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Today September 2023

Took the gravel bike out for a ride yesterday - got fed up from WFH so off I went but someone could have warned me about the random spots of rain. Such a weird ride - sunny blue skies with a nice tan developing then suddenly, boom, rain. That meant the gravel route along the Hikichi-gawa was muddy and wet - lots of fun there until the chain came off the big chain ring at the front somehow. Lots of grease on the hands as I was peddling so had to do some quick work to get it all untangled.

All in all, a fun ride across a vartiety of surfaces though I think that this bike is a bit heavy and needing some new tyres now as there are some signs of wear and tear on them. Was also good to test out the adjust Garmin mount that can be easily raised or lowered along with the new light attachment with the Bontrager light connector.

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Thinking of riding up Mt. Akagi and then descending on this route . I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to dealing with cars. If anyone has done this route, I am just curious how bad the traffic is. I'd be doing this on a Sunday (not on the 9/24 Hill Climb day though). Mostly what I want to know is if the traffic is heavy, so that there are frequent situations where you have oncoming traffic so that cars behind can't really pass, requiring me to pull over often and let cars by, or for drivers to attempt to squeeze by me. Looks like a really good ride and pretty challenging, but I hate heavily trafficked roads (or ones that speedsters try to test their driving skills on).

@rarirureroberto Any advice?
 
Chuck said:
Thinking of riding up Mt. Akagi and then descending on this route . I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to dealing with cars. If anyone has done this route, I am just curious how bad the traffic is. I'd be doing this on a Sunday (not on the 9/24 Hill Climb day though). Mostly what I want to know is if the traffic is heavy, so that there are frequent situations where you have oncoming traffic so that cars behind can't really pass, requiring me to pull over often and let cars by, or for drivers to attempt to squeeze by me. Looks like a really good ride and pretty challenging, but I hate heavily trafficked roads (or ones that speedsters try to test their driving skills on).

@rarirureroberto Any advice?
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That route is from Rob. He knows the area really well. The upward leg will be lovely as it's gated - cars can't get through to the top on r16. Downward leg is the main road so and you'll be going as fast or faster than any cars for most of it but there's room to pass on the straights.

Recent data from cars with Toyota sat-nav...

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Half-Fast Mike said:
That route is from Rob. He knows the area really well. The upward leg will be lovely as it's gated - cars can't get through to the top on r16. Downward leg is the main road so and you'll be going as fast or faster than any cars for most of it but there's room to pass on the straights.
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That's great news. Thanks!
 
Went cycling along the Edogawa River as normal.Good weather until the heat hit.Managed to sneak in 1,500 miles since I returned on July 12th up until now.Not a lot of distance per day but considering I had to work and and the bloody intense heat......not too bad.
 
Chuck said:
Thinking of riding up Mt. Akagi and then descending on this route . I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to dealing with cars. If anyone has done this route, I am just curious how bad the traffic is. I'd be doing this on a Sunday (not on the 9/24 Hill Climb day though). Mostly what I want to know is if the traffic is heavy, so that there are frequent situations where you have oncoming traffic so that cars behind can't really pass, requiring me to pull over often and let cars by, or for drivers to attempt to squeeze by me. Looks like a really good ride and pretty challenging, but I hate heavily trafficked roads (or ones that speedsters try to test their driving skills on).

@rarirureroberto Any advice?
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@Chuck with the slightly milder/nicer weather coming in, assuming you ride early morning, there shouldn't be too many cars going up the narrow winding route 16, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some car enthusiasts touring on that road too then.

Depending on your riding level, I would not recommend spd-sl if you are a novice climber 🤣 next time I go up there I'm switching to flat pedals for the day
😂

@Half-Fast Mike route 16 is gated, but only between December 12th-ish and April 4th-ish. So there will be cars on that road, but hopefully not too many. After its closed off for the winter, technically you are not allowed to cycle there. Ive been caught twice by city hall workers? who I unfortunately encountered while trying to get to the top and I had to abort both times 😑

As for the road down, as @Half-Fast Mike says, there will be more cars, but the road is a lot wider and you'll be going a nice pace reaching 60 or 70km/h depending on your weight/courage 🤣

Good luck, it's a very rewarding route with a nice viewing tower on the way up route 16 👍 (corner 59)
 
Allezevo said:
there shouldn't be too many cars going up the narrow winding route 16, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some car enthusiasts touring on that road too then.
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I guess I'll find out soon enough. Dodged a few of the speedsters last time I was up in the mountains of Gunma so hope to avoid that as much as possible.

Allezevo said:
Depending on your riding level, I would not recommend spd-sl if you are a novice climber 🤣 next time I go up there I'm switching to flat pedals for the day
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I use Eggbeaters from CrankBros. No problems so far. What were your issues with the spd pedals?

Allezevo said:
As for the road down, as @Half-Fast Mike says, there will be more cars, but the road is a lot wider and you'll be going a nice pace reaching 60 or 70km/h depending on your weight/courage 🤣
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Very little chance I'll be doing 60-70km/h. I'm older and all my body parts still work OK. I want to keep it that way.
 
Chuck said:
I use Eggbeaters from CrankBros. No problems so far. What were your issues with the spd pedals?
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Last time I went to the top, after taking a break, getting rolling on the steep inclines was very hairy and on 2 occasions my buddy going up with me pushed me till I could clip in 😂 was quite comical to say the least🤣. And the guard rails are quite low, so it's hard to hold yourself if you try to clip in while stationary 😂
Chuck said:
Very little chance I'll be doing 60-70km/h. I'm older and all my body parts still work OK. I want to keep it that way.
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Agreed, just make sure your brakes are in good working order! 👍 well, stay safe and enjoy ☺️
 
Took a ride up the Edogawa river this morning and I felt the weather was the worst of this long, hot Summer.The heat index was only 39 degrees compared to the ones we have had in July/August ....not too bad.It must have been a psychological thing ..........with me thinking how can it be this hot and humid in the middle of September!
 
September 24th Sunday camping in Ishigaki Okinawa.
It's too hot to pretty psycho go cycling anyway so I'm staying at the campground just kicking back on this really nice Sunday afternoon and just enjoying it and you guys ever get a chance to come to this island it's pretty cool you don't really need a big bike or a fancy bike as I showed that my new bike that I bought is pretty good there's a few heels I'm not about to tackle any of the mountains but that there's some pretty pretty good hills to climb while cycle up actually walk up but yeah just kicking back on a Sunday afternoon looking at the waves come in and well it's good thing I have a little company here.

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Cycled along the Edogawa.
The weather was fantastic and therefore brought out all the people who normally wouldn't be there, much like the beginning of the Covid era when all of the shopping malls closed and every man and his horse suddenly appeared on the river banks.
The result was chaotic until I headed into the much less populated areas of the river.
Had a good ride and took my hammock along so I could stop on the way home and catch up with all of the sports results.
Had a great day.
 
Chuck said:
I've just about gotten used to the heat, just as summer is about to taper off. :ashamed:

I carry 3 liters of water to keep hydrated (I sweat a lot) and watch my HR carefully so I don't go over my red line and end up with heat stroke. Still...was climbing up around Tochigi on Wednesday, and sweat so much my shoes were soaked and squished when I pedaled. I don't know how folks are able to log such long rides in this heat especially when there is a lot of climbing. Hats off to them.
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They probably try to ride in the shade.
 
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