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Today - January 2012

Eugen, nice rides, esp. on Day 2. You did well to go anti-clockwise even if it meant doing the biggest climb at the end. Traffic between Shimoda and Ito is absolutely horrible in the afternoon. Reminds me of that Mishima-Atsugi ride MOB and I did once, going all around Izu.

Did you stay in a nice place in Ito?
 
A nice mix of rollers and snow shoeing over the last few days.

The wife has been down with a fever since Friday, so time for training has been limited to asaren before the kids get up and a sneaky hour in the afternoon when they take a nap. Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it....

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Eugen, nice rides, esp. on Day 2. You did well to go anti-clockwise even if it meant doing the biggest climb at the end. Traffic between Shimoda and Ito is absolutely horrible in the afternoon. Reminds me of that Mishima-Atsugi ride MOB and I did once, going all around Izu.

Did you stay in a nice place in Ito?

We stayed in an inexpensive "business hotel" not far from the train station. Normal price is 3,900 JPY/night but this time I used my online points (じゃらん) so actually paid only 3,600 JPY/night.
The hotel has parking space (for cars) in the basement and we were advised to park our bikes there. Seems safe enough, but we still used a wire lock just in case.

One note about Izu is that the road along coastline is hardly flat. It was like climbing a small hill between every town/port. Numerous tunnels, some of them relatively long, mean that you need at least a good tail light. I would advise also using a headlight even in daytime, because some tunnels are pretty dark.
 
One note about Izu is that the road along coastline is hardly flat. It was like climbing a small hill between every town/port. Numerous tunnels, some of them relatively long, mean that you need at least a good tail light. I would advise also using a headlight even in daytime, because some tunnels are pretty dark.

Indeed. And because of the traffic I would recommend the west coast rather than the east or the centre.

The coastline is snow free all year, so allows you to do hill training all year round!
 
Ludwig,

Good to see that you are still active!

Eugen,

Sounds like a great trip!

Next time I would consider to take in even more interior, eg the full length of road 59, which goes all the way from Nishi-Izu via Yugashima and down to Ito. Now, I can see that you descended it down to Yugashima and later Ito but the in between bits ie the climbs up from Nishi-Izu and later Yugashima and last but not least the descent into Naka-Izu truly contain some of the better satoyama landscapes Izu has to offer.

Like this (note that some of it runs on smaller roads parallel to 59): http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/63676362/


Agreed that the West side is quite a bit better traffic wise, in particular after 136 ends and 17 takes over.

However, a fair stretch of the East side can be literally traffic free also. From Ito, Jogashima features amazing coastal landscape and then you can opt for the old road a couple of k beyond Izu-Kogen. It is very easy to follow until Atagawa onsen and not too complicated from there until Kawazu. Bit longer and more ups and downs but well worth it on a day with traffic. The 10 k stretch from Kawazu to Shimoda has as you will know some great beaches so no reason for detours away from them.

Like this: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/63671122/

Cheers
Frode



Indeed. And because of the traffic I would recommend the west coast rather than the east or the centre.

The coastline is snow free all year, so allows you to do hill training all year round!
 
Ludwig,

Good to see that you are still active!

Eugen,

Sounds like a great trip!

Next time I would consider to take in even more interior, eg the full length of road 59, which goes all the way from Nishi-Izu via Yugashima and down to Ito. Now, I can see that you descended it down to Yugashima and later Ito but the in between bits ie the climbs up from Nishi-Izu and later Yugashima and last but not least the descent into Naka-Izu truly contain some of the better satoyama landscapes Izu has to offer.

Like this (note that some of it runs on smaller roads parallel to 59): http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/63676362/?open_ive_done=1&new_route=1


Agreed that the West side is quite a bit better traffic wise, in particular after 136 ends and 17 takes over.

However, a fair stretch of the East side can be literally traffic free also. From Ito, Jogashima features amazing coastal landscape and then you can opt for the old road a couple of k beyond Izu-Kogen. It is very easy to follow until Atagawa onsen and not too complicated from there until Kawazu. Bit longer and more ups and downs but well worth it on a day with traffic. The 10 k stretch from Kawazu to Shimoda has as you will know some amazing beaches so no reason for detours away from them.

Like this: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/63671122

Cheers
Frode

In the past, I've ridden that road many many times on a motorcycle, and on occasion I'd see guys on bicycles churning up the climbs, I would think "Better you than me!!" but now, 10 years on, I'd really like to do this ride on a bicycle :D I'm sure I'd thank the good Lord that I had the triple crank so I can drop to the granny gear when I run out of gas, but I'd like to do this ride, goal for the year maybe? Rinko it out to Odawara and go from there? I'd most likely have to rinko it back from Shimoda but.... :rolleyes: :D

Cheers!
 
The west coast of Izu is amongst my favourite parts of Japan. I love the Matsuzaki coast. The east side is great too, but on balance the west side has great sunsets, less traffic and better views of Mt Fuji.

Matsuzaki coast:

IMG_0108.JPG


IMG_0133.JPG


IMG_0130.JPG


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Near Izu Kogen (east coast):
IMG_0031.JPG


My favourite fish restaurant (south of Izu Kogen):
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Camera: Canon PowerShot S95 (a compact camera)
 
On Monday, was allowed enough time to hit one of my favourite long climbs - first time in 5 weeks. I have two, one easy (only 4-5% average) and one hard. The hard one also has a back route which is Very Hard, but not feeling in full-on masochistic mode (I wanted a hard climb done very hard, not a Very Hard climb done hard), opted for the hard route. Trouble is, that at the moment, both long climbs have roadworks on them, meaning they are only passable for 10 mins an hour and at lunchtime. To make it more stupid, there are actually more roadworks if you take the route that links the two climbs at the bottom, but thankfully, that just requires navigation of a gravel trap.

As it was a national holiday, figured I`d be fine, so got to the bottom of the hill, upped the pace, passed the sign that looked to me like the roadworks were on holiday, but after 10-12 mins, turned the corner and there`s the man with the flag telling me of a 25-min wait. So turned round and descended a fraction, then turned off (there is a road that goes across the side of the mountain linking the hard route with the Very Hard route) figuring I would just take a chance. Luckily, hit pay dirt, but it was worse than even the Very Hard route. Finally joined the Hard Route at around 750m to find some snow and ice on the side of the road. Decided it would be safe to continue to the top, and only had a few very short snow/ice sections to navigate. By the time I reached the top (around 950 m), had covered, from the turn-off) 6.5 km and climbed a fraction over 650 m, with a 0.9 km section averaging over 15%. So in trying to avoid a Very Hard route, ended up with a Very Very Hard route. Think it will be a long time afore I head that way again...
 
Hatsu-road-e!

My first bike ride for the year!
A couple of short commutes, one in the morning & another in the evening, totaling 35km for the day.
The legs felt surprisingly good, considering the two-week break from riding.
Nice to be back in the saddle.
:bike:
 
Fixed Gear , 30km, Zone 2/3 , that's it. Gym 3x a week. Just boring pre-season 'chicken and broccoli' training. This weekend will be another 100km fixed gear or CX mixed route. 63kg target by April 15 @ 350w FPT/ 60min.
 
Worried? :) Actually this is pretty much my goal and reasonable target based on a rigourous schedule. The actual result may vary.

How do you estimate these power values? 350 FTP seems a bit high :confused:, your Ryusei HC time should be >20min faster with that power (and that weight).
 
I think Tim is using a basic calculator for all his wattage results rather than an SRM or powertap.
 
Yes. And as far as event performance goes, ymmv according a billion things - up and down. James, let's get together soon so I can get a slack season benchmark on your new rig!

BTW, Malte - this is not so far fetched. Pretty much any CAT 2/3 rider is in the 4w/kg range, and most Cat 1 / Continental riders 4.7+ and UCI Pros in the 5.X range.

I think Tim is using a basic calculator for all his wattage results rather than an SRM or powertap.
 
Tim anyday bar Wednesday next week.

Come on over to the house, the head unit is actually programable so we can set it up before hand to actually do timed sprint tests.

Then the infamous 60m TT.

Let me know. Also what frame size you ride, as I may have a road bike here that you can use rather than lugging yours over....just bring pedals and kit.
 
Worried? :) Actually this is pretty much my goal and reasonable target based on a rigourous schedule. The actual result may vary.
No not worried, I always encourage reasonable goals :cool:.

Yes. And as far as event performance goes, ymmv according a billion things - up and down.
If you use basic calculator, 350W should give you climbing speed (for your weight) of ~1600 VAM, which is pretty impressive.

BTW, Malte - this is not so far fetched. Pretty much any CAT 2/3 rider is in the 4w/kg range, and most Cat 1 / Continental riders 4.7+ and UCI Pros in the 5.X range.
350W / 64kg = 5.4 W/kg = UCI Pro range :confused:
 
4.8 and drizzle here at 5:00 this a.m., while it's -3.0 and dry where I once was in western Tokyo.
 
after going for a run this morning and thinking to myself hey its not that cold, i finally decided to grow some stones and hop back on the bike for the first time since christmas for a couple of hours today.....how foolish of me, because it was that cold:warau: especially when i tried toughing it out in my australian winter kit(winter in perth of course beinga balmy 15 degrees or so).....next stop lbs or wiggle for some proper winter gear i think:eek:
 
Busy week so no time for the trainer until today (but did some stretches, core and free weight work).

Did 50mins today on the trainer z1/2 alternate cadences in big and little ring. Bit of Spacek/LFO/Alpha Omega on the music front.
 
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