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Official Ride Tour de Tohoku (Golden Week, 14th TCC Tour)

long range forecast looks good but i haven't got my geared bike back together yet.:eek:
Looking forward to meeting and riding with Thomas and Travis. I guess the Tour De Touhoku will be the T&TTDT.Thomas and Travis Tour De Touhoku.

Can you PM your keitai number thanks.
Simon
 
hey travis

as i would like to join you there are at least to points which make it
impossible:
- i do not have a bike at the moment
- i have to be in korea for the 2nd of may....

shit happens :(

have a nice trip and see you next tour around here...

christoph
 
いよいよ明日の夜からですね。

みんな、きをつけてね。いってらっしゃ~い!:happy:
 
All set!

It looks like it will be 3 riders for the first day and a half:
Me, Thomas and Nobu.
After we say goodbye to Nobu in Fukushima, it'll just be Thomas and I for the next three days until we meet Kiwisimon in Aomori.
Then the three of us will have to haul arse up to Oma-zaki to catch the last ferry.

>Edogawakikkoman: Hey Pete, sorry to hear that you can't make it!
I got your mail on my keitai too. If you don't mind, I have a request:
If you're going to be in town for the whole time, do you mind if I send the daily reports to you, so that you can upload them on this thread each night? Thomas did it for me when I was in Kyushu, but as he's going to be riding too...
I hope that's OK!

>Kiwisimon: Got your number! Thanks.
Give us a call & let us know what time you'll arrive in Aomori. I don't know where we'll be staying yet, but probably in one of the business hotels near the station. If you have any good suggestions...

>Sora: ちゃんと3日目にお尻が痛くなったら、草津で話したソラさんのことを思います。
応援してくれてありがとう~!:D

>Cinelli: Hurry up, and get a new bike!!!:p

>Phil Harris: Sorry about the mix up with directions last time - Kiwisimon said you were spot on - I've never been north of Niigata, so I have no idea.
Anyway, if all is cool with Pete "Edogawakikkoman", you and everyone else can read about it as it happens.


Nearly 800km in 6 days! Thomas and I will probably also ride up "Hakodate-san" and check out the "Million-dollar-view" from there on the last evening, after we get off the ferry.

As a final word before we depart; Thank you everyone for your support, and I hope you enjoy the reports. Wish us well!
Rubber down! Travis
 
Day 0: (Friday 27th)
We all arrived in Utsunomiya at different times...
Thomas, on his bike at around 5:30.
Me, on the shinkansen at about 8:30.
And Nobu, also on the shinkansen at 10:00, after finishing work late.

We had some famous Utsunomiya GYOZA as well as a "few" beers.
We went to bed pretty late, but woke up in time to meet at McDonald's at 8:00.


Day 1:
After breakfast, we went back to our rooms to get everything ready, and after cleaning our bikes we finally rolled out at 9:45.
We stopped after 15km for a quick bathroom break, then continued on to the 40km mark, where we had a long-ish break and some food.
From there, we rode straight for 30km - only 50km from Koriyama, where we are now - and had RAMEN for lunch at 1:30.
We were getting ready to leave at 2:30, when it started raining. It took another 15 minutes to get all our rain-gear on.... 10 minutes later, it stopped raining.
7km after the ramen shop, we were coming down a hill on the still wet road, and Thomas had a blow-out. A 3cm long piece of metal went right through his back tyre.
He changed it fairly quickly, and we were soon all rolling again.
We only had two more short breaks on the way, and arrived here at 6:20.
Checked into a really nice hotel, then the three of us went to have dinner (& shochu) at an izakaya.

Total for the day: 122km.
Not fast; but as a warm-up for the rest of the trip, pretty enjoyable.

Until tomorrow!
Travis

PIC: THOMAS, FIXING HIS PUNCTURE.
https://tokyocycle.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/968
 
Day 2:
Way to go Thomas: 2 Punctures in two days...
We finally managed our first early morning, and were all up at 6am and at the breakfast table by 6:30 - Breakfast was a buffet style mix of Western & Japanese food; all you can eat.

After cleaning our chains, we rolled out at 8:30 in beautiful weather.
We had a mixed sidewind/headwind in the morning until we got to Fukushima at 11:00.
We said goodbye to Nobu there - she met her friend that she'd planned to stay with, and we all enjoyed the break together.
Thomas & I rode out of Fukushima at 12:15, and the two of us headed towards Sendai.
It was your standard ride with the usual ups & downs. Then about 40km from Sendai (here) the wind got friendlier, and Thomas & I were able to pick up the pace for the rest of the way.
Thomas is usually right on my wheel, so when I turned around to not see him there, I went back to find him - another punc... front wheel this time.

Anyway, we arrived in Sendai at 5:30, and found a guy on a road-bike who showed us where to buy new tubes & a spare tyre.
Checked into "TOYOKO-INN", had dinner and ready to hit the pillow.
Quite tired today.
Total: 131km

Ciao! T
 
Day 3:
After we finally bought a "Tohoku" map yesterday, the original plans went out the window.
Sendai to Mizusawa is way too short - only 118km.
So Thomas & I decided to ride up to the next town (Kitakami) 20km north.
We left right on 8am, and after riding for about 30km we started seeing signs... "Morioka 150km".
Morioka is a much larger city than the other two places, and a single simple suggestion to Thomas was all it took!

We had to change tactics - basically, ride for 20km then stop for a 5-10-min. break to fill up the water bottle and eat something.
Repeat this process until the 60km mark, and have a longer break with more food.
We had another long stop at 100km, and then ramen for lunch at 130km - we were already almost at Kitakami (our second choice for a place to stay) and it was only 3:15.

We rolled out of there at 4:00, and made a pact to have a celebratory "beer" at the CENTURY mark, 30km later.
We hit 160km at about 5:30, still 20-something km from Morioka.
By the time we rolled out after the beer, we had to switch on our lights.
We rolled into MORIOKA at 7:10, sunburnt, and wind-blasted - absolutely knackered!
Mos-burger for dinner.

Total: 183km.

--------

Tomorrow, Thomas wants to ride up to "TOWADA-KO" lake (30km out of our way) on the way to Hirosaki - another 180+km ride, with a lot of uphills.
Crazy bastard...

BUT, I said "yes", so what does that make me?
Out! Travis

Pic
 
Day 4:
Today was without a doubt, the most foolish, most difficult, but most rewarding endeavour I've ever undertaken on two wheels!

After yesterday's 183km, Thomas & I bettered that by 2km, with 3 hard climbs thrown in - 185km.
Up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:00, and roll out at 7:30.
Following route 282 for the first 100km (actually 98km), our average speed on the meter was 26.4km/h - thanks to a very helpful tailwind most of the way.
Our first climb was along there, to "Maemori-yama" ski resort (500m) - about 40km out of Morioka. Ups & downs from there (mostly down) to the 98km mark.

We had lunch there before our second climb - it was never on the original route-plan, but Thomas "insisted" on showing me Towada-ko (lake) - a looong steady 2-3% for about 17km, then steep for another 9km to (700m).

The third was back up from the lake on route 454 - 3km at easily 9-10% - a ceaseless wall!

From there it was all downhill 48km to Hirosaki.
Now, before you all start saying "That must been nice!", let me tell you that the only thing worse than a headwind on an uphill, is a headwind on a downhill!
There was no enjoyment in it. We still had to crank hard to hold 35km/h.Once we were on the flats though, our previous tailwind was back, and we arrived here (Hirosaki) at about 7:20.

We also only just managed to grab the last two rooms at the only business-hotel in town.
Tomorrow's our rest day, with only 40km to ride to Aomori - Where we'll meet Kiwisimon.
Travis

day4.JPG
 
Day 5:
Finally, a day we could sleep in - we woke up at 9:00.
After brunch at "Gusto", we went to Hirosaki Castle to see the cherry blossoms - they were great, and we got some really nice pictures!
It was raining all night, and was threatening to rain some more.

From there, we gave our bikes a good clean, Thomas changed his old front tyre, and we started rolling at 1:30.

41km, with an awesome tailwind - av.spd on the meter: 30.2km/h

BUT, 16km out of Hirosaki, Thomas got his third puncture this tour (in his new tyre).
We had a break after Thomas fixed the punc, and then we saw rain coming towards us - the whole area is flat, and the sky was filled with low dark clouds. When we looked back from where we'd come from, we could see sheets of rain falling (in my fallible estimation, about 10km behind us), and the tailwind we had was blowing it right in our direction.

We were going to take a few more breaks on the way, but this short ride became "A Race against the Rain!"! It was FAST!
20 minutes after we arrived, it started raining in Aomori...

We checked into the hotel (we'd booked ahead), and waited for Kiwisimon to call - I ran into him in the lobby by chance, and we're all going to have something to eat at 6:00 - it's only 5:30 now!

Tomorrow is the last day, but we need an early start - hopefully be rolling by 6am.
If all goes well, I'll be sending the last report from Hakodate, in Hokkaido.
Travis

day5.JPG
 
Day 6:
160km all up!
Thomas had 3 punctures; I had one!
We only just made the ferry thanks to an awesome effort by Kiwisimon for the first 43km in the morning.

We all woke up at 6:00, and met downstairs at 6:30 to have breakfast.
After something to eat, we were all rolling by 7:00. We had a great tailwind - blowing west to east - and with none of us wanting to waste it, the speed just went up & up....
It was TTT riding at its finest! When we stopped for our first break at 43km, it was still only 8:25! Unbelievably fast - Av.Spd. on the meter: 32.1km/h.

While we all ate, Thomas noticed that his tyre had gone down (punc no.4 for Thomas on this tour) - a slow leak that only showed itself after we'd stopped; And Kiwisimon got a call from his wife, saying that one of his children was sick - so he had to go home to Hachinohe.

Thomas & I stopped for a break right on 70km - the half-way mark - and then Thomas looked at his tyre again...... Number 5!!!
It took the both of us looking at every possible cause - we wrapped electrical tape over his worn rim-tape, we checked the inside of the tyres for any protruding sharp objects, we checked the wheel for sharp edges... EVERYTHING!
Not even 1km later..............Number six!
We were losing time fast; Originally after the first break we had a whole hour and a half of break-time, but after punc#3, we were down to about 15 minutes - we finally fixed it with both a patched tyre & a patched tube - but we were racing against the clock to get to the ferry terminal by 3:30 (146km).

Also, we had a wicked side-wind for most of the the way, and then a full-on head-wind after we reached the northern coast! - I'd been at the front for nearly the whole tour, maintaining a steady pace; but this was the first time I was grateful to have Thomas up the front, dragging my sorry arse for the last 20km into a vicious head-wind! We made the ferry with 15 minutes to spare! Giri-giri...

We arrived in Hakodate at 5:45, bought a map of Hokkaido, and then set out to find our "minshuku".
Then it was my turn - PSSSSHHHHH! Complete blow-out! We were all out of spare tubes by then, so Thomas patched my tyre while I patched my tube, and we finally found the place at about 7:00.

Yakiniku for dinner, and ume-shu for dessert!
Total for the day: Exactly 160km.
Travis
 
.>Phil Harris: Sorry about the mix up with directions last time - Kiwisimon said you were spot on - I've never been north of Niigata, so I have no idea..

No worries! :greets: :happy:

Hope the weather holds up during your charge north.

:happy:
:bike:
 
I enjoyed it.

一足お先に、「Tour de Tohoku」から帰ってきました。

4月27日に「宇都宮」に夜到着して名物の餃子とビールで乾杯!
ウキウキしながら、朝を待ちました。

4月28日(土)
宇都宮~郡山までのライドは、途中小雨+パンクというアクシデントがありながらも
2人の紳士に万全なサポートをしてもらい、凄く楽しいライドでした。
常に後ろを気にしながら抜群のタイミングで休憩タイムを取ってくれた、トラビスと
必ず上り坂でスピードが落ちて、チェーンが外れたりしている私を手助けしてくれたトマスさんに、
本当 感謝!! 感謝です!! ありがとう:)

途中のパンクは、私にとって初めての経験 まぁ パンクしたのはトマスさんなんだけど・・・
雨上がりのながーーい 下り坂・・・・必要以上にパンクを懸念していた私は、
「パンクは やだよ!! 坂道でしたら 大変!! どうかパンクがないように神様!」と
祈りながら、スピードをセーブしていたら 背後で「バン!!:gun: 」とモノが落ちたような???鈍い音!:eek:

そうしたら、トマスさんの後輪がパンクしてしまっていました・・・・・・。
ごめんなさい。必要以上に祈り過ぎてしまったみたい????

そして、パンク修理はアッという間に終了!! 魔法を見ているようでした!
(私なら1時間以上はかかる・・・・・というか まだタイヤもはずしたことがない・・・)

28日の郡山夜は居酒屋へ

29日は快晴の天気の中m私は友人と待ち合わせしていた福島まで一緒に走りました。

途中の向かい風と横風に必要以上に体力を消耗してしまい。
休憩を余分に一回、少し走って次の休憩で栄養ドリンクのプレゼントでなんとか
友人との待ちあわせ場所(福島市内)に着きました。
(友達 kozue-chanも 2人と会えて凄く喜んでいました!)

本当 ありがとう! 楽しい Tour de Tohoku でした♪

そうそう まだまだ ライドは続きますね!!!

函館まで 頑張ってね♪♪ 応援しています!!:bike3:
 
ツアー4日目に 峠越え3つ:eek: :eek: 、そして185キロ :eek:
凄い!!!!!!

弘前の満開のサクラで、疲れがいえるといいですね:)
 
青森到着!! お疲れ様!!
明日も頑張ってね♪


Day 5:
Finally, a day we could sleep in - we woke up at 9:00.
After brunch at "Gusto", we went to Hirosaki Castle to see the cherry blossoms - they were great, and we got some really nice pictures!
It was raining all night, and was threatening to rain some more.

From there, we gave our bikes a good clean, Thomas changed his old front tyre, and we started rolling at 1:30.

41km, with an awesome tailwind - av.spd on the meter: 30.2km/h

BUT, 16km out of Hirosaki, Thomas got his third puncture this tour (in his new tyre).
We had a break after Thomas fixed the punc, and then we saw rain coming towards us - the whole area is flat, and the sky was filled with low dark clouds. When we looked back from where we'd come from, we could see sheets of rain falling (in my fallible estimation, about 10km behind us), and the tailwind we had was blowing it right in our direction.

We were going to take a few more breaks on the way, but this short ride became "A Race against the Rain!"! It was FAST!
20 minutes after we arrived, it started raining in Aomori...

We checked into the hotel (we'd booked ahead), and waited for Kiwisimon to call - I ran into him in the lobby by chance, and we're all going to have something to eat at 6:00 - it's only 5:30 now!

Tomorrow is the last day, but we need an early start - hopefully be rolling by 6am.
If all goes well, I'll be sending the last report from Hakodate, in Hokkaido.
Travis

day5.JPG
 
すご…

155Kmでへこたれている自分としてはAnother world:eek:
でも満開の桜、良いですねー:rolleyes: !うらやましい!

明日函館まで行けることを信じて、レポート待っています:)
 
Day 7:

Finally back in Tokyo!

Thomas & I woke up in the minshuku at about 8:00, showered, dressed, got ready to leave and then spoke to the owner for a while over a coffee (a really nice old man).

We rolled out at about 10:20, and headed towards Hakodate station. We found a place that sells "whale-meat-burgers", and had one out of curiosity (Sorry, to all the environmentalists out there).

After our whale burgers, we only had one more task to complete before riding to the airport - Climb Hakodate-yama; at night it's called the "million-dollar-view". But it was too cloudy the night before, so we didn't go up then - besides, we were already pissed.

We arrived at Hakodate airport just after 1:00, bought our tickets, and caught the 15:15 plane back to Haneda. We got in at 16:45, put our bikes together and started riding home from there at 17:40. Not 5km from Haneda airport...... PSSSHHHH! Thomas! AGAIN!........ Seven punctures in 8 days!
Luckily that morning, we'd patched our remaining (punctured, but usable) spare tubes!

The full report will be called, "Tour de la Punc"!
Anyway, the upside is that we are both now very quick at changing tubes & tyres!

I will endeavour to write the full report in a couple of days.
Anyway, the ride was a complete success!
Later! Travis
 
A plan accomplished. Well done. I want to tally up the daily mileage but I can't count that high...

After that feat do you think it's possible to do Japan top to bottom in 30 days?
 
my small part

In what must be one of the shortest participations in an official tour I must say I had a lot of fun. Of course spending a casual evening drinking too much (sake and beer:beer:) and chatting with two very sociable lads was a good precursor to the final leg. Waking up at before 5am I wished we had agreed on Travis's idea of rolling out the door at 6 oclock. Thomas and I had agued for a more civilised time of 7 and reasoned that we had plenty of time to get to Oma. After a quick carbo load of pasta and onigiris at the first "conbini"we found( yoshinoya was too far away) we were under way with Travis leading the way. We had talked the night before about keeping a steady pace and as much as I like the need for consistancy in a group I find that setting a number to stick to is asking too much so with Thomas's help we convinced Travis not to worry about the speedo and just let each persom take their pulls.

About 5 kms into the ride and as the traffic lights started thinning out we agree that a pace on or near 30kmh was nice and reasonable, right! Oh and back to about 25 on the hills. Well we never went under 30 on the hills and on the downs slopes of the gently rolling seaside road we were getting into the mid to high 40's and on longer slopes 50's!!!!!:eek:

Travis and Thomas have got a nice riding dynamic going which I was trying not to screw up too much but it always takes time to figure out how who rides like. It was also nice to have taller riders blocking the wind for a change, I haven't been that sheltered in a long time so thanks for that guys. I figured out why Travis had been leading the duo most of the way, He likes being in front and good on him for that, Thomas however knows when to take his pulls and just keeps slowing turning the big chainring round. Real smooth economy of effort from both of them.


The day before I had a nice ride, 90kms into Aomori with the last 40 into a fairly stiff breeze and the six weeks since my last long ride told in the last 10 as I was spinning up some not too steep hills with burning thighs.Well desipte that this morning they felt fine but T & T were really making the most of their easy day the day before. As we got to Noheji where the Mutsu Bay road starts I was looking forward to a break and had to ask the guys to slow down or I would be cooked too soon.:pray:


Going back a few hundred meters to a small store Thomas has a flat! While we eat and watch the tube change I call home to check in and get told my daughter is listless with a fever and had no appetite so I had to leave the guys and ride home. Into the previously tail wind and it was just as strong as the day before. I got my second wind about 20 minutes after leaving the guys(finally) and the final 10kms was anouther tail wind assisted sprint leaving me a big small on my face as I rolled into work to pick up the car.

My daguhter has gotten her appetite back but as I told T & T family before fun.


All up the two days was 190kms with an ave speed of just over 28kms. Thanks guys and sorry to leave you so soon. Next time your up this way drop into Hachinohe and stay here if you like. Maybe a leaving point for the Hokkaido leg?
Simon
 
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