What's new

Ride Sunday Night Cheer Squad (Entourage)!

WhiteGiant

Maximum Pace
Nov 4, 2006
1,233
395
Date: August 25th, 2013.

Time: 21:00 ~ as long (far) as you like / can.

*ROUTE EDITED 8/13/2013


Where: My place (Kita-Ueno - Iriya) / Shinjuku Minami-Guchi (Rte.20) / Kannana-Dori / Rte.20 & Kanpachi-dori / Onekan.
*Note: Please check the "Points of Interest" on the map, as these have the exact times we will be rolling past each of those places.


First, a little background to the story:

A few years ago, Andy (andy_w) and I rode from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji overnight, and then climbed to the summit - a pretty crazy journey, which you can read about here:
https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/threads/sea-to-summit-tokyo-to-the-top-of-mt-fuji.4262/

Then, last year out of the blue, I received an e-mail from a guy in America, Don, whom I had never met (and still haven't), saying that he had read about the above Mt. Fuji ride/climb, and that he wanted to try it for himself. Apparently, we had inspired somebody...

Now here's the thing, at the time of our first correspondence, Don weighed 165kg (365lbs).
His ultimate goal was to have lost 70kg (155lbs) and finally weigh 95kg (210lbs) - Hence, the name of his blog "210 Again". Although he probably won't be at his goal weight for this ride - at the moment, he is hovering on 127kg (280lbs) - he has managed to shed nearly a full 40 kilograms (85 pounds). That in itself is a tremendous effort, and worthy of praise.

All Don ever asked from me was some advice on how I would go about doing this ride (if I had to do it again) - What route would I take? What time would I leave? Would I do anything different from last time? etc.
Rather than just telling him, I decided that I would actually do the ride with him, that I would be there alongside to cheer him on, and to help out wherever possible.

In the end, we decided that his journey to the summit of Mt. Fuji should be done over two days; Day 1 - riding from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji (Fifth Station). He'll stay with his family near Kawaguchi-ko overnight, and then, Day 2 - He'll catch the bus back up to the Fifth-Station, and do the hiking section from there, on fresh legs.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay for the climbing section on Day 2, but I will be riding out with him on Sunday night, riding all through the night, having breakfast in Fujiyoshida, and riding all the way to the Fifth-Station of Mt. Fuji with him sometime on Monday.

This is where YOU come in...

I thought it would be nice to give Don a warm TCC escort through Tokyo - The more, the merrier!
I know it's a Sunday night, and the next day is a school-day and everything, but all I'm asking for is your company for a few kilometers. Feel free to start & end wherever you like.
The pace won't be fast at all - You'd be more like an entourage. Drop in wherever the route is closest to your house / apartment, ride alongside, offer some words of encouragement, and then when you think you've gone far enough, say your farewells and head home.

Even if you can only spare 30 minutes... That would be great! A nice relaxing night ride (no need to even break a sweat), and then back home before 10:30 (at the latest).

It would mean a lot to me, and I know it would be a huge motivator for Don!

Please let me know if you are able to join - Check out the map above, and give me some idea about where you will be joining from.
Really appreciate it!

Travis
 
Care to post more info on the route once you are out of Tokyo, several of us are in Yokohama
 
just wondering if taking route 20 would be a nice option than the infamous 246?
 
Just wondering if taking route 20 would be a nice option rather than the infamous 246?


Dammit! That IS actually a good idea!!! Cheers.
I have had a look, and decided that James (FarEast)'s idea is indeed the best choice - Not only is it 6km shorter, it also saves 300m of climbing along the way.
Thanks James!
 
Route edited, thanks to James' input.
We will now be riding out through Shinjuku, and along Rte.20, eventually turning south onto Rte.16 in Hachioji.
Once again, please check the "Points of Interest" on the map to see what times we'll be passing each point.

If there is anywhere (even if only for a few kilometers) where you think you could join us, it would be most appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Travis
 
I ride the route 20 fairly often and it's straight with lots of traffic lights and lots of fast-starting traffic. I like it for racing against the cars and trucks and the sprint starts, but am not sure it's a nice way to cruise out of the city. There is a route on the Positivo Expresso web site (One-Kansen Doro, the Tank Road and Beyond) that looks nicer and is still fairly direct:
"A. One-Kansen-Doro. Cross the river at Tamagawaharabashi and follow the road as it continues from the bridge and snakes around to toward the right. This road eventually becomes One-Kansen road, which has some climbs, lots of "rollers", a decent shoulder at most places, and limited access/limited cross traffic. One-Kansen gets you out of town another 15 km or so. At the end you need to find your way through some Machida/Hashimoto/Sagamihara sprawl and, if you do so, can get to very nice rides. You can avoid some of the sprawl by riding through a park on a hilltop along a wide paved path we call the "tank road", because we were told it was used during World War II to test tanks. The former Mitsubishi tank factory grounds in the distance are now a U.S. military ammunition depot."
It only starts from the Tamagawa so I've added an extra bit between Shinjuku station and the Tamagawa. It takes in Harajuku, the Tamagawa and less major roads inbetween. I can join you to navigate the smaller roads between Harajuku and the Tamagawa as it's pretty close to me.
Comparing it with the route 20 route, the distance travelled between Shinjuku station and Lake Tsukui is actually almost identical.
 
Route 20 is much nicer and safer than the 246 at night I commuted by bike for two years when I worked as a suit in Akasaka Mitsuke and unless you can haul ass and keep up with the cars/trucks and feel comfortable with them coming past at 60+km/h then I would stay clear of the 246 especially when you get past Setagaya.

Have you done the tank road at night? It's a drift car paradise. :D
 
Route 20 is much nicer and safer than the 246 at night I commuted by bike for two years when I worked as a suit in Akasaka Mitsuke and unless you can haul ass and keep up with the cars/trucks and feel comfortable with them coming past at 60+km/h then I would stay clear of the 246 especially when you get past Setagaya.

The route I posted avoids both Route 20 and 246.

Have you done the tank road at night? It's a drift car paradise. :D


No, but if Don is a fan of the Fast & Furious movie franchise it could be a good choice.;)
 
I don't think I can make it out, but kudos to both of you, what a nice project.

When I was living in Shinjuku, my usual route to Takao was rt20 to sengawa, then left to 114 until hitting the river and then just tollowing tamagawa, Asagawa CR. no climbing an least amount of traffic.
 
I rode from Tokyo to the Mt Fuji 5th stage last month, here is the route I took, which avoided major truck-infested fast moving routes such as 246 and 20, taking Setagaya dori, Onekan-sen and Doshi michi instead. The only busy road was rt139 at the base of Fuji.
 
Thanks to JoeWein & John (GrantT) for the suggestions!
As a result, I have adjusted the route once again, this time, taking in the Onekan - See the updated RideWithGPS map in the first post.
I will stick to Rte.20 as far as Chofu, as it's the most direct route. I know it well, and am not too worried about traffic, as it's a Sunday night.
The only other option is going down Setagay-dori, and then 5km along the river; I really don't want to ride on the Tamagawa CR at night... ever.
>Jules: Thanks for the company! Look forward to seeing you there.

I hope some more of you will be able to join us!
Cheers! T
 
That is a really great video and HUGE respect to White Giant for making this happen for him!
 
Here's the YouTube video:


>Jules: Don't worry! As it turned out, we were about 25 minutes behind schedule as we rolled through Shinjuku - I thought you might have been there waiting, and then gone home after we didn't show up on time.

In the end, Don made it to the 2nd-Station (2/5 of the way along the Subaru-Line) - He was happy with his effort though; That was the furthest he had ever ridden, and the highest he had ever climbed.
My job was basically to "pace" him up the hills. After a while, I was able to tell how fast/slow to go, so as not push Don over his threshold. I did the ride with a PowerTap, and I was able to gauge how many watts I put out would equate to Don's threshold - I just had to hold that (or under that) as best I could.

After Don had decided to end the ride at the 2nd-Station, I was able to ride the rest of the way up to the 5th-Station as fast as I could - I made it to the top in under an hour, and was happy give the legs a proper workout. Don went up to the 5th-Station in the car with his family, and I said goodbye to them up there.

After that, I rode back down to Otsuki, and caught the train home from there.
We had left at 9pm the previous night, and I got home at 7pm (22 hours later) - Work the next day, the same as usual :(

Anyway, Don was happy; and I was happy that Don was happy!
It was a great experience.
 
Here is what Don wrote about the ride.
Check out his BLOG - 210 Again. It's pretty long, but well written and accurate.
You can also read about his climb to the summit the following day.
 
Back
Top Bottom