WhiteGiant
Maximum Pace
- Nov 4, 2006
- 1,233
- 395
Meeting other cyclists...
I went to the July 4th celebrations at the "American Embassy Annex" on Saturday.
While I was there, I met some other cyclists, and was invited along on a ride the following day. When I was speaking with them about TCC, one of the guys said, "Oh! You know 'Todor' (Trad). Apparently, he's been on a couple of your
rides”.
I said that I knew him, and was looking forward to riding with "their" group.
The group dynamic was very similar to TCC - always with one guy in front, to lead the way; and one guy at the back, to make sure nobody is left behind.
I was impressed!
I liked the way everyone rode together - there were the obvious "fast guys", as well as beginners & ladies.
It's called "Don's half-fast", and is advertised in the back of the free "Metropolis" magazine. Check here:
http://www.fitnessjp.com/025_10_half-fast+cycling+at+full-throttle
Don (the leader/organizer of the group) may have felt I was trying to "steal" his riders, but there are more than enough "gaijin" riders to go around.
And over-lapping between groups is inevitable…
Pete “Edogawakikkoman” comes on our rides, but he’s also part of another group called “Semas” – actually his shop’s name – for his Sunday rides.
“YellowGiant”, “SHIBAGON”, “Taro” and a few others are also members of “AlpenMarker” (the group we went to Kusatsu with).
Todor “Trad” already rides with Don’s group regularly…
The point is, no matter what “group” you belong to, it’s all about cycling! And besides the excitement of "friendly competition" along the way, the safety of the others you ride with is also paramount.
Sunday’s course:
We all met outside the Hyatt hotel behind Roppongi-hills at 11:00.
From there, we went down some narrow-ish side streets towards Ebisu and Kan-nana-dori to pick up some other people.
There were 14 of us altogether.
We headed down towards Tamagawa, and then turned left on the cycling road, heading towards Haneda airport. We didn’t go the whole way to Haneda, but cut off on a side-street, through a really nice park on the way to a beach north of Haneda. We stopped there for lunch (and a few beers) at about 1:30-2:30, and then everyone rolled out for a late lunch / early dinner at Zest in Roppongi.
I had some other arrangements, so I had to leave early with one of the other guys after we got to Tennnozu-Isle.
I rolled home from there at 4:00 with 91km on the meter.
The bottom line is, I had a really enjoyable day with those guys (& gals)!
It was really fast only in a few places along Tamagawa, but generally it was an average-paced sociable ride with people who share the same hobby.
Hopefully, some time in the future, we can arrange a joint "TCC / Don’s half-fast" ride together.
Travis
I went to the July 4th celebrations at the "American Embassy Annex" on Saturday.
While I was there, I met some other cyclists, and was invited along on a ride the following day. When I was speaking with them about TCC, one of the guys said, "Oh! You know 'Todor' (Trad). Apparently, he's been on a couple of your
rides”.
I said that I knew him, and was looking forward to riding with "their" group.
The group dynamic was very similar to TCC - always with one guy in front, to lead the way; and one guy at the back, to make sure nobody is left behind.
I was impressed!
I liked the way everyone rode together - there were the obvious "fast guys", as well as beginners & ladies.
It's called "Don's half-fast", and is advertised in the back of the free "Metropolis" magazine. Check here:
http://www.fitnessjp.com/025_10_half-fast+cycling+at+full-throttle
Don (the leader/organizer of the group) may have felt I was trying to "steal" his riders, but there are more than enough "gaijin" riders to go around.
And over-lapping between groups is inevitable…
Pete “Edogawakikkoman” comes on our rides, but he’s also part of another group called “Semas” – actually his shop’s name – for his Sunday rides.
“YellowGiant”, “SHIBAGON”, “Taro” and a few others are also members of “AlpenMarker” (the group we went to Kusatsu with).
Todor “Trad” already rides with Don’s group regularly…
The point is, no matter what “group” you belong to, it’s all about cycling! And besides the excitement of "friendly competition" along the way, the safety of the others you ride with is also paramount.
Sunday’s course:
We all met outside the Hyatt hotel behind Roppongi-hills at 11:00.
From there, we went down some narrow-ish side streets towards Ebisu and Kan-nana-dori to pick up some other people.
There were 14 of us altogether.
We headed down towards Tamagawa, and then turned left on the cycling road, heading towards Haneda airport. We didn’t go the whole way to Haneda, but cut off on a side-street, through a really nice park on the way to a beach north of Haneda. We stopped there for lunch (and a few beers) at about 1:30-2:30, and then everyone rolled out for a late lunch / early dinner at Zest in Roppongi.
I had some other arrangements, so I had to leave early with one of the other guys after we got to Tennnozu-Isle.
I rolled home from there at 4:00 with 91km on the meter.
The bottom line is, I had a really enjoyable day with those guys (& gals)!
It was really fast only in a few places along Tamagawa, but generally it was an average-paced sociable ride with people who share the same hobby.
Hopefully, some time in the future, we can arrange a joint "TCC / Don’s half-fast" ride together.
Travis
