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KT2 - Atami loop!

It looks great run, really!

Nice photoes, I enjoyed!!

Airtrain

Another gem of a cycle. A few photos can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18960&l=e21c5&id=521998526

(Sorry ... am still struggling a bit with the technology!)

Travis, "maximum respect" for dragging me all the way from Odawara to Yokohama along Route 1 in the pitch dark. And thanks for organising a great day.

Thomas, once again, the standard setter up the hills and nice pose for the pizza photo!

David - sorry about the prang. Hope your trusty steed can be repaired.

Charles - great to see you again. Look forward to the data on the climbs and hope you got to your appointment on time.


Gus - very nice to meet you. Hope all goes well in the Gold Coast and look forward to seeing you in September.

Ben
 
Wooh, can't believe you guys went out in that weather (well, actually I can...)

Nice pics Ben and Thomas, and Dave, hope you and bike are okay from the accident(?)...

And what is it with all the plastic bag rinko-ing this week? I saw the Go-Go girls were doing the same in their gallery pics...
 
Garmin Data

Gents, for some mysterious reason my Edge 305 did not record the data from Sunday, which is really annoying, so I have nothing to report this time unfortunately.

Nevertheless, I did observe gradients of over 20% in some parts and the main drag out of Atami was consistently running at 12-15% for some parts with 9% being about the average I would say.

Better luck next time !

Thanks again Travis for the excellent organisation as ever. It was a perfect day :D

Charles
 
Full report!

The roads were fantastic!
The ride was great!... Although, not without incident.

Chapter 1 – 100km to Odawara.
Chapter 2 – Hills & spills.
Chapter 3 – Happy returns.

Chapter 1 – 100km to Odawara:
Once again, the timing was perfect on everyone's part - All on time, and at the right places.
I left at 5:30 in total darkness and freezing cold. I met Thomas 30 minutes later in Kameido (our regular routine!). The remainder of that horrid wind from the day before was still blowing hard, and threatening to spoil our day. After we turned onto Rte.15 near Shimbashi though, the wind eased up a little as we headed south to pick up David (TrufflesEater) near Shinagawa – I took the opportunity to buy a pair of those chemical foot-warmers that some of our members have become quite fond of.
The 3 of us made pretty good time, and we arrived in Yokohama 5 minutes early, at 7:55 (44km on my meter). Although we were fairly sheltered from the wind in the small court-yard like area at the East-Entrance, it was cold enough to see a lot of arms crossed & feet stomping. As soon as Ben (baustin) had arrived, set up his bike and stowed his luggage away, we headed out of Yokohama a little after 8:30 on Rte.1 – Route.1 is actually not a bad road to ride on considering the amount of traffic. There are a lot of long stretches with almost no traffic-lights.
After about 19km, we turned onto Rte.30 for the short (7km) stretch down to the coast, coming out at Hamasuka (浜須賀). There, we met Gus for the first time – actually, he was visible from about 300m out, standing on top of the overhead-walkway.
After all the introductions, the 5 of us then headed for Odawara. As we rode west, the northerly wind was blowing us to the left, towards the kerb. Gus was very helpful in taking the lead quite a few times and we made very good time, arriving in Odawara at 10:55 – where we would pick up Charles (Chazzer); the sixth and final member of our troupe!
(99km on the clock).

Chapter 2 – Hills & spills:
After a bite to eat from the bakery at Odawara-station, it was time for the fun part!
We set out at about 11:35, and the ride down to Atami was absolutely awesome – Lots of rolling ups & downs (not too dissimilar to Chiba) – And finally the wind was doing us some favours - we arrived much sooner than expected.
Once we got to the Atami-station turn off, four of our number were waiting for the last two guys. We knew that they weren't that far behind, and after about 5-10 minutes, we knew that something must have happened.
In times like these, you always hope that it's a puncture (although you never "wish" a puncture on any of your buddies, it's better than the alternative). We all let out a sigh of relief when we saw David and Charles appear around the corner.
That's when we learnt that the car in front of David had hit the brakes suddenly. David had almost made it around the car, but he caught his left handle bar on the car's right-rear panel and went down in the on-coming-traffic lane. He was up on his feet quickly, with some road-rash on his cheek, but his rear-derailleur was out of alignment – That would spell the end of the ride for him. Charles was just behind him when it happened, and saw the whole thing. He escorted a slightly shaken David to where were waiting.

>TrufflesEater: David, I hope you're OK, and can get your bike fixed and rolling as soon as possible. Take care! T

At Atami-station, we had to fashion a make-shift "rinko-bukuro (bike-bag)" out of plastic trash-bags & duct tape so that David could get home on the train.
>Chazzer: Charles, thanks for all your help with finding the bags, and helping David after his ordeal.

We were now down to 5 riders, but we still had to continue.
From Atami, at about 1:15, we had that wickedly-steep 3km climb to the Rte.20/Rte.11 junction (*Note: The only other hill I know that rivals it in steepness is "Wada-toge" on the east-side!)
From there, it was still up – although not quite as steep – to Jukoku-toge, 十国峠 (620m - Where we had those awesome views of Mt. Fuji). It was still up from there for another 10km, along the top of the ridge; not steep at all, but constant 2-3%-ish all the way to Hakone-toge (845m).
Gus mentioned that he knew a great "pizza-joint" down by the lake…
Thomas piped up, "Did someone say 'Pizza & Beer?'"…
I chimed in... "Did someone say BEER?":beer2:
And that's how decisions are made at TCC:D
So it was, that we had lunch outside by the lake, wearing our skirts & shalls (don't ask!), enjoying the beautiful scenery and lively conversation.
After lunch, we headed around the lake just after 4pm.
>Pucci: FYI, that was the only place where we encountered snow on the road – That same narrow footpath we took on the lake's NE side, where the trees block the sunlight.
From the lake, there was a short climb along Rte.75 up to Rte.138, and then the downhill was incredible! We finally turned onto "Kuno-rindo (久野林道)", and after one last slight uphill, came one of the most exhilarating, sweeping downhill runs that I know.
6km of pure adrenaline-junky-speed-freak PLEASURE!

Chapter 3 – Happy returns:
This is where the other (only slight) mishap occurred.
I got to the bottom of the downhill, where Thomas was waiting at the cross-roads. We expected the others to be following in short order, but after 10 minutes we were starting to get a bit worried.
It was after 5pm, and Thomas had a dead-line to be back in Tokyo by 10pm (90+km from there). I told him to go ahead, and I would wait to find out what happened with the others – Again, hoping it was only a puncture!
Finally, Ben called me to say that everyone was "safe & sound at Odawara-station" (4km away) – They had taken a slightly different turn-off along "Kuno-rindo". It was no major problem, except for costing an extra 25 minutes (and a little bit of panic).
When I finally made it to the station, Charles had already gotten on the train, so Ben and I said goodbye to Gus, and the two of us headed out for the final 55km to Yokohama – Where Ben had his bike-bag in a coin-locker.

Headline: "Miscommunication costs extra 55km!"
At Odawara-station, just before we set out for the last part of the journey, it was just us three Aussies left – Ben, Gus & Travis (me) – "havin' a bit of a yarn!"
I told Ben that Thomas had already set off for Tokyo.
Ben said something about "…train…", but I didn't quite catch the meaning.
I was thinking, "You know Ben, if your bike-bag wasn't at Yokohama-station, I'd be taking the train home from here, because my legs are fried!"… Little did I know that Ben was thinking exactly the same thing.
It wasn't until we both got back to Yokohama and discussed it in more detail, that Ben said, "Yeah! I wanted to do the 'plastic-bag' thingy at Odawara too, and bring my bike here on the train!"
We both looked at each other, and laughed! We'd ridden all the way back to Yokohama from Odawara (55km), because we both thought we were doing the right thing by the other person, when in actual fact the pair of us would have loved to have been on a train right then – Kind of comical, I suppose:eek::eek:
Anyway, I did just that – "bag my bike in plastic & tape" – and saved myself the 45km journey home from Yokohama (235km, instead of 280km… I feel no shame!!:warau:!)

Thomas mailed me later, to say that he made it home by 9:30 (after taking the Yokohama By-pass Highway – A no-no for bicycles, I believe:run01:).

Anyway, it was a great day of cycling (apart from David's mishap), and I think everyone was really pleased with the roads around Atami & Hakone – Thomas gave me that huge grin and said, "We gotta do this one again!"

Rubber Down!
Travis
 
Feeling guilty - but not for long...

Thanks to all for the great ride. I really enjoyed to finally ride with some of you after reading the TCC mail list for so long.

I must say I was impressed with your constitution to keep riding in the dark… Don't worry, I was feel pretty guilty enjoying my second tall beer in the bath 20minutes later knowing that you guys were still out there riding like stink!

If any TCC riders are heading for the Gold Coast Australia between March to August your more than welcome to drop in for a ride... Failing that I might get to ride with more of you when I return to Japan in November.

Thanks again.
Gus 'bike lane salmon' Duncan
 
Fantastic report as always Travis...man, that sounds like a long, eventful, but fun day!

Dave, hope you're okay and back on the bike.
 
Travis, an excellent report - thanks. I think our misunderstanding counts as conclusive evidence that we have spent too much time in Japan. Possibly a world first for Aussie enryo! Ben
 
The roads were fantastic!
The ride was great!... Although, not without incident.

Chapter 1 – 100km to Odawara.
Chapter 2 – Hills & spills.
Chapter 3 – Happy returns.

Anyway, it was a great day of cycling (apart from David's mishap), and I think everyone was really pleased with the roads around Atami & Hakone – Thomas gave me that huge grin and said, "We gotta do this one again!"

Rubber Down!
Travis

Travis

I always enjoy reading your report. It seems this is another great tour following the trip in Boso Chiba pref. :):) I really envy you guys all.

Well I should get on ride more often......Sorry to say, I ride only a couple a month. Visiting Beijing, I am just watching people riding on a bike from the hotel window. :( I may be able to ride next weekend, hopefully.:bike::bike:

Minoru Arai
 
First of all, a big thanks to Travis for organizing. For me it was an excellent ride, at
least until my abrupt end. And a special thank you to Chazzer for being so kind and
patient when helping me with the with the bags and tape (with much appreciated
assistance from Ben and Gus, both of whom it was a pleasure to meet for the first
time). Penultimately, a most sincere thank you to Thomas, the voice of experience,
for his sound advice to take the train rather than ride back from Atami to Shinagawa
(more on that in a bit). Lastly, a very big Gomen Nasai to all for gumming up
the works.

Reflecting on the crash, I think I was simply going too fast for the road conditions --
that and worrying about keeping up, since I was losing ground on the steep, twisty
descents. Trying to compensate by going all out in the gentler downhill parts, I came
barreling around a corner too concerned about my speed to notice the change from
countryside to residential neighborhood. Had I anticipated a fraction of a second
earlier the situation of two cars blocking the left lane (one parked, the other about to
brake and wait for the right lane to clear so it could pass), I would have been able to
stop in time.

To Travis, Phil, and Ben, thank you for your concern. The body is fine; I was lucky to
come away with a few light scratches that are already almost healed. The bike's only
real damage was the bent derailleur hanger, which must be the "sprained ankle" of
bicycles. Yesterday I had some gaijin business to take care of, so I mounted up and
rode gingerly to the Minato-Ku Ward office, careful to stay on the big ring and keep
the rear derailleur out of the spokes. No problem so I continued on to the LBS in
Kachidoki, where upon arriving I tried to replicate the problem of the rear derailleur
rubbing against the spokes by shifting to the small ring and the inner, larger cogs --
BAM! -- the derailleur got caught up and in spokes and the hanger broke away like a
stale bread stick. Glad that didn't happen while riding in traffic on the way back to
Shinagawa (thanks again Thomas).

It tuns out the Japanese Felt distributor has no stock of derailleur hangers, and won't
receive any until sometime in April. An Internet shop based in Colorado called, what
else, DerailleurHangers.com has a part called "Felt Hanger #59," which it notes fits all
Felt models from 2000-2006. It looks right, and assuming the exclusion of 2007-8
models is just a lacking of updating the inventory info (no other Felt hangers are
listed), I'll place an order tonight (unless someone knows a local source or knows
that Felt did indeed change the hanger in it's 2007 models).

Again, thanks to everyone for your kindness and forbearance; I'll do my best to stay
on the bike from now on and avoid this kind of trouble.

David aka TrufflesEater
 
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