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Sunday - Yamanakako mountain loop

joewein

Maximum Pace
Oct 25, 2011
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I am going for my long ride of the month tomorrow (Sunday, 2013-02-03), along this 210 km route:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2110638

It largely follows a 200 km brevet route coming up in April and most of it is the reverse of the 300 km brevet in May that is my main event goal of the year.

I'll be leaving Setagaya around 05:00 and hope to arrive in Honatsugi around 19:00. Regular conbini stops. Not sure how cold it will be at the top, but will find out tomorrow.
 
Not sure how cold it will be at the top, but will find out tomorrow.

I was speaking to a guy today who said there is still snow up the top of the Greenline in Saitama. Not the same place I know, but perhaps something to go by...
 
I can imagine maybe on the forest roads on the Greenline it may be pretty shaded, but the climbs on my route are not really back roads. I checked some web cams around Fuji and it didn't look too bad. In Fujiyoshida (elevation 700-900 m) the sidewalks were all clear and dry and they're supposed to have had a high of 16 C and rain today.

The first place to hit 1000 m will be when crossing over from Tsuru to Doshi, which is around my halfway point. Worst case I could turn around there, ride back to Tokyo and still have 200 km on the clock. Same for Doshi to Yamanakako - I can head back down on 413 (Doshi michi) if things get dicy. Finally, on the climb from Yamanakako towards Gotemba I can also turn around and head back via Fujiyoshida / Tsuru. If those three are all OK, it will be mostly downhill or flat after that.
 
Cool man, was just passing on the knowledge.

Hope you have a good ride, and do let us know how things are up in the clouds!
 
We went up Shiraishi a couple weeks ago - no snow on the roads. The well travelled ones have salt all over. Last year we tried several roads - and a few had snow quite late. No big deal. Walk or ride over it, then get on with your ride. Rode out in Chiba last weekend, a few sections of snow. slipped out on one smackedmy wrist, it still hurts. Oh well - the ride is better than the pain! Though the cold was fierce! Most major roads here are salted. Just remember to rinse your bike when finished. Salt+Alloy=masive corrosion.

Cool man, was just passing on the knowledge.

Hope you have a good ride, and do let us know how things are up in the clouds!
 
I remember riding from Gotemba over to Yamanakako last March and wondering why there were so many glass shards on the road. Then I realized it were large salt crystals. Later the snow started falling.

Well, the forecast is better for tomorrow than it was then. I'll bring a windbreaker and the trousers of my rain gear (both very light weight) as an extra layer against the wind for cold descents and will wear two pairs of socks plus shoe covers. Together with my Bicycle Line winter jacket and gloves and my dhb Vaeon Zero tights that hopefully will be enough to see me through the cold.

I'll post some pictures when I get back!
 
Well, that was a good ride, even if I shortened it a bit (177 km in the end).

Self portrait an hour before sunrise outside a conbini near Noborito, where I was fixing my FD cable, which keeps slipping:

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Tamagawa at dawn:

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Some doughnuts of doom, snow and steep climbs on the way to R35:

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On some minor roads around there I had to dismount and walk because of ice on the road. Snow melts during the day, the water spreads over the road and freezes again at night.

All the major climbs (3 toge above 1000 m) were fine. No snow or ice on the road (maybe a bit of ice on shaded corners).
 
First Fuji view, from the tank road:

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Tree house:
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Road sign near Akiyama linear motor test track:

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The 500 km/h test track, one of Japan's white elephants:

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Climbing from Tsuru to Doshi michi:

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Coffee break at the Doshi village Michi no Eki:

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Stocking up on liquid food during the Yamanakako climb:

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Japanese, Brazilian, Korean, Turkish and Chinese robbers, please take note:

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Yamanakako (Lake Yamanaka):

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The Bike:

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The final pass (ca. 1100 m):

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After that it was a freezing descent in the final hour of daylight. I braved it out for a while, but finally unpacked the Uniqlo windbreaker and my rain gear nylon trousers and put them on. It made all the difference. The regular winter cycling gear was fine for climbs or flat sections, but fast descents from high altitude in February - that called for an extra layer. I was pretty comfortable for the rest of the ride. Probably the weakest point then were the gloves, since they were sweat soaked from previous climbs.

This was the first time I cycled the route from near Gotemba down to Odawara in this direction. I had climbed it three times (once with Jayves, once on my own and once more in the 300 km brevet), but never descended it. I was surprised just how much I had been climbing three times before, twice at night time. It was much more obvious when done at speed while descending.

When I got close to Odawara, my Android started running low on power. It looked like my USB battery had somehow run out. I considered it for a while, but then decided to skip the final 40 km of flat course, with the prospect of losing my navigation tool, and caught Odakyu line from Odawara instead of from Honatsugi, for a bit more time with the family on Sunday night.
 
Joe,

Well done sir!

As usual I enjoyed your write-up and pics.
Congratulations for getting a big ride in during Winter!
Glad everything went well.
 
Your a brave man Joe! I think I'll stick to Miura until it warms up a bit...but thanks for the pics as that is one of my favorite rides and it got me excited about spring which is just around:D the corner
 
Yeah, that is pretty tough riding there!

Excellent photos too, thanks a lot!
 
If I exclude a few high school age looking boys who may have been locals, I saw maybe 2-3 road bikes out there all day, an unusually small number. Yes, Miura is probably more tempting to most this time of the year, but I did that on the last two long rides.
 
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