What's new

Feb 5th - The River Less Travelled

Phil

Maximum Pace
Sep 1, 2007
1,816
55
Anyone fancy an explore of the rarely traveled (by TCC) Edogawa River?

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/27470770

Briefly, we will head upstream on the Chiba bank to the Tone/Edogawa fork, where stands the Sekiyado Castle. Then, we would head downstream along the Tone until the Tone Canal, which we would use to cut back to the Edogawa and thence home.

The route is only 100km or so, but none of us have ever ridden it. That means we have no idea if there are complete cycle paths along the route (although I think there should be for the Edogawa), nor do we know how to find the Tone Canal, or if we have to cross bridges/if the paths are paved etc etc.

So, this will be a fairly casual ride, not too pacy, and might involved frequent map consults and/or backtracking. Then again, it might not, so if we get ahead of schedule we can always explore a little of the Tone upstream once we meet up with it.

Start will be the Rt. 14 bridge over the Edogawa near Ichikawa, Chiba bank.
Time TBD, but probably about 9am or so. Plan is to be back at 4pm at the very latest. We'll try to have a sit-down lunch if time permits and we find someplace decent. Otherwise, the usual combini fare.
Moderate road bike pace.

Tentative joiners so far:
Yamabushi (Peter)
YellowGiant (Travis)
Phil

(Let me know if the MapMyRide link doesn't work. I know they've changed things and not sure if my route is public or not...)
 
Hi Phil

I went to Sekiyado Castle yesterday. The Edogawa river has small areas of construction on the left and right side of the river. They cause no real problems as they have marked the detours and have a security guard pointing the way. There is a nice restaurant behind the castle but I'm not to sure if it's open in February. There are loads of convenience stores and vending machines though.

The Tone canal is connected to the Edogawa river at the Sekiyado turn off point. Beware of the very large stones that are on the cycling path on that section of the Tone. The route is 99km from Ichikawa station if you do the loop of the Edogawa.

Sorry I can't join you, I have to work on Saturdays.

Have a nice ride.
 
I too work on Saturdays, and this Sunday too, but that is a great route, thanks for putting it up, I'll be waiting to hear how the route worked out. The start point is 20Km from my house so that would be one heck of a long ride for this guy!

Maybe I'll have to figure out a bit shorter route and try leading a beginner slow group up this route.

Cheers for sharing it!:D
 
Can't say no!

Seeing as how the course goes right past my apartment at the "3km-mark", I have no excuse for not being there!
Finally, a ride where I get to sleep in before the start! Cheers, Phil:D
 
Nope, no excuses for you Travis!

BTW, I'm going to do two similar types of rides this coming weekend probably heading up one side of the Arakawa and back down the other, one ride Saturday and one Sunday if you are interested and available one or both days. I'll be posting a separate thread about it later today.
 
Yeah, I am all over this!

I can latch on between 25 and 30 km, and come round the top and down with you.

Looks good! I have ridden this area a lot, and it is cool.

Just had a close look at the map; can I meet you where route 19 crosses the river, around the 27km mark (have a look for route 80, then take a right onto 42, then a left onto 19)

Like this... http://goo.gl/maps/3bDo
 
Moderate road bike pace.

Tentative joiners so far:
Yamabushi (Peter)
YellowGiant (Travis)
Phil

Can the above two statements be correct together?!

Or by 'moderate pace' you mean 40km/h aerobic training?
 
Right up my alley too but I have to work on the 5th. :eek:uch:

The map looks pretty straight forward....

As you come off the Tone river at the Noda golf club it is a little bit tricky to find the Tone canal. You can't go straight through the golf course...get on the road as the bike path will lead you to it. It is very tempting to try and find a path around the golf course. Trust me, it's not worth it. You need to get on the road for a few kms here to get to the canal.

The easiest way I can think of and explain is to just keep going straight as the river path ends into the road. (the golf course will be to your left and a park to your right).
Follow the slightly winding road (W/SW) till you get to a set of traffic lights.
There should be a small post office there. Fukuda Post Office I think.
Two options here...keep going straight and risking getting lost or turning left and following that road till you hit the canal. A bit of traffic to contend with but fine if you take it easy and be careful. (that is the easiest option and less than a km extra distance.) Getting lost the other way may cost you a lot of time and confusion.

The Tone canal itself can be ridden on the left or the right. I prefer the right side as it is a smoother ride. You may have to start on the left side though. If you start on the left, as soon as you pass a high school there will be a little footbridge to the other side of the canal. This is a good spot to cross over. The right though means you have to get on a road for a bit (near Unga station) but usually no traffic hassles and very easy. You will pass Tokyo Science University to your right then hit a traffic light. Keep going straight...less than 5kms to Edo river....

The more difficult option can be seen in this Garmin map. Look for the Noda Golf course where I get off the Tone river and you can see the route I didn't explain.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/51489126

The Tone is fully cycling pathed...all the way. Some tricky road crossings (well one I can think of)

There won't be many drink machines if any between Sekiyado castle and Fukuda post office. Stock up at the castle.
 
Pete > Ah, sorry you can't make it; next time we'll try to do it Sunday, eh. Thanks for the info on the cycle path. BTW, is there any particular side you recommend? I chose the Chiba side just because that was labeled as the "official" bike path on the map and it looked like the nicer route on Google satellite (more trees, less baseball diamonds), but I have no idea really...

StuInTokyo > Likewise, sorry you can't make it.

OwenJames > Will be good to see you there. We can work out meeting time a little closer to the day, I guess.

Badar > Definitely moderate pace this time!* No drops either. (*Speaking for myself, anyway :))

(Edo) Pete > Ah, was hoping you could join us and be our official guide for the northern stretch... But many thanks for the detailed instructions and map. The main road you are suggesting we take to the canal is Route 7, is that right? That might be the safer choice, but if we have time to spare it might be worth having a bit of an explore. I'll be bring maps so hopefully that will help.

Peter, Travis > Looking forward to it!
 
They've done a lot of work on both sides. From Tokyo Bay the Tokyo side is best. From Matsudo the Chiba side is best. (some very wide new sections).

There will be a lot of pedestrians around Matsudo though. Very few once you pass my place at Noda.

Yes, route 7 to the canal. If you miss the canal it takes you all the way to Teganuma.
 
(Edo) Pete, thanks for the additional info. Looks like the route as drawn should be okay then for a first foray.

Regarding start times, shall we make 9:00 AM the official start? East side of the river, under or near the Rt 14 bridge. I lack Travis' uncanny ability to judge speed and distance for these things, so you'll have to determine rendezvous times for yourself if joining the ride further upstream. Perhaps assume 30km cruising speed, slightly less average pace?

Travis, (Bushi) Pete: Unless we run very late, I'll probably peel off at the Tone Canal to complete a loop and head back to Sakura via the Tone, but will stay with you guys until we find the canal, as I'm keen to find out where it is.
 
When they go right into the canal, you should go left and follow the canal to the back roads of Abiko and to the Tone river.
 
Thanks again Pete. I'm going to try and dig up that route you sent me ages ago that passes Lake Teganuma.

Really too bad you can't make it; David is hoping to come along if they don't call him in from standby.
 
I will be in the Roppongi area at a hotel there. How would I get to the starting point? And, where do I get one of those bike bags from?

I'm new to Tokyo but would love to come out on the ride with you guys.

Thanks
Tristan
 
Keen as mustard!

Hey Pete,

Long time no see, keen to come out for this one on Sat, looks good. Got a bike with gears now, amazing how useful it is not to have to choose your gear before leaving home!!

Azakira - you can get a bag (rinko) from any bike shop or sports shop (sports depo etc) or you can be cheap and use garbage bags and a bit of duct tape!!
 
Azikara, statsman > Will be great to have you along!

David > Hope work lets you do this. I'll be using this train:

JR横須賀・総武線快速・横須賀行
(JR Yokosuka Sobu Line Kaisoku, bound for Yokosuka)

It leaves the main Narita station (city, not airport) at 7:38. We'll take it to 市川 (Ichikawa).

I'll get on the very front car at Sakura when it comes through at 7:51. Hopefully see you then.
 
Looks to be about 50km and change from the canal to Sakura station, bit less to Inbanuma. So 125km total; should be back at Sakura by 4pm easy. Only issue is finding our way...
 
Back
Top Bottom