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Ride VeloViewer tiling in Japan

I figure you will be closer to the gravel up north around Tokigawa.

yeah that's the easiest escape route out of the concrete jungle for me, much easier than having to cross the whole metropolis to the SW. but it can get repetitive after a while. I hope the gravel bike can open some new terrain even in otherwise well known areas
 
If there are still any intrepid tilers around....

Did this ride today.
Gotemba is pretty nice. Lots of country clubs and uncongested roads. For anyone contemplating riding up there, just a couple comments.

At the 35 km mark it wasn't possible to get around the gate on the trail up there so TILE DENIED (TD). Seems like lots of private land due to Fuji Speedway.
At the 37.5 km mark... there is construction, so had to detour around.
From 42-47km, the route is mostly gravel, even though Komoot says it's paved. Should have taken my Surly but took the Cannondale instead. Amazed that my Gatorskin 28s didn't flat. I should do a commercial for them.
From 47 to 51 - was planning to take the direct route but there is construction up there and I didn't see the route at all. So, went the long and more circuitous route. No biggie.
From 54 to 57km, the trail is paved, then gravel, then paved, then gravel. The gravel is loose and with the washouts and such, it was slow going. Should have taken my Surly! (Komoot again says this is supposed to be paved).
*Pleasant surprise.... the route to the top is connected to the route down, although this isn't shown on Strava or Komoot.
From 57 to 61-ish is all gravel.

Good day on the bike. Finished up and got on the train in the nick of time with bike still not rinko'ed. The conductor wasn't having it till I showed him the bag and assured him I'd bag it right away (which I did, and which he checked at the next stop). So, no delay getting back by train. Also discovered a covered pavilion with WC across the street that looks like a perfect camping site for future Gotemba adventures.
 
I managed to add a few (2 and 11) tiles over the weekend, based out of the Astuto Kiyru Cycling Centre, i.e., Tim's bessō. It was Tim's daughter's birthday on Friday and my 50th on Saturday, so there were lashings of birthday cake, BBQ, and alcohol.

1.gif

Plenty of gravel action on Saturday on dead-end rindō. 31 km was enough. Tim and I were toasted, and a dip in the river at the clearing at the top of the final climb was just what the doctor ordered.

20190803-105504-kiryu-akagi copy.JPG

And on Sunday, Mt. Akagi. I think I found the best route down...

20190804-140854-kiryu-akagi copy.JPG

It was a comparatively tolerable 27ºC while cycling around Ōnuma lake - the volcanic crater. But 39ºC as we were riding into Maebashi. Fortunately it was downhill!
 
If there are still any intrepid tilers around....

Did this ride today.
Gotemba is pretty nice. Lots of country clubs and uncongested roads. For anyone contemplating riding up there, just a couple comments.

At the 35 km mark it wasn't possible to get around the gate on the trail up there so TILE DENIED (TD). Seems like lots of private land due to Fuji Speedway.
At the 37.5 km mark... there is construction, so had to detour around.
From 42-47km, the route is mostly gravel, even though Komoot says it's paved. Should have taken my Surly but took the Cannondale instead. Amazed that my Gatorskin 28s didn't flat. I should do a commercial for them.
From 47 to 51 - was planning to take the direct route but there is construction up there and I didn't see the route at all. So, went the long and more circuitous route. No biggie.
From 54 to 57km, the trail is paved, then gravel, then paved, then gravel. The gravel is loose and with the washouts and such, it was slow going. Should have taken my Surly! (Komoot again says this is supposed to be paved).
*Pleasant surprise.... the route to the top is connected to the route down, although this isn't shown on Strava or Komoot.
From 57 to 61-ish is all gravel.

Good day on the bike. Finished up and got on the train in the nick of time with bike still not rinko'ed. The conductor wasn't having it till I showed him the bag and assured him I'd bag it right away (which I did, and which he checked at the next stop). So, no delay getting back by train. Also discovered a covered pavilion with WC across the street that looks like a perfect camping site for future Gotemba adventures.

'Grabbing 'em by the..... tiles'; as they say. Really great tiling all around. Thanks for the detailed write up.
 
Did this today.

Pretty hot later in the day. Got most of the tiles I planned on but was denied one tile due to construction goin on on my planned route. How dare they!
The good news was that everything today was paved. Even the rindos I expected to be gravel, were nicely paved. But of course, I rode my Surly today instead of my Cannondale. :mad:

For inquiring minds, pics are available here. https://www.strava.com/activities/2591965038
 
Contemplating this ride on Saturday, up around Otsuki. It is a bit remote and looks like I/we couldn't count on the normally ubiquitous vending machines for water. Also, considering the option of doing an overnighter up there and coming back on Sunday. If anyone has an interest or knows the area and could provide info about what to expect, (or potential camping places) please let me know.

 
It is a bit remote and looks like I/we couldn't count on the normally ubiquitous vending machines for water. Also, considering the option of doing an overnighter up there and coming back on Sunday. If anyone has an interest or knows the area and could provide info about what to expect, (or potential camping places) please let me know.
Oooh, interesting.

It's a lot remote.

That's the north face of Ōtoge (km 29 -44) - famously gravelly and rough - followed by the 'worse traverse' (km 51 - 75). Andrei did it last spring. As I recall, there was a missing/fallen bridge that required substantial scrambling, but he got through.

My thoughts: (1) I could not carry enough water to survive a ride that tough in this heat; (2) please don't go alone.
 
Thanks, Mike. If it is mostly gravel, then I'll break it up into two stages then. As it was, it was a bit ambitious anyway. Probably won't get to it this weekend then.
 
Contemplating this ride on Saturday, up around Otsuki. It is a bit remote and looks like I/we couldn't count on the normally ubiquitous vending machines for water. Also, considering the option of doing an overnighter up there and coming back on Sunday. If anyone has an interest or knows the area and could provide info about what to expect, (or potential camping places) please let me know.


I'm interested. Was already planning on going to Blue Lug to check out some bigger tires today...
 
If it's not this weekend I'm interested too. This weekend is gonna be about building and testing the gravel bike, but I'm not comfortable just jumping so deep right away, without making doubly sure everything works etc
 
@sean-e I've scratched the Otsuki ride for this weekend. Instead, I'm going to do this ride up and over Tomin, plus a hike up towards the toge (but not all the way) and another hike on the descent to collect a couple stubborn tiles. I figure I'll rinko to Musashi-Itsukachi and then rinko back from Okutama station. Haven't decided whether Saturday or Sunday is better yet. Will probably be a last minute decision.

 
@Karl ha, we just posted routes at the same time! (https://tokyocycle.com/threads/saturday-8-10-tanzawa-groadery.8314/#post-117520)

If you're going, I'll join you and close my other route (or just switch it to the other day :) ) Saturday might be a bit better weather-wise but Sunday looks mostly not rainy.

OK. If you're good for Saturday, then let's do that. My 'plan' was to be at Musashi-Itsukachi at 7:34 AM.

Oh... and the ride/hike is open to anyone else who is interested.
 
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Sounds good, I'll see you there at Musashi-Itsukachi at 7:30 then. Is this more road or offroad up to the hiking point?
 
Everything is nicely paved road until the hiking path to the top of Tomin. The other hiking path south of the lake is probably only hike-able as well.
 
Nice bike-and-hike(-and-bike-then-hike-again-then-final-bike) with @Karl today.

Sunflowers going up Tomin no Mori:
IMG_0698 (2).JPG

I had a passenger:
IMG_0707 (2).JPG

IMG_0719 (2).JPG


Karl zoomed off at the end to catch the train, whereas I went Full Tourist and ate various matsuri food items (and missed the train).
IMG_0722.PNG
 
Nice bike-and-hike(-and-bike-then-hike-again-then-final-bike) with @Karl today.

Karl zoomed off at the end to catch the train, whereas I went Full Tourist and ate various matsuri food items (and missed the train).

Good day on the bike. Looks like we passed some TCC folks on the way down from Tomin as we were headed up.

Looked like a nice little matsuri there, but I wasn't going to miss the train in order to eat squid. :eek:
 
Today was a UK bank holiday so my office was closed. Time for a proper ride... but I had to get the 05.09 train to beat the commuters getting through Tokyo. That hurt.

The mission was to colour-in a chunk of Chiba south of Tonegawa. The 59 new tiles punch above their weight in expanding my cluster, as they draw some tiles from a long-ago ride into the swarm. Strava...


I'm enjoying making .GIFs of my progress (or "the infestation", as my friend calls it). The one I made of this ride is too big to upload on TCC :(, so I'll see if this link works:

 
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