showed a loss of around 4 hours due to headwinds. I tried shift our start time earlier or later as much as 3-4 hours, and nothing helped in terms of wind loss – either approach just made things worse. Oh well, we still had a few days before the event, and would check the forecast again.

Jerome and I met at Tokyo Station, grabbed a bite, took the Tohoku Shinkansen to Tochigi and got to our respective hotels (in Yaita and Nishinasuno). Tokyo Station was a mob scene, with train delays of around 20-30 minutes due to the Golden Week rush. 

After a decent night of sleep it was easy to be at the start before 730AM for a briefing from Tanami-san, the AJ Utsunomiya staff in charge. The forecast had not changed much (the headwind forecast was, if anything worse), except day 1 seemed less likely to have any rain until evening. The headwind seemed likely to be the main challenge. My hope was that if we got that far, on schedule, we would just gut it out the final 300km, using every available minute.

There were only 12 riders. The entry list had been larger, nearly 20, but a few DNS and a pre-ride by Tanami-san and it became a very small group. That was just fine. 

Masahito Sato, one of the entrants who was an AJ Utsunomiya staffer, told me he remembered me from a Choshi 400km. I thought he was probably referring to a long-ago AJ Utsunomiya event that went to Choshi and back, … but a few hours later I realized he might have meant the Iwaki-Choshi-Iwaki 400km ride I had done last  year? I wanted to confirm with him … but never caught up to ask!  Another rider, Akira Tomatsuri, said he had chatted with me at a rest stop on the February 300km to Oarai and back, and at least I did remember him from that even more recent event. His name is unusual enough that I won't forget it.

We cleared the bike check and I headed out, the first rider to do so. I caught the first couple traffic lights on green and did not see any riders behind me at all.  … After around 10km, the first rider passed me.  By 15km in, nearly all (including Jerome) had passed me, and I was near the back of the pack. But I was making decent time, in decent (dry) weather, and I knew the climb from last year, so I was not worried.  At one point, I could see Jerome and one other rider ahead at a distance. I saw Jerome about to follow the other rider straight when my GPS told me that we needed to turn left. I hollered at the top of my voice, and Jerome stopped … the other rider continued, not sure for how long.  When I caught up and told Jerome we turned left up a short, steep hill to a nearly parallel road that gradually edged away to the left, farther and farther, he pulled over for a convenience store stop. 

At one point, well up the hill, the climb does a big switchback and the road goes on a kind of sky bridge. I could see Jerome below me, after I made the switchback. I was probably 500 meters ahead, and at least 30-35 meters higher. I remained ahead until the top of the hill.  

The route takes a slight dip once in Oku Nikko, then climbs again to a second top before starting the real, gradual descent into Minami Aizu. 

We had a nice, gentle tailwind!  This was a huge difference from last year's 600k, I realized. We had been descending into a headwind!  We made good time to PC1, the To-no-hetsuri, a lovely cliff carved by a river that is a nice tourist stop. 

Jerome was entering the PC area just as I left.  I remained ahead on the descent into Aizu and through the town itself.  I pulled off for a rest at a convenience store at km 122, and Jerome joined me.  He had had a slow start but was finding his rhythm. 

Knowing that eventually Jerome will pass me, I headed out first from the rest stop.  (Tomatsuri-san pulled in just as I was leaving.) Indeed, Jerome caught me near the top of the climb to Otoge [tunnel] – a long tunnel at the end of which we enter Yamagata. He waited for me at the far end of the tunnel and I passed him again as he seemed preoccupied with his emails/phone.

Thus began a second long descent toward Yonezawa.  My Garmin GPS map froze at this point . …  I just kept descending until I finally decided to check my phone’s GPS … and saw that I had gone off course, past a left turn.  I retraced the route about 1km up the hill, made the right turn, and finally saved my activity on the Garmin unit, restarted a new activity … no luck in unfreezing the screen … so rebooted the device. Finally it was working and I was back on track. 

Jerome had passed me during this navigation mistake. I have gotten so accustomed to a GPS that works that I no longer have my cue sheet out where I can read it in real time.  I recently switched from an aging Wahoo Element Bolt V2 unit to a new (close-out sale) Garmin Edge 1040. The main selling points of the Garmin are far-longer battery life, a bigger screen, and integration with Garmin Connect, which I use with a Garmin watch I can rely on for other activity and health tracking when I don’t need the maps or the cycling data right at my stem/bars. But the Wahoo has been “bombproof” and has not frozen up during a ride in years, and it has physical buttons instead of a touch screen, which I much prefer. I find the Garmin not intuitive, and offering way too many choices. I hope eventually I will get it set just the way I like, and that the Garmin works out. I can certainly use the battery life! 

Jerome waited for me (with another rider) at the next PC, a small (no staff) train station about 16 kms further along).  We rode much of the remainder of the first day, another 100kms, together or close by. Jerome was going faster, pushing a much bigger gear than me (or anyone else), but he also stopped more and let me catch up or leap frog.  The gentle tailwind continued and this part of the course was generally flat as we tracked the Mogami-gawa, a great river that looks more like a smaller version of the Mississippi or Missouri than the typical short, fast, steep Japanese river. Only a month ago there had been talk of drought in eastern/northern Japan, and only 10 days ago there had been forest fires further along our route in Iwate. But now balance had been restored. The rivers were full, in some cases even over their banks and flowing around the base of trees. 

Based upon our weather forecast, it was only a matter of time before the rain started. We were expecting to get soaking wet before making it to our hotel in Shinjo.  But the rain held off longer than expected, and when it came it was warm and very modest drizzle. This was a very nice surprise – to get through the first day without needing any more rain gear than a basic rain shell. No rain gloves, rain chaps, shoe covers, leg warmers, etc. 

We made it to Shinjo and our hotel shortly after 11PM – on track, even an hour earlier than expected due to the favorable conditions. Everything was working well.  The hotel, on the east side of the Shinjo Station, had no restaurants nearby and even the nearest convenience store at that our was a 10 minute walk. I hopped on my bike and rode over there, got Jerome and myself some food for before bed and pre-ride breakfast. We agreed to depart at 530AM.

The next morning, it was raining, and a bit colder, I thought. I put on my full rain gear, and within 3-4 kms was overheating.  A few minutes later, between 6-7 kms from our start, we stopped at a Lawson for some more breakfast food and coffee, and I stripped off all that extra gear (except the rain jacket and shoe covers). We finally got going again well after 6AM. The first 30+km of the morning was tough for me. I just could not get going. The rain was not heavy, but we were climbing (net, with plenty of down as well as up) toward the Akita border. My GPS unit’s elevation reading was out of whack. It showed elevation decreasing as I climbed a hill. It reset repeatedly and I had no idea how high I was or how high I would be at the Akita border. At a couple places we diverted to the “old road”, as the new “bypass” highway did not allow bikes. We went up a steep hill as the bypass went through the hill via a tunnel. Finally, we got to a long tunnel that had a thick line drawn around its arch near the middle, deep under the mountain, “Akita” written on the far side of the line and “Yamagata” on the near side (in Japanese). Finally, we hit a fast stretch. Just out of the tunnel there was a gradual descent of a couple kms, then a slight downhill all the way to Yuzawa. I was getting soaked but not too cold and finally felt in sync. 

Further on, we snapped our checkpoint photos at Yokote Station and headed east up into the mountains, just behind another rider who left as I was rolling into the station roundabout. 

Again, my elevation reading was way off and I could not tell how high we were. Jerome went ahead. I passed a rider resting at a convenience store, glued to his phone screen. Eventually, I got to a sign indicating I had entered Iwate, and my elevation jumped from under 100m to nearly 300m.  The “entering Iwate” sign surprised me as I had thought we would remain in Akita as we went up an internal valley toward the north. 

Nope, the rest of the day would be in Iwate. After a descent to a reservoir and a bit of a town, I wanted to find lunch and called ahead to Jerome. He had just found a cafeteria and was 1~2kms ahead. We ate lunch of Japanese curry with pork katsu. It stuck to the ribs. It was after noon already and we had only gone just over 100km … toward a target of 340kms for the day. Way too far still remaining. At least the rain had ended.

But there was a TV on in the cafeteria, and a brief weather report where the NHK weather announcer declared that there would be rain all over our region for the next 3 hours. I rechecked my iPhone weather and it was a lot more ambiguous. I had thought, based upon the most recent Randoplan, that we were DONE with our rain for the entire 1000kms!!

We made it up along this interior route, gradually climbing a bit over the next 50kms, then a short descent into Shizukuishi, 150kms from Shinjo, where the route made a 22km loop detour to the north to pass Koiwai Farm where we could see (and take a proof-of-passage photo of) the 一本桜 – a solitary Sakura tree in the midst of a field of grass. At the start of this detour, I pulled off at a Lawson to get some extra supplies, while Jerome went ahead.  Shortly after, by now past 3PM, the rain arrived. We each got hit with squall-like blasts of wind and rain. It was cold. I put on my rain jacket and eventually pulled up my leg warmers. It would rain from now until I called it quits for the night almost 8 hours later. The wind was from the west here, so our detour had us facing it briefly. It was brutal – difficult to make progress – and I breathed a sigh of relief when the route shifted north, then east, and I did not need to fight the wind at least. 

Jerome waited for me at Koiwai Farm. Another rider had been there as well, and Jerome had gone past the checkpoint spot and needed to return, he said, not even realizing that the other rider was one of our event and was at the PC taking a photo … in the rain. 

The last part of the Koiwai loop was a gradual descent to the SSE.  The rain was harder, and colder now, and pretty miserable. There was heavy traffic even on a country road, and as I passed a staff parking area exit from part of the Koiwai Farm complex, I could swear that a woman in a car waiting to pull out and head home … was laughing at the ridiculous soaked cyclists in this weather. I probably imagined it. 

Anyway, we made it down the hill and to the west edge of Morioka, where our route swung to the southeast just at the edge of the city.  At around 185kms from Shinjo, we stopped at a Gusto for dinner. Jerome had wanted to ride further before dinner, but I recalled that we were about to enter a “no restaurant zone”, if I remembered the route from a trip in 2017. That proved correct. We ate dinner and stayed a bit longer, hoping the rain would stop. It did, for a few minutes. We thought, based upon the forecast, that surely we would outrun it as we headed east, away from the mountains and far from the Sea of Japan, and then south along the eastern edge of this huge Iwate internal valley all the way from Morioka to Oshu … well over 60kms. It was dark now, and the rain waves kept coming. The wind was usually a crosswind, but at times shifted in front. And it was very cold. I had my rain gloves and rain chaps on now, as well as, rain jacket and headband in early May, but I was cold. 

At dinner Jerome had suggested his goal was to get me to finish the event with him. I immediately pushed back and told him he should go on ahead in the evening and not wait for me. I had grave doubts I could make it to Kesennuma.  I had booked a twin room with two beds. I called the hotel and told them to let Jerome use it as he would arrive ahead of me. (I didn’t say it, but I was thinking “if I arrive at all”).

I never fully recovered from the dinner stop. I think I ate too much, and I was cold, wet, and pushing against a cross wind.  I would not have felt cold if I had not been pretty exhausted. Our route zigged and zagged under the Tohoku Shinkansen tracks, which reminded me of the Isabella Bird Tohoku rides back in 2017 Golden Week – we had passed here on a lovely morning. After riding together the first half hour or so, Jerome was now well ahead of me. Even at night, I could see very dark patches of cloudy gloom where hard rain was coming at me, and felt good that I had outrun one or two of them as they moved across the valley to the North behind me. But it was still raining and eventually I got caught in one of the hard rain squalls. 

I pulled off under the shinkansen tracks and called several hotels in the Mizusawa/Esashi areas of Oshu-shi. On the fourth call, I finally got a place that could give me a single room, in Esashi. It was 730PM and I was around 42kms away. In this wind and rain, I told them I would arrive around 1030PM.  Indeed, even on a flat easy course, with one convenience store stop en route as I entered town just to get my bearings so I did not miss the hotel, I did arrive at 1030PM. I was still 90kms from Kesennuma.  With a need for rest stops, I would have taken at least another 6-7 hours to arrive there, only to sleep a few hours, then face that headwind for the final 370km. I had done 250kms the second day and it had been 16 ½ hours since we left Shinjo, and that was enough.

At this point, Jerome was close to 90 minutes ahead of me. Even so, he did not arrive in Kesennuma at the hotel until 4AM, riding the last 5km with a gradually flatting front tire.

I slept until 5AM, woke and drank liquids, and slept again … until the phone rang at 1020AM, with the front desk politely but firmly reminding me that they had a 10AM checkout time! I was packed and out of the room a few minutes later.  Jerome reported that he left his hotel, 90kms ahead of me, at 9:45AM. He still had over 25 hours to make it 370kms – well within his capabilities, even with 630kms in his legs already. He struggled the first 30-40 kms, taking well over 2 hours, then found his rhythm again. 

That might have been the end of the adventure for me, 540kms – 290km on day 1, then 250km on day 2. But actually, despite my exhaustion and need for sleep the night before … nothing in my body was hurting, everything was working fine, chamois cream had nipped any chafing in the bud, the seat adjustment worked and my trusty Fizik Arione saddle was proving more comfortable than the light weight Ryet saddles I have used in recent years, the large and long platform allowing me to shift position.  My fade-out the night before was only to be expected, given my inadequate training with only a single ride longer than 100kms since that 300km brevet in February.

It was a beautiful day, and Jerome was still on course, and I had a plan to my wife in Tochigi midday on the 7th, 27 hours later.  On my way into Esashi at night, I saw some signs mentioning the “Esashi Fujiwara” and pointing to some kind of tourist attraction. I did some reading online about Fujiwara no Kiyohira, a lord who established the northern Fujiwara dynasty in the 11th century, eventually relocating from Esashi to Hiraizumi where they built a massive temple complex centered around Chusonji, on a strategic hilltop aside the main North/South roads and the river that flowed through the valley.

Kiyohira’s mother was an “Emishi” (akin to the “Ezo” indigenous people of Hokkaido), and his father was essentially a lord outside the control of the ruling government to the south. Kiyohira ultimately lost his parents, siblings, wife, and child to wars, and he ended up being raised as a step-son by one of his father’s enemies. This was a brutal period in Japan’s long brutal history. In the end, Kiyohira gained control of the area and established a dynasty. 

Bike parking for the Hiraizumi temple complex

The temple complex eventually expanded to include over 40 halls and 300 monks’ residences. It was dedicated to all victims of war. The dynasty survived most of the 12th century, until a defeat at the hands of Minamoto no Yoritomo. This defeat, and later fires, destroyed much of the complex that had once been said to rival Kyoto, but Chusonji and a number of other buildings remain or have been rebuilt, and the area is now a World Cultural Heritage Site.

I rode south to Hiraizumi and walked through the complex and inside the Kinkonji structure. It was a lovely day, a lovely break, and notable that a sizeable crowd still did not make the place feel at all congested.  Nor did I see more than one or two other foreigners, nor hear more than a single non-Japanese conversation. Where are the foreign tourists?  Not at Chusonji/Hiraizumi in Iwate!

Basho was here also!

I hopped the train from Ichinoseki to Sendai – standing room only next to the exit of the Shinkansen unreserved seating cars – then onward by local train to Natori.  From there I could ride a few kilometers to a yakiniku restaurant on the brevet course. My timing was perfect and I showed up maybe 15-20 minutes before Jerome. We could get a table in between other reservations and in 20-25 minutes get dinner. I sent him back on his way and returned to Natori station. 

I had booked a hotel reservation (non-cancellable/same day) in Utsunomiya as my wife had asked if I could meet her there in the morning to go to a specific store before our onsen trip … so I went back to Sendai and got on another jammed shinkansen south … just as she reported that the store did not have the item she wanted so there was no need to go to Utsunomiya. Oh well, at least I got a good last-minute deal on a hotel right by the station, ate some gyoza, slept well again, ate a nice hotel breakfast, and then headed north.  My plan was to meet Jerome at the goal, eat lunch, then head to the onsen. 

I got a message that he had made an error in navigation and added 15kms to his route. He was now well behind schedule to finish at the 11AM deadline. I had a pleasant ride north … passing Sakura-shi/Ujiie and on to the goal in Yaita. It was already Noon and Jerome was still 25km+ away.  I headed NNE through Otawara and Nasu Shiobara. We met almost perfectly where a road bore off to the NW and toward Nasu Shiobara shinkansen station. There we got lunch and a well-deserved beer, and he headed for the shinkansen, while I headed to the nearby onsen.

All in all, I rode 290+250+45+55 kms. This was much needed training and a delightful time of year to be on the bike and in the countryside. I’ll need to put this training to good use and complete my Audax series. I’m looking for 400km and 600km rides to do so, and ideally another 1000km or 1200km ride later in the year … schedule permitting. Since returning from my final California visit in early March it has been difficult to ride as much as I used to, given other commitments, longer recovery time, and just plain laziness. At least this ride gives me plenty of base for the next adventure.