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Ride 8/7 West Saitama

Heath

Maximum Pace
Dec 13, 2014
527
455
8/2 Edit: The start time has been brought forward 30 minutes to 6:30 a.m.

Poster...

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Ride Summary...

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The Real Route...



Meeting Point (6:00 a.m.) in this carpark. Look for a red Suzuki Hustler, or better still a gaijin.

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Pace: Semi Peek (or Full Peek, if Peek joins)

W.A.T.T: Within reason.

There are plenty of food stops.
Drink machine stops in between for anyone needing hydration, as it is important at this time of year.
 

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Damn, it,s going to be difficult to stay away after that superb presentation. Interested.
 
Looks like a good ride. Would have been interested had I not been going to Izu that weekend.
 
Dealing with a shit back right now, but may attempt it if feeling better by Sunday. I'm pretty sure I can make the first hill WATT unreasonable leaving me free to lay in the nearest stream and pretend I am still killing it on the hills with all of you.
 
Sorry @Heath but I'll miss this excellent route this week - heading west of Tokyo on Sunday instead. Have a blast! See you at the next one...
 
OK, now that @Mlac Peek has quit I'M IN! Hahaha just kidding... But am considering this quite seriously. If my stronger half lets me out to play on that day ;)
 
Sea said he's going to join us.
Also, I am bringing another mate along with me in the car.
Should be a decent turn out.
 
@Cory M. @luka you should both come
Thanks. I have this thing in the afternoon which I can't postpone, but the exact timing is not yet decided. If it's late enough so I can safely make it back, I'm there. I did a longish "commute" this morning, almost getting up to your place @D'Pioneer on Edogawa this morning. Starting around 5:30 was bearable, but already by 8-9 am the heat is just horrible. So that's actually the biggest worrying factor for me. I have no experience riding this distance and elevation in this heat.
 
Plan to be there, although not super confident on meeting spot. Will post here if I can't make it for some reason. Doubt I'll go much further than Monomiyama...
 
Unfortunately I can't make it tomorrow. Was (kinda) looking forward to it, but other priorities have had to be made... One of the next weekends hopefully!
 
@Cory M. Okay mate, just msg me here if you're 'out' or having trouble finding the meeting spot, and I'll get on onto it straight away. Would be great to have you ride with us for as far as your schedule permits. ;)
 
@luka No problems, hope to see you on one of the next episodes. Thanks for letting us know, too. :tup
 
That route is done and polished.

With sickness in the ranks, a hot day forecast, and some paceline masters heading to a ride in West Tokyo, the field had dwindled down to just @Cory M., Keita, and I.

We kept the pace sensible heading out, topped The Little Bitch, and headed to the first climb near Tokigawa Wank.
@Cory M. bid us farewell before the climb as he'd ridden all the way out from Tokyo (KUDOS) and was concerned about having to ride back in against a headwind, completely understandable.
Enjoyed our chats with the lad, and was blown away by his Japanese speaking level (to Keita). Top all-round lad that Cory!

Keita and I then proceeded to mow down each climb before pacelining it in full TT mode all the way back in.
This was the first time I'd ridden with Keita, and ladies and gentleman, I'd like to announce that we have a new inductee to the TCC West Saitama Paceline.
Oh my, the boy can ride and he's fully keen to catch up with all of you pricks on future rides. Naturally, I gave him a good run-down on everyone.


Here is a summary of the route for those who want to plan future rides off it:

All of the day's climbs were a first for me, just as I'd designed the route.

Climb 1A: The Little Bitch (let's not say anything about HER)

Climb 1B: Nice, hard to find a rhythm, scenic, and nice (did I just say that :confused:).

Climb 2: Ace climb, it will soothe your soul.
Descent 2: Switchback magic, road porn, etc etc. Again, it was pure ace.

Climb 3: Relentlessly, 'up' for 400m of elevation, hardest climb of the route by far, anything with a Nihongi tag is brutal.
Descent 3: No good, 1km gravel section before it started, worst braking descent ever, my hands were caning at the bottom from wrenching the brakes on. Best option would be to take the descent before it (don't turn left off the main road just after you swing off the top of the Nihongi descent).

Climb 4: It looked menacing on the profile due to it's length (10.7km), but it was actually quite soft with plenty of low percentage sections on it for recovery. It's a great climb, no cars, shaded, highly recommended.
Descent 4 (Descent From Mordor): Apart from the speed humps at the top (there is a clean line through them), it's a free-flowing, well cambered descent that goes on forever (or around 12 minutes). I heard an unconfirmed whisper that someone had taken the downhill on it today by over a minute. That is pure speculation however.

Next post... some pics.
 
Nice write up @Heath ! Sorry I bailed so early, but was glad I did, I completely fell apart on the way home, for some reason the heat did me in and I had to take a ridiculous number of breaks. Learned a new heat strategy though: buy a frozen bottle of lemon water and spend the rest of the ride sticking it in various pockets and parts of your bibs enjoying the cold sweetness as it thaws. Definitely doesn't get you any MTFU points, though.

Keita is a badass for sure, and I'm not saying that just because he is a fellow appreciator of steel. I'm sure I would ride just like him if I were 30 kg lighter. And a great climber.
 
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