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Route 139 Otsuki to Musashi Itsukaichi via Okutama

Wolfman

Speeding Up
Jul 31, 2007
631
19
Thanks are due to SteveT who mentioned Route 139 a couple of weekends ago. Unable to join you chaps on the Saturday I set out and rode from Otsuki along route 139 up to Okutama, followed by a return trip up to Tomin no mori and Musashi Itsukaichi.

Overall I found Rt139 rather enchanting. It gets off to a steep start but the subsequent 10 or so Kms are undulating and bendy: the kind of ride that makes you glad to be on the road. The scenery adds to this as it is truly splendid with old traditional villages surrounded by mountains. There's then a climb up to Kosege village which, at 1250m, is 25kms from Otsuki. However, up until the 20th km it wasn't so ferocious and only the final 5kms to the top were on the bottom ring. After that it was a rather scrappy descent to Okutama and I would guess that coming from Okutama presents the best opportunities for a decent decent. Coming from Otsuki was a bit narrow, a bit gravely, with quite a few rocks lying here and there which had fallen off the mountains. I did think of turning back up rte 18 for a return shot at that monster climb but in the end settled for sansai udon in Okutama before heading off to Tomin.

The stats were as follows:

Ride distance: 84.7km
Ride time: 4.24
Cadence: 50
Av HR: 141
Av. Spd: 19.2

I guess I could do better.I would also like to apologise for what must already be a familiar route to most of you. I did a search on 139 but nothing came up.
 
Hi Richy . . .

The ride up R139 from Ootsuki is great! Check out this thread of a ride arranged by Travis & Pucci last year:

https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=308

I am sure you can do better ("I guess I could do better"). That is not a bad thing and you're not alone, everyone (here) can. Nice write up.

Cheers,

Philip
 
Matsuhime-toge...

Hey Lee,
I think that's a particular favorite of Aaron's.
He loves "Matsuhime-toge"!
Personally, I could think of other words for it, but it is a nice climb (from either side).
We might roll through there again some time during the "KT" rides.
See you on the next one!
Travis
 
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