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Long Route Planning in Northern Kanto

kruucks

Maximum Pace
Feb 3, 2019
59
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I've got a long race coming up in June and I need to get some saddle time in the months leading up.

The basic plan is to ride from the Ome area up to Maebashi, then west to Tsuchiura and Kasumigaura Bay, then back to Ome.

I'll be packing up the bike with spare tubes, tools, calories, etc to be mostly self sufficient. The plan is to only stop around mile 50, 100, and 150 to simulate the conditions for the upcoming race.

I've never ridden in the northern portion of the Kanto Plain, so any advise about the route is appreciated.

Any obvious flaws with my route?


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enjoy the ride
l wonder if it will be cold there
 
that's mostly junk miles in traffic with lots of cars and traffic lights etc. if I had to get a good distance I'd stick to the rivers: arakawa, tonegawa and edogawa would give you a similar loop and mileage but almost exclusively car-free tarmac. my 2 yen
 
that's mostly junk miles in traffic with lots of cars and traffic lights etc. if I had to get a good distance I'd stick to the rivers: arakawa, tonegawa and edogawa would give you a similar loop and mileage but almost exclusively car-free tarmac. my 2 yen
Along the Tamagawa it gets pretty busy on the trail itself, often times it feels like you can move faster on the road next to it. Wasn't sure if it was similar for the other river trails.
 
tamagawa is crap. too crowded. on these other rivers you have an equivalent of about three car lanes of 1st or 2nd grade tarmac, free from any motor vehicles (aside from occasional construction truck or river inspection etc, but they all go 10 kmh). this is typical arakawa

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tamagawa is crap. too crowded. on these other rivers you have an equivalent of about three car lanes of 1st or 2nd grade tarmac, free from any motor vehicles (aside from occasional construction truck or river inspection etc, but they all go 10 kmh). this is typical arakawa
That's typical Arakawa up to, I forget, perhaps Ageo or thereabouts. Further upstream, it's often a lot narrower and sometimes (depending a lot on how recently the area has been mowed) with rather limited visibility; so you really shouldn't be riding at 30, let alone 40, because you don't know what you'll encounter just around a bend.

As for Tonegawa, it's pretty good up as far as Tamamura (downstream of where you want to join Tonegawa); but from Tamamura to northernmost Maebashi you're going through suburbia and it's slower and (if you're in a hurry) more frustrating than almost any stretch along Tamagawa.

(Tonegawa gets better once you're out of Maebashi; but soon you find yourself zigzagging around southern Shibukawa, and the last, disconnected sections of the cycling path are a complete waste of time unless you have a kind of morbid curiosity about how bad a "cycling path" can be.)
 
Ok, here is a revised route that follows along the suggested river trails. I did add a bit out to the east by Narita to grab some extra miles. Is that area okay or should I leave it out and find miles elsewhere?


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I think it's much better the way it is. it should ramp up your enjoyment level from about 3 to 8 or 9 (at least it would for me). not sure about those parts in chiba tho, don't know much about the area there. but whatever happens there, I think it's a huge improvement elsewhere, and if you have tolerance for riding in traffic etc than this is a good mix of what can't be avoided, the necessary extra distance, and the low risk cycling paradise parts
 
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