Welcome Back

Jerome rides toward the pot of gold ... somewhere around Komae-shi

Dear Readers

Please accept my apologies for not maintaining the blog well in 2020. 

2020 has been a bit of a different year, to say the least, for many of us.

Most directly, I have been busy with non-bicycle-related life and work. Yes, there is such a thing. 

I got married, though due to the pandemic we have not yet had an actual wedding celebration, and we still don't know how or when we will be able to celebrate.  We were making lots of plans, all of which have been put in abeyance for a year or two due to the pandemic.

I took on a new part-time gig on the side, though I have not yet put much time into it, due to the pandemic. And despite the time savings from less travel, and fewer academic conferences, it has been a pretty busy period as a law professor, teaching new classes using new methods (online), and with a bigger entering class in our LLM program this Fall than ever before.

Peter W. at Shomaru Pass on a glorious day

The Tokyo Cranks at Lake Shiroyama

Nenogongen -- praying for strong leg since 911A.D.!

So most of my rides I have just posted on Strava with photos – often many photos – and short introductions. That seems to work better than a hurried blog post. And photos plus a GPS track give a lot of help to any would-be riders who take the trouble to look, especially given how good the photos are with an iPhone 11 pro compared to the small pocket digicam when this blog started back in 2007. If you are on Strava you can see plenty of rides (no paid account required for that).

For a while in recent years, I was posting ride-related updates on Facebook. I still do put some photos there, many Audax riders use FB … but FB does not create a long-lasting record since only Facebook’s AI can find posts from a few years ago, when the AI reminds me of a “memory” to try and keep me engaged on the site long enough to see a few more ads. I hope that someday we can all get off Facebook, before Zuckerberg gets all the money and we get a civil war. (Yes, I do note the irony of writing this on a Google-owned platform. Wouldn't it be great if Facebook, Google or Amazon would buy Strava?)

Jerome and David at Wada Pass -- we form the traditional pose

John K. at Matsuhime Pass.  I saw a bear, a way up there, a way up there I saw a bear.

Kai Saruhashi, one of Japan's "three unique bridges"

I meet expat cyclists in the Tokyo area from time-to-time who tell me they really appreciate the blog – that it helped them a lot when they started riding in the area. So this blog is not going anywhere. The "routes out of town" and "20+ favorite rides" pages are still very popular resources, as are the posts on dynamo hubs, some other equipment reviews, and a few of the trip reports.

Of course, the pandemic, and Japan’s “state of emergency declaration” (remember to call it “the Declaration”, not “the Emergency”) with its soft lockdown has affected cycling as well. No activities have been unaffected. For many months we had no overnight cycling trips, no organized events, not even minimally supported Audax rides. I did not hang up my cycling shoes, but instead took only rides with one or a couple others, and minimal stops. It was a great way to get in shape and stay sane this Spring as I could get up early and take maybe 3 x 3 hour morning rides each week, with minimal traffic. 

One might argue that my rides to neighboring prefectures, even day trips (県を跨ぐ移動), violated the “request” for "self-restraint" of the emergency declaration. Well, Tokyo is all a single metro area, even if comprised of several prefectures. Even a Costco run requires leaving Tokyo and entering Kanagawa Prefecture. So I don't take that seriously.

But it was definitely not good form to be too public about going on rides, nor take longer multi-day rides, during the Declaration. My university had a well-publicized incident involving a big end of year party for medical residents at the hospital, where the party turned into a cluster of Covid-19 infections and ALL the residents needed to isolate for two weeks. What a disaster from a healthcare perspective when the healthcare system is under stress and ALL the residents are out in quarantine! And I'm no spring chicken, and from my gender and blood type I know that even if I am athletic and healthy, I am probably higher than average risk for a middle-aged man were I to contract Covid-19. So I did not want to take significant risks with the coronavirus. Still, riding outside in Spring weather seemed about as low-risk as I could imagine.

Months later, I enjoyed some really nice rides in Nagano while we were out there during the summer, rented a place for a month or so in Sanadamachi -- on a hill above Ueda. I got in lots of quick morning 2-hour workouts riding up to Torii Pass or Sugadaira Kogen. But none of my rides was really long. Nothing over 100km, nor over 2500m elevation gain. No “three pass” days. And still no Audax.

On the Venus Line in the clouds

At Sugadaira Kogen with the "sardine clouds"

I am Sanada, the fierce warrier!

Rice near harvest in Sanadamachi

Masks on! At Yunomaru Heights

Slow moving Jerome, on the way to Yunomaru

Audax has restarted, from September, but I was not checking the club websites regularly, I did not sign up, and, for reasons that will become apparent later in another post I want to do in the next day, I will not likely get in any Audax rides before the new Audax year starts in November/December.

Ayu cycles Miura Peninsula

On the road to JuFuku no Yu hotspring in early September

Winter Miura

I finally made my annual winter ride on the Miura Peninsula awhile back. Took the train to Yokosuka Chuo and back from Zushi and just did the loop around the bottom of the peninsula this time, with Peter W.  We had lovely weather and a nice, not too tough ride at a relaxed pace. I will let the photos do the talking.

Fall River in Fall / 秋の秋川

The Akigawa Gorge - 秋川渓谷

Weekend work-related events will severely limit my riding opportunities over the next month, so I was not about to miss the opportunity for a ride on Sunday. Jerome had just returned to town, and Peter also wanted to ride, so the three of us headed out. I met Peter at Meguro, and Jerome caught up with us at Futako Tamagawa.

We made excellent time up the Tamagawa and out Mutsumibashi Dori toward Itsukaichi, then stopped for water and a snack at the Seven Eleven on that road just before the Ken-O-Do under/overpasses. This Seven Eleven used to be in a small shopping mall with other shops, and the doors opened to the East in the direction one rides from approaching from the Tamagawa. Now it is alone with a very large parking lot and the doors open North toward the road. It is newer, and bigger, but still a Seven Eleven!

The Rideable part of Minami Fussa Park

The main attraction at the Seven Eleven was a yellowish lime green Lotus roadster with two women in it who were heading up the Akigawa for lunch somewhere beyond our turn-off. Non-cyclists, they were Japanese but spoke English as if each had lived a long time in the USA. Peter, a car person, told me that an old Lotus roadster is not so expensive, but it did look as if it would be very fun to drive on a winding road through the mountains.

Fun to drive!?!

Descending on lower Bonbori Rindo

At Tokura we entered the Bonbori Rindo and started the climb toward Iriyama Touge. We passed by a "road closed for urgent repairs" notice and went around some pylons to continue. There was earthmoving equipment on the left side, a power shovel to remove debris from Typhoon 19. Was that the repair? Alas, no. We only made it about halfway up the climb before we came upon some more serious blockage -- a pile of logs tossed down the hill along the stream in the torrential downpour of that storm.

Not easily surmounted

We gave up and returned toward Tokura, and within a kilometer or two of the U turn, each of Peter and I had flat tires, leaves and other debris on the road hiding some sharp rocks, I think. We passed several Japanese cyclists doing solo rides up. When we told a man on a road bike about the blockage, he turned around. A woman on a mountain bike continued to get in a bit more climbing and see for herself. We no longer had enough time to do the Kobu Tunnel alternative. But we headed up the Akigawa Gorge (秋川渓谷）to the Hinohara Village Office, then did another U-turn for home, stopping at a couple of the gorge's classic photo spots.

Across from the Hinohara Village Office

The typhoon damage still makes it a bit difficult in places along the Tamagawa. The park south of Mutsumibashi (睦橋), Fussa Minami Koen （福生南公園）was blocked off. Again, we could get around the barrier and ride half way through the park, then walk a bit, then ride the remainder. Others were doing the same. The weather was just about perfect for riding.

I walk my bike in Fussa Minami Park

All clear once we passed this footbridge/debris-catcher

Hinobashi near Tachikawa (日野橋), closed for major post-typhoon repairs.

My total distance was around 140km. Almost exactly the same as last weekend's Fuji ride.  That was a tougher ride by far, with more climbing. Is 140km that the "new normal" for me? I really need to do another 20km or even 30km to enjoy many of the Positivo Espresso traditional rides starting from Takanawa -- to get to Tomin no Mori or through Kobu Tunnel or out over Matsuhime Pass. Other classic rides are even further away. Still, my legs felt strong most of Sunday. I feel as if I am getting into good cycling shape again.

And it was great to ride with friends instead of solo.

Out and back

Four Views of Fuji - South, West, North and East

First view -- South side. On my approach, on Shizuoka Route 72 after the climb up from Shin-Fuji Station to around 450m elevation.

Second view -- West side. Taken from a small road that connects Shizuoka Route 71 with National Route 139 just south of Asagiri Kogen.

Third view -- North side. From Lake Shoji at midday. Spectacular!

Fourth view -- West side. From Lake Yamanaka as I head back toward Tokyo. (If I had waited another 45-50 minutes here with many photographers, I could have taken the "diamond Fuji" with the sun setting directly over the summit ... but that would have meant a cold and dark descent down Doshi Michi).

All in all, an excellent ride. Doshi michi is completely blocked below the Route 76 turn off, and so there was a line of sitting cars several km long on Route 76 trying to get onto Route 20 at Fujino. ... and another line of cars on Route 20 beyond. So I rode cautiously past these cars, then hopped the train from Fujino.

Even Rte 139 near Fuji Yoshida looked nice on Sunday.

A bike alone at the Doshi "michi no eki" with its signs welcoming the Olympic Road Race

Fall colors in fading daylight on lower Yamanashi section of Doshi michi

Endless traffic as Route 76 approaches Route 20 (Koshu Kaido)

The day's route. As you can see, not QUITE straight no S, W, N and E views.
More like SW, W, NNE, ENE?

Classic bikes in MOB's shop

MOB told me that he is selling lots of good quality city bikes, mountain bikes, e-bikes, and even some electric scooters.

But the other bikes around his shop that I really noticed were the "Eroica-eligible" classics hidden here and there.

You can find the rules for Eroica bicycles in Regulation 6.1 of the Eroica -- an annual 200+ km event on the bianca strada of Chianti in Tuscany. Basically, the bicycles should be from before 1987, or more recent ones that are "historically inspired".  No brifters, etc. I realized that MOB could easily outfit a team of tall Bremen-based riders to join the Eroica.

Here are two of them. First, a Pegliaghi.

Is it for sale?

Next, a Cinelli Supercorsa with gorgeous components.

Beautiful Campagnolo downshifters

Holes drilled ... for grip? Save weight?

A Peugeot ... too large a frame for Jerome.

Nagasawa track bike -- MOB bought this Keirin frame with me in Tokyo!

You can learn about all of these and more on MOB's blog.