What's new

Chichibu Loop

thomas

thomas

The Crank Engine
Nov 1, 2005
2,072
598
Hello everyone,

I just wanted to quickly announce a Chichibu ride that will take place tomorrow Tuesday, May 6th, modelled on the "KT4 Okumusashi Madness" last march. We will probably not do the extra loop Deej added last time (that's where my chain broke). Highlight will be that magnificent descent down R53! :)

Weather forecast:
JPMK01.gif
max 22°C.

Meeting time: 0700AM
Meeting place: Tamasuido-bashi (secondary meeting place: 7-Eleven in Higashi-Ome)

Members that have expressed interest so far:

- Deej
- Philip
- Travis (?)
- Thomas
 
Higashi Ome - logistics

Hi Thomas. Am interested in this ride - Chazzer and I were planning to do Odawara etc instead, but an early finish would be good for me too. What time would I need to get to Higashi Ome to meet you guys? B
 
baustin said:
What time would I need to get to Higashi Ome to meet you guys?
Click to expand...

Hi Ben,

as it is generally desired to return home early I'd suggest to meet in Higashi-Ome at 08.30AM, with a roll-out at 09.00AM latest.
 
The force is with you

:)

Thomas - the Odawara team are joining you - see you at Higashi Odawara tomorrow at the 7/11

:D

Charles aka chazzer
 
sounds good - Chazzer, let's try to hook up for the train ride out there
 
chazzer said:
:)

Thomas - the Odawara team are joining you - see you at Higashi Odawara tomorrow at the 7/11.
Click to expand...

Higashi-Ome it is.... :D

And I'm looking forward to the Odawara Rerun! Perhaps next weekend.
 
Train times

There is an 07:50 from Tachikawa arriving at Higashi Ome at 08:21

Working back from there the Chuo from Kanda leaves at 06:55

Ben there is a train from Shinbashi at 06:44 to Kanda on the Keihin Tohoku line arriving at 06:50

I will join the front carriage of the Chuo at Nakano at 07:12

See you tomorrow !!

Charles aka chazzer
 
Thomas said:
Hello everyone,

I just wanted to quickly announce a Chichibu ride that will take place tomorrow Tuesday, May 6th, modelled on the "KT4 Okumusashi Madness" last march. We will probably not do the extra loop Deej added last time (that's where my chain broke). Highlight will be that magnificent descent down R53! :)

Weather forecast:
JPMK01.gif
max 22°C.

Meeting time: 0700AM
Meeting place: Tamasuido-bashi (secondary meeting place: 7-Eleven in Higashi-Ome)

Members that have expressed interest so far:

- Deej
- Philip
- Travis (?)
- Thomas
Click to expand...


Hi guys!

>Thomas
I'll be in and 'll be Tamasuido-bashi instead tomorrow around 7:00am.

>chazzer
Let's have Odawara tour for another day.

>baustin
Sorry, I have no cellular.

Michel Angelo Veda
(E-mail removed for your safety - Please use the "Private Message" PM service in the top right-hand corner!)
 
caution!

according to Mr T's post following KT4 there are no coin lockers at Higashi Ome station, so pack lightly if you're starting from there
 
Lockers

No lockers - however fairly easy to stash whatever you need around the 7/11 in a hedge or similar.

Charles
 
Guys!
As soon as we departed from Suidou Bridge this morning I realized that you are rapidest riders to follow you without pacing down to attain the whole distance going and back. :confused: So I gave up to keep up and enjoyed riding bike through Chichibu route of my own. Any way, sorry I did not tell you this with no cellular.

Veda
 
Here is a belated brief report on Tuesday's ride into the picturesque slopes of Chichibu. It was a day that could not have been any more beautiful, with perfect weather conditions, although a tad windy.

We had agreed to meet at 07:00AM at Tamasuido-bashi. When I arrived there five minutes early Philip, Deej and Michel were already waiting. We started off without further ado, full speed ahead, soon noticing that we had lost Michel. I am sorry about that Michel, we should have mentioned that this was going to be a fast ride, as we had to cover some distance, three hillclimbs *and* everyone needed to be home early. :warau:

Side-note: I realised the need to categorise our official and unofficial tours in terms of difficulty, distance, altitude, number of stops planned and equipment needed. More about that later in another thread.

Philip, Deej and I reached the 7-Eleven in Higashi-Ome via Tamagawa cycle path just before 8:30AM, Charles, Ben and Sergey arrived soon afterwards. Unfortunately, Deej had to leave us in Higashi-Ome, as he had been suffering from knee-aches since our last ride over Yabitsu with Tadaya-san. Soon after the rest of us dudes had taken off Ben experienced some problems with his rear derailleur that needed to be addressed right away. After we had climbed up to the tunnel on R53 and enjoyed our first fast descent Ben found out he had forgotten to close the quick lever of his rear wheel! Fortunately, there were no potholes or bumps on the road...

After a short climb we reached Shomaru-toge before 11:00AM. I was very glad I could keep up with Sergey who fleet-footedly cranked up on his cyclocross rig. It was a hot day, so we refilled our bottles at the small restaurant, applied another layer of sun block and headed off to our second hillclimb. Philip had to leave us at that point. He and I had had a challenging ride just two days earlier and - believe it or not - he had been running 50km(!) crosscountry just the day before! Absolutely crazy! Absolutely outstanding! Respect. :)

The second hillclimb was as spectacular as the first one (unfortunately I cannot decipher the kanji of that toge on the map), but I had a punc on the way up and climbed the last two kms on my rim. After a short break we decided to head back the same way we came, via Shomaru-toge and R53. That descent is one of my most favourite, but due to Golden Week there were a lot of motorists and bikers. Charles, Ben and Sergey took the train from Higashi-Ome Sta., I opted for the Tamagawa cycle path.

Unfortunately, the day didn't end as well for me as it had started. When I was riding home along Tamagawa (very strong headwind and lots of cyclists, skaters and pedestrians) I didn't see a bump that was hidden in the shades of a tree. Doing at least 30km/h, the impact blew the handlebar out of my hands and I was kissing the asphalt faster than you can say "Amen". I remember Travis told me about a similar accident that had happened to his friend Simon. Grab your bars tightly, gentlemen! The rig was alright (Ti, mind you!), my new bib and my jersey were completely torn, my left shoe left with a gaping hole and my left side covered in road rash. Two friendly cyclists helped me and showed me to the next watertab. I made it back home, with my bleeding left flank and torn lycras causing some attention. I just wish I would have been able to sleep during the past two nights.

Anyhow gentlemen, thanks for the great day, I am looking forward to seeing Ben's pictures!
 
Thomas . . .

I feel terrible to have wimped out on the day you have an accident when I should have been with you :(

Narben zieren den Mann

Philip

PS - what time did you guys get back to Ome?
 
Thomas, thanks for the report and very sorry about your accident. Hope to see you again - healed and stronger than ever to explore those Chichibu back roads! :)
 
Me too !

I could easily have done the Tamagawa return in retrospect as I was by no means completely done in by the time we returned to the 7 Eleven which was about 14:00.

Thomas - I should have thought more about it and done more than lend you a spare tube. The ride home would have done me good and perhaps we could have missed the pothole together !!

I will make it a personal rule in future never to let anyone ride off on their own, at least until they are very close to home, no matter how experienced !

Sorry :eek:

Charles
 
Hi Thomas. Great report, thanks. And thanks for not mentioning that my legs had the last rites read to them 20km from home... Really sorry to hear about your fall. Will try to get the photos up soon! B
 
Philip said:
PS - what time did you guys get back to Ome?
Click to expand...

Sorry I neglected the essentials... :)

Charles is right, we reached Ome at around 02:00PM. And thanks again for the spare tube, Charles. Fortunately, it was not needed. :D
 
Thomas, sorry for the accident you met.
Hope, you mighty man recover very soon!

The fact you lost Michel as soon as we started was not your fault.
The fault was my own, because I had woke up 25 minutes before and I could not pace up to my usual speed to drive bike to keep up. I live very near from the starting point and lacked of exercises. I should've take train.:confused:
So, on the next occasion let me try to do fast run with you, thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom