My second Olympic rider recon ride, Friday, July 23, started at Aihara near Sagamihara, went up Doshi Michi, over Mikuni Pass, and down to a station on the Odakyu Line near Odawara. It was another beastly hot day, but tolerable once up around or above 400m elevation. Doshimichi was a mob scene of local cyclists, motorbikers, and motor vehicles on the holiday weekend. Yamanakako was even worse. The only Olympians I saw were the Great Britain team (G. Thomas, T. Hart, and the Yates brothers?), heading down from Mikuni toward Yamanakako as I climbed, but not enough time for me to get out my camera or even confirm who was whom -- similar to my experience on Wednesday with the Slovenians! I wanted to shout a warning to their trailing car "traffic jam ahead!" ... but they were gone by in a flash.
The climb from the South to Mikuni Pass was mobbed with at least 10x the riders I have ever seen there, mostly walking up the steep South side in the heat. Young, old, families, roadies, cyclotourists, and more.
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| My route |
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| Detour to avoid the busy traffic around Tsukuiko |
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| Lower Doshimich |
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| The bridge at Ryogoku |
A local team rides up Doshimichi
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| Approaching the real climb |
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| At the michi-no-eki |
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| Endless line of cars trying to enter the michi-no-eki |
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| Upper Doshi |
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| Memorably good steak sandwich here - Yamanakako at the end of Doshimichi |
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| En route to Mikuni |
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| Cyclists walking up the "donut" section of Mikuni |
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Heading down from Oyama/Ashigara toward Matsuda
Japanese harmony with nature, as the expressway in the sky frames the river and mountains. |
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