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Ride Sunday 12 May - Three Sisters Loop

Half-Fast Mike

Lanterne Rouge-et-vert
May 22, 2007
4,644
3,700
"The Three Sisters" - Wada, Myōō, Ōtarumi

Meet: 09:00, Sunday 12 May, 7-Eleven at the Route 20 junction near JR Takao Station north exit

Ride: Mountainous 50 km loop with approx. 1300 m elevation gain

Leader: Mike o8o-34o3-o239

RSVP - I will cancel if the weather forecast turns nasty (it's OK at the moment), so let me know if you plan to join

We'll head north from the station, warming up with a couple of little bumps past Hachiōji's fine cemeteries, then 10 km of gentle climbing along Jinba-kaidō to reach the start of Wada-tōge. The west approach to Wada is 3.4 km long and 345 m up, so around 10% grade. Ouch! Once over the top we're in Yamanashi Prefecture. A 7 km downhill brings us to our second climb. The majority of Bijodani-rindō is closed to traffic, so it's perfectly quiet. Riding 7.3 km to elevate by 363 m at the top, Myōō-tōge, this one is easier than Wada, although there's a 400 m section at 12% that feels like a cliff whenever I do it. After a 5.6 km downhill, our final climb is just 4.4 km / 180 m to Ōtarumi-tōge, a.k.a. Mt Takao, where we can feast on rāmen, gyōza, ice cream, beer, etc. at the Fujiya Ramen Emporium before descending 7.6 km back to our starting point at Takao Station.

We'll WATT ("wait at the top") for each pass. The pace will be encouraging and non-competitive. I'll go as fast as I can, which is not very fast. No shame if anyone needs to stop and/or walk for a bit. We'll take breaks as necessary. If you haven't done any steep climbing at all this year, you won't have a good time on this ride. If you've done some climbing, and want to do more, this is a cool route as the three climbs get progressively easier. Retiring early is possible: anywhere between Wada and Myōō; freewheel almost all the way to Fujino station.

Blah-blah: water bottles, sunscreen, pockets full of food, bike bag.

N.B. I'm inviting Half-Fast, KIWL riders, and anyone else who wants to play.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/2807529
 
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