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Ride Saturday May 11: Chiba Craziness (147km)

kheegster

Cruising
Mar 5, 2018
15
11
Chiba Craziness (147km)

An exploration of the Chiba peninsula on Saturday. We take the 08:03 JR Sazanami from Akihabara to the Kimitsu (1hr 13min train ride) on the West Coast. There is one major climb within the first 15km, ~350m up Kamo-zan, but apart from that it's mostly flat apart from several ~100m elevation climbs. Total elevation gain is 2000m per Strava, but realistically <1500m. We will have a sit-down lunch in Kamogawa at about 45km which is also the bail-out point. The last 50km is mostly flat/gentle downhill with an expected tailwind, before finishing in Narita (town, not airport) where we will take the Keisei or JR Narita line back to Ueno or Tokyo (~1.5hrs).

Route plan: https://www.strava.com/routes/18698993

I'm a slow climber so climbs are WATT, and my flat pace is around 27-28km/h so I expect around a 20km/h moving average (likely faster due to tailwind). Factoring in lunch and ~5min breaks per hour means 1.5hr of breaks + 7hrs rolling gets us to Narita by around 6pm. It will be a warm day (26C) so bring two bottles, emergency food, and sunblock.

Disclaimer: this is my first time riding in the area so it might be an adventure. I've also advertised to half-fast.

Please give me a heads-up to kheegan at gmail.com so that I know to expect you!
 
Looks like a great route. I have family stuff tomorrow unfortunately, but you're practically riding past my house around the 130 km mark so maybe I'll ride out to join you for a bit.

Don't know if you have to end up in Narita for a reason, but that last stretch along the 51 into downtown Narita is fairly grim (not impossible, just heavy traffic with lots of trucks). If it were an option, I'd turn toward Sakura JR or Sakura Keisei when reaching the 51 (using the road parallel to the 296, just north of it, say), and head home from there. Though I guess you won't have the option of using the NEX/Skyliner in that case.

Have a good one.
 
Heat map of Chiba to give you some ideas of how you may want to make changes.
I like hitting the southern tip for the lighthouse. Always a destination to look forward to.

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Looks like a great route. I have family stuff tomorrow unfortunately, but you're practically riding past my house around the 130 km mark so maybe I'll ride out to join you for a bit.

Don't know if you have to end up in Narita for a reason, but that last stretch along the 51 into downtown Narita is fairly grim (not impossible, just heavy traffic with lots of trucks). If it were an option, I'd turn toward Sakura JR or Sakura Keisei when reaching the 51 (using the road parallel to the 296, just north of it, say), and head home from there. Though I guess you won't have the option of using the NEX/Skyliner in that case.

Have a good one.

Thanks. Picked Narita because it's a name I know, but modified my route to finish in Sakura now.

@bloaker Thanks for the tip. Would love to hit the lower part of the peninsula, but my fitness isn't quite there for long rides since I'd generally want to start/finish somewhere with reasonable connections back to Tokyo.
 
Thanks. Picked Narita because it's a name I know, but modified my route to finish in Sakura now.

@bloaker Thanks for the tip. Would love to hit the lower part of the peninsula, but my fitness isn't quite there for long rides since I'd generally want to start/finish somewhere with reasonable connections back to Tokyo.
I totally get it.
Depending on your starting point, taking the trail to Kurihama then riding over to the Ferry is always a great time. Do it at the beginning and it is a fun group time prior to the ride. Do it at the end and celebrate with a beer on the boat enjoying the ride. Or do both!

You can see on the heat map where the ferry crosses over the bay. Boso is an odd place and it is easy to end up on 20%+ climbs.
 
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