Today November 2022

[kiwisimon]

April is a nice time in Okinawa as isnt too hot, before typhoon season and definitely no snow.
Hokkaido on the other hand I think might be better in late May, June??

@adventurous cyclist April in Hokkaido is not much fun for camping. And I think you felt cold in Totorri in April if I remember. With that in mind
South to Okinawa and then up Kyushu would be better IMO.
From Yamaguchi/ Fukuoka flying to a destination and biking around is often cheaper than going by train and ferry.
Flights to Okinawa are way cheaper than the ferry and you can ship your bike by courier service.

If I were in Yamaguchi and had the time and the funds, I'd skip those and instead go by bike up the west coast of Honshū, maybe all the way up to Tsugaru. I'd travel light and go inland where doing so would avoid horrible roads -- or just when I wanted to go inland. And then I'd return by train. (Wasn't this, or something like it, your first plan, before Covid aborted it?)

@adventurous cyclist a plan for later in the year maybe,
You do seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in one place.

Maybe try and plan an itinerary with dates and locations? By sticking to it you'll get further than last time.
And last piece of advice, plan your nutrition. Hydration and nutrients are very important.

 

[joewein]

Sorry guys wrong post. Don't know how to delete it. Mods can you delete it.

You can edit it for a short period after you post, for example change it to "<delete this>", then click the "Report" button to get help from an admin.

 

[jdd]

Thought I had enough time before it started, but no, it started raining out at my turnaround point...

 

[adventurous cyclist]

Rain here in Yamaguchi, but go to use the bike to go to a community center today. Maybe ride with an umbrella ? Yikes! That's illegal.

 

[BeerTengoku]

Heavy rain where I live today - literally so hard that even a visor on the helmet was effing useless. And the next day out cycling? Looks like more heavy rain is coming our way..

 

[Chuck]

Not a good day for outdoor cycling, so good excuse to buy the Kickr Core from a seller on Amazon. Should be here tomorrow. Been doing consistent hour-long Zwift sessions for the last 2 weeks on my dumb trainer and finally seeing some weight loss. Hopefully, that continues. Had been hanging out for the longest time at 77-78kg, this week I finally hit the high 75s. Yea me!

 

[Ruda]

Not a good day for outdoor cycling, so good excuse to buy the Kickr Core from a seller on Amazon. Should be here tomorrow. Been doing consistent hour-long Zwift sessions for the last 2 weeks on my dumb trainer and finally seeing some weight loss. Hopefully, that continues. Had been hanging out for the longest time at 77-78kg, this week I finally hit the high 75s. Yea me!

consistency is king!
and the kickr core is awesome

 

[BeerTengoku]

I have been looking at an indoor trainer - much prefer cycling outside but with my schedule at work and life getting in the way again, my bikes are starting to sit outside again and look at me.

 

[Chuck]

I have been looking at an indoor trainer - much prefer cycling outside but with my schedule at work and life getting in the way again, my bikes are starting to sit outside again and look at me.

It is nice to just hop on the trainer and at a chosen pace w/o worrying about cars, stop lights, pedestrians. As @Ruda says, consistency is the key.

 

[luka]

personally, I'm not in the market for a new bike at the moment, but this one would certainly turn heads

 

[Benedikt]

I jumped on the indoor trainer train this month as well, finally found a used (3 times! there was barely grease on the casette) one at an amazing price and made the jump. Definitely much much easier to jump on it for a workout. Feels like I'm getting what would take 3 hours through the Tokyo (red) lights done in an hour, and a whole lot easier to jump on it again the next day.

Is there a TCC club on Zwift? I looked it up but did not see one and left it be but if there's interest in one...?

 

[BeerTengoku]

How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

I am locked into the Garmin system of devices so would be going for a Garmin Tacx.

I jumped on the indoor trainer train this month as well, finally found a used (3 times! there was barely grease on the casette) one at an amazing price and made the jump. Definitely much much easier to jump on it for a workout. Feels like I'm getting what would take 3 hours through the Tokyo (red) lights done in an hour, and a whole lot easier to jump on it again the next day.

Is there a TCC club on Zwift? I looked it up but did not see one and left it be but if there's interest in one...?

 

[Cactaur]

A trainer would be the least locked in I would think. It’s not a peloton

 

[jdd]

The pano for overall feel; and the other since the Tateyama range is not really visible in that. (maybe70-80km distant)

 

[Benedikt]

How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

I am locked into the Garmin system of devices so would be going for a Garmin Tacx.

I got an Elite Suito for 60,000 yen, basically not used at all.
They seem to go for 55-70,000 used on mercari and the like but anything below 63ish sells in an hour from posting.
It doesn't have a true power meter, but the calculated power is very much close enough.
I wanted to get an Elite Direto XR for the inbuilt power meter but there are just not nearly as many showing up used, and I didn't see a reason to buy new.

I agree with Cactaur that I don't think there's any reason to keep the trainer in the same ecosystem. Everything else I have is Garmin but the trainer, HR sensor, cadence sensor all speak with Zwift which then feeds back to Strava and Garmin Connect, so I did not see the point in spending an extra 40,000 yen for what felt like minimal gain for the Tacx (or Kickr).
I'm mostly using it to keep a consistent schedule -- if I was doing top class racing or the like, getting a top class trainer might be worth it but not for my needs.

Being able to fold the Suito and hide it in a closet is also a big plus for me, though I must admit I haven't looked into how well the other trainers do in this category...

 

[rarirureroberto]

I have been looking at an indoor trainer - much prefer cycling outside but with my schedule at work and life getting in the way again, my bikes are starting to sit outside again and look at me.

You will not regret it. I have started indoor training this year, and it's really convenient when you are short on time. Besides that, you have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to virtual platforms. Lately, I've been addicted to Rouvy, since I am too tired to do structured workouts.

A smart trainer or bike can be a huge investment, but it pays off since you can ride at any time.

 

[rarirureroberto]

This morning, at the Arakawa bike flea-market, there was a 3Rensho in very sweet condition on offer for less than that.

Where is this Arakawa bike flea-market? I need to check it out!

 

[microcord]

@rarirureroberto , it's here (on Facebook).

(I made up for it with a 168 km ride yesterday. And I have a simple hill climb planned for Sunday.)

 

[rarirureroberto]

@rarirureroberto , it's here (on Facebook).

(I made up for it with a 168 km ride yesterday. And I have a simple hill climb planned for Sunday.)

Thanks. This is awesome!

 

[BeerTengoku]

A trainer would be the least locked in I would think. It’s not a peloton

Yes that's true but the Garmin system of devices sync very nicely with one another and that's a big plus for me. Go on a cycle and the bike computer will sync with my watch and phone app. Go for a swim, and vice versa. I can keep track of all the activities in one ecosystem rather than having a plethora of different ones.