GSAstuto
Maximum Pace
- Oct 11, 2009
- 974
- 253
Second year in a row I used this event to prep for the Haute Route Alps. This year I cheated somewhat and started the ride from Otsuki rather than Shinjuku. Well, actually I rode from Chofu to Shinjuku, then back to Chofu, then train to Otsuki - so total km was about 40km less. Weather was much better this year and pacing excellent thanks to Travis. I stopped in Chino, got a breakfast and 30min snooze. Then joined the A-Team. Another fun, evenly paced ride out to Northstar. We missed ALL the rain and had some gorgeous small detours from the 'official' route. The Super Rindo was also a nice ride notwithstanding the debris ridden descent - but honestly, aside from a few rocks pinging off my spokes, it was super fun - especially with no cars to worry about! Always enjoyable to climb up Norikura and this year was no different - I did a few 'repeats' and staggered my climb to get more use out of the mountain (and conversation with friends). Performance wise - slower than years past 2011- 59:10, 2012 - 1:03, etc , but my focus was a little different this year. Finished with a fairly zippy ride back to Matsumoto and then train back to Tachikawa. The new lodge is beautiful and I'm hoping next year to stay longer!