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Today - June 2010

Today tackled the Nokogiri-rindo in Okutama. Bearing in mind recent discussions I started from Musashiitsukaichi Sta. and so approached from the South, after taking a few minutes to visit Hossawa-no-taki; one of my favourite waterfalls.

The road up was fine, I suppose. The bumpity-bumpity concrete-paved sections really sap momentum, and I wasn't expecting the unlit tunnel or the unlit cyclist coming the other way through it. Prat.

The nokogiri forest road is one of my favourite roads primarily due to its proximity to Tokyo and it being completely free of cars. The unlit tunnel is a bit of a scary one, I have taken friends who have actually refused to ride it and dismounted.

Also, IMHO, the road from the Hinohara Villiage office towards the entrance to the nokogori forest road (and really all the way out to Kazehari forest road) its one of the best roads for cycling. Nice view, not terribly hilly, smooth.
 
[..] its proximity to Tokyo [..]
Kinda subjective.
[..] and it being completely free of cars.
Not completely. Not today. Saw maybe ten. Most had come through from the north end, but the barriers at the south end are not hard to defeat!
I have taken friends who have actually refused to ride it and dismounted.
Sounds like a very effective way to lose friends. Well done!

(I'm teasing you, Sheldon.)

It is a nice road.

If you need some more locations for losing friends, my favourite car-free, unlit tunnels are here and here. The former is dead straight so at least you can see where you're heading. The latter I rode with rather less than my usual complement of skin, adding raw pain to the abject terror of the experience. Such fun!

--HF Mike--
 
Looks like a well-built, no-nonsense machine.

Thanks Deej...was exactly the intention, too. Kind of like a blue-hued, less cool Black Thunder.

BTW, you really have to stop posting that Ironsword game package. I'll never get this out of my head if you don't...
 
Mike, nice ride! I like that unlit tunnel - it is quite old and doesn't smack so much of a complete waste of tax payers' money, like most other tunnels. BTW, it is also worth walking the short trail through the gorge that the tunnel avoids - very beautiful. And when it is really hot, nice to take a plunge into the water!

There are plenty of unlit tunnels on rindos - too many to keep track of. Most of them are totally fine, because they are straight and one can see the light at the end of the tunnel (literally!). I recently did a ride though in totally forbidden territory which had quite a few tunnels that had no light and were not straight, the longest being 900m. Pure guess work of getting through these...

The Nippara Caves are nice and worth a visit. More generally, there are so many nice dead-end roads that we usually don't take because we want to do a nice loop.
 
Today:

230km
2562m climbing

Knackered!
 
Today headed out at 7AM for a ride over Yabitsu to end in Kamakura. Ride up Yabitsu was quite nice, but I had forgotten how the surface was in parts. I think it was something near my best time as well (even though I wasn't even trying that hard at 55'10" from Miyagase Lake intersection.

It was also my first time to descend into Hadano. Lots of cyclists (must have seen at least 50 on the way down) and looked like a really nice climb with good road surfaces. I will have to give that a shot in the near future (any tips on how to avoid 246 in getting there would be much appreicated)

Followed that with Route 1 and Route 134 (Route 134 isn't a whole lot of fun until you actually start to see beach) Route 1 was surprisingly no problem at all as I had expected heavy traffic (being Route 1 and all)

After getting to Kamakura had some eats and went around looking at Hydrangea and of course the big buddah. Took the train back.
 
At the other end of the scale, just an early a.m. cruise before doing some other stuff:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36626766

Followed a guy early on, who quickly left me lonesome when the elevation started. An offshore wind, typical, kind of obvious from the chart data.
 
(any tips on how to avoid 246 in getting there would be much appreicated)

Here is a loop which I "discovered" a week ago. None of the roads has unpleasant traffic (and I'm quite sensitive). The rindo leading to the foot of the Yabitsu ascent is really nice - perfectly paved and with great views. Of course adds some climbing to the total, but that should make up for Yabitsu Toge being only 762m.:D

www.mapmyfitness.com/route/jp/kanto/487127583135479549
 
7.00am cruise to Arakawa, pick up a double tire hiki, cross over bridge and back standing - low cadence, sprint and hill training run. Hiki is awesome for this - its a constant drag on the bike and combined with the fixed gear really lets you focus on ankle / pedal smoothness and power transfer. Then back home. About 55km total. Rainy the whole way and got a punc 2km from home - darn!
 
Here is a loop which I "discovered" a week ago. [...]www.mapmyfitness.com/route/jp/kanto/487127583135479549
Ludwig, the elevation graph nearly have me a virtual coronary until I saw it was in feet, not meters.

I do like this area for cycling and hiking.

Any special reason why you don't take the north route around Miyagase-ko (r64, r513, R412) to avoid all those tunnels. Maybe you like the tunnels?

--HF Mike--
 
Any special reason why you don't take the north route around Miyagase-ko (r64, r513, R412) to avoid all those tunnels. Maybe you like the tunnels?

Not quite, but I am no longer averse to tunnels.

The main reasons were I needed to get back to Tokyo quickly for a party and this was the shorter way, and also I had never taken it before, so it was nice to do something new.

I have never ever taken the same route twice over the last 20,000km of cycling in Japan, and each route has always contained at least some stretch or pass which was completely new to me. It is getting increasingly hard to keep this up, but with a new set of detailed maps and additional options opened up by now owning a cyclocross, there is still a lot to be discovered.
 
Today

Biked route 40 - 16 - 45 to Zoorasia to see all manner of wild and exotic beasts.
It was a hot day so most were not very active; the Tsukinowaguma remained out of sight.
 
Biked route 40 - 16 - 45 to Zoorasia to see all manner of wild and exotic beasts.
It was a hot day so most were not very active; the Tsukinowaguma remained out of sight.

Thats because she was at school :D

Did 9km + 1km sprints * 5 today.... indoors on the rollers with the aircon all the way up while watching reruns of last years TDF currently been shown on channel 213 (Cable)
 
Finished up work while it was still light so popped out for a quick 30km loop. Had my first ever clipless pratfall nearly 3 blinkin' years after first going clipless. Big bruise and increasingly immobile elbow. Glad it was on the opposite side of the shoulder though!

On the way back rescued a young snapping turtle from certain squashedness as it meandered across a busy road. Figure karma now owes me one or two. :)
 
Today

Commuted to work on the bike: route 40 and 16 about 35kms to Yokosuka.
Returned by route 27-134-to Enoshima, then 467-45-40.

Day`s total aboute 80kms; had no opportunity to rescue road-crossing critters.
 
Phil, I'm sure lady luck will smile on you for a while after your turtle rescue;)

As for me, got in a nice 60km after work today and rode at race pace for 10km, hit Hanbara Toge Twice getting some good times, and then another 10km at race pace before cooling down.

What a beautiful evening it was after a hot day. Gotta say I love the summer evenings, especially the sunsets behind magnificent cloud formations. Makes me wonder if I'll ever go home:confused:
 
Just rode around MiyakeJima with my 7year old girl in the pouring rain and heavy winds, sound proud of her when she declined a ride to the finish line in the broom wagon!
 
Bad Panaracer Tire

With the rain this morning I decided to take a day off from cycling and play with my new purchases, viz, a Topeak Prep Stand, a liter of Finish Line Showroom Wax, and some new Panaracer Race Type D tires.

Waxed up the Felt F4C. Very nice and shiny. Dug out my touch-up pen to repair scratches on my Panasonic Cr-Mo frame (lots of these due to hurried bagging at stations). Waxed up the frame. Also very nice.

Decided to install the Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset I rebuilt. First time I've built wheels so a bit nervous. Turns out the wheels seem fine, but one of the new tires I got wasn't. Bit of a manufacturing slip that got past the quality control line, methinks.

Good job I noticed and didn't try to ride on it. Kaboom - splat!

panaracer3.jpg


panaracer1.jpg


Planning to take the Half Fast crew out for a bimble to Takao-san tomorrow.
 
Nice Half Fast bimble from Roppongi Hills: Tamagawa, Minami-Asagawa-Takao-Otarumi. Ramen at Fujiya. Very warm and sticky (the weather, then us). Five boys and a girl. No hurry. Good times. In SPD sandals.

Was pleased with my rebuilt mongrel Mavic wheels. They seem more responsive than before. Unlike my guns.

Met a couple of cyclists on the train who'd been out Kofu way and got turned away from the "Alpine Route" which is open only to buses. Phooey. Invited them to the Shine On Cycle Challenge in Norikura.

--HF Mike--
 
Went down to the grotto yesterday (大宮SEO Cycles), as I got a bonus given to me out of the blue on Friday.

Purchased; silicon lube, desgreaser (nice Orange smelling Pedros stuff), chain cleaner, new set of hex keys, digital torque wrench, etc.

Today, as I had to remain in the house waiting for a load of work related stuff to be delivered, I thought it time I give the beast it's first full service and clean up.

Did the whole lot, and now it looks SPIFFING!

Out on it tomorrow, weather permitting, and intend to knock out a nice 60km after work.

Love it!
 
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