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KT3 - Okutama Twist!

Update 2.

The updated list is as follows:

Arai-san,
Nobu,
Shinobu,
SHIBAGON,
Taro-san,
David (TrufflesEater),
Val (sebici),
Yoko-san (queen bee),
Richy152,
Charles (Chazzer),
Thomas,
Travis (YellowGiant),
Marek (livestrong).

To those who can't make it...
>Philip, Christoph (cinelli), Dave (Deej), Aaron (Pucci), Ben (baustin), Phil:
Your presence will definitely be missed:eek:uch:
Hope to see you all soon! T

For those catching the train:
There is a special rapid-service train called "Holiday" that leaves from Shinjuku station on platform 7 at 8:19 that goes all the way to Musashi-Itsukaichi. As far as I can tell, that is the train most of us will be on.
It may be a little bit more expensive than the regular trains (if you have to pay for the "Tokkyu-ken") - I checked though, and it doesn't look like it's necessary.
By the way, the train also stops at:
Nakano - 8:24
Mitaka - 8:33
Tachikawa - 8:47

電車で行く方へ:
「ホリデー」特急列車で行こうね!
新宿駅始発、8:19に 7番線から。
「御茶ノ水」で集合する予定があったみたいなんですが、時間的に三鷹駅での乗り換えはキツそうですので、8時に新宿駅の7番線ホームで集合した方が楽でしょう?
僕とノブさんは新宿まで自足で行き、一緒に行きたいと思ってる方が居たら是非、、、 7:30に昭和道りと靖国通り(交差点)の交番前を通るつもりですけど。
>SHIBAGON: 以前に計画した待ち合わせ場所や時間を勝手に変えて、すみません!トラ
よろしく。

I hope everyone knows where to be.
See you all there! Looking forward to it.
Travis
 
riding out...

Hi everyone

If I understand correctly, Thomas is the only person riding out from Tokyo to the meeting place? If so, please let me know where you live Thomas and perhaps I could join you on the ride to Okutama and back. I live on Shibaura Island and am about a 10min ride from Roppongi. Does anyone know how long a ride this would be from Tokyo-Okutama-Tokyo?

This will be my first ride with the Tokyo Cycling Club gang, and I look forward to it very much. Oh, and happy to share any funny stories regarding Chris Carmichael...as he has plenty!

Thanks
Val
 
sounds like a ride i shouldnt miss ... i know i know ... i said before i d coming and didnt make it - so i wont make any promises - if i am not there on time, just leave. BUT i will try to make it !!!
 
Over-presumptuous?

Hi everyone

If I understand correctly, Thomas is the only person riding out from Tokyo to the meeting place? If so, please let me know where you live Thomas and perhaps I could join you on the ride to Okutama and back. I live on Shibaura Island and am about a 10min ride from Roppongi. Does anyone know how long a ride this would be from Tokyo-Okutama-Tokyo?

This will be my first ride with the Tokyo Cycling Club gang, and I look forward to it very much. Oh, and happy to share any funny stories regarding Chris Carmichael...as he has plenty!

Thanks
Val

Hey Val,
Thomas & I have done this ride on several occasions, and I'm only assuming that he will opt for the "Tamagawa" river route, rather than go through traffic.
I don't know the exact course he will take through town (he probably knows some short-cuts that I'm not aware of), but if he's heading towards Tamagawa, he will most likely have to pass through Shibuya on his way down Rte.246.
Here's the map:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/japan/tokyo-(tokyo)/902940801
For you, coming from Roppongi, if you head straight down "Roppongi-dori" towards Shibuya, you will hit a large intersection before going under the "Yamanote" train lines (at Shibuya station on the southern side). Go straight under the train tracks, and as you come up on the other side at the next intersection, go through that intersection and just on the left-hand side is a "Family Mart" convenience store.
Thomas knows where it is!

>Thomas: It's 66km from the Shin-Ohashi / Meiji corner to Itsukaichi.
You could probably make that in 3 hours, so I'd recommend you don't leave later than 6:30. From your place, it's about 15km to Shibuya - The same "Family Mart" we waited at for Alan, Gilles and Taro on our way to Fuji that time.
You'll probably get there around 7:10 (>sebici: That should be your timing too!)

Anyway, I hope you can both work out the logistics!
Take care, and I'll see you then.
Travis

P.S. I'll most probably be riding back with you guys! T
 
No Good

Kiddie stuff all weekend. No hills for me. Next week for sure, though.
 
Good to Go

Derailleur hanger arrived in the afternoon mail, and after a giri-giri couple of hours I am
ready to roll out tomorrow morn (rain, please stop). Will be starting from Tennozou
Isle, so if anyone else is passing nearby let me know. In any case, I'll be at Itsukaichi
station at 9:30 am.

David
 
>Thomas: It's 66km from the Shin-Ohashi / Meiji corner to Itsukaichi. You could probably make that in 3 hours, so I'd recommend you don't leave later than 6:30.

Sorry, I have just seen your post, Travis. I will hit Tamagawa at Tamasuido-bashi around 7:45am. I'd rather go through Shibuya and Setagaya-dori than Shinjuku and Koshou-kaido. I expect to be at Musashi-Itsukaichi Sta. on time. See you tomorrow! :)
 
The updated list is as follows:

Arai-san,
Nobu,
Shinobu,
SHIBAGON,
Taro-san,
David (TrufflesEater),
Val (sebici),
Yoko-san (queen bee),
Richy152,
Charles (Chazzer),
Thomas,
Travis (YellowGiant),
Marek (livestrong).

To those who can't make it...
>Philip, Christoph (cinelli), Dave (Deej), Aaron (Pucci), Ben (baustin), Phil:
Your presence will definitely be missed:eek:uch:
Hope to see you all soon! T

For those catching the train:
There is a special rapid-service train called "Holiday" that leaves from Shinjuku station on platform 7 at 8:19 that goes all the way to Musashi-Itsukaichi. As far as I can tell, that is the train most of us will be on.
It may be a little bit more expensive than the regular trains (if you have to pay for the "Tokkyu-ken") - I checked though, and it doesn't look like it's necessary.
By the way, the train also stops at:
Nakano - 8:24
Mitaka - 8:33
Tachikawa - 8:47

電車で行く方へ:
「ホリデー」特急列車で行こうね!
新宿駅始発、8:19に 7番線から。
「御茶ノ水」で集合する予定があったみたいなんですが、時間的に三鷹駅での乗り換えはキツそうですので、8時に新宿駅の7番線ホームで集合した方が楽でしょう?
僕とノブさんは新宿まで自足で行き、一緒に行きたいと思ってる方が居たら是非、、、 7:30に昭和道りと靖国通り(交差点)の交番前を通るつもりですけど。
>SHIBAGON: 以前に計画した待ち合わせ場所や時間を勝手に変えて、すみません!トラ
よろしく。

I hope everyone knows where to be.
See you all there! Looking forward to it.
Travis

I want to join you. I'lll wait at MsashiItsukaichi at 9:30
 
Thank you everyone!

Thank you everyone.
I really had a good time and good training:p
トラさん楽しい企画ありがとう。またお願いしますね。
nobu-san,shibagonいつもありがとね:D
arai-san,David-san,Okey-san 一緒に登ってくれてありがとう!また
よろしくお願いします。
Im looking forward to seeing you all:)
 
Magic ride ....with the gods beside me....

What a day in the saddle....luckily my GPS packed up on me first thing so I had no HRM to nag me !

Luckily that was just a battery recharge and all is well.

However, of slightly greater concern.

Today was the day when I heard from Hiro Aoyama at SportsBike HiRoad that the new one piece stem and handlebar that I had been after had arrived and it was due for fitting. I have always felt a bit insecure about my current set up, which was a very light but short scandium stem and a carbon bar. It was fiddly for Y`s to set up and at times the bars would loosen and so on.

Anyway it turns out that the stem was already fractured !

So yesterday I was hammering down those descents with a lot of heavy braking and some serious payload bearing down on that stem and it was cracked all the time !!

The cycling gods were with me for sure !

Anyway, the new setup is in place and I feel altogether more comfortable.

So, good people, please all go and check your stems now - particularly around the bolt holes !!!

Great day out again though and I can seriously feel the benefit of all three climbs today, in various interesting ways ;)

Thanks again Travis and I hope to see you all again soon.

Charles
 
皆様ありがとうございました。

Thank you everyone.
I had a very good time

今回も皆さんに助けられました。
寒い中頂上でまっていただいた。Araiさん、OKさん、ようこさん、しのぶちゃん
ありがとうございます。

帰りもOKさんにトマスさん、デビットさん、トラビス道案内ありがとう!

そして『チームアベレージ6』の仲間シバゴン
ずーと一緒に走ってくれてありがとう!

※シバゴンの名誉のためにいいますが・・・・アベレージ6は帰りの途中
疲れがピークに達し、お互い無言だった時のほんの数十分です:warau:

本番の草津まで何回練習にいけるかな?
 
Hello,

Just to quick note of thanks to Travis and everyone else for the very nice day out. I enjoyed it immensely, especially that second climb:warau:.

Lee
 
Full report!

Now that was a really "hard day of hills"!
Once again, Thank you to everyone for all being on time, and at the right place!

I decided to catch the train out to Musashi-Itsukaichi with the girls, Nobu, Shinobu and SHIBAGON.
At Haijima, we found Charles (Chazzer), Lee (Richy152) and Steve (SteveT) on the same train.
Once we'd arrived, we met Arai-san, Yoko-san (queen bee), Okey-san, David (TrufflesEater), Thomas and – quite a surprise! – Philip had also decided to join us.
That made us a group of lucky "13".
(>Val (sebici): What happened to you?)

We all left right on 10:00 and arrived at the "starting-point" before the climb at about 10:50. After a short break to take photos, explain the road, and generally catch our collective breaths, we headed up towards Kazahari-toge at exactly 11:00.

The majority of the group were at the top by 12:20. It was balmy 6 degrees C, but we were still waiting for a few stragglers.
Arai-san, Okey-san, Shinobu-san and Yoko-san stayed at the top to wait for the others – Thank you so much for that – It gets cold very quickly when you're covered in perspiration.

Thomas & I arrived at the RAMEN-shop first, and we were soon followed by Charles, Lee, Steve, Philip and David. The seven of us waited for the remaining riders; having something to eat and drink, and enjoying the conversation, while also preparing for the next climb – Imagawa-toge.

After the last six guys & gals turned up from off the top of the mountain, looking absolutely frozen, it was time for the rest of us to head out.
Eight of us rode out to the start of the climb – The original 7 guys, as well as Yoko-san who had also decided to join us.
Arai-san, Okey-san and Shinobu-san stayed at the RAMEN-shop with Nobu-san and SHIBAGON to warm up after waiting at the top for so long.

The ride out to the Imagawa turn-off is really nice. The winding road along the river has a lot of ups & downs, but they aren't steep at all, and it allows for a decent speed all the way through. Besides that, there are almost NO cars whatsoever.
Then… we hit the road where it starts to go up steep! Punishingly STEEP! I was sure it was about 4km long, but Thomas told me at the top that it's only 2.8km (although it feels like 28km).

Once we had all re-grouped at the top, it was time to go down the other side. We were worried that there might be ice on the road, but our fears were unfounded.
>SteveT: Please! Change your brake-pads… Squeaky Steve:D
Down at the bottom we hit Rte.411 (Ome-Kaido) and turned right, back towards the lake – and RAMEN-shop! It goes up at bit at first (OK! It goes up quite considerably, before it starts going down again – Sorry guys! "Ups & Downs" wasn't exactly an accurate description).

There was a small mix-up as to which bridge we were supposed to turn onto, but after a short "chase-down" we were all back at the RAMEN-shop with the others who had waited.
After a short break there (again), we decided to all head back up to Kazahari, thence Itsukaichi in staggered starts – The slower riders heading out first, then the middle group, and finally the idiots (ie. Thomas & I), in the hope that we would all reach our destination at roughly the same time.

…It wasn't to be. We were a bit worried about Yoko-san, who was still riding up the mountain when Thomas, David and I had reached the top (about 4:50pm, with less than an hour of daylight left), while the others were scattered several kilometres in front of us on the downhill towards Itsukaichi.

Again, we were very lucky, because about 10 minutes after the last group (Thomas, Dave, Nobu & I) arrived, Yoko-san came rolling in (looking a little ragged, but…) safe &sound!

Charles, Lee & Steve managed to catch the earlier train back while the rest of us recouped.
>Charles: Always a pleasure, and I'm glad your handlebars held together - That could have been disastrous:(
>Lee, Steve: It was great meeting you both for the first time.
Steve, if you buy a proper road-bike, I think you'll be truly frightening:)
Lee, Glad you had a great time too! And "No!" the rides aren't always this キツイ:cool:

Thomas, Philip & Yoko-san chose to ride home after some "plastic-bag" contemplation.
I caught the train with David, Shinobu, Nobu and Shibagon.

All's well that ends well!
But that was a tough day of climbing.

Travis

P.S. Look for the "KT4" thread that Deej has started for next weekend :climb01:
 
Thank you Travis . . .

A punishing day out. Thoroughly enjoyed myself! Does that sound right to you? :confused:

On the first climb up Kazahari-toge my 'strategy' was to tuck in behind Travis who was setting the pace and then push the last 2KM hard to take first place :no1: It all sounds terribly arrogant now :eek: After just a few kilometers Travis left me in his dust as I blew-up and limped the rest of the way to the top :eek:uch: Travis went on to set his best time for the climb taking two minutes off his previous best :clap:

If there is an award for most improved player then it must go to the man on the Colnago - Charles. Having been beaten up kazahari-toge by Travis earlier in the day I was then entirely outclassed by Charles coming down from Kazahari-toge on the return journey. Thank you for waiting for me Charles :)

The other person who impressed was Shinobu-san who arrived at the top of Kazahari-toge in a very, very respectable time :thumb:

Thank you to everyone for making it an enjoyable ride. Nice to meet Lee and Steve for the first time. Special thanks to Thomas and Yoko for the company back to Tokyo. And once again, thanks to Travis for arranging everything.

Cheers,

Philip
 
Very kind of you !

Going downhill fast is the story of my life but there is a secret to it. Mass counts for a lot my friend. What goes up must come down and, usually, faster :D

"An object falling on Earth will fall 9.80 meters per second faster every second (9.8 m/s²). The reason an object reaches a terminal velocity is that the drag force resisting motion is directly proportional to the square of its speed. At low speeds, the drag is much less than the gravitational force and so the object accelerates. As it accelerates, the drag increases, until it equals the weight. Drag also depends on the projected area. This is why things with a large projected area, such as parachutes, have a lower terminal velocity than small objects such as cannon balls."

I guess I am somewhere in between a parachute and a cannon ball and will need to work harder to achieve those extra cannon ball characteristics.

Charles
 
Self-indulgent self-glorification!

On the first climb up Kazahari-toge my 'strategy' was to tuck in behind Travis who was setting the pace and then push the last 2KM hard to take first place :no1: It all sounds terribly arrogant now :eek: After just a few kilometers Travis left me in his dust as I blew-up and limped the rest of the way to the top :eek:uch: Travis went on to set his best time for the climb taking two minutes off his previous best :clap:

Philip

Thanks Philip!

It was actually closer to 3 minutes!
The last time we had all timed ourselves on this ride was March 17, 2007.
The ride was called, "Okutama 2…"! And there were actually a lot of the same riders from that one on this ride too, as well as us also numbering "13". Read about it here:
https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=293&page=5

AlanW was definitely the hero of that day, with a time of 51:18.
Philip was a very close second – one minute behind Alan – about 52:20.
Travis (me) came in third at 55:20.

My time on this last ride however, being 52:25 is only 5 seconds short of a full 3 minutes off! And I couldn't be happier - Only 5 seconds short of Philip's time last year.

As all of these "KT" rides are for "Kusatsu-Training"; and with my time in the Kusatsu race last year being 48 minutes-ish, I really am hoping to drop 3 minutes off my race time this year – Under 45 minutes would put me "over the moon"!!! And… in the top 5% of riders in the race.
I was actually aiming for under 45 minutes last year, but had to settle for 48 – still, it was 3 minutes better than the previous year.

Yes, Philip was sitting on my wheel almost all the way to the "Toll-gates", and I was wondering when he was going to make his move…
Just after the toll-gates though, I looked back and could no longer see Philip anywhere.
I wondered if he'd had a mechanical problem (or perhaps a bladder-related one)…
Anyway, I just kept going.
Thomas actually made it to the top before Philip – Which was surprising, since I hadn't seen Thomas at all since the start.
In Thomas' and Philip's defense though, they had both ridden out from Tokyo beforehand, and I daresay my 'time' wouldn't have been so good if I'd done the same!

>Deej: You always miss the rides when I'm in form!
It wouldn't surprise me if ye didn't believe any of it…
See ya this Saturday, eh :cool:! T
 
As always, great reports and great photos guys. Thanks for sharing. Very jealous of those hills over thar yonder...

Travis, looks like your form's going to be peaking just at the right time to hit Kusatsu, eh?
 
Masochistic tendencies embraced

Just a quick thanks to everyone - I've actually been following a few of the posts on this site from a safe anonymous location, but had always been rather fearful about the apparent scale, difficulty and extreme painfulness of the rides listed.

Entirely justified as it happens.

But - surprisingly enjoyable. What a great day! Very glad I ran into you guys on the train, and once I've traded in my Volvo for a Coupe, I'll be looking forward to another round sometime.

Cheers -
Steve

PS. The source of the squeaking, by the way Travis, was not my brakes. It was me...
 
Let's Twist Again

Full day of cycling and good company. Nice to meet two new folks making their
first TCC ride. Nice also to see the many familiar faces. A granola bar, and special
thanks, to Travis for instigating.

Round and around
and up and down
we go again,

David
 
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