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Today August 2019

yeah, good that he had his friend over. when I went past there again in an hour he was nowhere to be seen, so I guess either was able to move on his own, or at least ambulance took him in. did not look like someone who cycles regularly, probably came for a BBQ or something on the river. don't think he'll be enthusiastic to get on a bike anytime soon, by the looks of him - helmet or not
 
Well, that is true I guess. Wouldn't want to get caught going up hills either!! But they are bought for a specific purpose, as you know. So they aren't for, or to replace, my much loved Bianchi. But for my new flat road slayer!😄 This is my N+1 project.

Still, I'm sure I'll find out about wind, given the Arakawa is the Arakawa!

They look super slick. Wouldn't like to get caught in a crosswind though 😜
 
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Yesterday Peter and I headed up the Kazahari rindo. His ride started at 8:20 at MII (Musashiitsukaichi) for which I left at 5:30 from Setagaya. It was a pleasant 23 degrees when I cycled up the Tamagawa. Nice! I made it on time and we met up at the 7-11 across the street from the station. Before leaving, we checked the station once more if there were any other takers and just then Tuomas arrived, whose other ride plans had fallen through so he decided to join this one. At least for Tossaka toge (the climb behind Chitose tofuya in Hinohara), which he had not done before. We talked about his upcoming titanium bike.

After the descent back down to the main road, Tuomas headed back while Peter and I continued up to the Kazahari rindo. Does it get steeper every time I ride it? It seems that way. I got off and walked twice.

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Unlike the previous ride to Tomin no Mori the racing crowd was back, both two wheeled and four wheeled. Have you ever come across a souped up Nissan March, with body kit and racing exhaust? We saw two of them. Anyway, Tokyo's finest was ready and a shirobai (白バイ) was waiting in a parking lot next to Kazahari toge for idiots to come whizzing past at crazy speeds to go after them.

After the always beautiful descent to the lake we had lunch at one of the restaurants. They are always friendly and attentive. From there we continued to Okutama and up to Nippara. It was cloudy and grey by then and on the way to Nippara it started raining, but we continued and it stopped again. There were too many cars heading towards the cave.

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The village was one big traffic jam, so after a moment's consideration we said, "*$#& it, we're not going there!" We had passed a sign for a Nippara Furusato Bijutsukan, a local art museum. It took us a while to find it.

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In the process we discovered how many ruined apartment buildings there are around there. Presumably at one point a lot of lime stone quarry workers lived in them. This was one of the better ones still:

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Done for the day we returned to Okutama and down to Ome. A couple of km before Ome, we were passed by two cyclists. It turned out to be my friend Ian and his friend Roger. Ian had moved from Tokyo to Ome just that week.

After Peter got on the train in Ome, we visited Ian's new old but spacious house and then went for my traditional curry together.

I got back home before 21:00, with at least 176 km (my GPS doesn't count tunnels and I accidentally left it manually paused after stops once or twice in the ride) with about 1800 m elevation gain (on Strava). That was my 4th century ride for August and the 22nd this year. I just need 7 more in the next 4 months to match last year's number.
 
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Just got sent the parking pass for an upcoming race I have entered....
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I haven't talked to any of the staff and already they have me labeled. I guess my reputation proceeds me :warau::warau::warau:
 
finally found time to check if lynskey will fit into the... lynko bag and fortunately, albeit just barely, it does! so don't need to buy a new bag phew. now where to ride this weekend hmmm
 
The other day I bought a Gatorskin tyre to go with the GP5000 I've got on the front. It's a lot better than my last tyre, but still loses some traction on the mossy rindos when I climb out of the saddle (the GP5000 seems much more solid). Time will tell with its ability to withstand punctures and sliced tread. Incidentally, I considered getting a GravelKing Slick (25mm) but I didn't know enough about. Anyone try a GravelKing on a road bike? I read an article in a UK magazine and they seem to be getting more popular on UK roads.

Here's the man himself.
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gatorskin is really good in puncture protection. I had them on a previous bike for long time, never a single puncture. I also had gator hardshell, even sturdier. if you can get over a bit of weight penalty, they worked great for me. did not feel difference in grip compared to GP4000s
 
Haven't @stu_kawagoe , why did you switch the 5000 in the back for that?
I only have a new GP5000 on the front. I still had the stock Vittoria Zaffiro on the rear (the one I've just replaced with the Gatorskin). I'd have bought another GP5000 to match but I didn't have the budget for it this week. Fingers crossed I can get a decent amount of use out of these tyres. The last ones only gave me about 1,500km before they got sliced by the rindos.
 
The other day I bought a Gatorskin tyre to go with the GP5000 I've got on the front. It's a lot better than my last tyre, but still loses some traction on the mossy rindos when I climb out of the saddle (the GP5000 seems much more solid). Time will tell with its ability to withstand punctures and sliced tread. Incidentally, I considered getting a GravelKing Slick (25mm) but I didn't know enough about. Anyone try a GravelKing on a road bike? I read an article in a UK magazine and they seem to be getting more popular on UK roads.

Here's the man himself.
View attachment 18562
I don't think you'll find any tyre that wouldn't squirm/loose traction when climbing on a mossy rindo.

I'm guessing you mean the gravelking 26. As far as I'm aware they don't make a 25. I had a pair of 26 and they were fine, although the rear blew off my Reynolds carbon clincher once. It didn't seem to like the rim. They were fine on my other wheels. They are pretty cheap, too.
I've also ridden gatorskins (in a tubular). They were very solid and I don't recall ever getting a puncture. The only problem is that ride like you have a solid rubber tyre. The ride is awful compared to my veloflex roubaix which feel like you are riding on a cloud. Having said that, I didn't really notice how poor the ride was on gatorskins until I rode veloflex tubs then rode on the gatorskins again. I wouldn't advise doing that.
 
I read that most shinkansen were going to start requiring a large bag reservation system. Bagged bikes are not big suitcases, but I think the minimum was 160cm, so a bike might need a special reservation, too.

I think it's an extra ¥1000, and you also need a reserved seat, plus a ¥500 penalty if you show up without a reservation--and if there are no seat near the end of a car, you might get bumped to the next train.
 
I think that's pretty much it, but it seems it's only gonna apply for shinkansen going west/east, and not north of tokyo. remains to be seen. almost never used them anyway (once a year or two)
 
love their pronunciation of fukuoka

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I was hoping for that when I sent it in! The weather here has been anything but inspiring since early August so I figured that even if the photo wasn't inspiring, they seem to pick at least one winner every week where they can make a joke out of the name. Shame I didn't wait til this week for the funny name card as I had some pictures that were actually alright from Aso.
 
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