I am planning a 200km ride out from Tokyo Monday (9/21) and would welcome the company. Am thinking of Mikuni or Matsuhime but am happy to go with the flow.
Mike > Peter wants to join this ride (his first in Japan) and is riding out from Yokohama. Therefore, going to Mikuni would be easier for Peter and I to return to the same starting point (so Peter does not get lost). Therefore I am proposing Mikuni:
Kamiuma (Tokyo) 06:30
Junction R246 & R16 07:15 (Peter meets Philip)
Hon Atsugi 07:50 (Mike meets Peter / Philip outside Lawson)
R710 7/11 09:30
Bridge / rindo gate leading to Tanzawako 10:30
Mikuni 7/11 11:30
Mikuni top 13:00
Yamanako 7/11 14:00 (depart)
Hashimoto 15:45
Kamiuma 17:30
Many thanks to Peter for your company today. It was Peters first ride in Japan. Also thanks to Todor and friend who I met along the R413 and with whom I rode back to Tokyo. A great day - although Mikuni remains unrelenting
Hey Philip, nice to see you got to put your new Garmin toy to the test! It must be fun to geek-out over all the data at home. I think I may pull the trigger on one soon.
It was family day for me today, so cycling was not an option. I was still in familiar cycling territory, though, because the kids and I were messing around along the fringes of the Akikawa, out past Musashi-Itsukaichi, hunting for frogs and crabs, and trying to catch fish with sticks, yarn and paper clips for hooks. Alas, the fish didn't appear interested in un-baited paper clips, but we did manage to skip a lot of rocks and scare the daylights out of a few frogs and crabs. My wife and kids even got to sample some of the oven-fresh offerings at our meeting-point bakery at the station. It felt a little strange, like I was providing them a glimpse of my secret life -- the one where I turn into a lycra-clad cycling superhero on weekends.
Mikuni. That is a toughie. It's easily the climb I dread most. Knowing you, though, you'll run a marathon tomorrow after swimming a couple K's at the pool.
The Garmin makes keeping a training diary easy. Just plug it into the Mac and push one button to receive a great data presentation of my ride.
Whilst climbing Mikuni Garmin shows you the gradient. The concrete circles hit 19%. Plenty of 16% moments (mostly after the concrete circles). The most common reading is 12%-10%. And this is a 7.5km climb!
Sounds like you had fun playing Super Dad Must have been a special and memorable day. It feels strange when two separate parts of your life collide - experiencing the bread shop as a father and not Black Thunder. The classic Bruce Wayne / Batman situation.
I drove down Mikuni-toge (from Yamanaka-ko to R246) this afternoon, after a rain-and-fog-stopped-play hike up Fujisan with the kids. Wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
Mike's verdict: This is not a road for cycling. It's a road for staying in bed and avoiding.
Kidding! I'll do it next year. Maybe. Right now I need endurance- rather than strength training, and Mistress Gravity has a little too much to say about my gut for me to attempt 18% for more than a couple hundred meters, viz, the last stretch of my commute home.
I came away in awe of you guys who ride up there at measurable speeds.
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