What's new

Today September 2022

this weekend I broke in the Why with a dirty loop of mud, rocks, roots, etc... but I wanted more miles.
I rode the Sage out to Oiso and back with some side trips...
Today I went out with the Why again - but this time as a road ride.
I had the big knobby 700x40 on and had no plan.
4PRs later and some random fun - I am stoked to say....
Red Lights vs Green Lights make all the difference in the world for PRs.
The Why is capable and silky smooth on the road, but the Sage is clearly faster - even if Strava doesn't fully agree.
 
Last edited:
s800.jpg

On Sunday I visited Shen Tian Gong (Japanese: Seitenkyū, 聖天宮), a Taiwanese-style Taoist temple in Sakado, Saitama, the biggest of its kind in Japan. It's well worth the 500 yen admission.

s800.jpg

When I first came to Japan I lived not far from there. Chinese temples are very colourful, a feast for the senses.

I had also admired them in Taiwan when I visited there in 2012.

s800.jpg

s800.jpg

This being the first weekend of the month, it was my Century ride. In total I covered 173 km with over 1700 m of elevation gain (on Strava). That's 121 consecutive months of Century rides.

I left home around 07:15 and it was nice and cool. At the last minute I decided to bring my rain gear since it looked very overcast and I'm glad I did because I did get rained on at night in Naguri near Ome.

After the temple I visited my mother in law who lives 10 minutes from there. We had coffee and cake together. I also visited the grave of our dog who had died suddenly in June.

s800.jpg

Looks like the rice harvest has already started.

s800.jpg

Following back roads to Ogose, I climbed to the Greenline near Kuroyamasantaki.

s800.jpg

s800.jpg

It was cooler up on the Greenline than it had been in the morning in Tokyo. On the descent from Kabasaka toge I actually felt chilly in the sweat-soaked jersey with the cool forest air.

s800.jpg

s800.jpg

At the bottom of the Kabasaka toge and base of the climb to Shomaru Toge I saw a cyclist dealing with what looked like a puncture. I asked him if he was OK. He held up his rear wheel and explained that he had a puncture with a tubeless tire that the sealant couldn't cope with. So he installed a tube and tried to get the tire back on, but no luck. He couldn't get last 1/6 or so of the tire to slip over the edge of the carbon rim.

I picked it up and gave it a try but it was difficult with all the dried light blue goo inside the tire making it not very slippery. I explained that the trick was to make sure the tire was pushed into the center of the rim all around to create as much slack as possible. After two rounds of squeezing it and having another go, the remaining section was much much smaller. My cycling gloves gave me better grip and I pushed hard, not using any levers and managed to push the last part over the edge. Then we reinflated using my micro floor pump which was much more voluminous than the cyclist's small roadie pump. It was satisfying to hear the bead pop into place as the pressure increased. Done!

It got dark as I climbed up Shomaru toge. I took it easy on the descent from Yamabushi toge because of the limited visibility of the headlight in curves. I refilled my water at the public toilet after the descent. Near the Arima dam turnoff it started raining quite heavily. I stopped and put on my rain gear.

s800.jpg

I had dinner at Sherpa in Ome. The roads were dry around there, so I took off my rain gear. When it started to drizzle near Fussa I only wore the jacket.

By the time I got home it was quite late, but then again I had taken the time to visit the temple and grandma and had a proper dinner.
 
Last edited:
a driver in his 50s killed a cyclist in his 40s this morning in edogawa ward. so much for those painted cycling zones... cyclists are still sitting (pedaling?) ducks basically. take extra care everyone!
The police will tell, but as the driver was left unconscious with the car heavily damaged, I suspect over speed, etc

In an other news, a young university student lost his life during a race in Southern Kyushu. Not sure if he did hit the electric post just in the curve
 
such a sad story, road was pretty steep there and wet with speeds up to 80kmph

seems an accident was waiting to happen.

RIP
 
Really a tragic accident.
I always find the open ditches along the roads here very dangerous. If the wheel goes in…..And for the road there, it was full of concrete around
 
so much for those painted cycling zones
"Murder stripes", my friends in the UK call them.

In Tokyo, "free parking". I am assembling a montage...

1662542753755.png
 
"Murder stripes", my friends in the UK call them.

In Tokyo, "free parking". I am assembling a montage...

View attachment 36531
Yeah, it is really the same everywhere. When I lived in Toronto, I had to deal with the exact same thing. Some movie crews even (permanently) parked on bike lanes, and many drivers were not happy that cyclist were — well, had to — weave in and out of traffic. In Japan most people are only parking "temporarily", i. e. most of them leave their hazards on. Taxis are a frequent offender, too. I remember discussing this here, and I think there is a loophole for people parking "temporarily".

You really need physical barriers between cycling lanes and car lanes.
 
Anyone using the Redshift seatpost or stem? Curious if they help much and are worth the weight.
 
Had a spill today on tamagawa river while turning left on one of the hairpin ramps. Wasn't going fast since it was on the way home, my front slid out under me while I was transitioning from saddle to standing climb. Lucky for me just to some weird circumstances I ended up on both of my feet with my right leg got stuck between front tyre and down tube.

Quickly checking I hit some crud with the front wheel. Pretty painful shin from hitting the down tube.

Be careful out there of those dirty ramps, especially after rain.
0079AFFB-4932-4089-B059-9D34F598EADB.jpeg
 
last month looks like I only managed 285km including one 100km ride after which I was isolated for a week as possible close contact with symptoms that could've been heat stress. The heat, rain & general tiredness I've felt the last few weeks my bike commutes turned into train rides.

Not sleeping too well last several weeks, so all summer plans for 5am starts all turned into 9 am or even 10am starts, only that one century ride. Hopefully this month I can get better sleep, will start bike commuting again with this cooler weather and get in rides more regularly.

Upgraded my Domane to IRC Formula PRO TUBELESS RBCC 700x30C tyres & had Trek store convert my SL6 wheelset to tubeless, my SL5 Domane feels like a totally new (& lighter) bike. So much faster and surprised how noticeable the difference is between the Four Season Continental 32mm tyres & tubes on SL5 wheel set.
 
I have a buddy with a redshift stem and he swears buy it.
I am stuggling to pull the trigger myself tho.
Seems like my bum manages 80-100km before I start to get any real issues. I'd like to be able to do several days of riding of 100-150km without worrying quite so much about saddle sores. Was looking at this guy's evaluation of Redshift stem and seatpost


.

He did a good evaluation and felt the tradeoff between comfort and weight was worth it. So, I started thinking that maybe by reducing the chatter and small vibrations in road/gravel, I might be able to break the 100km bum (bummer) barrier. Pricey though.
 
Last edited:
@Chuck
you have a fairly upright position right? maybe drop the front end a touch and spread some of your weight?
and how is your saddle angled?
 
I have a rockshox suspension seat post on one bike, and was going to suggest that, but some googling shows me it costs more than the redshift, so maybe not. Or look at it for comparison. Also one called thudbuster.
 
Back
Top Bottom