Some Quality Time Alone with Sakamoto Ryoma

Sakamoto Ryoma contemplates the world outside Japan, looking out from Shimoda Harbor.
(Always impressed with the iphone 11Pro's night vision-like camera. This scene was near pitch dark.)

This weekend I joined an Audax Kanagawa 300km brevet, from Kamakura/Zushi to Minami Izu and back. This route, down Route 135 along the eastern coast of Izu, is known for very heavy traffic at least as far south as Atami or even Ito. There are cyclists on it, but it took me years before I dared it, and it is not fun to ride with a constant line of cars whizzing by, sometimes only inches away. 

The solution -- ride it at night while the drivers are asleep in their beds! An 8PM start meant that around 12 hours (out of a 16 hour ride) were in low (or no) traffic.  The last 45 minutes of the ride was next to a line of standing cars along the coast road from east of Enoshima all the way to Zushi -- so if you count riding through what is essentially a parking lot also as "low traffic", at least "low danger from traffic", that would make it nearly 13 out of 16 hours.

Pre-ride briefing, at the West entrance to Kamakura Station

Organizers Maya Ide and Honda-san chat with riders

It was a beautiful night, the temperature never below 10 degrees C (50 fahrenheit) along our route, a full moon visible until nearly morning, only partially obstructed by clouds from time to time. Sunday we finished just as a light rain shower started. 

Typical audax scene - at the turn around in Minami Izu. Warm enough to eat outside!
(Family Mart just across from closed michi-no-eki)

First photo of the night - heading south, at Usami just before Ito

The ride included nearly 3000 meters of elevation gain, all of it in the "middle 220kms" along Izu, none in the first or last 40km. That would be too much for the recumbent, not to mention the stress it would have added riding the Pelso through the "parking lot" of traffic the last 20kms, so I was on Sky Blue Parlee. My usual brevet rear wheel is in need of a rebuild, so I got out the Gokiso rear wheel ... the bike felt fast, maneuverable, and stable. It advanced with minimal effort. And with this setup and at my current rather heavy body weight, I descended REALLY FAST. At one point I was doing an "accordion" ride with another randonneur, Ohno-san, who had done Okayama 1200 with us in April. He would distance me on the climb, and I would catch or pass him on the descent. Repeat. Repeat again. 

This ride offered a chance to at least say hello to numerous friends.  The organizers, Maya Ide and K. Honda, are longtime Kanagawa leaders, thanks to whom I have enjoyed countless brevets. Indeed, my first brevet ever was a Kanagawa 400k back in 2009. Ryu-san, the alongtime Saitama and AJ leader, was there. He has lost weight and grumbled about the headwinds, but looks as strong as ever. Joe Wein rode this one on his Elephant National Forest Explorer. Many others. Even a third "gaijin" rider -- a strong younger first time randonneur named Benedikt, from Iceland.

One highlight was the "foot bath" in the park next to Shimoda harbor. Ohno-san had stopped there on the outbound leg, and told me the location when he caught up again at the turnaround control point. Then there was also a big "FOOT BATH ->" sign in English at the park entrance, to help distinguish the gazebo with the hot spring water from others that had only benches. Looking out at the Ryoma statute, I could lie on my back on the ground, feet in the 15~20cm of water, it removed all the stress and strain of the ride in only a few minutes, and was just enough to warm my entire body on a night like this. I could have fallen asleep and stayed there until morning. But, this is a brevet. There is not a moment to waste! At least not any more than necessary. So the total stop was only 15-20 minutes, the time lying down even less. And it was back on the road!

Ahh!

Lovely, free, 24-hour public facility -- the hot spring is barely noticeable, inside the trench.

Anyway, it was a lovely ride, except that patch of 3~4 hours of heavy traffic between Ito and Enoshima on the return. Riding at night, not to hot nor cold, a confident bicycle, smooth roads, good lighting, the calming sound of waves breaking against rocks, their white foam visible when all else is dark. 

Moon over the Kawazugawa

First light

More first light

On local route 109 between Izu Kogen and Ito - lovely road

Still south of Atami, but back on the main road

Surfers at Yugawara

Since Jerome told me that my 2015 Japan Audax vest is not as visible as it should be, I have been using my Proviz runner's vest for these events. Very light weight and breathable, and very bright. A real winner.

Reflective vest in normal light

Reflective vest with camera flash

This was my last scheduled audax event of the year. I really look forward to more "traditional" (not just "remote") brevets in 2022, riding with, or not far from, friends.

Which Bike is Faster, the Parlee or the Pelso?

On Strava, this ride on the Parlee showed an average moving speed of 22.3kph over 302 kms.
Last weekend on the Pelso, my average speed was 21.7kph according to Strava. And that was a much flatter course. So is the Pelso slower, even on a flat course? Not necessarily.

A number of adjustments are needed.
--First, recall that my GPS was turned off for probably the fastest 10km after Oume -- the descent to Hanno. That section could have boosted the average speed.
--The event on the Parlee was 100km shorter, and I rode another 25kms total to/from the start of the other event, on the Pelso. 

My speed gradually drops over most rides, so the comparison is not at all even. On the Kanagawa/Parlee ride, I was going an average of 28.7kph to the first checkpoint, nearly 50kms in. And the first 150km, including almost 1500m of climbing, took only 6 hr 49 minutes. If I had just turned around and ridden back (without any rest, foot bath, nor drop in speed) I would have finished in 13 hrs 38 minutes, rather than, the actual 16 hrs 57 minutes. Add in another 100kms at the end with a slower, tired rider, and my average speed would likely have slipped significantly.

Also, I don't think the Pelso is fully optimized yet. Nor is the Pelso rider. I am going to try a shorter crankset (165mm instead of 170mm) as many prefer on a recumbent, and try a 44t crank instead of 42t, to get a wee bit more speed on the flats and descents. Finally, I want to try 700x30 or 700x32 tire, instead of the current 700x25 tires, to see if a bit more fork "trail" makes the bike more stable and comfortable when going at low speed.