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Today March 2020

So looks like Ive got the next two weeks off for teleworking but might be extended. Pretty much won't have to work during that time so planning some bike packing to avoid the crowds and get some exercise at same time. #Corona500 over the next week or so in the works I think.

If I don't get out of the house there will be a corona-divorce with all the shenanigans with alcohol sprays, wipes and so on.
 
Just managed to lever my 38mm panracer gravelking back on after replacing a punctured tube. Don't remember it being this hard. Also managed to cause a new puncture in the process.( I've pinched the new tube, it's not debris). I am not sure I trust myself now with my one remaining spare tube. Not sure if it's my head or the tyre that I am going to stick in the oven.
 
what all does it need? i've always kinda wanted a brompton...
My "friend" hasn't had a great opportunity to look at it in detail as yet, but it's actually in quite good shape. The tires only needed air, gears a reattachment and new grips. There are lots of stickers on it that need to be removed, some cleaning, grease and oil. It is already actually rideable, but probably not for any great distance. It will get a police registration sometime this week, so the sodai gomi seems to have been averted.
 
Took a spin up the river today for the first time in ages. When I got to Honda Airport, I decided to cross the river and ride on the opposite bank as I'd never been over that way before. It was pretty nice as I could get a decent view of the planes and helicopters doing what they do. Good times...
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Just managed to lever my 38mm panracer gravelking back on after replacing a punctured tube. Don't remember it being this hard. Also managed to cause a new puncture in the process.( I've pinched the new tube, it's not debris). I am not sure I trust myself now with my one remaining spare tube. Not sure if it's my head or the tyre that I am going to stick in the oven.
Not running tubeless?
 
Not running tubeless?
Because changing tires is not difficult enough without tubeless ready rims? ;)

I think tubeless makes sense offroad where you can get more grip by running really low pressures without fear of snakebite punctures if there's no tube, but for people who ride roads or gravel only I am not sure the extra hassle of dealing with sealant (including regularly topping up) is worth it.
 
Just managed to lever my 38mm panracer gravelking back on after replacing a punctured tube. Don't remember it being this hard. Also managed to cause a new puncture in the process.( I've pinched the new tube, it's not debris). I am not sure I trust myself now with my one remaining spare tube. Not sure if it's my head or the tyre that I am going to stick in the oven.

A "tubeless ready" rim, perhaps?

I'm happy that my rims are tubeless unready. @joewein kindly omitted to mention from his report of our little Bōsō ride (a few messages above) that he and I rolled over a few metres of crushed barnacles and very soon after noticed a very discreet farting sound from my rear tyre (28mm Gravelking). Yes, puncture! So we fixed the puncture (thank you for the patch, Joe!) and Joe politely pointed out that the tyre too needed replacement. And so today I took off the rear wheel, deflated the tyre, and ... Oopsie! no tyre levers. I must have left them beside the road in Bōsō. I was faced with the unappetizing task of removing my Gravelking with my bare (and feeble) hands. This turned out to be pretty easy -- I was so happy that the tyre had already been on and off several times and thus was stretched, weakened, or both. More surprisingly, I had little trouble mounting the brand new Gravelking.

Tubeless-unready rims rule OK! Perhaps I should lay in a stock of them while they're still available. (They are still available, aren't they?)

 
Tubeless-unready rims rule OK! Perhaps I should lay in a stock of them while they're still available. (They are still available, aren't they?)

Just take a tubeless-ready rim and drill extra holes in it. The rim will become converted to tubeless-unready, and climbing performance will be improved :innocent:
 
Not running tubeless?
No. Never have done. Never got round to it, so yet to experience any difference in ride quality. I have a spare set of rims so might get round to having a tubeless wheel set built one day. It's down the list of priorties after my broken Mac, need for a new phone, new optics, dental work, and a luggage set up for my current ride.
Yes a tubeless ready rim. I patched the old tube and refrained from using tyre levers, grip-pull-roll and it went on fairly easy.
 
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Too cute!! Folks must stop you on the street just to stare at those kids. And they don't look at all like they are enjoying it.
Good training for you. A lot more fun than Zwift.
 
Too cute!! Folks must stop you on the street just to stare at those kids. And they don't look at all like they are enjoying it.
Good training for you. A lot more fun than Zwift.
They are clearly miserable! :D

When we are walking, we do get stopped often. It seems every old lady in my neighborhood finds and excuse to come out as we walk down the street. Since my oldest was born the weekend we moved into this house, they have seen her literally since she was a month old. I think that is part of it...always looking to see how she has changed.
 
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I had been thinking about a ride on the Greenline or to Doshi for this weekend. On Saturday my friend Jochem asked me about my plans and we decided to head for Doshi, with him joining me from Hashimoto station.

On Doshi michi we met a number of cyclists in reflective vests. We kept passing each other as we kept a similar pace. They turned out to be participants in Audax Saitama's BRM321 300 km brevet from Iruma to Numazu and back.

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Before Doshi we got our first Fuji view. It was a beautiful day and very mild, my first ride in shorts this year and without a winter jacket at any time (06:15 start). After lunch at Michi-no-Eki Doshi, I suggested to Jochem that instead of turning around we could continue to Yamanakako and then descend to the coast near Odawara. He would catch a train there while I'd ride home to Tokyo. So that's what we did.

The Fuji views on the Yamanakako side were fantastic. The sunlight was glittering in the waves of the lake and the top of the mountain brightly reflected the sunlight, perhaps due to ice from partial melting and refreezing. Jochem suggested we descend via Mikuni because of the view of the lake and the mountain available from there. Indeed, it's probably one of the best views on that whole side of the mountain.

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The first part of the descent from the toge was very chilly because it was shaded, but once we were in the sunlight on the south slope it warmed up. I was glad I was descending in March and not climbing in July, as the Olympic road race athletes are supposed to. The steepest part is up to 18%.

Like most of the people in Japan I don't think the 2020 Olympics will go ahead as planned. Not after all the dams broke worldwide on the virus that caused COVID-19. They can postpone it to 2021 or 2022, or they can cancel it altogether (after $26,000,000,000 of petty cash has already been spent on it) but planning for business as usual while infection numbers still double every 3-4 days in major countries and the health care system in major countries is set to face collapse is insane. The IOC is totally detached from reality.

Cycling and other exercise is good for the immune system and for mental balance. We'll need that as much as possible in the months to come. Nevertheless I fear a crackdown coming on any cycling that isn't to the nearest grocery store, once the crisis escalates and the country goes on lock down after infections spin out of control.

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Anyway, Jochem and I cycled together to Matsuda, from where he caught a train to Yokohama at Kozu while I headed back to Tokyo on Rt246. For tens of km I was passing crawling car traffic on the left. Rt246 looked like Kanagawa's longest parking lot. I guess it's the combination of glorious sunshine and cherry blossom season. It's a far cry from the lock down in Hubei, Italy and elsewhere. The experience reminded me of Germany in the warm spring sun in April 1986, when nature looked so inviting yet we were in fear of the invisible danger of nuclear fallout from the burning Chernobyl plant. Everything may look normal but you know it isn't.
 
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