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Ride The "Big Mountain Pass" this Thursday

kpykc

Speeding Up
Jun 13, 2007
805
14
Hi, all,

If the weather is good this Thursday, I'll be taking a morning train to Otsuki st. to ride up the famous mt. pass - Otoge (15km at 7%) - please, write here if you have time to join so we can arrange a meeting at the station. I plan to be at the station between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and finish the ride before 3 p.m.

I think only one climb (Otoge) is enough, so after it - back to Otsuki st. and onto the train.

This ride is the start of a training program which I want to do to prepare for Fuji HC in July.

PS
I also plan to do a preview of Fuji HC itself on a weekend - May30th or June 6th. Let me know, if you're interested and which day is good for you.
 
Isn't that a bit too easy - Otoge from Otsuki and back? You'll be up in less than two hours and down in much less.

How about combining with a few more nice climbs, like I did a month ago:

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/jp/kanto/929123885604275054

Be warned though that there is a lot of debris on the north side and the occasional landslide. Possible to pass but requires care and some spare tubes, just in case.

Have fun! Ludwig
 
Isn't that a bit too easy - Otoge from Otsuki and back? You'll be up in less than two hours and down in much less.

I may be wrong, but I think this is a race-specific training ride. They probably want to stay fresh for the Fuji hill-climb.
 
Thanks for the heads-up, Ludwig. That certainly is an interesting route!

I may be wrong, but I think this is a race-specific training ride. They probably want to stay fresh for the Fuji hill-climb.

You are correct in your assumption, Deej. In addition, we both have work at night. :warau:
 
Ootoge ride

Here's another link for comparing Ootoge route and times.
I did this today. See Lap 5 for only the climb. Note that my Garmin measured it as 15.74km and 7.23% average, so don't sprint for the 15km mark..

As Kanzler mentioned the North side of Ootoge has much debris but I found it to be better than last November. However, I had to wait for ~10 mins (to pass a shovel car) and walk over 50m of soft mud at some road works (at the 95.6km mark).

I considered riding an extra 2.3km near Ome to complete the century, but as the elevation gain is over 3km, I decided it already more than qualifies..

Sorry I can't join you on 5/28 - hope you all enjoy the ride.
-Denis
 
Did someone say hikling? :D

Just for the more adventurous/crazy cyclists who take the North route down from the top.
I took a photo of the corresponding mud section as attached as there wasn't much else to do while waiting..
-Denis
 
Thanks for the feedback, gentlemen!

I've been to the north side of Otoge once - it is not very nice, so it's not the part of the plan. But once the road is fixed (I believe it's being fixed gradually), it's gonna make an ultimate training loop - Otoge-Matsuhime-Kazahari, or something like that :)

Deej, you are right - short, but concentrated effort, just like the "real thing". The problem is to find something similar to Fuji's Azami line - it's unique in terms of length/gradient. Double Kazahari rindo maybe? hm...:rolleyes:
 
North side

Has anyone been to the north side of Otoge recently? From the photos it is clear that they want to fix this road, so at some point it must be finished. (until the next rock slide) It would make a great route, Otoge, down to the lake then Matsuhime.

Is the north side still worth avoiding?
 
It depends who you are. If you prefer clean roads, it is not for you. If you don't mind riding through stones, it is passable.

I did it recently with two others, going down. They were scared to death and walked every hundred meters through landslides. I just cycled over all of them, no issues.:p Always fun doing a bit of skidding across stones.:)

But of course one can't go down very fast. So the recommended route would be to go up the north side, go down south.

I will explore some of the gravel rindos connecting to the south ascent some time soon, using my cyclocross.
 
clay and i had picnic on the north or gritty side of otoge. yes. sharp rocks. punctures and spooky vibes. we saw a nice black miniature road bike upside down with the wheels off locked to the outside of the barrier rail. with the tubes hanging out like gizzards. just as we chuckled my tire phhooosshed. new tube in. went down while i packed my tools away. no puncture or sound. ghost flat. it takes a long time to descend. rims get hot. but it is spectacular. very wild and moody. the LAID BACK IN BEARSVILLE photos in the gallery are all backside of otoge.
 
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