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213 km West Tokyo brevet training run

joewein

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Oct 25, 2011
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If you like long but not so fast rides, here is a chance for you.

Having signed up for the Audax Japan Nishitokyo 300 km run on May 19/20, I now need to get some some training.

The full 300 km course loops from Machida down to the coast, out to Odawara, Gotemba, around the west side of Mt Fuji and finally via Fujiyoshida and Sagamiko/Mt Takao back to Machida.

For the first training run I'll do 70% of this. It will be the original route up to km 106 and again from km 219, with 26 km on R138 to the east of Fuji instead of the 113 km loop around the west side. It will still have a decent amount of climbing (near Gotemba, near Tsuru and Sagamiko/Takao). You get to see four prefectures (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Yamanashi) and Mount Fuji.

Depending on the weather forecast, I may be riding this coming Sunday (3/11) or the following weekend. I'll take an early train out to Machida. The meeting point will be at the 0 km marker on the online map, at the car park of Welcia / MOS Burger on R47 (Machida Highway) around 06:00 (6am), returning there after sunset (maybe about 20:00 / 8pm), depending how things go. Make sure you have lights and a bike bag if needed.

We'll try to keep rolling as much as possible, but will take brief conbini stops for food and toilets. The cruising speed will be more like Half-Fast rides without the picnics instead of "serious" road bike training speeds. The objective is to make it while not spending too much time cycling in the darkness at the end. I think we'll always be within 15 km of a train line for early drop-out.

I'll post the final date here once I know.
 
I'd love to join you on this ride Joe, but I have family commitments this coming Sunday, and in fact until the end of this month I'm busy, we are sending our second daughter to Canada to go to school. The upside ;) is that from April we will be empty nesters and should have more time on our hands, won't have any money paying for two kids in school abroad, but more time. I hope to be able to do a lot more riding from April, so count me in for some long rides when that happens!

Stu
 
It would be a pleasure to ride with you again, Stu.

We should have more chances. I might do a repeat of this run later, but riding the Setagaya-Machida-Setagaya segments by bike instead of by train, which would give me more night time practise (the first 6 1/2 hours of the 300 km brevet ride are through the night), as well as a training distance somewhere in between the 213 km and the full 300 km.
 
Sadly I am not up to this ride right now, but for anyone joining it, please make a point of drooling at the window of Cherubim, with is right around the corner from the meeting spot on route 47.

No coincidence of course, as I am sure that is why the brevet starts where it does!
 
I'm setting my alarm at 04:15 to be at the start around 06:00 for the ride with Jose (Jayves).
 
We had a great ride. Which in cyclists terms means it was very hard for me but I made it.

Despite the optimistic weather forecast, it drizzled most of the way from Machida to Enoshima. Then it started snowing while climbing from Gotemba to Kagosaka pass (1104 m). It kept snowing while we descended and passed Yamanaka-ko. Everything around Yamanakako was blanketed in it. It was COLD. It didn't stop snowing until we got to Fujiyoshida.

IMG_1896.JPG


I never once saw Mount Fuji, though it was right in front of us, because of all the clouds. While climbing the Kagosaka pass road, I started to doubt if I could finish the ride.

Then we changed plan and headed back via Otsuki and Uenohara instead of R35. From Sagamiko we continued on R412/R413 instead of R20 over Takao-san.

We got back to Machida by 20:00 (that's 13 1/2 hours on the 213 km brevet training course including meals and rest), with a total of 227 km for myself (including Machida station-Start, Finish-Machida station) and 243 km for Jose to and from his home. We had dinner together, tired, excited and happy.
 
Very impressive!

You need some better gloves Joe! :D
 
For cycling I normally wear cheap cotton work gloves (cost: about 10 yen a pair in bulk), as seen in the picture, but I did have warmer, waterproof gloves (ski gloves) and was carrying them in my back pack. Because it's difficult to operate the STI levers with the padded ski gloves I only wear them when absolutely necessary.

I changed into them right after the picture was taken, in preparation for the descent from the pass down to Yamanaka-ko. I have learnt my lesson from the night-time Mt Fuji Subaru Line descent in late October ;)
 
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