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Today November 2021

Did you do something to hurt the knee, or is this just what happens sometimes due to the arthritis?
I did one commute, to work and back, for the first time in a long time. There was a very strong headwind on the return leg, and I was battling it. I guess I battled too hard, because right after that my knee joint went to balloon-mode.
 
@Half-Fast Mike Didn't you have some knee trouble once when riding up this way? Same thing?
Good memory! Yes it first happened on group ride around Noto in Golden Week of 2015. Quite the shock, it was. Same thing. Cartilage is basically all gone. All I can do is do my best to manage it. No more than a few seconds above 250 W. Lose weight to reduce day-to-day wear and tear. And hope that stem cell therapy makes some leaps and bounds before too much longer. I don't fancy total knee replacement... not yet anyway.
 
Been a while since I've been out and about - been busy at work and outside, and lost motivation to do any kind of exercise due to an injury I picked up but took a day off work and wife suggested why not for a cycle instead of sitting at home playing Forza Horizon 5 all day long while drinking beer and eating pizza. Couldn't see the problem with that myself but hey.

I called it the Tale of Two Rivers as that's what I rode today - down the Kashio-gawa to Ofuna, then across to Zushi via Kamakura, then back along Route 134 to Tsujido to meet a few friends at Tsuji Brewing, before coming back up the Sakai-gawa and going over to home. All in all, a perfect weather day but I do need some more layers as when it was in the shade, it was pretty chilly. Got home about 5:30 or so, as KFC are doing the Red Hot Wings again, and wowzers, that was certainly cold after the sun had gone done.

Looking to get out a bit more now I've found my mojo, but I really want to start riding after work in the evenings, but I don't get everything done and sorted until about 8pm or so. Any tips would be most welcome.

  1. Ofuna Kannon - hope she was looking out for me today on my ride.
  2. Some leaves can still be seen at Kamakura Tsurugaokahachimangu.
  3. Quick pitstop at Beach Muffin as plans were forced to change for lunch.
  4. Riding along Route 134 round to Tsujido - no cyclists were in the way of the Enoden Train.
  5. Sunset as I rode back up the Sakai-gawa. Moments like that bring a sense of peace and happiness that running just doesn't give me.
 

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Late start on tge trails this morning so far more hikers than i am used to.

Not too big a deal as my legs are just not in good cycling shape. So the breaks due to hikers were good chances to recharge.

The sky was clear and made for some good views.

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Been a while since I've been out and about - been busy at work and outside, and lost motivation to do any kind of exercise due to an injury I picked up but took a day off work and wife suggested why not for a cycle instead of sitting at home playing Forza Horizon 5 all day long while drinking beer and eating pizza. Couldn't see the problem with that myself but hey.

I called it the Tale of Two Rivers as that's what I rode today - down the Kashio-gawa to Ofuna, then across to Zushi via Kamakura, then back along Route 134 to Tsujido to meet a few friends at Tsuji Brewing, before coming back up the Sakai-gawa and going over to home. All in all, a perfect weather day but I do need some more layers as when it was in the shade, it was pretty chilly. Got home about 5:30 or so, as KFC are doing the Red Hot Wings again, and wowzers, that was certainly cold after the sun had gone done.

Looking to get out a bit more now I've found my mojo, but I really want to start riding after work in the evenings, but I don't get everything done and sorted until about 8pm or so. Any tips would be most welcome.

  1. Ofuna Kannon - hope she was looking out for me today on my ride.
  2. Some leaves can still be seen at Kamakura Tsurugaokahachimangu.
  3. Quick pitstop at Beach Muffin as plans were forced to change for lunch.
  4. Riding along Route 134 round to Tsujido - no cyclists were in the way of the Enoden Train.
  5. Sunset as I rode back up the Sakai-gawa. Moments like that bring a sense of peace and happiness that running just doesn't give me.
Curry fries at beach muffin are one of the thing i look forward to when going there. 5min by bike from my house.
 
Sort of whitish/less defined mtn right of center is Hakusan, then reverse angle towards the ocean.

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Then from another place, the Tateyama range, ~80km off.
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Next Saturday I will be attending the bonenkai (year end dinner) of my randonneuring club. Last year I bailed on it because of Covid. This year I'll attend (fully vaccinated and with relatively few cases in Tokyo).

I had a big ride last weekend and since I don't know how much I'll get to ride next weekend (other than to and from the event), I wanted to stretch my legs a bit so I left kind of late on Sunday morning (just before 9) for the Tamagawa. Eventually I decided to go to Ome and visit the Ne-no-gongen temple from the Naguri side. It was a clear cold day and the Fuji views were gorgeous.

Somewhere on the Tamagawa bike path I noticed a cyclist heading my way, with one red sleeve and one green one - "Must be someone from Half-Fast" I said to myself. And lo and behold, as he came closer I realized it was none other than @Kangaeroo whom I was finally meeting in person :)

So I shouted out to him as we were passing each other. We both turned around and pulled off the side of the bike path for a lengthy chat. He was on his way to a HFC group ride, but we had a nice talk, including about our planned ride in west Izu, which may happen in January. It was a real pleasure.

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A bit further up the river I passed a high voltage line that crosses the river. There was some construction going on at the high voltage pylon next to the road. I realized that they were working on a hot switch between the old pylon and a new one: Building a new pylon in the very same spot as the old one and switching over without having to disrupt supply through the line!

The new pylon used foundations offset 45 degrees to the existing foundations and was large enough so it could be built around the existing pylon. At some point they will unhook the cables from the cross members of the old pylon and hook them up to the new equivalent, then dismantle the obsolete pylon inside the larger replacement, all to avoid grid disruption and power cuts!

It's got to be pretty tricky though to operate a crane near live high voltage lines. I can't imagine how they would do this without a crane though I didn't see one.

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I contacted my friend Ian who lives in Ome to see if he was around and if he wanted to meet up for lunch. He happened to be on a morning ride but responded on his way back home. We arranged to meet at Sherpa for curry.

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We were there for about two hours as we hadn't seen each other for months and there was much to talk about.

It got colder as I headed from Ome to Naguri. I don't know what it is, but the temperature difference is always so pronounced after just a hill or two. It must be that Ome still receives heat from the megacity downstream, plus all the shade from the mountains around Rt53 once you're beyond Ome.

I was still about a km or two from the turnoff to Rt395, the start of the climb to Ne-no-gongen, when I decided that at 4° C and not much time left before sunset, I would probably only get to the temple when it would already be dark and then have a very chilly ride back. So instead I crossed over the river to Toriikannon, a Buddhist temple with some Chinese looking pagoda high up on the mountain and some huge Kannon statue that had always looked interesting. However, the place was already closing and I could only snap a few pictures near the bottom of the temple complex.

I really need a camera with a telephoto lens for shots like this, the smartphone camera doesn't do well when I zoom in that far:

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The ride back was very chilly, but only until Ome.

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With only 122 km I made it home at a very reasonable time despite the late start.
 
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30km this morning in the dark. Nice and clam on the Rt134.
The downside - there was a chill in the air that my elbows seem to not like.
My tendons (or something) get a little twingy in the cold. It wasn't cold enough for a heavy jacket, so I just had on a fleece... but twinging away...

I have been playing with stem and bar setups on the gravel bike, I am getting closer.
I have opted for a 48cm bar. Yup, it is wide, but comfy and more control off road.
I have run an 80 up to a 110mm stem with both rise and drop.
This morning I was running a 110 stem with -6deg. In the drops I felt a little low, but not bad.
I have a new saddle on the way, so more adjustments soon.

Pictures here is a 90mm stem with the 48cm bars.

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14th ride of the month this morning, for 500km. Also turned 70 sometime in there.

Thanks to @kiwisimon for the tire suggestion last spring--bonty R3. It was hard to tell at first, but from this POV I'd say they feel pretty plush. (on the bike in the pic, above)
 
Also turned 70 sometime in there.

Thanks to @kiwisimon for the tire suggestion last spring--bonty R3
Happy Birthday man,

Proving a stopped clock can get it right sometimes.
Glad to see you out and about on the bike.
 
I was still about a km or two from the turnoff to Rt395, the start of the climb to Ne-no-gongen, when I decided that at 4° C and not much time left before sunset, I would probably only get to the temple when it would already be dark and then have a very chilly ride back. So instead I crossed over the river to Toriikannon, a Buddhist temple with some Chinese looking pagoda high up on the mountain and some huge Kannon statue that had always looked interesting. However, the place was already closing and I could only snap a few pictures near the bottom of the temple complex.
How is the ride up/ down to Toriikannon?
Naguri is my "go-to ride" and I always see that temple, but never got to give it a try
 
How is the ride up/ down to Toriikannon?
Naguri is my "go-to ride" and I always see that temple, but never got to give it a try
I didn't get to ride up to the pagoda because it already was past closing time.

There's a footpath (200 yen per adult) and a road (500 yen per car I think). The road looked steep since it was one of those concrete roads with perpendicular lines cut into. I don't care :) If I had to push the bike, so be it. I want to see the pagoda and the view from up there. The pagoda looks more interesting than the Kannon statue but I want to explore them all.
 
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I've been completely off the bike for a couple of weeks, due to a swollen, arthritic knee :-(
Do you take fish oil? It's the only thing that allows me to walk and cycle (not run unfortunately). I take 8g per day (4g in morning and 4g in evening) and it makes a huge difference, if I skip a day my knee pain returns with vengeance.
 
any tire pressure guage recommendations?
I got a portable digital topeak one I'm extremely satisfied with. since I no longer ride off road and don't need to keep adjusting the pressure I might be willing to part with it, rather than see it sit in the drawer. PM me if interested
 
Thanks for the offer. Might be better to put it in the classifieds as Im still just curious.
 
I really need a camera with a telephoto lens for shots like this, the smartphone camera doesn't do well when I zoom in that far:
By conventional standards, it's horrible; but face it, that shot you might have made if you'd carried yet more clobber along (and it all has to be dragged up hills) could have been technically excellent but would have been pretty boring. (Or maybe it's just me who doesn't thrill to photos of pagodas emerging from the trees.) By contrast, what your message also shows --
-- is first-rate tunnel photography. So never mind the pagodas. Joe. You have found your métier: tunnel photographer. This could and should become a photobook (inspiration).
 
I got a portable digital topeak one I'm extremely satisfied with. since I no longer ride off road and don't need to keep adjusting the pressure I might be willing to part with it, rather than see it sit in the drawer. PM me if interested
Are they expensive? I heard that the gauges on pumps aren't all that accurate. And half of the time an appreciable amount of air escapes anyway.

I was thinking of getting one, but I'm a cheapskate in very weird places (e. g. water bottles, I always think "I can use this one a few more times even though it is already kinda funky …")
 
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