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Hit Some Different Hills! Sunday 4th March

AlanW

Maximum Pace
Jan 30, 2007
1,215
440
Hello all,
I can't ride with Travis & co on Saturday. However I will be riding on Sunday. I plan to start from Takaosanguchi station and do a ride of about 100km. The route is not finalised yet but will be by Sunday! Basic plan is to start alongside Sagamiko then north towards Nodake and Shoto-san. The hills won't be as brutal as the Saturday ride but should still be nice.
I plan to be rolling by 9:30am. Let me know if you'd like to join me.

Cheers,
AW.
 
Route for Sunday

Hi,
I scouted out a route for Sunday today. Found a nice course from Takaosanguchi station up into the hills on the south side of Sagamiko, then around some bigger hills to the north.
The roads are very quiet, and there are hardly any traffic lights (wooo hooo!). It took me about 4 and a half hours to get around this route, as there's hardly any flat ground the whole way. It's either up or down! :climb02: My legs are sore this evening! But it's worth it.
Cheers,
AW.
 
Sorry Alan . . .

It looks fantastic and I am sorely tempted . . . however, I have done three long weekends consecutively. My triathlon training demands that I do a race pace session over a flat course this weekend. Boring Oifuto here I come :run02:

Cheers,

Philip

PS - you should meet Paul (Fluro2au) in the near future. He is fast!
 
I am certainly not in the Philip, Paul or Christoph class but I did manage to get all the way from Shibuya to well past Otsuki last Sat with them (at least in visual contact that is !) before baling out so, if you don't mind an old fart along for the ride, then I will try to keep up as best as I can !!

Will confirm on Saturday if thats OK ?

Charles:eek:uch:
 
Hi all, good luck to the riders

I'm so ashamed, I joined the club but never went on a tour. It seems impossible for me both in terms of time and most important fitness. Hope to join sometime soon.
Wishing good luck and much joy to the brave riders.
:bike:
 
Charles,
Glad to have you along. I'll check this site on Saturday night for confirmation.

Bring a spare tube and some food; the route is on the back roads a lot of the time.....

Let's Roll!
AW.
 
Great Day in the Hills!

Alan,

Thanks again - that was a fantastic day out. Right at the limit for what I can achieve right now and I want to thank you for organising and also your patience when you had to hang around at the top of climbs for me.

Now I am feeling the warm glow of achievement !

Charles
 
Ride Report

Just two of us for this ride, Charles and I.

I made an early start from Tokyo and arrived at Takaosanguchi at about 8:45, which gave me plenty of time to park and get changed. Charles' train arrived just after 9:30 am and we were soon on our way. We rolled west on Route 20 towards Sagamiko, beginning the ride as it would continue; i.e. uphill! We were soon rewarded with our first descent of the day, into Sagamiko town. In the centre of town we turned left onto Route 412 which took up alongside the lake itself which sparkled in the bright sunshine. We left the lakeside and headed up into the mountains, still heading west on Route 517 but now quite far above the lake, which was visible through the trees on our right side. The traffic disappeared, leaving Charles and I speeding down the swoopy curves of ths route. Then it was time to hit the minor roads, even less traffic and plenty of turns, ups and downs to keep our minds busy!
We popped out on Route 76 which took us south, passing a large model of Mt. Fuji! Many more ups and downs took us around to the north again through a series of tunnels, and once again we turned onto a minor road. This road looks like it's been forgotten by all, luckily it was clear of branches and debris. Without my GPS and map checking I never would have believed it was the correct route. Approaching Sagamiko's west end we hit the roughest part of the ride - worn, bumpy tarmac that shook our bikes like the Paris-Roubaix! With a steep climb we hit the halfway point.
The northern loop took us up up and up, following the course of the Sawaigawa on Route 522. The section has a 9% and 10% gradient. We passed a couple of very posh looking golf clubs, before turning onto route 33 and the final big climb of the day, up to 600 metres and the border between Uenohara-shi and Hachioji-shi. I found a place out of the wind to shelter while I waited for Charles, who ground his way up the hill like a trooper! I was happy when he appeared. A long tunnel took us to the top of our major descent, following the Akikawa down Route 33. Those of you who've ridden the Okutama tours will be familiar with this road. A cold mist hung in this valley and the road surface was greasy, which kept our speed down a bit, but we still made great time down to Itsukaichi station. The wind which had blown us up the hill amazingly dropped, leaving us with just the final 20km over an undulating road. There were a couple of sharp climbs towards the end, but we kept our pedals spinning and then cruised the final few km on route 20 back to the station.
All in all a great ride in near-perfect weather conditions.

The scores:
Total distance: 98.5 km
Riding time (AW): 4 hours 25 mins
Total time: around 7 hours
Average speed (AW): 22.2 km/h
Maximum speed (AW): 66.3 km/h :D
Small Chainrings used: Oh Yes
 
Seems you've had a nice tour, gentlemen! By the way, you can upload your images to the TCC Gallery for higher exposure, there's a subforum for unofficial tours. :)
 
Great course!

Hey Alan, Charles,
It looks like a great route that you took.
I haven't checked the map yet, but yes, I do know that road back to Itsuka-ichi on Rte.33 - but only from the other way!
Next week, we're looking at doing Hakone - from Odawara, back to Odawara.
I'll post a thread, and I hope both of you can make it too!
You too, Thomas!
T
 
Just checked the map!

I know that road really well - Rte.33, and the that long tunnel at the top (just after that, there's a shorter tunnel, right?).
You're spot-on! After you both came down from those tunnels to that set of traffic-lights, that's the starting-point of the Okutama climb!
The very first time I went to Okutama, I made a navigational error, and ended up climbing up to that tunnel (the way you guys came down) - hated every second of it! But I did that 4km climb from the lights a couple of months ago, just to see if it was as bad as I remembered. It was! The down-hill to Uenohara on the side you came up is really nice though.
Rte.33 all the way back to Itsukaichi is also something I've never done.
But that was an awesome ride that you guys did!
Well done! T
 
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