Ekiden Ride

On January 2 we did the traditional Ekiden Ride, along the course of the Hakone Ekiden to Odawara.

I rode with my sons, who had no problem keeping reasonably close to me this year.  We made it to Route 1/Route 16 in time to catch the TCC group, led by Fumiki and Delta Force, and rode with them through Totsuka.  Fumiki ignored the police waving us onto the side road, but the rest of us meandered via Totsuka Station and rejoined the Route 1 bypass at the top of a hill, at the Ekiden's Totsuka checkpoint.  Soon after, my boys and I pulled off at a convenience store and the rest of team TCC went ahead.  We made it to Odawara, enjoyed lunch and hopped the train home.

It looks as if Fumiki made it up to Ashinoko and over the Tsubaki Line climb, and back via Oku Yugawara, Manazuru etc.

Weather was spectacular, the roads were crowded, and we ended up steering off course to get a few more kilometers riding directly on the water's edge.  Surfers were heading out to enjoy the sunshine.

Hakone Ekiden 2013

January 2nd's weather forecast promised sun with a high of 13 degrees celsius.  A classic warm, dry Tokyo winter day, perfect for riding bicycles along the closed roads of the Hakone Ekiden, as in past years:  2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and P.B. ("pre-blog") 2007.

Nittaidai (Nippon Sports Science Univ.), our neighbors  on Komazawa Dori in Setagaya, win the relay!

James K. and Shane P. rode out via my house, then we met Laurent D. along the Tamagawa and headed toward Yokohama.  We joined the Ekiden route a little north of Yokohama Station and were immediately welcomed by a large group of cheering fans, as in past years.

As with last year, we were directed onto the "old road" near Totsuka Station, rather than the no-bikes-permitted bypass that we used to take with the runners.

This year we faced very stiff headwinds much of the way, and where we were not protected on the sides -- crossing some bridges near Oiso and closer to Odawara -- swirling gusts threatened to push us sideways, off our bikes and into the guardrail or, worse, into the passing traffic.  At one point,  I unclipped my left pedal and put a foot down.  Laurent, with his deep rim Lightweight wheels, held on for dear life.

We saw a TCC group as we passed them at a rest/gathering spot near Route 16 ... and they passed us back at the Odawara 7-11 that serves as an informal staging area pre-ascent, where James and Shane said farewelll and headed for Odawara Station, as Laurent and I started the last section up the hill to the finish at Hakone Ashinoko.

As we got to Hakone Yumoto, still near the bottom of the climb and far ahead of the lead runners (who were at least 10~12 kms back, not yet in Odawara), a policeman directed us off of the main road and onto the "old Tokaido".  The old road does go up the hill to Ashinoko ... but would take us away from the cheering Ekiden crowds.  After a rest stop, some attempts to find a way around the barriers and rejoin the route further up (we did, but not far enough up, and were quickly pointed down the hill), Laurent and I descended 1-2 kms and stopped at a convenience store for pasta. 15 minutes or so later, the runners came by, in remarkably close succession after 85+ kms.

Laurent and I headed back toward Tokyo, together along the coast as far as Chigasaki.  He continued to Kamakura and took the train home, while I headed inland to take a look at the Keio Univ. Shonan Fujisawa Campus and then continued the rest of the way home through the Kanagawa sprawl via bicycle.  A bit more than 160 kms in all -- an even 100 miles.

It was great to see James, Shane and Laurent after quite awhile, and to get in such a good ride on January 2 to start the year.  Then again, I think with the added police measures to keep us off of the climb, even with a good "cushion" ahead of the runners, the Ekiden tradition may have run its course.

Ekiden ride as far as Hakone Yumoto, then back to Chigasaki and inland to Shonandai/Fujisawa:

From Shonandai/Fujisawa back home:

January 2 Ekiden Ride Report

After lunch at the Hakone Touge Michi No Eki -- nearly all the hard work done for today

The Positivo Espresso/TCC Ekiden Ride went off without a hitch yesterday, as no one got lost, and nearly all the riders reached the top of the climb and the finish along Ashi-no-ko 30 minutes ahead of the runners -- enjoying a welcome from cheering crowds (even cheerleaders), marching bands and everyone making noise to try and stay warm.  We were blessed with glorious, clear weather, dry roads and not-too-strong winds (that were at our backs on much of the ride along the Sagami Bay).

We received plenty of encouragement on the climb, with "gambatte" calls from some pairs of attractive, younger women (waiting for their real heroes) -- inspiring us to even greater than our usual efforts -- and the occasional "Fai-toh!" (fight!) from an oddly dressed Japanese guy.  The muscle-suited cyclist who had dismounted near the top of the climb took the prize.

The group suffered a serious schism in cycling doctrine at the Hakone Pass Michi No Eki.

One group, led by Ludwig, insisted that it would show disrespect to MOB Kraehe if we were to take Route 20 toward Atami Toge (MOB's "favorite road in Japan") in his absence.  They argued that Route 20 must never be ridden by P.E. in his absence, and opted to explore Route 75, the "Tsubaki Line".  Another group, referred to by some as "the renegades" (and by Ludwig as "the re-negates"), led by Dave and Dave, argued that we must ride Route 20, out of respect for MOB -- that he would have "wanted it that way" and would not want to deny us the pleasure of this spectacular stretch along the spine of the mountains of Izu, just because he is stuck in North Germany working on an antique road bike in the dark of winter.  No one thought it was worth calling MOB at 5AM local time to figure it out. Just about the only thing that anyone could agree upon was that the descent into Atami from Route 20 was "a b****", could cause excessive wear on brake pads, and was to be avoided if practical.

So we split into two.  Ludwig's group went back down the bumper-to-bumper, extremely tedious (their words, not mine) road the short way back to Ashi-no-ko, then onto the Tsubaki-Line.  They report that Tsubaki Line was worth this minor inconvenience, is a GREAT cycling road, and some of the photos bear this out.  The TCC reports and links can all be found here.

I joined the renegades, who I had been riding with most of the way since I was slow getting my gloves on and cleat covers off while leaving the Family Mart at Fujisawa, missed a red light and did not see the lead group again until Odawara.  The four of us headed up to the pass, then cruised down Route 20 -- spectacular views as always.  After the traditional brief stop at the entrance to the Izu Skyline, we headed West down Route 11.  This was a really, really, really nice descent -- lots of curves, not too steep, emerging from forest to see a spectacular vista to the West or a valley to our side, and only a couple of cars coming up the hill for the first 5 km or so.  We realized that anyone going from Atami to Numazu takes the OTHER Route 11, which skips Atami Touge, goes through a tunnel and only rejoins our deserted road near the bottom of the hill.  Hard to imagine that any other route could have equaled this one!

Then we enjoyed our own short slog through traffic jams on the flat area, up to Mishima Station, where we acquired the necessary provisions (beer, unagi-flavored "Pretz") to enjoy a quick shinkansen trip back to Tokyo.  My Garmin data/map is here.  Some photos, mostly from Ludwig, a few from me (click on them to see in full size):

The start -- Otemachi/Marunouchi Area of Tokyo early

Too many traffic lights early on.

The Fujisawa Stop -- where I fumbled my cleats and gloves and lost the lead group.

Lots and lots of Japanese cyclists this year ... mostly slower than us, and apparently a huge group that rides slowly AFTER the runners.  I got the pleasure of driving several to complete exhaustion who tried to hang with me on the flat.

Beautiful weather, as usual!

The road turns gradually up.

Andy W, Travis, James M and Mike (photo by Ludwig), waiting for the rest of us at the finish.

Mysterious broadcast-related equipment at the Michi no Eki.  Might have something to do with all those live TV shots from trucks and motorcycles during the Ekiden.

Dave & Dave at lunch -- are those potato chips?

Mr. Rindo and others who did not grab one of the chairs at the table, and so whose legs were maybe a bit numb by the end of lunch.  I thank you for your sacrifice.

Andy and Shane (a/k/a "new Dave").

A motley crew.

The view from our lunch spot.

The traditional stop at Atami Touge.  "We have conquered Izu!  Already 1/20 of the way down the peninsula."

Looking back from Atami Touge.

On the climb of the Tsubaki Line.

I think they went up there -- ahead.

Yes, definitely climbed another hill for a better view, and proof that James M. (a/k/a "MacGyver") topped 1000 meters.

The usual heavy traffic on East Izu roads ...

Ekiden in Pictures

Rather than to add further writings about the Ekiden event, I post some of the pictures Ludwig and me took along the ride.Ok, I can not restrain myself and will add some comments nevertheless. This also should serve as a reminder when I plan the event next year again.

It took me about 45 minutes from my house to the meeting point at Route 15 at the Tamagawa. The meeting point is easy to miss if you come from Tokyo as one has to leave the main road and ride down from the flyover.

James and Dominic came shortly thereafter and as the Tokyo group was not in sight we started at 8:25. The first part is not so pleasant, I found. There is still a lot of traffic, many police on the streets and many red traffic lights. One is probably as fast as the runners on this stretch.

We kept our group together, had some talks with the police here and there and then one of the spokes of my rear wheel decided to break. As I was organizing and perhaps a little bit more nervous than usual, one spoke missing made me even more nervous. The wheel was still true but I limited myself to about 40 km/hr on the downhills.

We were late for the meeting point in Fujisawa but Kori has hold out there, so I was happy that this went well, after we have missed the Tokyo group or vice versa.After Fujisawa is there is a fast stretch on the coast road where we gained alot of time and where riding was fun with Fuji-san clearly visible right in front of us. Also Ludwig and David A caught up with us there.

Then we all had together a last break an a Combini in Odawara before the serious portion of the ride started. Now Ludwig was also pushing to start, so I could relax a little bit from my organizing role. It was clear that we wouldn't stay together as a group on the climb from the beginning.

I don't know why, but the road between Odawara and Moto-Hakone is not a very pleasant one. There is only a slightly incline, but it feels like 10%. And we almost got stopped by a policeman again, but Ludwig and me could ignore him and continue. We could also see another pair of pinchers from hell on the rights ide of the road, but they refrained from grabing us.

At the beginning of the official Togebaka climb at Asahikawa Bridge, Ludwig, James and me were together with me leading and the others were somewhere behind. We stayed together for about 6 or 7 minutes and then Ludwig and James went ahead. David A also overtook me some minutes later. But that was it, I overtook some more riders on the way up. The traffic was rather bad with a lot of buses and sometimes I had to squeeze my way up between a bus and a line of spectators. One time I even had to stop. And I was slowly running out of power. I particular dislike the slope after the Fujiya hotel which isn't that steep again, but for some reasons hard.

Then I reached the huge Yunessun Onsen at about 600 m elevation and this is always the point on this climb where I think, OK I have almost made it and now it is only a few more meters. Some minutes later I was overtaking a struggling Japanese rider, I thought and shoute "Gambatte" as encouragement, only to find out that it was Graham. I wanted to be up fast, so we didn't talk too much and then I saw James taking a break at the roadside in front of me. Before he saw me, he started again and I could caught up with him. We then stayed together until the ENEOS gas station where he said "Oh, that was hard", while I said "It is not over yet!", as we still needed to go down one hill and do one more short climb. 55 minutes an something was not a shabby time for me, better than last year (always important) and much better than the 1:35 hr I needed some years ago. Ludwig was by now already at the goal.So James and me ride together into the finish area, seeing all the cheerleaders, hearing all the bands (Playing "Popeye, the sailorman") and watching the Supporters of Tokyo Nogyo Daigaku (Agricultural University) swinging big radishes in support for their team.

I opted for the Assos Fugu jacket, which was the right choice for the first 20 minutes in the morning but was afterwards simply much too warm. Too cold was never an issue on this day. Luckily the day was sunny so I laid it upside down in the sun so that the sweat could dry.

Dominic also made it in front of the runners, very well done. And Graham as well.
So after watching some of the runners, we rode up to the Michi no Eki restaurant where we had some Soba and Udon and told each other our stories. Ludwig and me wore our JCRC championship jerseys of 2008 and 2009 and we made some photos.There was nobody elase coming so we made our way down to Atami. The traffic was bad up to Route 20, but from there onwards it was OK. The road was beautiful as usual, but I was very catious with me spokeless rear wheel so I didn't enjoyed it as much as I do normally.
And in Atami we were greeted by an assortment of Geisha in the 60 - 96 years age bracket who congratulated Ludwig on his JCRC championship while all of us got there "Otoshidama" from them.
Then back on the Shinkansen, very crowded but only 25 minutes to Shinyokohama for me with a beer in my hand.A very nice start into the 2010 riding season. I felt a little bit sorry about the rider we have left behind or didn't made it, so as some of the other have checked with Yair, I checked with Kori later. As we started also much more earlier the climb this year, than last year, there was also les stress that the runners would overto\ake our leading group. And of course we were faster but I would assume that the last runner of Toyo is stil faster on the stretch between Odawara and the finish than I was. Amazing.

Ekiden - The big bad ride that proved to be more stressful than strenuous

[Copy of what I posted earlier on the TCC site]

Sorry I bungled the organization of the ride for the group starting from Otemachi.

I should have foreseen that we had some slower riders which meant that especially in the red-light jungle of Tokyo we would not be making up time against the runners.

Less foreseeable was that the police was much more aggressive this year than last (while still being arbitrary and random) in enforcing traffic restrictions ahead of time. Last year, we were at times about as close to the runners as this year, but never got pulled over. This was particularly strange on the climb to Moto-Hakone where I was much further ahead of the runners this year than last (last year I heard the support vehicles all the time, this year not at all; and I arrived just minutes ahead of the runners while this year I had to wait for half an hour to finally see them arriving at the finish): police asked us to stop several times, but as this was really not practical stopping right in front of roaring crowds with no space between them and the road, I always went on irrespectively.

So I'm sorry that the conbini stop ended up taking Trad, Yair, Miyuki and Aki out of the race, while I was zooming by the police woman shouting "stop" (so did David I guess).

Well aware that I was in danger of being pulled too, I went relatively fast through long empty roads with lots of cheering people (who had only me to look at) and caught MOB's group soon after Fujisawa. I was hoping we would somehow see at least some of my group later, though gave up the hope as we were going at a more leisurely pace and nobody coming in sight from behind. What a pleasant surprise when David caught up with us in Ninomiya.

We then bumped into Guzz on his impressive wooden fixie and he gave us company into Odawara.

We left from another conbini stop in Odawara exactly half an hour before the runners were to arrive. Despite all that was still to come, I managed to keep up this gap exactly on the 900m climb and beyond.

But before getting to the climb, James almost crashed into me as I was breaking for a stupid policeman who had been waiving a car out from a side street and right into our way. Thanks to his soft Dura Ace 7900 gear shifter, I didn't feel his bump into my bottom for long. Probably aggravated by this experience, the stupid policeman then stopped David, Dominic and Kori, which cost them some time to get back onto the road (all unknown to us). This was also the last time any of us saw Kori.

The time-trial climb was a nightmare of navigating through an endless traffic jam. After more than half way to the top, it cleared and the remaining climb was nicer, albeit still marred by crazy bus drivers who liked to show they didn't care about bicycles and would see them rather dead than alive. The crowds lining the climb (many more than last year!) clearly thought otherwise, which was nice.

I had lost James somewhere half way up after telling him it was still half way up (he wanted to know) which seemed to have demotivated him a great deal. I was expecting him to emerge soon again, but in fact, after I took a break after the time-trial end at the peak of 874m to get into warmer clothing for the descent into Moto-Hakone it was David who appeared once again out of nowhere. Stopping occasionally for photo shots, we made it to the finish, where we waited for James and MOB, and to our delight later saw Dominic coming in too.

The final surprise of the day was Graham who I passed on the long climb. We had thought he hadn't turned up at all, but as he later explained, he had just missed the exit from the Dai-ichi Keihin for the meeting point and ended up going on his own all the way to Hakone. He joined us later in the restaurant, having watched all the runners pass, and clearly more knowledgeable about the results than any of us.

The descent into Atami was pleasantly free of much traffic, and the first-time use of route 20 for the final descent into Atami a nice discovery over the much steeper and shorter we approach we usually take.

My own statistics:

141km incl. 10km from home to Otemachi
1,300m of climbing (according to mapmyride; my less reliable Ciclo shows 1,550m)

People who started:

From Otemachi: Yair, David, Trad, Bryon, Ishihara-san, Miyuki, Aki, Ludwig
From elsewhere: Graham, Guzz (separately)
From Kawasaki: James, Dominic, MOB
From Fujisawa: Kori

People who finished:

Moto-Hakone, then Atami: James, Dominic, David, Graham, MOB, Ludwig (funny - four Brits, two Germans, one whom even UK-educated - does this say something about the future of road-race cycling?)
Hakone Yumoto: Yair, Miyuki, Aki, Trad
Not yet accounted for: Kori, Bryon, Ishihara-san

For me this was not a very strenuous ride, but certainly a very stressful one - it does not feel nice losing half of your riding mates and not being able to stop for them.

Cheers, Ludwig

Ekiden - The big bad ride that proved to be more big than bad

The big bad ride that proved to be more big then bad.

We had a good turnout and prompt meeting at the Tokyo station designated area. With lots of spectators ready to cheer us on and cheerleader squads lining the start we made our way through the streets of Tokyo. Unfortunately my father-in-law wasn't able to keep the speed of the rest of the pack and he was far behind by the time we got to the Tamagawa river. As I slowed to wait he finally caught up and the rest of the group was nowhere to be seen. We took the off ramp to the meeting spot at the first combini over the river but there wasn't any orange jerseys to be seen or anyone else for that matter. We thought maybe they had continued on and that maybe we would see them at another stop in a short while. We were wrong and so we decided to stop a few kilometers further to see what was happening. To my biggest mistake I didn't have anyone's phone number and I guess none had mine.
The racers soon passed us as we waited for signs of other riders, then they came, the pack of cyclist....my father-in-law retired at this point which was around Kawasaki...


Jumping in with the pack I looked for others that I knew but with no luck.
Further on I had a great view of the giant in the distance. I spoke to a few people in the large group and one said it was the best turnout of cyclist in know history of the event. The rest of the start group was never seen again except for three riders that were in the large group for a short time. Overall it was much like the description of various tours throughout Japan in that the speed was controlled by, well the race patrol cars in this case. Average speed was 15 to 17 kph. Not too much fun but that was soon to end as we approached the climb to Hakone. The climb was more then I expected but over all was great fun. I was impressed by my ability and speed that I was able to maintain for my fifth ride in 8 months. The descent to Atami was a challenge as well but I think it would be a great training ride to go from the ocean side to Hakone once the weather is better....any takers?

At the start of the descent...


Around some corners and this is what I saw...

Thoughts for the next big event such as this...

• everyone has the others contact number
• regrouping points where other will wait or not wait for the rest
• better mapping points
  

Hakone Ekiden Info #1

Ok, here are some more information about the Ekiden Ride on January 2nd.
Running History

Originally the Ekiden is a relay marathon of roughly 109 km between Tokyo and Hakone, organized for the first time in 1920. On January 2nd of each year, the race starts in the vicinity of Tokyo station and goes along major roads (mainly #1 and #15) to Moto-Hakone. The first part up to Hakone is more or less flat but the last 20 km is a pretty brutal climb of more than 700 m elevation up to Moto-Hakone.

On January 3rd the race is hold in the oppositive direction, starting in Moto-Hakone and finishing in Tokyo.Each year 20 university teams are attending and each team sports 10 runners, 5 for the first and 5 for the second day relay. The Ekiden has become a very popular sports event and is nationwide televised by Nippon TV with thousands of supporters lining the streets between Tokyo and Hakone.
More is here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone_Ekiden [English]
and here : http://www.hakone-ekiden.jp/ [Japanese]

Riding History

Since many years [in the later part of the first decade of this century, Positivo Espresso riders have been running in front of the Ekiden field between Tokyo and Moto-Hakone on the first day of the race on January 2nd. The idea goes back to an American lawyer who wishes to stay unknown to the general public and who is anyway not in a position to ride this year due to a horrible traffic accident which involved him, a mama chari, a college student and his shoulder.

An account of last years ride can be found here: http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-2009-positivo-espresso-team.html

It is an ideal opportunity to ride relatively fast & freely on otherwise congested roads between Tokyo and Moto-Hakone, being supported by the bored crowds that have nothing else to do but to wait for the runners. In particular the atmosphere on the climb between Hakone and Moto-Hakone and in the finish area is very dense and exciting with cheerleaders, marching bands and hard core supporters from the universities lined up.

Concept
The basic idea is to run ahead of the runners just after the roads are closed for general traffic so that one can have open roads all the way. As the police is omnipresent and not all traffic lights are turned off, progress is sometime hampered in the urban areas between Tokyo and Yokohama but this becomes gradually better further out. We wil make some stops at Combini to buy some food an drinks, but due to the crowds it might be better to take some food from home. The real challenge is the climb between Hakone and Moto-Hakone which covers about 13 km and 745 m elevation.

Mountain goats in good shape can do this climb in 45 - 60 minutes time. However, the Eliden runners are eqully fast. The challenge is to start the climb in time and make it up to the goal before the runners. This is very tough. And very much fun. After the climb we re-assemble at the rest area of Hakone Pass and have a warm meal. Riders who could not start the climb before the runners and were aftertaken before the climb begins can try to ride up the old Tokkaido (road 732 from Hakone-Yumoto- see map at km93).

Riders who are overtaken on the climb have to wait until all runners and cars have passed by and the roads are open again for traffic before they can make their way up. Once we are all together, we ride on route 20, the most beautiful cycling road in Japan to Jukoku Toge and then further on and down to Atami where we take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Of course, those who want to ride back are free to do so.

Participants [so far]

So far we have Kanzler + 2 friends, Dominic, Tom, Bryon, James, Graham and me from Positivo Espresso and Yair, Sergey and Koribeyer from TCC joingthe ride. It would be of course even better if our groups gets even bigger.
The Route

I prepared a map my ride route, covering the whole sistance between Tokyo and Atami of 132 km and 1,245m of climbing. Out of this, about 112 km are on the Ekiden roads and the remaining 20 km are cover the return road between the finish in Moto-Hakone and Atami.

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/jp/hakone/986126207720862175

Meeting points are marked with M.
The END marks first the goal of the Ekiden at Moto-Hakone and then the goal of the ride at Atami station.

Meeting Points

We designated three major meeting points for all riders to join the ride. Th meeting points are marked with a M in a square in the above map, except for the first one which is the starting point.

Meeting point #1 is in Tokyo at the start of the race, at the crossing of Hibiya and Eitai Dori in front of exit C14. from there the total ride wil be 132 km. Ludwig and his two friends and Yair and perhaps Dominic will start there at precisely 7:40 AM. As we need to be in front of the runners, we will not start later than that.

Meeting point #2 is in Kawasaki, right after the bridge over the Tamagawa on route 1 in front of the Family Market Combini. We will meet their the riders from the Tokyo starting point and continue to ride at 8.25 AM latest. The distance to Atami from this meeting point is about 112 km. I (mob) will be waiting there and I assume that James, Tom, Graham and Bryon will start from there.

Meeting point #3 is in Fujisawa, mainly for the convenience of Koribeyer、on road #30 at the Fujisawa Eki Kitaguchi Iriguchi Crossing North of Fujisawa Station. We are going to be there at 9:45 AM. Again, we must start at 9:45 in order to stay in front of the runners. The distance from here to Atami is about 80 km.

Meeting point #4 is the restaurant MICHI NO EKI at Hakone pass. Here we gather after the cimb to eat something, and ride together to Atami. The runners wil arrive at Hakone about 13.30hr and traffic wil be open at 14:04hr. So I guess we can start to ride to Atami at about 14:30 hr latest.

Alternatives

It is highly unlikely that we will get overtaken by the runners before the climb. But somebody might get lost or overtaken on the climb, so what can be done?

If overtaken before the climb, please take road 732 from km 93 on the map which is the old Tokkaido. This is faster and much less crowded than the Ekiden road #1 so you will be faster up in Moto Hakone and ride then to the meeting point #4 at Michi no Eki at Hakone Pass.

If you are overtaken by the runners on the climb up, then wait until traffic is open again and ride up to Moto-Hakone and then further to Michi no Eki at Hakone Pass where we meet.

In case you want more safety, please send me an email or PM on the TCC blog with your mobile phone number so that we can stay in contact during the ride.

We shall be back in Atami by 15.30 hr latest and I assume that most of us will take the Shinkansen home. However, you can also ride home, although most of the ride will be in the dark on pretty big and crowded roads.

Weather

Please check the weather forecast for Moto-Hakone, for example here:
http://tenki.jp/forecast/point-797.html
So far it looks good and let's hope that it stays that way. No rian, but it will be cold in the range of 0 - 10 degrees Celsius and there mightbe patches of ice and snow in the shadows.

In case it is forecasted with ahigh probibility that it will rian or snow on the racing day in the Hakone area, we will cancel the ride. I will post on thge Positivo Espresso as well as on the TCC blog on the day before, so if you don't see anything you can assume that we will ride.

Also it will be cold, but you wil get hot during the climbs. Part from shoe covers and long fingrered gloves it is best to have layers of clothing which you can easily add and removed to adjust for the changes in temperature inside and outside of your clothing. A windbreaker will be good for the fast and cold descent from Hakone to Atami.

Other preparations

Apart from you, your bike and the usual stuff (repair kit, lights etc.) you will need a bike bag for the ride bag on the Shinkansen from Atami. Also it is adviseable to bring some food from home as the portfolio of the Combinis along the road wil be rather small due to the large crowds in the area. Bring also your camera and dress funny if you think that this will give you more support from the crowds.

Togebaka / Hall Of Fame

For the riders in competitive mood, I shall mention that the portion of the route between Asahi bridge and teh signboard marking the highest point of road #1 is an officially approved Positivo Espresso "Togebaka" or Hill climb time trial run of 13.2 km length and 745 m elevation difference with a best time of about 58 minutes so far.

Any questions ?

Let me know, send a comment.

See all of you on January 2nd.Happy New Year.