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Today July 2022

joewein

Maximum Pace
Oct 25, 2011
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I did one single ride in June, making it the least active month since I restarted cycling in 2011.

I only had one day before I was to head for Europe on June 2. I could have done my Century of the Month the day before the trip, but opted to do my packing that day since I was supposed to have another 11 days after my return. A Covid infection demolished the plans by delaying my return repeatedly. In the end I got back on June 29, leaving only the last day of the month. I finished my Century for June less than an hour before midnight. Report to follow :)

The heat and humidity hit me hard. It's easily 10 degrees hotter than it was over in London, UK. Please everybody, be safe out there. Slow down, take rest in the shade and hydrate sufficiently in this July heat!
 
Well done, @joewein ! (I mean, whatever it was that you did -- all we know is how long it went on for.)

This morning I went 30 km up Tama, made a U turn, and did the same ride in reverse. Hot as balls! I drank a lot; it didn't seem to be enough.
 
Well done, @joewein ! (I mean, whatever it was that you did -- all we know is how long it went on for.)

This morning I went 30 km up Tama, made a U turn, and did the same ride in reverse. Hot as balls! I drank a lot; it didn't seem to be enough.
You drank a lot of balls? Wow! I have questions, but scared to ask.
 
Tried to get out for a cycle this morning but the heat/humidity was just like cycling into a brick wall of water that it just tired me out after a couple of kms. Brutal out there today but fingers crossed, with this forthcoming typhoon, it should take some of the heat away.
 
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Last Thursday, I finished my "Century a Month" for June 2022 (168 km on Strava) on the last possible date, thereby extending my streak to 118 consecutive months with at least one Century (160.9+ km).

Part of the trick for maintaining the streak is to do always one ride early in the month so that if something bad happens later, such as inclement weather, sudden need to travel or getting too busy with work, that won't upset the plans and you have weeks to do your next one.

This time it became complicated. I had a trip to Europe planned from June 2-18. That timing left only one day before the trip but 12 days afterwards. I decided to do trip preparations on June 1 and leave the ride for later in the month. Then on June 8 I tested positive for Covid while in London/UK and had to isolate. I still tested positive the day before my scheduled return flight. I recovered and after two days of negative antigen tests I tried a PCR test but that still came back positive. I heard there can be quite a lag between becoming non-infectious and PCR results also turning negative. By the 4th PCR a week later I had already given up on the idea of still making it but then I got the good news that it was negative. It felt like a second birthday. I landed in Japan on June 29. I had one day left in the month and I decided to go for a ride.

I left home a little after 06:00. Once the GPS had adjusted from the air-conditioned indoor temperature to outdoors morning air it displayed 25 deg C. Over the next three hours while I cycled to Ome, it climbed to 30 C. I contacted my friend Ian in Ome to meet up but he had to leave for an errand before I could make it to his place. On the way looked for a Familymart to buy my favourite strawberry milk and found one on the opposite side of the road. When I got on the bike again afterwards, I enjoyed the progress as it was going slightly downhill. Somehow I didn't see the landmarks I was looking for. Instead I came across a sign for Rt7, which I had passed a while ago. Ooops - due to the heat or jet lag or senility (I claim the former) I had forgotten to cross back to the original side of the road and had headed away from Ome towards Tachikawa again, resulting in a 10+ km detour!

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By 10:00 the temperature was as high as 32 deg C and I was slowly getting cooked. Back in London it had been around 19-24 deg C. When I was in shorts and t-shirt I would sometimes be tempted to put on a windbreaker in the evening. Skipping the rainy season while away, I had dropped myself straight into the Japanese greenhouse when I got back. After Ome I stopped at a 7-11 on Rt45 and treated myself to food and a large iced caffe latte in the shade of the front of the conbini. I met a young man from Dar Es-Salaam, Tanzania who had his lunch break at the conbini and we had a nice chat about Japan, Africa and life in general.

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Later I passed Ian's new place near Mitake station, next to the big red torii leading to the Mitake cable car station. It's a traditional old house with a kura (storage house) that he will be renovating.

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A couple of km after the conbini I took the next break. After almost six weeks off the bike my legs didn't feel too fresh and the heat was a real problem. I drank plenty of liquids throughout the day. The water in the two bidons soon got as warm as bath water. I soaked the sleeves of my jersey every time I stopped near a tap, for cooling.

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Towards Okutama it got a little cooler as I climbed to a higher elevation. The Nippara valley was much more pleasant, with forest all around and temperatures in the 20s. I climbed to about 650 m of elevation near the cave. On weekends the road near the village tends to be one big traffic jam, but mid-week there was virtually no traffic. The village was near deserted.

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I took the time to tour the cave (800 yen) but didn't wear my windbreaker, as I should have. 11 deg C feels chilly when you come in from a hot summer day, especially near the cave entrance. There's always a cold blast blowing out of the entrance and it really chills you. Deeper inside it's also cool but not much airflow. There's always some fog forming near the river in front of the cave entrance from the combination of cold cave air and humid outdoor air.

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I could feel easy about the return ride as both the Nippara road and the road to Ome are mostly downhill.

Meanwhile Ian had finished his errand and we arranged to meet up by bicycle and rode to Sherpa together where we had dinner and time for a good chat.

There was less than one hour left in the month when I finally got back to Setagaya, satisfied that I had saved my Century a Month effort from interruption. If I make July and August that will be 10 full years :)

The ride helped me de-congest my lung and sinuses from the after-effects of the infection. I feel completely normal now.
 
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Here's a very old shot of 二ゃリリン

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I took the time to tour the cave (800 yen) but didn't wear my windbreaker, as I should have.
Yes, it's horribly cold if one is dressed for summer, and it has been comprehensively denuded of stalagmites and stalactites. I should have warned you. But I'm glad to hear that the rest of the day went well. (After all, a 10+ km detour is a 10+ km bonus, amirite?)

Inquiring minds want to know: Have you ever stopped at Sherpa for lunch and dinner on the same day?
 
Today I took the train to Ōtsuki (Yamanashi), met two friends there, and rode to Tsuru, then along Nijū-magari-tōge to Yamanaka-ko, and along Dōshi-michi (including lunch at Dōshi-juku) and Onekan back home. Total 137 km, all during daylight.

Yes, it was hot. Sometimes I wished it were five degrees cooler, or that there'd be a very slight drizzle. We applied sun block, we drank a lot of water, calpis, etc (but no, @bloaker , no balls), and we had a good time.

Part of the climb to Nijū-magari-tōge was noticeably cool. We were going alongside a minor river, and surrounded by more trees than there are along downstream Tama, downstream Ara, or of course central Tokyo. I can't take any credit for the route planning, but anyway river and trees are two factors worth considering when planning.

Dōshi-michi had a fair number of motorbikes, but the riders weren't stupid and the air didn't smell at all bad. (Unlike the air outside the 7-11 along Dōshi-michi. Motorbike riders do love their coffin-nails.)
 
Inquiring minds want to know: Have you ever stopped at Sherpa for lunch and dinner on the same day?
Not directly but there is the associated Kebab shop at nearby Kabe station which opens at 10:00 (vs. 11:00 at Sherpa). I have had a Kebab sandwich for breakfast and curry with naan for dinner on more than one occasion.

Thanks again for the route suggestion (right Tamagawa bank upstream and then Nippara), it worked out very well.
 
Sometimes we go to the MTB parks to ride the max amount possible.
Sometimes we go to the parks for the comradery.
Yesterday was clearly the second option.

Fujiten Recap -

0500 - load up the van and pick up the first rider in Ikego.
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0520 - pick up the second rider in Kamakura and head to Fujiten.
A coffee, a little speeding and one stop for a bathroom break later...
We arrive at Fujiten 2 hours before opening and set up....

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The next mission is breakfast burritos!
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The park opens at 0900 - we were running a bit late. :D

When we did ride, it was like this....


Then I was back on grill duty making burgers...
Burger, Pepper Jack Cheese, fried egg, Jalapenos, Onion, Tomato, Lettuce, etc, etc,

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SO yeah - we rode.
But had just as good of a time hanging out...

1700 - we had the van loaded and we headed back home.
A great day with the fellas just hanging out, eating, & riding.
 
Slow down, take rest in the shade and hydrate sufficiently in this July heat!
Yesterday I rode with somebody who's quite a bit faster, and somebody who's quite a bit faster than him (let alone me). I was already slowing them down; I didn't want to slow them down further. And resting? No.

Now's about the time when my day-after-ride quasi-hangover usually kicks in, hard -- even if the weather was temperate. But today, I don't feel it at all. So yesterday I must have done something right.

Yesterday I looked around the drinks at convenience stores rather more widely than I usually do. So instead of buying circa-half-litre bottles of Brawndo or whatever, I bought circa-litre bottles of the same. Downing the content took a little longer than usual, but was easy.

(How much is in these bottles? I don't know. Their labels don't seem to say. I suppose that enforcing the education of potential customers is something one only gets from tyrannical regimes such as the EU; by contrast, here in Japan we can enjoy our freedumbs!)
 
Yesterday I looked around the drinks at convenience stores rather more widely than I usually do. So instead of buying circa-half-litre bottles of Brawndo or whatever, I bought circa-litre bottles of the same. Downing the content took a little longer than usual, but was easy.

(How much is in these bottles? I don't know. Their labels don't seem to say. I suppose that enforcing the education of potential customers is something one only gets from tyrannical regimes such as the EU; by contrast, here in Japan we can enjoy our freedumbs!)
What's Brawndo? Never heard of it.
Most drinks though have information on the side of them in Japanese. Part of the labelling laws.
 
Cycling home today a car overtook me and then immediately started turning left even though I was only about a meter if that behind it.
Naturally in this heat intensified state of hyper irritability I managed to make the car stop.
The people inside the car gave it the big one of not knowing what I was on about with my vociferous objections to their manoveur,when suddenly a Japanese cyclist who had been,unbeknown to me,riding a few meters behind me stopped and said to the occupants of the vehicle that he had seen everything and their driving manner was very poor.He took photos of their license number and said to them they should alolgise to me which they duly did.
I thanked the 'Good Samaritan.'
I hope the fraternity of the cyclist remains alive and well for many years to come.
Thank you 'Good Samaritan' in the hope that he visits this site.
 
Glad that worked out!
So many times I marvel at the complete lack of situational awareness.
They were probably genuinely confused - because they didn't pay any attention.

- I feel that is why I got hit earlier. Dude was probably on the phone or watching TV.
 
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Glad that worked out!
So many times I marvel at the complete lack of situational awareness.
They were probably genuinely confused - because they didn't pay any attantion.

- I feel that is why I got his earlier. Dude was probably on the phone or watching TV.
Many thanks,my friend.
I think in this era of rising gas prices and eco-friendliness our fraternity will become a big one.

You are right.......the situational awareness or lack of is beyond belief.
 
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