What's new

Kt5 2009

AlanW

Maximum Pace
Jan 30, 2007
1,215
440
All,
Every weather forecast I can find says it's going to rain on Saturday, so I'm going to propose Sunday, 15th March for this KT ride. Sorry for the clash with Team Osoi's Boso ride.

The meeting point is JR Musashi Itsukaichi station, and we should be rolling by 9:15am.

The Route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/japan/tokyo/852133590444

This is a 110 km route with 2,600 m of climbing. It will be tough! We'll climb Wadatoge from the East side, then head over to Tomi-no-mori for a long steady climb, down to Okutama and a final minor road hillclimb to complete the ride. However, there are two bail-out points. At 40km, you can turn right onto route 33 and go straight to Mushashi-Itsukaichi. At 55 km, you can decend Kazahari rindo, cutting out the last climb.

Since recovery is part of training, I suggest we visit the Tsuru Tsuru Onsen after we complete the ride :)
http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/tourists/spot/area_spot/area_spot/area_spot34.html

Let me know if you're coming. AW.
 
a real toughie this one!

Cannot afford to miss out on this one! I love the parcourse...this one is going to be a real toughie:cool:...time to swap my training wheels for some lighter set I guess! I'll try to hang onto Alan's wheel....:eek:uch:
 
Alan, put me down as a possible. What time do you think you'd be rolling down the west side of Wada, to the start point of that climb? If I come I'll meet you there and does anyone know if I can buy garbage bags at that crap convenience store at Musashi Itsukaichi station so I can get home via train after a nice onsen?
 
Gommi bags....

The combini in the station did not have bags last time we tried. We (Thomas and I) then found an alternative combini but they only sold gommi bags for office use and they were riduculously expensive !

So, recommend taking a few with you and a bit of brown tape too !

chazzer
 
The combini in the station did not have bags last time we tried. We (Thomas and I) then found an alternative combini but they only sold gommi bags for office use and they were riduculously expensive !

Actually, there's a 7-11 further up on R33, selling 45l- and 70l-gomi bags. As Charles indicated, do not buy them at the combini next to the station. :)
 
Please count me in. I'll be at the station by 9AM.

Thanks for organizing, Alan--really looking forward to it.
 
I dont see "high intensity" on the description of this ride, but maybe 2,600 m is enough to make this tough enough.

last sunday was tough holding on to the peloton, ( id rather not go so hard in traffic due to the exhaust fumes) but lets see if i can keep up with you guys again this weekend. wont be as many shingo to slow you down and give me a breather this time :rolleyes:
 
does anyone know if I can buy garbage bags at that crap convenience store at Musashi Itsukaichi station so I can get home via train after a nice onsen?

Steve and I got some at that conbeni up the road on the right (when you're heading towards tomin) last time we were there. About 400 yen or so if i remember correctly.

Wish I could join this, but will be in Europe weekend to weekend.

Lee
 
Sunday

Andy, Phil, David and Tom -
Naomi-san and I will meet you at Musahsi-Itsukaichi station

Mike -
Hope you can make it. We'll be coming down Wada west side after about an hour, so look out for us between 10:15 and 10:30. I'll be looking for you somewhere around the junction of route 521 (Wadatoge) and 522 (which goes down towards the highway; i.e. N35 38.312 E139 08.390

Can't wait to do this ride!
AW.
 
Thanks Alan, I'll let you know if I'm gonna be there later tonight. Cheers, Mike
 
By chance

If you see a white cromoly bike en route, it will be me . I happen to ride on about the same route. :)


Actually I am to start earlier since I want to come down to Yoshino baigo from Kazahari to do Plum Hanami. Yoshino baigo is selected the No.1 place in Japan.:)

http://www.omekanko.gr.jp/ume/


Minoru Arai
 
I'll try to join at Musashi-Itsukaichi st., if I can't - I'll go for a short Odarumi-Makime-Odarumi loop.
 
Nice & sunny but

very cold :confused: out especially high up in the Okutama area...folks don't forget an extra pair of socks and shoe covers & your warmest pair of gloves! Can't wait to attack Wada as the appetizer :D this morning!
 
I left my place a little after 7:00 and reached Wada at 9:00. Honestly, I was afraid of icy road surface toward Wada after the rain previous day and thought of changing the rout, but it was luckly not the case.

Villages in the area was just nice and calm. Plum is its full bloom.
I took many photos. Riding through Kobu tunnel, headed Kazahari as planned.

I anticipated other macho would catch me up on the way to Kazahari, but this did not happen. When I was having a lunch at the popular ramen restaurant, I saw three gaijin riders passing through. They must be the ones.

On the way back home, I stoped at Yoshino baigo to see Plum blossom Spring festival. It was just gorgeous.

It was nice ride for me.

Minoru Arai

If you see a white cromoly bike en route, it will be me . I happen to ride on about the same route. :)


Actually I am to start earlier since I want to come down to Yoshino baigo from Kazahari to do Plum Hanami. Yoshino baigo is selected the No.1 place in Japan.:)

http://www.omekanko.gr.jp/ume/


Minoru Arai
 
Could not join you, folks - 9 am at Itsukaichi st. was a bit too early for me. So I headed for a short ride in Odarumi area - 160km, 1600m of uphill, having cramps as I write this :warau: Did not push myself too hard - just tried (and succeeded) not to bonk.
My current condition leads me to think, that it was wise not to participate in Alan's ride - need more training. So I plan to do couple of short rides this week and a "double Yabitsu" (anyone wants to join?)

Looking forward to hear about your adventure!
 
A word of thanks to

Alan for being such a fantastic peloton leader today ! Splendid day in the outdoors...:)
 
A hill too far...

Well, another lesson in just how nutty and hard those west-side rides are, and how tough you guys are to do them week after week...:eek:uch:

Many, many thanks to Alan for the organizing and everyone for their patience and great companionship, even though most of the time you were all just colored dots glimpsed between the trees eight switchbacks above :warau: Fantastic especially to finally meet some of the Positvo Espresso guys and Andy, who trumped any "it's the bike" excuses I had planned as he sped past up Tomin-no-mori on a fender-equipped commuter.

Hope to do it again soon!
 
What a ride... just how many passes were there ?! Many thanks to Alan for organising and leading a great course with a few "pleasant" (by the damndest definition of the word) surprises thrown in. Great to meet everyone, and a lot of new faces for me - infact everyone except Phil !

I think that was my most exhausting TCC ride ever. My twitching fingers were still squeezing imaginary brake levers and changing imaginary gears for hours after I'd got home. Too much !! And I was stupid to ride out there and back - I just don't know how the likes of Thomas and TOM can do that week after week. I certainly know my limit now - from now the bike-bag will be making an essential, if not necessarily welcome, reappearance ...:eek:uch:
 
Devastating

Wow,
What a ride yesterday! Thanks and a big "Well Done" to everyone who joined.

Naomi-san and I arrived at Musashi-Itsukaichi in good time to start the ride, and quickly met Tom and Phil. Then, more and more riders arrived! Drawn by the perfect sunny conditions I'm sure.
The starting group consisted of: Me, Naomi-san, Phil, Tom, David, Steve, Andy, another Alan, and Peter (both new to the club). Along the way, we picked up Michael (M O B) and Tom's team-mate, while Alan peeled off towards Uenohara and Peter took Kazehari-Rindo.
Wadatoge, rather than the focus of the ride, was the warm up climb! It was just as steep as I remembered and I spent most of it trying to hang on to Peter's back wheel. The summit was our first re-fueling stop of the day, and with such a tough course, keeping our energy levels up was critical.
With the first climb done, we sped down the west side of the pass, getting a superb view of Fuji-san sparkling in the sun. We were also not the only TCC riders on that course: about halfway down we crossed paths with Shinobu-san who looked to be making great time up towards the summit.
Next on the menu was the climb up to Kobu Tunnel (Sengentoge), a steady drag but not too steep. The road was deserted except for the dedicated bikers making the most of the sunny weather.
Dropping down into the Akigawa valley we were treated to a lovely dry, grippy road, so unlike it's normal wet and slippery condition; it made for a fantastic descent. Here we reached the first bail-out point, but everyone was good to go, so we turned left and began the long slog up Tomi-no-mori.
I managed to find a good pedalling rhythm and kept it up to the summit, only stopping once at some roadworks. But I missed the turn for Kazehari and was waiting about 1km further down the road; after about 25 minutes I turned around and found everyone again, waiting for me! But I certainly needed the break.
The descent down to Okutama was made more interesting by the scores of wannabe motorcycle racers; fortunately they managed to steer around us although one guy lost it completely on one of the turns. All TCC riders got down unscathed.
We didn't stop for lunch but pressed on alongside the shore of Okutama-ko, with me pulling a big train of riders. It certainly looked impressive whenever I glanced behind me! A Conbini stop was required for a final energy boost, after which we tackled the last hillclimb. I was towards the end of my energy reserves but found enough to crank up the steep gradient - reaching the top was a real relief :cool: And from there, just a downhill roll back to the station.

As for today, well, everything hurts, so mission accomplished as far as tough training rides go!
 
Back
Top Bottom