action goat
Warming-Up
- Apr 19, 2013
- 5
- 1
Hi TCC,
I'm not sure whether to put this in the introductions forum, or the routes forum, but since this covers a few things simultaneously I decided on the general discussion section. I hope that's OK.
In short, I'm heading over to Japan in May to do a feature story on for an Australian road cycling magazine and was hoping to get some info on route selections as well as, if possible, a few riding partners and/or photo models. It's not a piece that's going to focus on riding in Japan in general but rather at some of its awesome hill climbs. I lived in Japan for 6 years in the 90s (albeit at that time I was a MTN biker and cycle-tourer rather than roadie per se) and so have a general idea of a few of the climbs I want to do; Norikura, Kusatsu and Fuji-san are definites. Doing the Venus Line is a probability as well. One of the issues though is that I've got no choice but to do this mid-May (13th to 21st), so snow over some roads may still be an issue.
I'm actually doing a backcountry skiing story first for another mag, and then looking at basing myself in Matsumoto for a week (from the evening of the 12th returning to Tokyo on the 20th), taking trains wherever necessary to get to the start and end of rides. Because I'll be logging a fair few days, I'm don't want to go out and crush it on any single day because then I'll be too buggered to back up later on in the week. Also, I'm going to have to spend some time taking photos, as well as lugging around a few extra kilos of camera gear. So I'm thinking loops and routes mainly around the 120-150km mark a day, though possibly more (up to 200 or so) if anyone has any particularly cool suggestions.
And I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or comments on the rides I've got in mind already. Fuji-san is the simplest, starting from the sea via Fujinomiya to the 5th station. It opens the end of this month so I'm presuming snow shouldn't be an issue. I'll actually do Fuji at the very end, actually on the day I fly back to Oz, May 21 (I don't fly until 8.30).
For the Kusatsu day, I'd train it from Matsumoto to Nagano and then this is the loop (137km) I'm thinking of:
Here's the google maps link if you want to check it more closely: http://goo.gl/maps/AODlu.
Now, although I know the Kusatsu hill climb is taking place this weekend (so obviously it's partly open), I'm hoping to continue over Shirane-san. I was wondering if anyone who does the hill climb event might have any info as to whether it's open all the way through. According to this online road winter closures site http://www.jartic.or.jp/guide/hunou11/hunagan.html, the road should be open but it be interested if anyone could confirm this, or if anyone has any ideas for tweaking the route.
Norikura officially opens May 15, so I'm hoping snow shouldn't be an issue, though I was wondering if anyone had experience with doing it so close to the opening date. I haven't thought about a route for it yet. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
As I mentioned earlier, I was thinking about the Venus Line as another possibility (again, does anyone know how likely this is to be snow-free mid-May; according, from what I can gather, to the road closures site it should be open – it suggests April20 as the likely opening), either doing part of it as loop from Matsumoto, or doing the whole thing starting from Chino (143km), like this:
And here's the google maps link for this route if you want to check it more closely:http://goo.gl/maps/8bTru.
So I'd like to come up with (or more pertinently wondering if anyone in TCC could suggest) one more route for a day of hill climbing. The remaining days I'll pad out with some really easy cruises (for example down the Kiso Valley and the Nakasendo, mainly just to revisit Narai-juku which I went to years ago and loved), as well as spending a bit of time in a rental car to get back to some cool spots to set up some more riding photos.
I'd love to hear any ideas or suggestions from the TCC community on any of this. And as I mentioned at the start, I'd love to have some company on some of the rides if anyone's got time, and also doesn't mind me mucking a bit to get riding photos for the mag.
One last thing, (whew! - sorry it's been a bit of an essay) I'm actually going to do a short piece on keirin as well just when when I fly in, and want to head to the Hiratsuka meet on Sunday May 5th before I head out to go ski touring. Any keirin buffs out there who might be willing to tag along and explain what's happening?
Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.
I'm not sure whether to put this in the introductions forum, or the routes forum, but since this covers a few things simultaneously I decided on the general discussion section. I hope that's OK.
In short, I'm heading over to Japan in May to do a feature story on for an Australian road cycling magazine and was hoping to get some info on route selections as well as, if possible, a few riding partners and/or photo models. It's not a piece that's going to focus on riding in Japan in general but rather at some of its awesome hill climbs. I lived in Japan for 6 years in the 90s (albeit at that time I was a MTN biker and cycle-tourer rather than roadie per se) and so have a general idea of a few of the climbs I want to do; Norikura, Kusatsu and Fuji-san are definites. Doing the Venus Line is a probability as well. One of the issues though is that I've got no choice but to do this mid-May (13th to 21st), so snow over some roads may still be an issue.
I'm actually doing a backcountry skiing story first for another mag, and then looking at basing myself in Matsumoto for a week (from the evening of the 12th returning to Tokyo on the 20th), taking trains wherever necessary to get to the start and end of rides. Because I'll be logging a fair few days, I'm don't want to go out and crush it on any single day because then I'll be too buggered to back up later on in the week. Also, I'm going to have to spend some time taking photos, as well as lugging around a few extra kilos of camera gear. So I'm thinking loops and routes mainly around the 120-150km mark a day, though possibly more (up to 200 or so) if anyone has any particularly cool suggestions.
And I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or comments on the rides I've got in mind already. Fuji-san is the simplest, starting from the sea via Fujinomiya to the 5th station. It opens the end of this month so I'm presuming snow shouldn't be an issue. I'll actually do Fuji at the very end, actually on the day I fly back to Oz, May 21 (I don't fly until 8.30).
For the Kusatsu day, I'd train it from Matsumoto to Nagano and then this is the loop (137km) I'm thinking of:
Here's the google maps link if you want to check it more closely: http://goo.gl/maps/AODlu.
Now, although I know the Kusatsu hill climb is taking place this weekend (so obviously it's partly open), I'm hoping to continue over Shirane-san. I was wondering if anyone who does the hill climb event might have any info as to whether it's open all the way through. According to this online road winter closures site http://www.jartic.or.jp/guide/hunou11/hunagan.html, the road should be open but it be interested if anyone could confirm this, or if anyone has any ideas for tweaking the route.
Norikura officially opens May 15, so I'm hoping snow shouldn't be an issue, though I was wondering if anyone had experience with doing it so close to the opening date. I haven't thought about a route for it yet. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
As I mentioned earlier, I was thinking about the Venus Line as another possibility (again, does anyone know how likely this is to be snow-free mid-May; according, from what I can gather, to the road closures site it should be open – it suggests April20 as the likely opening), either doing part of it as loop from Matsumoto, or doing the whole thing starting from Chino (143km), like this:
And here's the google maps link for this route if you want to check it more closely:http://goo.gl/maps/8bTru.
So I'd like to come up with (or more pertinently wondering if anyone in TCC could suggest) one more route for a day of hill climbing. The remaining days I'll pad out with some really easy cruises (for example down the Kiso Valley and the Nakasendo, mainly just to revisit Narai-juku which I went to years ago and loved), as well as spending a bit of time in a rental car to get back to some cool spots to set up some more riding photos.
I'd love to hear any ideas or suggestions from the TCC community on any of this. And as I mentioned at the start, I'd love to have some company on some of the rides if anyone's got time, and also doesn't mind me mucking a bit to get riding photos for the mag.
One last thing, (whew! - sorry it's been a bit of an essay) I'm actually going to do a short piece on keirin as well just when when I fly in, and want to head to the Hiratsuka meet on Sunday May 5th before I head out to go ski touring. Any keirin buffs out there who might be willing to tag along and explain what's happening?
Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.