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Sunday 25th, Arakawa Northern Route (Unexplored?)

Yamabushi

Maximum Pace
Jun 1, 2010
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From Sugamo Station, ride up Route 17 to the Arakawa, up the Arakawa to Route 16 (becomes Route 15) follow that out to the mountains. To the base of the first mountainous area is only about 55km. From there there are numerous potential mountainous routes that look like they have real potential. I've marked one potentail route that offers 30 some kilometers in the mountains and a round trip to Tokyo totaling 145km.

Here is the route: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/jp/tokyo/335127980496437752

Plenty more mountain routes are available there and depending on weather, time and energy levels additional kilometers could easily be added. So, is anyone interested in an exploratory ride this coming Sunday (25th)?

Meet: Sugamo Station (Yamanote Line)
When: Sunday, July 25th @ 8:00am

Please, let me know what you think.
 
All sorted Pete....
 
Hey, I am up for this!

Can I meet you guys where your route hits Route 16? (Where 20 and 72 are on your map)

If you let me know what time you are going to get there, I can be there waiting.

Would be good to go for a ride!
 
Cool. I will see you there at 9.15ish.

I will PM you my phone number, in case we have any probs.

Looking forward to it!

Owen
 
Just FYI, I am going to try to be at Sugamo Station (Yamanote Line) at 7:50 and plan on rolling out at 8:05. I hope to see some of you there!
 
Brief Report

So a really fun ride today. Unfortunately, Owen couldn't make it, but I was joined by Jamie from Half-fast.

It was a pretty nice ride out along the Arakawa, good surface nearly the whole way. The on road stretch from the river to the base of the climb was also pretty good. Once we got out there it was easy to see that there are lots of possible routes to explore. After a rather steep climb, we ended up riding a very cool ridge line that rolled up and down and offered some picturesque views.

The weather was generally pretty good the whole way until on the return leg about 35km from home we got caught in a lightning storm with a heavy downpour. We were able to take shelter under a bus stop and ended waiting there about 35 minutes before the rain and lightning subsided and allowed us to continue. The rest of the ride back down the Arakawa was uneventful. All in all, I very satisfying ride.

As for stats, we ended up with 149.5km and, according to Jamie's Garmin, just a hair under 1400m of climbing. I definitely feel like we just barely scratched the surface of what's available out there and will definitely be going again. I hope I'll get some more takers next time! :D
 
Glad you had a good ride Pete. Not sure if this is the same area or not, but we have done a few Shirokumapan rides in past in more-or-less that direction...maybe inspiration in there for the next route? Would like to join you for one of these... The Arakawa is quite doable from Chiba.

https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=611
 
Yeah, that is the same area. We actually rode over the part of your route between the 68km marker and the 71km marker.

I am up for definitely doing it again!
 
Glad you enjoyed venturing into Chichibu. That ridge road is called the Green Line and extends all the way to Nagatoro. Definitely recommended. The slightly quicker way of getting there is via the Tamagawa and Ome, leaving you with more legs to explore.
 
Ludwig, it was definitely really nice out there. The ridge line was very scenic and fun to ride.

As to which way is faster/easier/shorter, that depends on where you are starting from! :)
 
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