Positivista Reunion; Beeren Anniversary Ride

A glorious October Sunday, a founding member Positivista visiting from Europe, and the 25th anniversary of the Beeren club team from Kobe, with two of its members now residing in Central/Western Tokyo, all created the perfect excuse for us to enjoy one of the classic Positivo Espresso routes -- the "reverse full Paul Jason" ride.

This involves riding up the Tamagawa and out of town via Itsukaichi, up the beautiful Akigawa, climbing to and then through the Kobu Tunnel, down the South side into Uenohara City, through the nasty, brutish but beautiful "Uenohara golf course hills", up the steep west side approach to Wada Pass, then down the front of Wada and home via Jimba Kaido, the Asagawa and lower Tamagawa.  135+ km and 1500-2000 meters of climbing.  Not time to blog much now, .. but enjoy these photos.

Classic victory pose on top of Wada Pass, with the rock at rear to prove the location.

Jerome edges out Juliane and Nishibe-san for the "Emperor's Cup" prize -- first hill out of Itsukaichi.
Juliane's borrowed "aero retro" helmet does little good on the climbs, as she strains with the
wide, 44cm handlebars of her borrowed steed, the Giant TCR

We tried for another group photo before the climb up the Akigawa, but the 7-11 employee had trouble finding the button on top of the camera that actually snapped the photo ... at least with my camera. ....