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Kt9 2009

AlanW

Maximum Pace
Jan 30, 2007
1,215
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The last "KT" ride of 2009 will be this Saturday, 11th April.
This ride is designed to be a short, fast ride. The route folllows the beginning of the "Holiday on Ice Tour" around the south of Sagamiko and returns over Wadatoge, climbing the west side.
Here it is in full:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/japan/tokyo/838123919868949496



The distance is 75 km (the mapmyride quoted distance is a bit shorter due to the twisty roads) and I expect we will be pushing a fast pace up the hills; however, we will regroup as usual so nobody gets lost.
Meet at Takao station; 9:25 am start from the South Exit for anyone arriving by train; 9:30 am start from the Family Mart next to the North Exit for anyone arriving by road.
Let me know if you're coming.

AW.
 
Hi, Alan,
I'll join you this time, thanx for organizing.
 
I have to work in the evening, so I'm a little torn. I'll be sure and let you know if I'm joining.

I'm kind of tempted to check out a "hidden" rindo between Takao and Jimba that Mike Sims-Williams of Half-Fast fame reconned last week. He reported that the climb is gated off to cars, and that it features the circles of doom that can also be found on Mikuni and Kaburi. He reported gradients of close to 20% there, which is what I like to hear!

You can find the climb (which starts from Route 20 after descending Odarumi) mapped here. This is an out-and-back ride from Takao that is about 67km and includes five climbs for total climbing of 1,730m -- that's a fair amount of climbing packed into a short distance.

Anyway, it's worth considering for a future ride.

Deej
 
oh, i'll be there with bells on! and i've put 180 mm cranks on my bike so you are all in serious trouble. i'll be climbing just like miguel indurain, who also used 180 mm cranks.
 
I'll try to see you at family mart, but dont wait for me if im not there by 9:30.

That "hidden" ride does look interesting for another weekend.
 
The last "KT" ride of 2009 will be this Saturday, 11th April.
This ride is designed to be a short, fast ride. The route folllows the beginning of the "Holiday on Ice Tour" around the south of Sagamiko and returns over Wadatoge, climbing the west side.
Here it is in full:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/japan/tokyo/838123919868949496



The distance is 75 km (the mapmyride quoted distance is a bit shorter due to the twisty roads) and I expect we will be pushing a fast pace up the hills; however, we will regroup as usual so nobody gets lost.
Meet at Takao station; 9:25 am start from the South Exit for anyone arriving by train; 9:30 am start from the Family Mart next to the North Exit for anyone arriving by road.
Let me know if you're coming.

AW.

Alan,
I'm tempted to join you guys..
problem is i may go bonkers on my way back, distance from Shinagawa to Takao is approx 60km, with another 75k of high intensity and 60km back.
I've never ridden a 200km ride before!

still thinking:eek:
 
Alan,

As much as I would like to ride with you and the others, I think I will do the ride I mapped earlier in the thread -- the one with the "hidden" rindo -- as I would like to get in as much climbing as possible as soon as possible to get my form back.

I look forward to joining everyone on the post KT rides.

Have fun!

Deej
 
The last "KT" ride of 2009 will be this Saturday, 11th April.
This ride is designed to be a short, fast ride. The route folllows the beginning of the "Holiday on Ice Tour" around the south of Sagamiko and returns over Wadatoge, climbing the west side.
Here it is in full:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/japan/tokyo/838123919868949496



The distance is 75 km (the mapmyride quoted distance is a bit shorter due to the twisty roads) and I expect we will be pushing a fast pace up the hills; however, we will regroup as usual so nobody gets lost.
Meet at Takao station; 9:25 am start from the South Exit for anyone arriving by train; 9:30 am start from the Family Mart next to the North Exit for anyone arriving by road.
Let me know if you're coming.

AW.

Alan..
will join u guys tmr.
hope to survive the hard pace and long distance!

see you!

PS: if im not there by 9.30am, please don't wait for me.
 
KT9 Ride Report

A nice ride today with Patrick, Thomas, Sergey, David, Andy and Naomi-san.

We we lucky enough to get nice sunshine, warm temperatures and not too much wind - in short, perfect cycling conditions. Route 20 for the first 10km of the ride was busy with traffic, but once we turned towards Sagamiko, the roads opened up in front of us. We enjoyed spectacular views of the last of this year's sakura which turned the countryside pink, purple, yellow and green.
Kusatsu_Training-20090411-05.jpg

We made it down the small roads without any puncs or mechanicals, before crossing Route 20 and beginning the ascent of Wadatoge. This western ascent is less steep than the east side, but still really hurts at full tilt. At the top, we met Okey-san, and once we had finally got our breath back, lazed around the cafe for a while guzzling sports drinks and watching other riders arriving at the summit, looking more or less knackered!
Going down towards Takao, we had a mini-race with some Japanese riders, but once Thomas cranked up the speed on the flatter sections, nobody could get near us :)
A great ride; photos in the Gallery

Deej, hope the Hidden Rindo was as much fun. See you next time.
 
It was a good fun -

thanks to Alan, learned some obscure backroads in Sagamiko area.. but Wada after all the intense riding was a killer, though :eek:uch:

Naomi-san, thanks for that delicious food (I don't really remeber what it was :D)

PS
Congrats to Alan with new west-Wada record!
 
No one to witness my glory

I hope the KT ride went well! Just saw the pics, and it looked like y'all were enjoying yourselves.

As I said I would, I ended up doing the out-and-back excursion that uses the Jimba Onsen Rindo (so named by Mike "Doraemon" Sims-Williams, and I think it's a jolly good name, so that's what it shall be known as) as a painful "shortcut" to the road leading to the western approach to Wada-toge.

Wow. I feel like I've found a buried treasure in my back yard. The Jimba Onsen Rindo is a beautiful climb and really gives us riders more options on days with limited hours to ride. If you can, go and ride it tomorrow while the trees are still flowering. Magnificent. On the lower part of the descent toward Route 522, I actually let out a short, loud and decidedly giddy "woo!", overwhelmed by the beauty of the surroundings, the freedom of being on a bicycle, and the sense of discovery that comes with riding somewhere you've never been.

There were some great soaring views of Fuji along the way, and because the road is gated off to cars and apparently relatively unknown by cyclists, I did not encounter a single soul along the way. Just me, the wind in the trees and my massive, shiny quads firing like mighty, equine pistons. That's right, equine pistons.

The road conditions get a bit, uh, not good in places, but those spots are easily negotiated.

Because it was an out-and-back ride, I climbed the Jimba Onsen Rindo from both sides. The approach from Route 20 is a little steeper overall. The approach from the Wada side starts off pretty dang steep, with one particular stretch looming like a wall that goes on for dozens of meters. After the gate, though, the climb from this side is quite easy, and I was regularly hitting speeds of 25km.

For a solo day, it was oddly social. I had sprint finishes with strangers on the eastern and western approaches to Odarumi-toge. (Thomas, I clocked 12:31 for Odarumi. ;)) And on the flats on the ride home, I found myself engaged in a series of sprints against a squad of five riders wearing blue kit bearing the words "Team Aqua." It left me totally fried, but was really fun.

And Alan, my time on Wada was 23:52 -- look out, I've got my eyes on your record.

I have no idea why I was riding so strong today -- must be the new bike (and the fact that no one was there to witness me!:D).

EDIT: I just noticed that Sergey and Alan have posted while I was writing this. What's this I hear about a new record on Wada?

Deej

3433286066_935f880468_b.jpg
 
We were really lucky with the weather, it was a perfect day! As usual, thanks for setting this ride up, Alan. I know now that I am absolutely not prepared for Kusatsu. :D

Alan, Sergey, no doubt, you shall be TCC's frontrunners next week. Naomi-san, you were amazing, I had to struggle hard up Wada-touge in order not to be overtaken by you! :warau: Andy, don't buy a roadbike, ever. You'd be too fast. And please report from your "pilgrimage ride" around Shikoku. Patrick, it was great meeting you! David, thanks for riding together all the way back into Eastern Tokyo. And Okey-san, that beer we had in Takao was the most delicious I have had in ages.

Deej, I have updated the HoF.
 
thanks to everyone for another great ride! thanks for organizing and waiting at the top of the climbs, alan. see you all at the race!
 
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