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Hit the HILLS! Sat.3/3

WhiteGiant

Maximum Pace
Nov 4, 2006
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Serious Mountain-climbers only!
Meet at Otsuki station at 10:00 - If you want to ride out there (from Tokyo), it's 100km! BUT, after the climb, I'm hoping we can all ride back in (to Tokyo - Yokohama) together!
To do the whole ride out there and back would be very similar to Philip's ride out to Yamanakako last weekend - ie. a 250km round-trip! SO, I'm catchin' the train!
From Otsuki, there's a short 4km ride to the start. Then it goes UP!!!
It goes up hard! For 23-24km! ALL up steep!
There's a gate about 13km in, and that will be the first goal. Then it continues up after that - no cars at all, for another 10-11km to Oo-toge (Big-Pass) - Alt: 1,560m.
The only downside is, that there is no "down" on the other side - we have to come back down the way we went up.

I don't want to start making this TCC web-site "exclusive" in any way, but if I had to make choice of riders who I think might benefit from a climb like this, I would have to say (not in any order of preference):

Thomas
AlanW
Christoph
Philip
fluro2au
Shay
Triroo
Edogawakikkoman
Terry
Travis (me)
...ie. TCC's 3 tri-athletes, and the other masochists who regularly visit the site:D

Others who might want to to join:

Sora
Newton
Araim1
Chazzer
Ben
dpercyk
...sorry if I've forgotten anyone!

IF none of you are interested, that's OK too! I'll go alone - it's my private training ground for "Kusatsu".
Anyway, the offer is open, and you know where I'll be this Saturday!
Catch ya! Travis

P.S. After the hard training is done, there will definitely be another "social" ride out to "Okutama-ko" in a couple of weeks! Keep your eye out for that - it's still a great climb! T
 
bike bag

Hi travis,

if we catch the train out and then ride back to Tokyo. What do you do with your bike bag when you ride back?

This sounds like a cool ride. Do you have map?

paul
 
Would love to go even though I'm quite useless in the mountains...going skiing instead... haven't been skiing in over 8 years either...weather forecast says the slopes we are going to will be 16 degrees Celsius...
First mid week day off I get over the next few weeks I'll hit Tsukuba san....

Have a good ride...looks like it will be warm.

:cool:
 
Pig Pass! Can't miss this!

Hi everyone. Been lurking for a while now but this is too good to pass up.

Looking forward to meeting you all on Saturday. And since we'll be riding O-toge together, I' let you in on a little secret; there is a downside. Here is a profile of a ride from Uenohara over Dawa Pass, Tsuru Pass, Matsuhime Pass and O-Toge. Very, very hard, but I've never tried O-Toge from the front. Guess it's time now. Should be brutal:)

Gonna be real cold up there, but the view of Fuji should be spectacular.

Do we exchange cell-phone numbers or just show up at Otsuki at 10:00?

Aaron
 
Scouted that climb last fall while looking for camp sites. Have to work this weekend... have the 11th off, will try to hook up for whatever ride is going out on that Sunday. Again thanks for invite...
Jeffrey
 
Saturday 3/3 hill-climb!

To fluro2au: We can leave our luggage in coin-lockers at Otsuki station, and then pick it up on the way back down.
For myself: I'm looking at this as a training ride, so I'll probably carry everything with me, and deliberately make myself as "heavy" as possible.
To Pucci: Nice to meet you! I've done Tsuru-toge and Uenohara as well - Matsu-hime-toge is also another one I want to try, but have never done. It's in the same area, but seriously, you really can't go down the back side of O-toge - my friend and I did it once, and we both thought we would get punctures from the rocks and branches on the road, then die of exposure while we waited for help!
It looks great on the map, but it really isn't ride-able! We'll have to go back down the same road that we rode up.
To Triroo: Even though you can't make it this weekend, I'll be doing this same ride almost every weekend for the next 4 weeks, so I hope to see you on the 11th!
This is a hard-core climb! And I'm looking forward to it!
The train from Shinjuku leaves right on 8:30am - "Kaiji"!
See you there! T
 
Yes I wanna ride

Serious Mountain-climbers only!
Meet at Otsuki station at 10:00 - If you want to ride out there (from Tokyo), it's 100km! BUT, after the climb, I'm hoping we can all ride back in (to Tokyo - Yokohama) together!
To do the whole ride out there and back would be very similar to Philip's ride out to Yamanakako last weekend - ie. a 250km round-trip! SO, I'm catchin' the train!
From Otsuki, there's a short 4km ride to the start. Then it goes UP!!!
It goes up hard! For 23-24km! ALL up steep!
There's a gate about 13km in, and that will be the first goal. Then it continues up after that - no cars at all, for another 10-11km to Oo-toge (Big-Pass) - Alt: 1,560m.
The only downside is, that there is no "down" on the other side - we have to come back down the way we went up.

I don't want to start making this TCC web-site "exclusive" in any way, but if I had to make choice of riders who I think might benefit from a climb like this, I would have to say (not in any order of preference):

Thomas
AlanW
Christoph
Philip
fluro2au
Shay
Triroo
Edogawakikkoman
Terry
Travis (me)
...ie. TCC's 3 tri-athletes, and the other masochists who regularly visit the site:D

Others who might want to to join:

Sora
Newton
Araim1
Chazzer
Ben
dpercyk
...sorry if I've forgotten anyone!

IF none of you are interested, that's OK too! I'll go alone - it's my private training ground for "Kusatsu".
Anyway, the offer is open, and you know where I'll be this Saturday!
Catch ya! Travis

P.S. After the hard training is done, there will definitely be another "social" ride out to "Okutama-ko" in a couple of weeks! Keep your eye out for that - it's still a great climb! T
 
4 people.

So far, I think we've got four riders coming along:

Travis
fluro2au
Pucci
Shay

10am, at Otsuki station.
As far as training goes, don't forget your heart-rate-monitors, and try to log your times - I plan to do this climb every week until two weeks before the Kusatsu race - with maybe a rest/social climb up Okutama-ko on week 3-ish. And then a short fast run up Mt.Tsukuba the week before the race.
Hope to see you all there! T
 
I won't be with you guys this weekend.

I'll aim to join up with you in 1-2 weeks time. need to get a long flater solo ride in as part of IM preps, espeically after hitting the hills last week.

looking forward to reading the report and photos.

Paul
 
that sounds interesting!!!
may someone can explain how to get to the starting point??
and i will promise to use the smal chain ring :rolleyes:
cheers christoph
 
By bike?

Hey Christoph,
I can only assume that you are planning to ride out there:(
To get to Otsuki, follow route 16 all the way out to the route 413 turn-off (the way you guys went last weekend).
Keep going that way until you get to the 413/412 intersection - I believe there was some mix-up around there last week ???
Anyway, 413 goes to the left, and 412 goes to the right - Take 412, and follow it to "Sagami-ko" and route 20 (about 5-6km). Turn left onto route 20, and follow it for about 25-30km to Otsuki. Just before you get to Otsuki, you'll see a turn-off for route 139 - that will tell that you're almost there (stay on Rte.20, though).
I'm assuming that you don't have a bike-bag, BUT if you come by train, catch the Yokohama-line to Hachioji, and change there to the Chuo-line for Otsuki station.
See you there! Travis
 
Two Coming

Travis,

My friend Sean plans to come too. He will probably be on the same train as you. My train gets to Otsuki at 10:04.

You are probably right that the backside of Big Pass is not descendible. It is a great climb, but at climbing speeds, the racks and branches can be avoided. Downhill could be suicidal.

BTW, there is a nice 33km route south of the rail line that goes back to Fujino by way of Hinazuru Pass. Could be nice for the second half of the ride. If we are feeling incredibly genki, and there is actually any daylight left, we could then go north over Wada pass to Takao. Extremely unlikely but ridiculous goals are always fun. More mountains and country roads beats riding back to the city, but I can go either way.
 
Unable to join you . . .

Hi Travis,

I wanted to join this ride very much. Unfortunately I am organizing an event for my running club and cannot escape my duties this Saturday :cry:

It was cold above Otsuki last week. Wrap up warm for the ride back down.

Cheers,

Philip
 
Cool!

Thanks for your replies!
First to the guys who can't make it; Philip, fluro2au, Edogawakikkoman, AlanW, Triroo: It really is a shame you can't make it.
Triroo said he's free to do it the following week on the 11th. And I reckon I'll be there too - so if you can't make it this week, try for the following Sunday!
Anyway, 5 of us.

>Christoph; I hope the directions helped.
>Shay; It'll be good to ride with you again, buddy.
>Sean; Look forward to meeting you.
>Pucci; It's nice to finally meet someone who knows them hills too!

As for the return trip, there are quite a lot of choices if we want to add another (smaller, but challenging) climb to the day.
As Pucci mentioned, Wada-pass would be great - I've only ever done it from Takao, which I think is steeper, but it's an awesome little climb. I'd like to try it from the other side (Rte.522).
Or, (I just checked the map) Hinazuru-pass, on Rte.35 - never done it, but it looks like fun.
Or we could turn left on 139 from Otsuki, and go up Matsuhime-pass, which comes down to Okutama-ko, and then down through Ome.

We should have a group discussion about which way to go after we've all come back down from Oo-toge (Big-pass) - it's nasty, and we might not want to see another hill:eek:uch: So we'll talk about it then.
Really looking forward to it!
Rubber down! Travis

P.S. As Philip just said; WARM gear for the down-hill!
 
Thanks for your replies!
First to the guys who can't make it; Philip, fluro2au, Edogawakikkoman, AlanW, Triroo: It really is a shame you can't make it.
Triroo said he's free to do it the following week on the 11th. And I reckon I'll be there too - so if you can't make it this week, try for the following Sunday!
Anyway, 5 of us.

>Christoph; I hope the directions helped.
>Shay; It'll be good to ride with you again, buddy.
>Sean; Look forward to meeting you.
>Pucci; It's nice to finally meet someone who knows them hills too!

As for the return trip, there are quite a lot of choices if we want to add another (smaller, but challenging) climb to the day.
As Pucci mentioned, Wada-pass would be great - I've only ever done it from Takao, which I think is steeper, but it's an awesome little climb. I'd like to try it from the other side (Rte.522).
Or, (I just checked the map) Hinazuru-pass, on Rte.35 - never done it, but it looks like fun.
Or we could turn left on 139 from Otsuki, and go up Matsuhime-pass, which comes down to Okutama-ko, and then down through Ome.

We should have a group discussion about which way to go after we've all come back down from Oo-toge (Big-pass) - it's nasty, and we might not want to see another hill:eek:uch: So we'll talk about it then.
Really looking forward to it!
Rubber down! Travis

P.S. As Philip just said; WARM gear for the down-hill!

hello travis,

what would you guess, how long does it take from yokohama to otsuki?
have i to start at 5, 6 or 7....?
I hope you can make me a proposal:D

cheers
christoph
 
Hey Christoph,
I just checked the map, and it's 45km to the Route.20 turn-off at Sagami-ko from Yokohama.
From there, it's another 25km, so all up you have 70km to get there.
If you don't have any bike troubles on the way, it should take about 3 hours - probably less, if you stay in that big chain-ring:D !
So if you leave by 7am, I don't think you'll have any problems!
Anyway, we'll wait for you while we put our bikes together, and buy our energy bars/drinks - after you pass the 139 turn-off, look for a "Daily-Yamazaki" convenience store on the right-hand side of Route.20!
See you there! T


Hey Christoph,
To get to Otsuki, follow route 16 all the way out to the route 413 turn-off (the way you guys went last weekend).
Keep going that way until you get to the 413/412 intersection - I believe there was some mix-up around there last week ???
Anyway, 413 goes to the left, and 412 goes to the right - Take 412, and follow it to "Sagami-ko" and route 20 (about 5-6km). Turn left onto route 20, and follow it for about 25-30km to Otsuki. Just before you get to Otsuki, you'll see a turn-off for route 139 - that will tell that you're almost there (stay on Rte.20, though).
See you there! Travis
 
Hey Christoph,
I just checked the map, and it's 45km to the Route.20 turn-off at Sagami-ko from Yokohama.
From there, it's another 25km, so all up you have 70km to get there.
If you don't have any bike troubles on the way, it should take about 3 hours - probably less, if you stay in that big chain-ring:D !
So if you leave by 7am, I don't think you'll have any problems!
Anyway, we'll wait for you while we put our bikes together, and buy our energy bars/drinks - after you pass the 139 turn-off, look for a "Daily-Yamazaki" convenience store on the right-hand side of Route.20!
See you there! T

hey travis

thanks for the info - try to be there in time :rolleyes:

cheers
christoph
 
Hello Travis and all,

Long time isn't it?
Hope everybody who could join this ride had nice ride.
I couldn't join becaseu I'm working this weekend....

Newton
 
Hit the hills: full report!

Hard day!
Lots of ups (and downs)!
First of all, I have to apologize to the riders involved who were expecting a really tough "23-24km" climb! I got my meter figures mixed up from last time, and it only ended up being a really tough "16km" climb – Still, a very challenging 16km!

My train arrived at Otsuki station at 9:38, and I met Sean for the first time.
We chatted for a bit while I put my bike together, and then Aaron "Pucci" arrived.
At about 10:10, Christoph rolled around the corner, wearing his trademark orange hat and the 4 of us headed to the convenience store to fill up our drink bottles, and have something to eat. We were expecting a few more people to turn up, so we waited for a few more trains. Then we set out at 10:40.

We rode the 4km to the start at a pretty quick pace – where I reset my meter - and we just went straight into the climb from there.
8km in, there's a gate – That was supposed to be the first resting place. I told everyone it was 13km, so Christoph (who got there first) just kept going for another 5km – to a different gate.
Aaron, Sean and I all arrived at the first gate within 10 minutes of each other, and had a short break. We started rolling from there, only to find Christoph waiting for us patiently 5km up the road. Once we'd re-grouped, we headed straight for the summit – O-toge (Big-pass) – 1,560m. I thought it would be about 6km, but after we found Christoph, there was less than 3km to go.

Profile:
Station to the start; 4km – Slightly up all the way (I think we had a tailwind, 'cos it was pretty fast).
Start to the first gate; 8km – Nasty!
First gate to the top; 8km – Not quite as bad, but constant UP!
Total: 16km nasty kilometers!!!

We all had another break at the top (see pics! – Christoph STILL in his outer chain-ring), then we headed back down.
We had lunch at Otsuki station, and decided to climb "Hinazuru-toge" (Aaron's choice) on Route 35, south of the train-line, running west to east to Uenohara.
None of us had ever done it before, but it was easy to find on the map - and on the road.
What a GREAT road!!!
Aaron took the lead into a not-so-friendly headwind, and then made a big mistake – He called Christoph up to the front!!! Christoph did no-one any favours (myself included) by picking the pace up with each kilometre! But he was always careful to watch out for the riders behind - after he'd realized that we weren't there anymore.

The climb up to "Hinazuru-toge" was gentle to begin with, but then it got quite steep near the top, where there's a long-ish tunnel. After the tunnel though, the descent from there is absolutely awesome! Great roads! And little traffic!

We all came into Uenohara as a group. Aaron had to get to work, and Sean wanted to get home early too, so they both caught the train from there.
Christoph and I started riding towards Tokyo/Yokohama. We took (in order) Rte.20, Rte.412-413, Rte.16, and finally Rte.246.
When we arrived at Rte.246, we had a break – we'd just ridden 40km non-stop – and a big "Thank you" to Christoph, for waiting for me at the top of each little climb on the way back – my legs were dying!

I was planning to ride all the way to Shibuya, where my friend was having a party, but I was running out of time, so I jumped on the train at Eda station.
From there, Christoph had a short ride home by himself.
After the party though, I decided to ride the 25km back home from Shibuya (very slowly!).

Total for the day (Travis' meter: 156km).

Next time I do this climb, knowing that it's not as long as I originally thought, I think it will be non-stop to the top! – Probably Sat. 3/24 or Sun. 3/25.
Anyone interested? T

Pic 1: 3km from the top - Sean, Christoph, Aaron.
Pic 2: Break at O-toge!
Pic 3: Group shot O-toge sign.
Pic 4: Christoph's chain-ring - At the TOP!
 
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