Into Gunma

On my last ride before a trip to the US in mid/late August, I wanted to get Voyage Voyage (the Ti Travel bike) rebuilt and working like new so I could take it with me in the box ... this time leaving it with family in the US so that it would be there for subsequent trips over the next six months.

I rebuilt the rear wheel, replaced the rear derailleur, adjusted everything else, and was pretty much good to go. Except ... once I put on the chain and tried to shift, it was clear that the derailleur hanger, integrated into the Paragon dropout, was bent far to the inside, to the point where the bike would not shift properly on the inner 2-3 cassette cogs, and was not as smooth or crisp as it should be on the rest of the gears.

So I paid a visit to GS Astuto and Tim Smith. Tim produced this frame back in 2012, and he has the tools and knowledge to properly align the hanger and "cold work" the Ti dropout back into place without causing so much metal fatigue as to make it into a piece of junk. 

I took an early shinkansen to Takasaki, then a local to Matsuida, a few kilometers from his home/shop/cafe - GS Astuto Matsuida Base. It was already hot as I rode to the station in Tokyo ... but Gunma air felt fresh, a breeze and while it was going to warm up it was still tolerable. The renovation work on his home/shop/cafe has advanced dramatically since my last visit, the finish line in sight.

My bike bag has the Matsuida train station parking lot to itself!

Fortunately, Ti is a lot more resilient and less subject to fatigue than aluminum alloys, and the Paragon dropout is beefy to begin with. So Tim was able to get it properly aligned.

Tim puts his shoulder into undoing the damage from the pickup truck.

Back in alignment.

Visible damage to the dropout from the pickup truck crash in Washington State.
... but the dropout has enough extra material so it still functions.

The master, Tim Smith, with the fully repaired Voyage Voyage

The repair was done and now I had a bike that was rideable, and a glorious day in Gunma to ride it.

Where to go? As already reported on Strava, ....

My initial thought was to head back to Tokyo (Plan A).  

I headed ESE from Matsuida

I've been through here before ... on the way to Tomioka/Fujioka

Some welcome shade as I pass Higashi Tomioka Station

As I rode, I decided to go via Chichibu (Plan B).  

Looking out over the Oni-ishi (鬼石) area of Fujioka, and toward the Saitama/Chichibu border.

But then I thought ... I am already at the entrance to route 462 and nice areas of southern Gunma mountains, so maybe I can go into Kanna and over Tsuchisaka Pass (Plan C). 

I took a detour on the south side of the big reservoir in Kanna (Plan D).

I had a good feeling about the detour -- very very low traffic volumes!

Left side Saitama, right side Gunma!

Small solar farms on the hillside just above Route 462.

Viewpoint above the dam.

The sound of the water and a bit of mist gave welcome cooling on a climb.

The road on the South shore of the lake ... was fine with my very grippy Panaracer Agilest tires.

Big suicide prevention hotline sign at the entrance to a bridge over the lake. ... I wonder why here?

When I finally got to the entrance to the Tsuchisaka climb and saw that the road was closed. So I continued toward Shigasaka Pass and thought, perhaps I would do the rindo between Shigasaka and the Mitsumine entrance area (Plan E).  I decided that would be too long a trip home. 

Maybe just Shigasaka and Route 299 then Yamabushi and on to Oume (Plan F). 

Men fishing for Ayu in the Kanna-gawa

But I did not want to do the crowded slog up Route 299 to the tunnel entrance, and thought ... if I just go West, I can go over Jukkoku and down to Saku, and hop the Shinkansen home. Nice route, cooler weather, and someplace I do not get to as much as I would like. Fast train. ... (Plan G).  

But as I got to the west end of Uenomura, the weather forecast showed thunderstorms over Yatsugatake and heading toward Jukkoku. I got stuck up there once when the weather turned on me, alone, and that was one of the scarier circumstances of my rides in Japan all these years. A bit of PTSD?  

I am the blue dot at the right edge. ... would go toward the storms if over Jukkoku.

I stopped at my favorite Kawa-no-eki in Uenomura to figure out my plan.

Back of display cabinet in the window at Kawa-no-Eki

The valley toward Budoh Pass.

Anyway, I would go through the tunnel out of Uenomura to the North to Nanmoku, as in my Tyler Hamilton commemorative ride, and down to Shimonita and take the train from there. (Plan H).

  ... except that I missed the train and instead rode to Takasaki (Plan I) rather than wait 40 minutes for the next very slow, local train. 

It was a glorious day on the bicycle ... until my tubeless setup failed me between Shimonita and Takasaki, necessitating repeated stops and attempts to pump up first the rear, then the front tires. The rear held air once I added a bit more sealant and tightened the valve ... but the front, which first lost air aboug 15kms from Takasaki Station, was hopeless. I made it on average 2-3kms between pumpings -- just far enough so that it was not worth removing the valves and putting in tubes. (Of course, once I was home and had a proper pump to mount tubeless tires, it was no problem getting it working again.)

Rear tire lost air here ... Nanmoku.

Front tire lost air near here, about 15kms from Takasaki

Shimonita has its Konnyaku Park ... so the town down the road has a Mentai Park.
I thought mentai was from the sea ... fish roe?!

In the end, my Plan I ride looked like this: