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Today November 2022

Been thinking about getting a Kickr Core. Price just went up from 113k to 125k. But... the Zwift Hub just came out. $499+tax+shipping (to a US address). Current exchange rate for the yen puts it at close to 80k. Any idea if Kickr runs sales on their stuff during holidays? Or maybe the Hub will put downward price pressure on Wahoo trainers? Haven't been in the market till now so haven't followed Kickr pricing strategies.
 
Been thinking about getting a Kickr Core. Price just went up from 113k to 125k. But... the Zwift Hub just came out. $499+tax+shipping (to a US address). Current exchange rate for the yen puts it at close to 80k. Any idea if Kickr runs sales on their stuff during holidays? Or maybe the Hub will put downward price pressure on Wahoo trainers? Haven't been in the market till now so haven't followed Kickr pricing strategies.
The site I use Has Wahoo products on sale 17% now US address shipping.
 
I guess it deer season here now? As I was rolling down a hill in Futtsu a few gents in hunter orange with dead dear in the back of a K truck.
 
I guess it deer season here now? As I was rolling down a hill in Futtsu a few gents in hunter orange with dead dear in the back of a K truck.
season starts in November. The prefecture and national Govt pay a bounty for deer. I've had a few feeds already.
Friend was in a hunt last weekend that bagged a 180kg bear. I never got any meat from that one, all the old fellas got it.
 
Been thinking about getting a Kickr Core. Price just went up from 113k to 125k. But... the Zwift Hub just came out. $499+tax+shipping (to a US address). Current exchange rate for the yen puts it at close to 80k. Any idea if Kickr runs sales on their stuff during holidays? Or maybe the Hub will put downward price pressure on Wahoo trainers? Haven't been in the market till now so haven't followed Kickr pricing strategies.
i got mine a few months ago from ysroad. i dont remember exactly the reason, but they had some discount. not 100% sure, but i think i paid like 100k jpy.
maybe you can get some black friday deal.

also, really bad experience with a malfunctioning tacx bought from overseas, so i dont think the not-so-much-lower price is worh it at all.
 
Price just went up from 113k to 125k.

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

As I was rolling down a hill in Futtsu a few gents in hunter orange with dead dear in the back of a K truck.

A few weeks ago, on Dōshi-michi, I passed by a dead deer. Routine (if rather large) roadkill, I presumed. Dead deer would have to be moved, and I suppose that hunters would be the best practised at and best equipped for moving them.

The weekend is ending and during it I've ridden less than 20 km. Pathetic.
 
@Ruda Thanks.... Didn't know they had them. Will have to check it out. (And I agree... given the weight of the things and difficulty of a return in case something goes bad, I'll be buying mine in Japan, I imagine.)

@microcord A steel frame bike, right? Not a trainer? (had a quick look on the net....beautiful bikes)
 
hallelujah--tho it'll probably still be wet in patches, today is now looking good, tomorrow, too.
 
It was raining today....
Didn't care, put a change of clothes in a waterproof bag and commuted in.
I needed saddle time and I was gonna get it regardless!
 
@microcord A steel frame bike, right? Not a trainer? (had a quick look on the net....beautiful bikes)
Yes. Riding it will not annoy others in your building. It will take you places. It will last. Anyone riding it will drive the ladies wild.

Or indeed the gents. But in a good way.

Lots of bikes for sale yesterday: brand names I noticed included Amanda, Bottecchia, Bridgestone, De Rosa, Mercier, Miyata, Panasonic, Toei, and Vogue. I'm not looking for another bike, and anyway they'd all have been too small. So I paid little attention to any of them once I'd realized that I'd forgotten to put the memory card back into my camera, duh.
 
November 20, 2022 Sunday
Today l ask you guys a quick question ❓
Today l will make a couple of decisions of what to do, but I'll stick with the first decision.

1. I will travel by bike, train and ferry ⛴️.
Should l go to Hokkaido or Okinawa?
My plan is to leave in early April. I live in Yamaguchi ken. When l, in the past, l would be traveling for up to 90 days.
I'm open to hear some thoughts. Camping included, hopefully just a few guest 🏠.
Thanks guys.
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??
 
I was invited to visit Nepal for work, so I jumped at the chance. A mountain biking friend in Nagano introduced me to a Nepalese acquaintance who runs mountain biking tours. I got in touch right away and he (Shyam) put together an itinerary near to Kathmandu that could be achieved in the spare time I would have. His usual tours (and clients) are much more ambitious (and fit).

Day one looked like this: https://www.strava.com/activities/8129502544

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I crashed hard and suddenly, towards the end. Shyam and his sweeper guide Brachit took good care of my scrapes. iPhone took a beating but thankfully was still usable.

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Why did I crash? We we going downhill fairly fast and I didn't have quite the right line for a turn. Just a tiny reflex course correction needed with the rear brake. Except the brake levers were on the 'wrong' sides of the handlebar from what I'm used to. That's fine when there's time to think, but when reflex took over that little skid with the 'left/back' lever translated into a locked front wheel and instant facefull o' floor.

After a good long breather I finished the ride and we drove onward to the hotel. As the evening progressed and my various bruised healed I became more concerned by a pain in the ribs that even beer couldn't completely mask. By morning I was sure - I had cracked a rib. Although I physically could ride, it would not be fun and the risk of more crashes due to a twinge would increase. So sadly there was no day two. Oh well... I will just have to go back.

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Seriously - the longer (7 to 14 day) tours in the Mustang and Annapurna districts sound amazing. With a group of 5 or 6 friends it would be a blast.

Meanwhile, a few weeks of poor sleep will round out my 2022 nicely. Dammit.
 
I'm heading back to Brisbane for holidays next month with a week in North Queensland to visit family. No bike while at folks place but rented bike for a week in Brisbane & have a week of routes lined up.

Have done all of my shopping online already & shipped to parents. New gravel shoes, bike radar, winter gloves thanks to sales and sizes being available. Looks like I'll need to get myself a new cycling computer after my Wahoo stopped being water resistant with glue problem on screen.
Well looks like my Wahoo is dead, out of warranty and can't be replaced.
Quick replies from Wahoo support appreciated, have been offered a discount programme but now waiting for contact from the distributor for details.

Fingers crossed.
 
Once upon a time ('84) I did the Annapurna trek--flight into (and out of) Lukla and then walked from there to Kala Patthar and back (unguided). Was pretty sick by the time I got back to Lukla, in Kath I was diagnosed with typhoid fever. I still remember this little girl, probably about 12, carrying a huge pack, bigger than she was (for a guy from base camp, who wasn't carrying anything).

Much later, sort of a year pre-pandemic, I visited far northern vietnam, which seemed to have the same vibe.
 
I was invited to visit Nepal for work, so I jumped at the chance. A mountain biking friend in Nagano introduced me to a Nepalese acquaintance who runs mountain biking tours. I got in touch right away and he (Shyam) put together an itinerary near to Kathmandu that could be achieved in the spare time I would have. His usual tours (and clients) are much more ambitious (and fit).

Day one looked like this: https://www.strava.com/activities/8129502544

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I crashed hard and suddenly, towards the end. Shyam and his sweeper guide Brachit took good care of my scrapes. iPhone took a beating but thankfully was still usable.

View attachment 36916

Why did I crash? We we going downhill fairly fast and I didn't have quite the right line for a turn. Just a tiny reflex course correction needed with the rear brake. Except the brake levers were on the 'wrong' sides of the handlebar from what I'm used to. That's fine when there's time to think, but when reflex took over that little skid with the 'left/back' lever translated into a locked front wheel and instant facefull o' floor.

After a good long breather I finished the ride and we drove onward to the hotel. As the evening progressed and my various bruised healed I became more concerned by a pain in the ribs that even beer couldn't completely mask. By morning I was sure - I had cracked a rib. Although I physically could ride, it would not be fun and the risk of more crashes due to a twinge would increase. So sadly there was no day two. Oh well... I will just have to go back.

View attachment 36918

Seriously - the longer (7 to 14 day) tours in the Mustang and Annapurna districts sound amazing. With a group of 5 or 6 friends it would be a blast.

Meanwhile, a few weeks of poor sleep will round out my 2022 nicely. Dammit.
Yeah, it is in those split seconds where brakes being the wrong way around really can become a liability. Cracked ribs suck, I hope you get better soon.
 
1. I will travel by bike, train and ferry ⛴️.
Should l go to Hokkaido or Okinawa?
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?)
 
Also, if you want to go now, I don't think it is a good idea to go to Hokkaido, at least not with serious winter gear. I don't know the weather in Okinawa at the moment, but even here in Sendai, it is getting nippy. Certainly it isn't a problem yet, but e. g. it is not uncommon to have snow if you travel a few 10s of km inwards from here from November till April, sometimes even the beginning of May.
 
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+1 tile in Gunma. On the weekend I visited my friend Tim (GS Astuto) by car but brought my bike for some much needed TLC (new chain, new cassette, new rear shifter cable).

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Tim's place is about 130 km from my home, on the historic Old Nakasendo road in Gunma, 5 km from Mt Myogi and 10 km from the Meganebashi railway bridge on the climb to Karuizawa. Tim is running his bike shop and road bike rental but with his wife also offers minpaku (B&B) and runs a cafe.

@Half-Fast Mike has done a great job helping Tim with the renovation of the old farmhouse.

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I stayed overnight at one of the minpaku guestrooms. The next day Tim took me to nearby Myogi shrine on the side of the mountain which was my extended post maintenance test ride.

The shrine reminds me of Nikko and Mitsumine shrine in Chichibu. All of those shrines are very colourful and incredibly well maintained. Highly recommended!

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I plan to bring my wife next time and do some hiking together.

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