It just had to happen...It was of course complete insanity to go out cycling in this kind of scorching weather in the first place. Yes POSITIVO ESPRESSO suffered its very first fatality...well nearly that is! Michael was on the brink of disintegration following an excruciating climb of Dozaka-toge and he would have surely gone belly up if a tender-hearted Jerome had not supported him all the way to the top. On top of Dozaka-toge (Yamanashi Pref) is where Michael fell apart at the seams...
Up to Dozaka, the ride was piping hot but all four us, Michael, Jerome, Nishibe-san and I managed to cool ourselves down making stops here and there for manju and drinks, lunch, bucket-full of ice cold water...we were actually going at a very decent pace. Road 35 through Akiyama-mura is quite peaceful, little traffic and moving gently more up than down to the Hinazuru-toge tunnel. Fortunately for Michael, the long refreshing Doshimichi downhill was waiting for us. Somewhere midway, we filled up our bottles and cooled off our heads under a huge faucet with cold water forcefully pouring out...we had no idea that we would be in a real Turkish bath half an hour later...at one section the road was completely wet and steaming after a passing rain must have gone through the area. Later I found out that there had been an incredible downpour over Fuchu which even brought the Keio Line to a temporarily standstill. The Turkish bath felt so nice...especially when a dump truck would pass by and sprinkle you all over with misty water. Michael recovered litlle by bit but it was Jerome who got his second wind as usual late into the ride. Jerome even resolutely decided to continue riding all the way to Kamakura over Yabitsu! Crazy!! Michael decided to hop a train at Sagamiko Station and Nishibe felt by a hunger knock and I attacked the fourth and last climb of the day, Otarumi which felt so minor in comparison to Dozaka! Curious to see Michael's graphs of the ride with his analysis! We were lucky we did not lose Michael but all in all, it was a great day of cycling! 
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