Too Nice A Day Not to Ride -- Kita Akigawa Spin

Today was a beautiful Monday, perfect riding weather and the sakura blossoming all around the Tokyo area.  So I headed out of the house and turned left, heading toward then upriver.

Just after passing the first traffic signal, Kanpachi Dori, I saw Tominaga-san, heading in to work. I said his name and he did a double take, recognizing me for the first time and looking a bit surprised that I was heading west, then was gone.



I stopped just past the Odakyu Line to take some photos of the sakura.  And again just after crossing the Tamagawa on Route 16.

I had to remind myself repeatedly not to stop more times -- already plenty of photos of sakura on the internet.

I was thinking of climbing to Tomin no Mori, but in the end opted for a shorter, easier trip up the North Akigawa.  A beautiful river valley, almost no traffic.  Around 130 kms for the day, so a decent workout, though not very scientific training.

Bike leaning -- Canyon Shark and Gokisos!

I went as far as the bottom of the climb to the mushroom research center (キノコセンター).

"Only" 3.9 kms to the Kinoko Center -- straight up!

At my turn around.

The Reverse Paul J.

I wanted to get in a good training ride today, but be back by 2PM.  So headed out around I rode Ride Number 9 in our Rides Near Tokyo series.  140kms and 3 good climbing stretches -- Akigawa/Kobu tunnel, the Uenohara golf course hills, and the "Ura Wada" Pass climb.

The interesting part of the ride -- up the Akigawa (to the North), then back over Wada Pass and in Jimba Kaido).

The riding conditions were perfect -- cool but not so cold you need to burn up most of your energy just maintaining your body temperature.  I was feeling pretty good about my pace, a bit tired legs from a Powercranks training session Thursday evening.  But still I was passing other riders and not being passed.  I stopped at the Itsukaichi 7-11.  Just as I had remounted and was heading up the next hill, a foreigner went zooming by me on a black Trek roadbike.  He looked as if he was probably 5 cms taller and 10-20 kgs lighter than me, and apparently he was stronger as well.  He disappeared into the distance so quickly it felt as if I was pedalling in place.  I guess I was not going all that fast. ... indeed not fast at all.

Almost sunny, on the climb to Kobu Tunnel.

In the Uenohara "golf course hills" -- always peaceful, and painfully steep.

Ura Wada road -- closed half way up due to road subsidence and dangerous falling rocks.
... but easy to go around the gate on either side, and I was not the only cyclist on the upper section.

The road off the back of Wada Pass really is falling away to one side. ... but no problem for a bicycle.

Flat Kanto 300

At Choshi - Eastern Tip of Chiba Prefecture and the Kanto region

In order to participate in Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) this summer, I need to complete a standard series of 200, 300, 400 and 600 km brevets by mid-June.  Of course, last year I had planned some early season brevets ... but snow resulted in cancellations.  Weather, injury, equipment failure or illness; these are the things that can trigger a DNS or DNF and ruin as plan to ride PBP.

So I want to "check the boxes" quickly and get through the standard series quickly and without incident.  Thus, I signed up to ride the February 21, 2015 first edition of the "Flat" 300km sponsored by the Audax Randonneurs Nihonbashi.  AR Nihonbashi is a new group sponsoring Audax events (one of several to crop up in the past year).  I guess just about everyone who does enough Audax rides at least considers the idea of forming a group with friends and planning their own.  But Nihonbashi?  Surely a terrible place to start a brevet, meaning at least 60-90 minutes of traffic signals to get to the countryside, repeated on the return.

Future randonneur (randonneuse?) with papa

The 7:30 starters begin to gather at Kiba Koen in Koto-ku.  20 riders each at 6, 630, 7 and 730 on this event.

As the AR Nihonbashi website indicates, by starting near central Tokyo, they want riders and organizers to get to the start by bicycle or public transit, and avoid using cars to the extent possible.

• オダックスランドヌール日本橋は2015年より､東京都・日本橋近辺を発着地とするブルベを開催します。都心発着のメリットを生かし､参加者・主催者とも自走や公共交通機関を利用し､できるだけ車を使わないブルベを目指します。

Okay, this is a worthy goal ... though not necessarily one requiring a Nihonbashi start.  For 200, 400 and 600 km events, it should be possible to start/finish on the edge of the Tokyo metropolis, and still get to and from the start by public transit (same day for a 200km; next morning for a 400km, next evening for 600km) or bicycle.  But for a "normal" rider on a 300km event, taking between 15~19 hours out of the 20 hour limit, indeed, it is tough to plan an event without an automobile if start/finish are far from one's home. One solution:  an evening start.  This has two merits:  first, it is possible to come and go via public transport.  Second, you get to ride at least the first half of the event with little to no traffic, no matter the location or road.

But an evening start does not seem like a great idea for a February brevet near Tokyo.  Icy roads, and starting straight into the coldest part of the day ... between midnight and 7-8AM ... do not seem appealing.  So this event started from Kiba Koen, only 4 km east of Nihonbashi in Koto-ku.

I rode the Canyon Shark, with my Gokiso wheels.  This, and the flat course, made it one of the easier 300km Brevets I have joined, and my fastest to date, at 14 hrs 59 minutes.  And yes, I did ride to the start and back from the finish (almost 22 kms each way).  When added to the event (which was actually 307~308 kms), that put me at 350 kilometers for the day.  I had the 5th fastest time out of around 55 finishers (with another 22 DNS and 7 DNFs) -- typical that I do better on a flat course like this.

But so many, many times I needed to accelerate, only to see a light in the distance -- first the walk light turns blinking green, then red, then the traffic light turns yellow, then the right turn signal (if there is one), then red.  For a minute or more.  Each time, I would ease up my pace hundreds of meters from the light as soon as I realized I would not make it.  Each time the Gokiso wheels would roll and roll, and I would need to brake as I neared the (red) signal.  Mottaenai.

Home to the Start of the Brevet

The Brevet course-- 308 kms

Home from the Finish

I rode the first 20 kms or so with Hayashi-san, a Utsunomiya-based randonneur.  He rides with lots of zip, so helped me get off to a fast start despite the endless traffic signals.  I saw my neighbor Kazu Tachikawa, and rode together briefly through Chiba City.  ウワン-san (Twitter handle), who I got to know during Tohoku 1700, rode as well, starting a 630AM.  He looked a bit surprised when I caught up with and passed him before PC1 (how did I get there so fast?  Hayashi-san, of course ... and Gokiso). And, of course, I was traveling very light -- my Q36.5 Salopette tights and hybrid que perfect for Saturday's 0-10 degrees C range, just some extra glove liners and a warmer head garment needed early and late, and a thin rain shell in my pack just in case.

ウワン was in and out of PC1 quickly, and we met again between there and PC2, and again when he arrived at PC4.  And he complimented me on the Guide for Audax Staff.  Glad to hear some people are enjoying it.

And thanks to Yoshiaki Philippe.  He and another rider passed me as I was slowing a bit, riding along on Ku-ju-ku-ri about 85 kms into the event.  I could hop on the back, draft and ride with them, dramatically boosting my speed over the next 30 kms or more.  Yoshiaki Philippe has switched the trusty mountain bike I remember him on at Rocky Mountain 1200 and numerous other events ... to a sleek Focus road bike with Enve deep rimmed carbon wheels, and he looked as if he was enjoying riding fast(er).  Over the 30 kms, Yoshiaki Philippe pulled at least 20 kms.  The other rider at least 5 kms.  And me, only a few.   Still, I flagged again and needed to pull over for an energy bar near Iioka ... and so lost the benefit of their speed a few kms before the Choshi checkpoint.  That was the last I saw of them.

Hara-san, one of the Vice-Chairs of AR Nihonbashi, had warned me I would not like this course because of the constant stop and go.  He was right.  The course was the worst I have ridden on an Audax event.  Constant stop and go with signals.  And riding in heavy traffic what seemed like most of the way. The course needs a serious redesign.  Yes, heavy traffic is inevitable for a ride in Chiba and Ibaraki, but there must be better alternatives.

Generally unpleasant stretches included:

-- from the start through Chiba City.  Especially under construction Routes 14/357 through Chiba City.
-- Chiba Route 20 (Oami Kaido) across the northern Boso Peninsula to Kujukuri beach.  Many congested stretches and nowhere near as nice as the route further south on the Chiba 300km event last October that brought us to Takataki Lake in the center of Boso.
-- after Choshi, Route 124 then Ibaraki Route 212 near Kashima.  We were blessed with a tailwind ... but this was another very heavily traveled stretch of road.
-- after a few nice stretches on Route 354, ... but more heavy traffic on Route 355 to Ishioka!
-- then long stretches of heavy traffic most of the way back to Tokyo, Ibaraki Routes 48 and 26, Route 6 etc.  (I would like to try the Audax Saitama route on their 300km event yesterday -- which also traveled between NE Tokyo and Kasumigaura.)

A quiet moment. Dusk at Lake Kasumigaura, over one of the HUNDREDS of solar farms we passed.

Even the section along the beach at Kujukuri offered only limited actual views of the ocean, and plenty of mid-day Saturday traffic.

There was a nice stretch on the return to town, as we could see Tokyo Skytree in the distance, and it was late enough in the evening (after 9PM) so that traffic had started to thin.  Indeed, Sumida-ku seems to have undergone a bit of a revival.

From a hill near Choshi, looking North

From a hill near Choshi, looking back SW

But other than the nicest view sections at Choshi, I have to say my favorite parts of the entire ride were ... going through Tokyo in early morning and late night, getting between the start/goal and my house.  I got to enjoy at least some parts of the city at a very quiet time of day.  Much better than riding along the narrow shoulders of roads through traffic jams, or racing trucks and weekend warriors on the highways of Chiba or Ibaraki.

Dawn at Eitaibashi -- the welcome peace of central Tokyo before and after hours

Onekan Coffee Run

I took a short ride today, with 3 members of the ASIJ (American School) community, Todor, Jonathan and Scott.  It was the coldest morning of this fall, only just above freezing at 650AM when I headed outside, and not much warmer at 9AM when we came out of the Starbucks at the far end of Onekan at the turn-around.  As Todor said at one point, it was a "MAMIL ride" with a nice coffee stop ... but nonetheless, riding on the Canyon Shark, with others, in brisk weather, attacking the rollers, Strava tells me that I was definitely going faster than usual on Onekan.

The Canyon Shark and my Q36.5 hybrid jersey/jacket and long bib shorts were perfect -- while riding I was neither hot nor cold.  I quickly hand washed my gear since tomorrow's forecast is pretty much identical.

I should do more of this kind of riding -- out early, push some (more) on the short climbs, back home by 10:30AM, a quick shower and I am not totally wiped out.  ... but tomorrow I will do a longer ride.

Sunday 8AM start from the Yanokuchi Lawson -- Kawasaki side of Tamagawaharabashi.

Kobu Tunnel

I headed out this morning for a 3/4 day ride.  I decided to head up the Akigawa, either to Tomin no Mori or over Kobu Tunnel.  I wanted to get in a decent ride, with some work on strength -- powering up a few hills with low cadence and/or one leg drills -- but did not want to return so exhausted I would be unable to function this evening ... often the case.

In the end, I went up the Akigawa, through Kobu Tunnel, then back to Uenohara and back via the North side of Lake Tsukui, then Onekansen Doro.  141.6 kms, around 1250 meters climbing.  Just what I needed.

The weather was cool, even cold and damp along the Akigawa -- 10 degrees C and 96 percent humidity (?) according to one sign just past the Tokura 7-11.  

I tried to go along the lower Akigawa ... but the path was blocked off due to potential slides.

On the road to Itsukaichi, I passed 5-6 Japanese cyclists, 3 in a group and singles.  We all stopped and so chatted a bit at the Tokura 7-11.  They were heading for Tomin no Mori, except one older rider who said he would do Kobu/Ura-Wada.  On a solo ride it was nice to have some fellowship.  I pushed off ahead and did not see them again.

At a second stop -- the Circle K on Route 412 just before heading toward the North shore of Tsukui, I was eating lunch when 3 young women -- presumably college students -- pulled up for a rest stop.  One was clearly the leader, telling the others what to do and giving pointers.  We chatted and I showed off the Canyon Shark.

The XL Canyon Shark towers over the XS women's bikes.
(The photo was a bit rushed due to a car trying to park against the back of my legs.)

They had come over Otarumi and were heading back toward town down 412/413.  

I told them I was heading over the North side of Tsukui to avoid traffic and do the extra short climbs, and headed out. Lake Tsukui was very tranquil, a cyclist strolling on the bridge.  I almost hopped off to enjoy the view.  But instead went on until I got up the hill to the forest road.  There were nice fall colors still visible from the North side.

After I rejoined Route 413 to the west of Tsukui, I saw the 3 students from the Circle K in a line ahead.  They had made good time by taking the direct route.  I passed them just after the road dips and zig zags toward a short climb that ends with the start of a long straightaway to Route 16.  Jerome usually zips ahead of me on this little climb, ... but I wanted to put on a good show, so after exchanging greetings, I hammered up the hill, making the traffic light I usually miss at 川尻 and leaving them somewhere down the hill.

When I got home and uploaded my ride, I was disappointed to find that this little hill is not at a Strava "segment" ... so I created one.  My little power-climb today put me 9th out of 585 riders, and at 1 min 10 seconds, was 28 seconds faster than I have done this climb before.  Yippee.

Then a quick trip back in via Onekan and the Tamagawa, and a hot bath.

------------------------------

Fall foliage under dark skies between Kobu Tunnel and Uenohara:

The road is the road.

Torii, fields, and hills between Kobu Tunnel and Wada.

 Bike Leaning at bamboo bridge

Photos from Canyon Japan Service/Support/Marketing Launch

I missed the invitation-only Canyon Japan maintenance/service/tech support launch party on Sunday evening, sitting in traffic on the way back to Tokyo from Nagano.  I did stop by the public event on Monday to check out the bicycles, of course arriving on the Canyon Shark.  Their Japan support is based in Kyoto, presumably from a Kansai-based Japan distributor ... name of which does not appear.

Line out the door and up the stairs for those who wanted to chat with Giro champion Joaquin Rodriguez, rider on the sponsored Katusha team.

Lots of marketing material for bikes with the aero frame Aeroad CF.  The people at the event mostly did not look like they will be riding fast enough to get the benefits of aero ...

A nice triathlon bike.

Very low wind profile.  The front end and bar are very minimal and streamlined.

This commuter bike with built in light and fenders, disk brakes.  The streamlined design will attract some ... and repel others.

With the exchange rate now at 147 JPY = 1 Euro and consumption tax at 8% ... they will not sell as many bikes as they might have back when the rate hovered around 100 JPY back in 2012/early 2013. ...

Saturday to Saitama ... and back

On Saturday I got in a nice 185km round trip to Yorii in NW Saitama and back.  This is the time of year we often see the best riding weather in Tokyo, and Saturday was no exception!

I met my colleague Aiko-san at Moroyama and we did about 65 kms of the ride together.  It was the furthest he has gone on the road bike he got last winter, but other than a pre-lunch semi bonk, solved by a Snickers bar, he made it without difficulty.

Aiko-san as we approach Yorii

I needed to be home by 430PM, so started around 640AM, was in Moroyama by 915AM, and just made it back on time.  Instead of riding up the Tamagawa all the way to Oume, I headed north from the river earlier.  I let Strava choose part of the route for me, drawing the track using Strava's function that bases routing on popularity among other cyclists.  That worked well on the way out, and I ended up on Route 59, a decent road with shoulder heading north for what seemed like almost 10 kms, west of Tachikawa and east of Akishima/Fussa.  Then I found myself on a route taken on Brevets to get through this area, across the tea fields of Oume/Iruma, and down into Iruma.

Iruma, Hanno, Hidaka, Komagawa, then Moroyama. ... Then with Aiko-san on Saitama Route 30 to Ogose, Tokigawa, Ogawamachi, onto Route 254, then a local road over a hill and eventually down into Yorii.  Then back.

As we rode out through Tokigawa I saw a sign at an intersection pointing left toward Shiroishi Pass via Route 172, and a cyclist just starting to head that direction ... but not today.  I was on the clock and it would have been a bit too much of a climb for my colleague, yet.

Lots of Honda facilities around Ogawamachi ... all hidden from the road and landscaped nicely.

We stopped for lunch at a nice looking (and quite busy) small, local Japanese food place in Ogawamachi. There were explanations about the famous "washi" or traditional Japanese paper that comes from the town.  And the waiter told us of some kind of town event going on Saturday -- if we visited 5 places we could enter a prize lottery.  We regretfully declined.

These towns are all an an area of rolling hills, west of the Saitama plain and east of the real hills and mountains.  Nice country for riding through and lots of places to stop for food or a side visit, and a good place for a new road cyclist to build up strength at riding on rolling hills, or for an experienced cyclist to try to hold a tempo on an upward incline.

Looking across some farms at the south facing slope where will plan our next solar project.  Ready to build soon.

But too much traffic and too many trucks on a Saturday mid-day.  It would have been a miserable day to drive around suburban Saitama, I expect.

A former chicken farm in Moroyama that is now a small solar park.  No fence (?)

On the way home I had intended to follow the same route ... but for some reason the track did not show on my Garmin.  Perhaps because I had turned it off during lunch, then back on again?  Or another Garmin gremlin?  In any event, I followed  the Route 299 bypass -- 2 lanes in each direction, quite fast but heavy traffic.  Then I hunted and pecked my way around Tokorozawa vicinity -- slow going and wasted time.  Then eventually I headed south on Fuchu Kaido all the way toward the Tamagawa, at one point passing the long, high, grey wall of the prison in Fuchu ... the same route as the early season Aoba 300 brevet that Jerome and I joined.  Stop and go traffic the entire way, but at least faster by bicycle than by car.

In the shadows.  At least my jacket is visible.

The Canyon Shark was a joy to ride.  I rode it with my Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels and tubeless tires - fast and comfortable.  Of course, I had relatively fresh legs after not riding last weekend, plus the benefit of a good base from my heavy riding schedule in Sept/Oct. So I felt strong the entire day.   Likewise, the early winter Q36.5 clothing was perfect.

My only complaint was a sticking link in my Ultegra 6800 chain.  This sticking happened first on Wednesday, and I cleaned thoroughly and lubricated the chain (using basic Kure CRC 5-56) then ... and subsequently had no trouble with it going 75 kms to/from Keio SFC.  But again on Saturday morning the link started to stick and I would suffer a "clunk" and slip a bit each revolution of the chain as the sticking link entered the derailleur.  This drove me a bit crazy and slowed me down, but I adjusted as best I could.  I could not fix it despite several attempts to manually loosen up the offending link -- the only result was grease all over my gloves.  I eventually found an open Shell gasoline stand, at the tea fields of Iruma.  They lent me a can of the Kure 5-56 and a towel, and I could again thoroughly clean the chain (and especially the offending link).  They refused my offer to pay for the service -- typical Japan.

The chain was trouble free the rest of the day.  I think the offending link is the one where I inserted the Shimano fixing pin to assemble the chain on my bicycle.  It must have bent slightly when I snapped off the end of the Shimano fixing pin with a pliers.  Or maybe the pin fits more tightly than others.  So I look at this as likely a Shimano design defect.  As the chains get thinner and thinner, they get more fragile and more subject to this kind of problem with just a little grit, not serious dirt.  This chain has less than 1000 kms on it and I would hope is good for another 5000 or more ... but at a minimum I will need to keep it extremely clean and lube it much more carefully than I would normally -- before every ride.

Fall "Challenge Recovery" Ride with Traditions Galore

Jerome and I have not had much chance to ride together lately -- his travel schedule prevented him from joining recent Brevets, even those he signed up for.  So we wanted to get in one decent ride over the 3-day weekend.

He styled it a "challenge recovery" ride.  Recovery for me from 2 weekends in a row with Brevets, for him from too much travel and food and drink.  Challenge?  Not really consistent with recovery, I think, but the general idea was to not push the pace TOO hard, but go fairly long and do some climbing, at least.  I was looking for more recovery than challenge, having ridden almost 3000 kms over the past 2 months.

The Upper Tamagawa from near the top of Yoshino Kaido

We decided to honor the traditions of Positivo Espresso to the extent practical, and headed out a traditional route up the Tamagawa then the Asagawa toward Takao.  There was dog show going on along the Asagawa at a park in Hachioji.  Lots of dogs of all types, but mostly typical Japanese breeds.  And lots of older dog owners.

Ready for the show.

We stopped at the traditional 7-11 on Route 20 in front of Takao Station.  Then a climb up to Otarumi Pass, and down the far side and out to Uenohara.  The traffic was light, and no trucks on a Sunday in the middle of a 3-day weekend.

We stopped briefly at a new landmark on the way to Sagami-ko.  A used car lot (junk yard?) right next to the road named Rookie had an interesting looking superhero guarding the inventory.

At Uenohara, we stopped at the Daily Yamazaki along Route 33 (which no longer has benches in front since the renovation a few years ago ..., but is still a traditional stop), then took the "old road" -- deserted -- through wooded areas and to the base of Yamanashi Route 18.

As we reached the base of the climb to Tawa Pass, we turned left onto Steve T.'s alternate route around the pass.  We stopped at the steep field next to the road, glad to see it well-tended, the persimmons mostly removed from the trees in the adjacent orchard.  We followed tradition and looked to see if the little old lady was working in the field.  I did not have high hopes, as she has not been there the last few times I passed here.

Is the old lady at work in the field?  Can you see her?

We were delighted to find that she was, indeed, at work.  She looked up and saw us, and returned our wave.

How about now?

Further up Route 18, we made the traditional stop at the covered picnic table, rest room and gateball court just above 700 meters elevation on the climb to Tsuru Pass.

Jerome looks at the Shark and thinks "I want one"?

For there, we quickly made it to the top of Tsuru and down the North side of the hill to Okutama-ko.  Of course, we stopped at Yagyu-tei, better known as Watanabe-san's cafeteria.   Mrs. Watanabe was off, but her younger sister, Ms. Sato was there.

Just as we were heading into the restaurant a group of well-dressed, younger women cyclists rode by and looked at the much fancier restaurant/coffee shop down the block, next to the lake.  But there was a line outside (!), so they turned around and came back up the block and into Yagyu-tei.  It was the women's only Rapha Tokyo Club ride.  No wonder they were stylishly dressed.  Or "CCTYO Women’sライド 奥多摩".

Lots of women's bikes at Yagyu Tei!

Jerome wanted more climbing, whereas I needed to get home, having done almost 100km of "recovery", with another 80km just to get home.  So Jerome headed up the back approach to Kazahari Pass, while I rode along Okutama-ko then down toward Oume through the tunnels.  It was a fast trip home.

Tradition.  Recovery. Challenge.