Ludwig, looking forward to seeing your pictures and reading your version of our "adventure". Once more, Mea Culpa Mea Culpa Mea Maxima Culpa for the Holy Fountain stop I omitted!! Did you get our elevation gain figure right? How about a map?
Ludwig, looking forward to seeing your pictures and reading your version of our "adventure". Once more, Mea Culpa Mea Culpa Mea Maxima Culpa for the Holy Fountain stop I omitted!! Did you get our elevation gain figure right? How about a map?
Here is the track, recorded with my GPS tracker:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mapmyride.com/route/jp/kanto/621126969376155001
My ride was 208km up to Ome. 220km for Tom sounds right as I had to ride 15km more at the start.
Mapmyride says we did just over 3,000m, but this includes at least Mitsumine Tunnel, so more likely we did around 2,700m. With the heavier cyclocross bike and the energy consuming riding through the snow, it felt like over 3,000m on a normal bike though.
No worries about not waiting for me at the Holy Fountain. It was better you had that race and thus made it home just in daylight. You must have raced like mad. I was at Ome station just an hour before you got home.
I also met a rider on a normal bike when I remounted at the Holy Fountain. Initially he was a bit slow, so I passed him and greeted him. He then followed me, always with about 10 meters distance, avoiding the impression he was wheel-sucking.
With 180km and all that climbing in my legs, I felt quite miserable labouring up that last 150m pass. He initially stayed behind me, then pulled up besides me and we started chatting. Thus in no time were we at the tunnel, and from there on things were easy.
He had just done Yamabushi three times and was going to another ikitomari pass in the valley down that tunnel pass. He was training for all the major hill climbs we know of - very impressive. He in turn was impressed I was able to go that fast on my cyclocross, and even more so when he learnt what I had already accomplished that day...
It wasn't my best day though - I wasn't able to push my heart rate over 160, which means I hadn't rested sufficiently during the week. Hopefully next time I will be in better form - still no match for you, Tom, I am sure, but maybe a bit less of a nuisance.
Cheers, Ludwig
The second to last photo is fantastic.. where is it exactly?
ReplyDeleteClose to the top of the rindo leading to Mitsumine Jinja. Please see the GPS track I posted - this is just before the highest point (which is Mitsumine Tunnel at about 1,250m).
ReplyDeleteEntirely possible to do with normal road bikes when the snow is gone and the rindo has been cleared from trees and debris.