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Nichitsu Ride - Saturday, July 28th

Yamabushi

Maximum Pace
Jun 1, 2010
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Eugen, Takaaki and I will be doing another Nichitsu ride Saturday, July 28th. This is a great opportunity to join a really great ride for those that missed the first adventure!

We'll be riding up the Arakawa, up over Yamabushi-toge, descending down into Chichibu where grab some food. From there we'll be heading out the southwest side of Chichibu climbing up to the abandoned mining town, Nichitsu. Nichitsu at an altitude of a little over 1000m was mostly abandoned in 1978 with the last few stragglers leaving in the early to mid 80's. See HERE for a 10 minute video about the ghost town, and HERE for Tom's ride report from a previous trip there. From Nichitsu we'll climb another 200m before eventually descending back down to #299 and the top of Shigasaka-toge. Once reaching #299 we'll continue with a long descent back to Chichibu to Seibu-Chichibu Station where we'll hop a train back to Tokyo.

This is a reasonably hefty ride with minimal bailout points and not so many stops, so pacing yourself will be important. All climbs will be wait at the top (WATT). There'll be plenty of climbing, descending, greenery, countless miles of beautiful rindos, and an eerie ghost town to really make it special! If you are capable and interested please, join us!

INFO:
Meet Time: 6:30am
Meet Place: Family Mart (HERE)
Climbing: 2200-2500m
Distance: 170-175km
Route: HERE

This should be a pretty amazing ride with some stuff you definitely don't see every day!! Hopefully the third time is the charm and the weather will work with us on this one, and I hope to see you Saturday morning!

Additionally, for anyone coming from farther south that is interested in joining us, a good and simple route from Oume is located HERE. This will take you to the Chichibu Mecca Plaza where we will be making a stop for food before heading out into the wilderness. I estimate we'll arrive there about 10:45am plus or minus 15 minutes.
 
Looks like another fantastic ride Pete. Unfortunately, Saturday is a work day for me. I'll wait patiently for the next ride going out on a Sunday...

Hope it all goes smoothly and everyone has a blast. Catch you later...
 
I'm keen...

The abandoned mining town looks really interesting, and I couldn't make it last time, so...
Yep! I'll be there.
T
 
Looks like another fantastic ride Pete. Unfortunately, Saturday is a work day for me. I'll wait patiently for the next ride going out on a Sunday...

Hope it all goes smoothly and everyone has a blast. Catch you later...

Cheers mate, next time!


The abandoned mining town looks really interesting, and I couldn't make it last time, so...
Yep! I'll be there.
T

Great Travis! It's a nice one, and there aren't any particularly nasty climbs. I'm confident that you'll dig it!
 
Several colleagues will be touring up to Nichitsu on that day. We don't have enough hardness :eek: to ride all the from the Tokyo area all the way and will be rinko bagging up to the Chichibu area. From there take the 140 to the abandoned village and finally ride all the way back to the Tokyo area via following the Arakawa.

If you see couple of guys struggling up, one of them is likely to be me. Please say hello as you pass. :cool:
 
Several colleagues will be touring up to Nichitsu on that day. We don't have enough hardness :eek: to ride all the from the Tokyo area all the way and will be rinko bagging up to the Chichibu area. From there take the 140 to the abandoned village and finally ride all the way back to the Tokyo area via following the Arakawa.

If you see couple of guys struggling up, one of them is likely to be me. Please say hello as you pass. :cool:

Cool, we'll keep our eyes open for you! How many riders do you expect to have?
 
I might be able to make this one, but need to be in Shimo-kita around 5:00pm. What time do you think we'll be back, Pete? Eugen, you riding out?
 
Cool, we'll keep our eyes open for you! How many riders do you expect to have?

We are expecting three to four riders. All beginners but we all have 100+ km flat land experience. None of us have experience touring as a group. This is ambitious on our scale with the climbing. The 130km ride back is going to be mostly unearned downhill. :eek:

We'll be around route 140 starting at 09:00 and ETA at the village is approximately 13:00. Because we are so slow, we're expecting to be back in the Tokyo area 22:00. :eek:
 
I might be able to make this one, but need to be in Shimo-kita around 5:00pm. What time do you think we'll be back, Pete? Eugen, you riding out?

There are so many variables that it's tough to say, John. My best guess is back to Chichibu Station around 4pm.

We are expecting three to four riders. All beginners but we all have 100+ km flat land experience. None of us have experience touring as a group. This is ambitious on our scale with the climbing. The 130km ride back is going to be mostly unearned downhill. :eek:

We'll be around route 140 starting at 09:00 and ETA at the village is approximately 13:00. Because we are so slow, we're expecting to be back in the Tokyo area 22:00. :eek:

From downtown Chichibu out #140 and up to Nichitsu it's a moderate climb. There aren't really any particularly tough climbing sections. The hardest areas are probably the turn off just before lake, and the climb after Nichitsu up to the tunnel at the top of the pass. Are you planning to do the loop or to come back the way you came on #140?
 
I may be up for this one as well. Last time was great, and I'd like to attack the climb after Nichitsu once for real (although it seems shorter on the map than what I remember).

By the way, the climbing is indeed not particularly hard, but quite long as you do go up to 1200m! Also the descent after the tunnel is a bit tricky, so if "beginners" means no downhill experience, then I would say: hmm...
 
I may be up for this one as well. Last time was great, and I'd like to attack the climb after Nichitsu once for real (although it seems shorter on the map than what I remember).

By the way, the climbing is indeed not particularly hard, but quite long as you do go up to 1200m! Also the descent after the tunnel is a bit tricky, so if "beginners" means no downhill experience, then I would say: hmm...

I definitely agree about the descent from the tunnel after Nichitsu down to #299 (between 133km and 139km on my map), it's a bit demanding. That is not a place for a true beginner! Once you make it to #299 though, that descent is heavenly!! :D
 
From downtown Chichibu out #140 and up to Nichitsu it's a moderate climb. There aren't really any particularly tough climbing sections. The hardest areas are probably the turn off just before lake, and the climb after Nichitsu up to the tunnel at the top of the pass. Are you planning to do the loop or to come back the way you came on #140?

By the way, the climbing is indeed not particularly hard, but quite long as you do go up to 1200m! Also the descent after the tunnel is a bit tricky, so if "beginners" means no downhill experience, then I would say: hmm...

I definitely agree about the descent from the tunnel after Nichitsu down to #299 (between 133km and 139km on my map), it's a bit demanding. That is not a place for a true beginner! Once you make it to #299 though, that descent is heavenly!! :D

I appreciate all the advice. Good stuff.

We haven't decided if we will do the whole loop or come back down. It's dependent on how the members are feeling. If we are feeling good, we'll continue North and come back along route 299 to the Arakawa. Otherwise, it's back down to route 140.

I really enjoy descending, even though the longest I've done is only a kilometer. The fact the descent through 299 is considered demanding has my curiosity piqued. ( I might end up being a dead curious cat. )
 
Pete,

I'm in for this ride.
The second climb seems to last forever (looking at the map, Shiroishi × 5 or so?).
I hope I won't collapse challenging in the Chichibu heat!

See you next weekend.
With wishes for a cloudy sky...

Chikako
 
28th July still the date?

If so, I am in.

Usual meeting spot for me, if that is OK?
 
Pete,

I'm in for this ride.
The second climb seems to last forever (looking at the map, Shiroishi × 5 or so?).
I hope I won't collapse challenging in the Chichibu heat!

See you next weekend.
With wishes for a cloudy sky...

Chikako

Most of the way up, it's pretty mellow and you may not even realize that you are climbing. It's only once you get close that it starts feeling a bit more like a climb. You'll do fine!


28th July still the date?

If so, I am in.

Usual meeting spot for me, if that is OK?

No date changes. As for a meeting spot, we aren't going that far up the river. How about meeting us HERE?
 
Me too. Missed the last one after a few failed attempts so up for this one.
 
No date changes. As for a meeting spot, we aren't going that far up the river. How about meeting us HERE?

Yeah, that seems fine. Know the place well, and it is about the same distance from my place as the usual spot. So yeah, I will meet you there.
 
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