Today March 2023

[joewein]

Only a couple of weeks until cherry blossom season. Today was already sunny and mild.

A few days ago I signed up for my first brevet of the season, on March 25 in west Izu. I'll stay at a hotel at the start the night before so I don't have to get up too early for the 200 km ride.

Two weeks later I'll be riding from Nagano to Tokyo as part of a Trace team. The team will be doing a training ride this coming weekend but I won't be able to join it because of a family event.

I'll do a Century ride the following weekend to get some exercise before the brevet.

 

[bloaker]

Yokosuka already have full bloom in areas!
Miua Kaigan is near 100% bloom.
That said, Sakurayama in Zushi has not even started budding.
I am looking forward to a week of beauty and traffic as everyone floods my neighborhood for a view.
Then comes the rain and I have rivers of pink going down the road.

 

[adventurous cyclist]

41 f and heavy rain in Yamaguchi. No biking on the first day of March here.

 

[BeerTengoku]

Yokosuka already have full bloom in areas!
Miua Kaigan is near 100% bloom.
That said, Sakurayama in Zushi has not even started budding.
I am looking forward to a week of beauty and traffic as everyone floods my neighborhood for a view.
Then comes the rain and I have rivers of pink going down the road.

Are you sure that's not plum blossom?

 

[bloaker]

Are you sure that's not plum blossom?

Yup.

 

[mrkamot]

Zwift Hub! Relatively cheaper at 500 USD but not yet available in Japan. And there is a 15 USD monthly fee

https://support.zwift.com/ja/-H14_Rmtes

 

[joewein]

Today I swapped my Shimano PD-M520 pedals (SPD, silver) for a new pair of the same.

Checking my Amazon order history, I had bought the previous pair only a little over two years ago for the same reason: Clicking noises at a certain point of the pedal rotation that had been plaguing the bike for months.

Shimano SPD pedals used to be indestructible: I used to do 10s of thousands of km on 1000 yen bargains fished out of a bike shop 2nd hand parts bin.

Come back for the "Today: June 2025" thread

 

[hellerphant]

New tires are on, ready for their first real ride tomorrow. Pretty excited.

However, there is something I hope that someone here can help me with. Since last night when I turn my handlebars left of right, I can hear something rattling around inside of them. Checked the stem and everything and there are no missing screws at all. Everything feels and looks exactly as it should, but there is DEFINITELY something rolling around in there. Like, it feels and sounds like a screw or a stone or something is rolling from side to side inside the bars themselves.

Noticed it this morning when wiping down the bike after the slight rain last night. Any ideas? I haven't tried taking it apart just yet because I am worried I will mess something up haha.

 

[mrkamot]

Weird advertisement for フォレストバイク小田原. Checked the source and it says "ども、ダメ人間です"

 

[GrantT]

Checking my Amazon order history, I had bought the previous pair only a little over two years ago for the same reason: Clicking noises at a certain point of the pedal rotation that had been plaguing the bike for months.

Clicking even after removing the axle and regreasing?

 

[hellerphant]

OK, so I tool the right bar end off and then this fell out. Any idea what this is? Everything feels stable and fine.

 

[mrkamot]

I think that is just a bar end cap

 

[hellerphant]

I think that is just a bar end cap

As in the little silver plug I pulled out? Does this sit inside of it or something? I took the other bar end out and there was no plastic thing like this inside. The bike is second hand though, so maybe it already fell out.

 

[mrkamot]

Not sure about the silver plug; probably it is the part where the screw to tighten the bar end is screwed on? see this.

 

[Forsbrook]

Just returned from a ride along the Edogawa.Surprisingly nippy first thing this morning.Quite a few riders out but not as many as yesterday.Have to be even more attentive this season because not only are many flowers popping up everywhere after a Winter spent underground, so are many seniors after spending the colder months under a Kotatsu.When the weather warms up they seem to be roaming everywhere with scant regard to their immediate surroundings.

 

[hellerphant]

Did a run back to Enoshima with some slight variations. The new tires really made me feel so comfy and I was actually faster. Moved my seat forward and back pain is nearly non-existent now, which feels great. On the way to Enoshima I spotted this very sad bear.



I am trying to look for interesting routes on Ridewithgps and Komoot but lacking inspiration. Can anyone give me a few suggestions? I might try a run out to Lake Miyagase again, but also kinda keen to try something new. Looking to hit 80ish kms (slowly working my way up to 100km!)

 

[BeerTengoku]

200 km done last week with about 60 km of running and some weights so today was a maintenance + recovery day. Got some SPD + SL shoes for my birthday, along with some pedals, so the Red Monster is now more of a road + gravel bike than just an all round bike. Tested it out last Saturday along the Sakaigawa + Hikichi but was plagued by some numbing on my right foot, more than likely brought on by ill fitting cleats.

Been watching some videos about how to set up cleats all over again as I had forgotten how to do it. So much information out there but all done. And then doing some basic bike maintenance - changing post height and then giving the bike a good clean - means I am so eager to get out again tomorrow for a longish cycle, ending up at Kumazawa Shuzo + Shonan Beer for some pizzas + sausages and maybe a cheeky beer if I remember my bike bag.

 

[Half-Fast Mike]

On Sunday I went out for a club ride around and about the Tamagawa. Turned into 112 km. Good fun.

 

[hellerphant]

Thinking about trying to get out to one of the five lakes with the bike before the weather starts heating up. Anyone have some good route knowledge around Kawaguchiko? Keen to do a full day ride and get my wife to drive us back to Tokyo or maybe even camp out there with our dog for the night.

 

[BeerTengoku]

Thinking about trying to get out to one of the five lakes with the bike before the weather starts heating up. Anyone have some good route knowledge around Kawaguchiko? Keen to do a full day ride and get my wife to drive us back to Tokyo or maybe even camp out there with our dog for the night.

Lake Kawaguchi is about a 20 km around and is pretty flat from what I remember during a run I did out there.

There is a good resource here about some of the courses around the various lakes.