What's new

Ride Sunday 19/1: Kazahari Rindo Loop

thooms

Maximum Pace
Jul 6, 2019
175
283
Hi folks,

Wondering if anyone would be keen for a Kazahari trip on Sunday? Weather it looking compliant, but I don't know if the drizzle on Saturday will translate to snow at 1200m which will persist to the next day.

I've never climbed Kazahari Rindo, but it's reputation suggests that climbing it in the cold could be good to avoid a catastrophic thermal overload. Is this a terrible idea?

We may need to turn back / walk if it's icy; hopefully we can get away with it! Anyone interested? Could meet at Musashi-Itsukaichi at 8, or a corresponding time further down the river for those who are obsessively completist about these things. Even if ice / etc. mean that we don't end up making it to the top, it should be a beautiful morning for a trundle in the hills / mountains.
 
personally, I would avoid such elevations

1579257879669.png

this is forecast for okutama, at about 400m of elevation. you do the math for higher up

1579257939104.png
 
I'm usually concerned about getting up Kazahari Rindo but after potential Saturday snowfall I'm more concerned about going down 😅

As long as we exhibit caution on the descent and take a left after the top towards Tomin on the sunnier side, I think it should be doable... though it might be a better gravel bike trip, or do KR another weekend when there wasn't snowfall the day before.

I'm OK with riding out from the Tama if interested towards Musashi-Itsukaichi (could meet at CrossCoffee or Y's Road or somesuch). Can always check out what the conditions are like and adjust appropriately, there's other lower elevation roads in the area.
 
Even if there's no snow today, there'll be rain. Tonight it will be very cold, and tomorrow will be cold. So I wouldn't want to try it.

If you do try it, then almost certainly you'll encounter frosty bridges during the flattish (or anyway not steep) stretch from Musashi Itsukaichi station (which I imagine is where you'd start) to well past the fork for Hossawa falls and Tossaka pass. They were frosty when I did the route in both early December and early this month, even though it warmed up as I got higher and was surrounded by trees. And there are more of these bridges than you'd think.

Four of us went up Wada via Daigo rindō back in autumn before the monster typhoon made that impossible. The weather was good, but the moss was damp. One of us (not me) fell: ripped (brand new) jersey, ripped pants, quite a bit of blood. Don't assume that slipping while going uphill is no big deal. (And he slipped on a gradient of no more than 10%. Kazahari is steeper.)

The tyres on a "gravel" bike might be grippier than those on a road bike, but you don't have to worry about potholes: the question of grip aside (and yes, it's a big question), 700x25C is fine.
 
Hmm...maybe now's not the time. Thanks for the advice chaps :)

Might have a rethink - hadn't thought about the bridges!
 
The bridges are OK, actually. Just make sure there's nobody else around who might require you to apply your brakes; ride smoothly, in a straight line -- you should be fine. Ice on the gradients -- that's different.

It's a ride you have to do though. (This is the seventh consecutive month that I've done it, which just goes to show how great it is, or how bonkers I am, or something.)
 
Planning also to ride-down to Tama river tomorrow morning..
I'm usually concerned about getting up Kazahari Rindo but after potential Saturday snowfall I'm more concerned about going down 😅

As long as we exhibit caution on the descent and take a left after the top towards Tomin on the sunnier side, I think it should be doable... though it might be a better gravel bike trip, or do KR another weekend when there wasn't snowfall the day before.

I'm OK with riding out from the Tama if interested towards Musashi-Itsukaichi (could meet at CrossCoffee or Y's Road or somesuch). Can always check out what the conditions are like and adjust appropriately, there's other lower elevation roads in the area.
 
Planning to be at Cross Coffee for 7, for a spin up the Tama and a cursory glance at Kazahari.
 
If you're in a Rinko kinda mood @Mfebrian / anyone else you could intercept as at Musashi-Itsukaichi around 9.

I aim to have built up the willpower to go back out from Cross Coffee by 7:30. It's very nice in here! Will see what @sean-e thinks - could wait until 8 :)
 
Last edited:
We're going to make steady progress towards Mushashi-Itsukaichi, should be there 9ish :)
 
Unfortunately i didnt bring my rinko and i just behind you 45 minutes. Think gonna miss it this time.

Hav fun 👍🏼
 
Was one of those days when a song is stuck in your head. I annoyed @thooms throughout the day humming "Toss a Coin to your Witcher" . A great song about the relative nature of truth :warau:

"When a humble bard / chanced a ride along..."

Down the Tama, the mountains looked frosty, but it was fairly warm and roads were clear up till around Musashi-Itsukaichi. The path rapidly got icy going towards Hinohara. I regret not having a Go-Pro on my bike, because Tom hit some black ice near one of the early bridges, rear-end of the bike did a 45-degree skid, and somehow he saved it.

Here was where we almost buried @thooms - looks fine but no traction to even walk here. Stopped and pondered mortality / whether it was best to turn around.
IMG_2309.jpg

But as @Karl knows, I can be a little persuasive in convincing "just a little farther..." ;)

After recovering spirits for a bit, and positing that the ice might melt a bit later on in the sun, we decided to at least check out the Hossawa Falls less than 5km away, which neither of us had been to before. Hiked for a bit up a trail, which was a nice relief from the icy roads. Then oops - turned out it was the wrong trail. Backtracked and found the actual entrance. Nice diversion, which also gave some time for the roads to melt.
IMG_2316.jpg

Decided to continue towards Kazahari Rindo. Roads rapidly got increasingly snow covered in the shade. Encountered several cyclists in various stages of abandoning their journey, and soon there were no more bicycle tracks but our own. @thooms was somehow cheating fate by running 25mm slicks. I had brought somewhat knobby tires which gave at least some traction on snow. The crustier snow was preferable to the black ice from the early morning.
IMG_2328.jpg
Eventually we reached the feared 180 degree turn up towards Kazahari Rindo. (I dumped all the remaining water out of my bottles / body before beginning.) As stupid steep as this hill is, it is even sillier when you're going up in snow. Again, can't give enough credit to @thooms who was able to stay clipped in up to the first set of buildings despite the conditions.

I had a little better luck with the 40mm tires but still had to walk a few parts - once you lose traction, not much you can do to get started again up a 14% hill covered in snow 🙃
IMG_2335.jpg
After various tribulations in the snow but no falling over, we reached the viewpoint close to the top and stopped for a picture.
IMG_2338.jpg

Cresting to where the rindo meets the main road, our initial hopes that Kazahari-Toge would be clear up were quickly dashed.The first section down to the Tomin no Mori parking area was an ice slide. With one foot unclipped, we made it down... slowly, but things were looking rather sketchy. It was around 4-5C at the top but the wind picked up a bit.
IMG_2345.jpg

As we reached the Tomin parking lot, soon realized why the road was so crap - the road is closed here with a gate. No general traffic allowed.

But, there is still one powered vending machine at Tomin no Mori which serves hot drinks! 3 hot drinks apiece later, life was looking much better.
IMG_2347.jpg
The descent was a little chilly, but I brought my new Infinity Gauntlet gloves which kept me at least passably warm on the way down.

*finger snap*

IMG_2324.jpg

Conditions gradually improved, and slowly but surely we made it back down. Stopped for a massive bakery haul on the way through Hinohara, then homewards bound via the Tama.

Overall no wipeouts, and thus, nothing was learned.

I at least plan to return to the mountains again before spring :innocent:
 
Back
Top Bottom