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Saturday 24th - Nariki Recon

AlanW

Maximum Pace
Jan 30, 2007
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I plan a course inspection of the Nariki Hillclimb on Saturday as part of a longer route.
General concept is: Start at Takao, ride over Wadatoge, on to Kobu Tunnel, down to Musashi-Itsukaichi, up Nariki Kaido and the hillclimb course (dead end). Back to Itsukaichi either straight or over the Tsuru Tsuru Onsen road and flat cruise back to Takao.
Course Map: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/japan/-tokyo/782127976277745933
Bail-out available at Itsukaichi.
Any competitors, speedy gentlemen and ladies etc are welcome to join. 9am at Takao south exit for the trainsters, 9:15am at the north exit Family Mart for the bikers.
Let me know.
AW
 
Darn - I have wedding party on Sat... what time do expect to hit the Nairiki? I might be able to get that and back to Tokyo with time to change into a tux - or just arrive sweaty...
 
Hi Alan,

Unless something unexpected happens (like schleck winning this year's TDF) - I am in, 09:15 at the Takao Family mart; might need to bail-out at Itsukaichi, pending arrival time; Awaiting confirmation from James "motorcycle" Machin as well.
 
I'll join at Takao, Alan.
See you tomorrow!

Update - I'll come by bike to the conv.store
 
Hi Alan,

Unless something unexpected happens (like schleck winning this year's TDF) - I am in, 09:15 at the Takao Family mart; might need to bail-out at Itsukaichi, pending arrival time; Awaiting confirmation from James "motorcycle" Machin as well.

Hahahahhaa.... I promise not to ride the Ducati on this ride Yair.

Im in a 9:15 start at Takao.... anyone going to ride in and want to meet me on the Tamagawa?????
 
Alan-san
I will join in !

If I don't appear at Takao7/11,please forget about me.

Hope to see you guys!

Fumiki
 
Fumiki....we can never forget about you :D

How was the race?
 
Sergey, Yair, James and Fumiki - see you tomorrow.
Tim - not sure what time we'll be onto Nariki. I guess we'll be averaging about 22-25 km/h including stops so you could make an estimate from that.
AW.
 
I'll try to meet you guys tomorrow morning as well Alan.

Looks like a challenging route, it will be nice to explore yet more roads in the western hills.
 
Nariki TdF

Hi Alan,

Unless something unexpected happens (like Lance Armstrong winning this year's TDF) - I am unfortunately not in.
 
I drunk too much yesterday party of hiroshi-san's shop...
take it easy today.

anyway,i gotta go now.lets see later .
 
Hahahahha... Fumiki-san, ME TOO!

Not going to be able to make it due to being hung over and having a marching band floating around in my head.

May make it out a little later for a recovery ride.
 
Hi Alan,

Thanks for organizing this Nariki hill climb recon mission, its always nice to visit new places. The climb itself is not so steep or long, for those in the race keeping up with the lead groups on the gradual rise (flat?) 5km before the climb starts will be key here. The spring water at the top of the climb will be your greatest reward for getting to the top!

I assume anyone in the race will not require a warm up over Wada toge, Kobu tunnel and then downhill chase to Itsukaichi in mid 30 temps. Quite brutal on a day like Saturday.

Fumiki san, you are still so strong after your Friday night celebrations!

Sergey, thanks for guiding me back from Itsukaichi to the Tamagawa.

Alan+Naomi, good to see you again after your euro tour. I recommend athletes salt tablets in these hot times. Enjoy some rest in Texas.

Yair, nice to meet you - having time constraints is nice - the ride ends and you get home. For the next 2 months, I think I'll be doing 5am starts and getting home at a decent time (like before lunch) It is very wise.

Tim, hope you are not put off by the Tokyo hills, certainly a hillier place than Houston.
 
Nariki Survival Challenge

Nariki "Recon Mission" became Nariki "Survival Challenge" on Saturday!

The sun was already beating down as Andy, Tim (my colleague), Fumiki-san, Naomi-san, Yair and me assembled at Takao station, with Sergey rolling up on-the-dot at 9:15 am.
Last minute supplies were bought from the 7-11 and we set off up Wadatoge. I hadn't ridden the East approach since MOB's farewell and found it considerably tougher, despite being in better shape, just because of the temperature. There was almost no wind movement under the trees which made the air feel like the inside of an oven. Wada also claimed the first rider, with Tim deciding that his non-compact drive equipped bike was not the tool for tackling Tokyo's Toges. At the usual summit re-group, the Witch of Wada was nowhere to be seen, so we couldn't even buy a cool drink. Naomi-san also debated whether to turn back but in the end she decided to tackle the next section of the ride, through Kobu Tunnel via the country clubs, and down to Itsukaichi station.
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After the slog of Wadatoge, the descent felt sooooo gooood as the rushing wind provided some much needed cooling.
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The climb to the tunnel was exposed particularly towards the top, and we were glad to get to the tunnel and hide inside for a while.
Coming from the other direction we met a guy and his young son; the father was pulling a trailer full of stuff and they had both climbed the steeper approach to the tunnel. Most impressive! Chapeau!
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We got a bit split up on the long, pedally downhill to Itsukaichi, as Fumiki-san's pedal would not clip in or release properly, he was forced to unlace his shoe to get on and off his bike and was quite a way back. As we had passed two ambulances, two police cars and a fire engine all heading up the hill with lights blazing and sirens on we were a bit concerned, but he eventually caught us up at another drink stop.
At Itsukaichi, Naomi-san and Yair headed straight back to Takao while Andy, Sergey, Fumiki-san and I grabbed an ice cream and headed for Nariki. Through the town of Ome it felt even hotter with all the concrete and buildings around; luckily we were soon back onto the quiet roads. Just as we approached Nariki Kaido, we crossed paths with Tim, James and the rest of the fixie crew who were on their way back down from the top.
On the Nariki hill itself I started to suffer badly from cramp, and whenever I tried to put any power down I would get another twinge in my quads, hamstrings or calfs, and had to stop fully a couple of times to stretch out. Hope I don't suffer the same fate in the race! I dragged myself to the summit where the others were waiting, and drank about 2 bottles worth of the spring water, which tasted wonderful! After a few minutes (not enough!) recovering, we headed carefully back down the hill, where there were still a couple of patches of slippery moss and some bumpy drainage grates waiting to catch us out.
I was in no shape to tackle the rindo to Tsuru Tsuru onsen so we headed further east by the Tamagawa, and a point about due north of Itsukaichi, I said goodbye to Sergey, Andy and Fumiki-san who continued east towards the Tama bike path, while I pointed my bike south towards my finishing point at Takao. The last few km seemed endless and I was happy to crest the final rise and roll down to the finishing point.
Thanks for the great company on the ride! Let's do it again when it's not so hot...
 
Alan, thanks for the ride and for the report - it was very cool to meet you in a long while!
The ride was a long and hard one - heatheatheatclimbclimbclimb and decaliters of water drank and poured over my head and back..I cannot imagine riding it all alone - it's simply impossible without being able to share your pain with somebody else :)

Thanks everybody for the company,
see you again!
 
This was certainly a difficult day for me ... last week was no problem and I even looked forward to tackling a few tries at it. The result was that I was near puking and cramping and even head dunking in the 20l bucket could barely cool me down. Any advice how to prepare this one would be greatly appreciated! Maybe a 24hr ORT? I don't mind heat, but combined with the humidity .... arrghh!
 
salt... everyone is different, but for me its sodium that helps keeps cramps at bay. Did a wada, takao and them some ride. felt 50% going up wada after ridiing out hard from Tokyo. Took in the obligatory ramen with tons of vinegar and extra salt at ramen shop at top of Otarumi and felt like a new man. For me, ramen in summer is Naomi-san's equivalent of "Real Gold".
 
not yet mike. owner did have a monster/beast of a dog enteraining guests on the patio.
 
Thank you very much for all.
Especially Alan-san,who organized it!

Yeah,my pedal had little bit problem(my excuses again),but
I could enjoy some battles in the mountains just like TDF.
That was really good training not only for physical,but also mental.

When I became alone,suddenly I gotta an overheat.
So then I needed to stop at uhder shade of trees in small park near tamagawa,
After I slept an hour,it'd recovered well,I could go.

Let'go again!!!:bike:
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