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Anyone ride gravel?

might have to check that out when we are there!
personally i've never ridden on the umenoki rindo before - so i'm not even sure how passable that is on a gravel bike
 
Nice to see the two of you out there. Let's plan another one soon. I am riding gravel 2-3 times per week these days.
Nice to bump into you today at the FamilyMart when I was meeting my ride buddies for the day. Very rare for me to head out that way on a weekend so glad I timed it to be there at the same time.

I'll put some fatter tyres on my Domane or sort out my tyres that are too fat on my Fairdale. Those IRC Boken tyres run wide! Got some frame rub happening.
 
If anyone is interested some of us are going to check out a gravel climb and then do a loop round sayamako later this month:

 
If anyone is interested some of us are going to check out a gravel climb and then do a loop round sayamako later this month:

That climb looks like a bastard of a climb.
 
If anyone is interested some of us are going to check out a gravel climb and then do a loop round sayamako later this month:

I'm in looks like a good one.
 
If anyone is interested some of us are going to check out a gravel climb and then do a loop round sayamako later this month:

I'll join you guys as well.
 
i've never ridden on the umenoki rindo before - so i'm not even sure how passable that is on a gravel bike
Seems reasonably well travelled, which suggests it's passable. How enjoyable depends largely on legs.

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I met a guy this week who claims to have done it on a road bike with 28mm tyres - so i think we should be ok :)
 
If anyone is interested some of us are going to check out a gravel climb and then do a loop round sayamako later this month:

Looking forward to this one. Just to confirm, the meeting point is 9am tomorrow at Musashi Itsukaichi Station @djentleman ?
 
Yeah thats right @Conrad
if you are going to be late or something you should post here or on the strava event so we know to wait
 
I'll take the train out from Nakano.
Looks like weekends have a special train that goes directly out there once per hour.

If I rode out it's at least 3.5hrs, 350m just to start point. Decided looking at the roads and steepness might be better on my Fairdale with the 11-46 cassette than the Domane.

See you all in the morning. Looks like a bloody cold morning, I'm struggling to figure out what to wear but will play it safe.
 
Holy smokes. Just made the train by skin of my teeth.
First train since Jan 2020, forgot how bloody hot trains are inside. Never usually do bike bag on weekends and if I do go it's usually first train.

Got to Nakano station and first could not find an area not covered with either vomit, rubbish, pigeon shit or just filthy. Level of cleanliness and ability to plan cleaning activities not done by volunteers is pathetic in Tokyo.

Anyway next dilemma. Fairmean bag has been stuffed away for all this time & I've also forgotten how to smoothly do it. Can't get the bag over front forks, rear wheel keeps moving.. arghh. Precious minutes tick by. So much for my relaxed platform coffee.

Get it close enough to go through gates, fix on platform with 60secs to spare. Winning.

Handy weekend train line directly out to todays meeting point, zero transfers. Lots of hikers & mountain climber/bouldering types.
 
Thanks for the ride today guys, it was great meeting you all and let's do it again soon. Cheers @djentleman for organizing this, it was a great day out and a fun route.
Ditto, thanks for organising @djentleman and nice to meet everyone.
Secondly thanks for waiting for me at the top of the mountains, that gradient today was pretty punishing with gravel.

Think tomorrow might be a rest day.
 
Discovered today that my arms, shoulders and neck are much sorer than my legs. My Fairdale does a good job at a lot of things but after yesterday's ride full blown gravel may not be one of them.

Surprised just how different it was riding that road than what I've ridden before, just how much you need to upper body as well. Also reflecting on tyres, think my 40mm IRC Boken need to come off.

Brilliant tyres but they run extremely wide and at the pressure I had the back tyre was running on my frame the entire ride (no excuse for my slow butt though uphill) and grip tyre probably designed with different roads in mind. Bought them as nothing else I wanted was in stock, will keep an eye out for something else.

Hope everyone recovered ok, it was pretty cold up the mountain.
 
Holy smokes. Just made the train by skin of my teeth. [...] Handy weekend train line directly out to todays meeting point, zero transfers. Lots of hikers & mountain climber/bouldering types.

Most (all?) of these are just half-trains, the other half instead going to Okutama. If you just about manage to get in the train but discover that you're in the wrong half, announcements will point this out, and there'll be time to get out, trot along the platform, and get back in, once you're at Haijima station, which is where the train is cleft in twain, as it were.

If the timing's wrong, just take a train, any train, as far as Haijima, and ride your chari the rest of the way to Itsuka-ichi station. It's a dull ride but it's not long and it's just a straight line WNW along Tokyo route 7.

Me, I'm making the most of trains during the days before The Omicron Variant hits Tokyo and I have to crawl back into my burrow.
 
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