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Tour de Utsukushigahara 2012 (HC)

Ryano

Cruising
May 27, 2009
44
18
Anyone doing Utsukushigahara this year?
http://j-cycling.org/utsukushigahara/

Some of us last year made it into a 200km fast touring weekend: Chino~Matsumoto Saturday and the same in reverse on Sunday, but incorporating the race in the morning, some of us as spectators some as competitors, and then after chilling out at the baiten shop on top for a bit, riding on from there over the hills and back again to Chino. It was a really great weekend so I will be doing it again, and would enjoy some company. It's about 200km all up, over two days. Happy to do it as a WATT (Wait At The Top) style ride but it's two reasonably long days in some pretty big mountains, so ideally for people wanting to ride reasonably hard.

For those who haven't been Utsukushigahara, the race itself is a uniquely tough HC race - one of the most challenging out there. That much harder with a big ride the day before. It's a great race that has it all, killer hills right after the start, lakes to crank it, big dippers on top of the mountain and crushing little climbs right at the finish. I puked on the finish line the first time I did this race (and have never beaten that time).

I always stay at Sakamotonoyu (http://www.sakamotonoyu.jp/), because it is very close to the start, and it is clean and tidy and the folks are friendly, and the baths are 100% pure kakenagashi onsen, and it happens to be my wife's family Ryokan. They do a special deal for this race. It's still not super cheap but a great spot (used by the MTB national team as a training base). Some years, instead of breakfast the family make us lunch after the race before coming home, which is a lot of fun as you are able to clean up in the onsen again as well and have a bit of a chin wag about the race. Happy to organize that again if people want to. (Though if I ride home to Chino directly from the finish, I won't be joining for lunch.)

If interested, pls email me at ryantokyo at gmail as well just to be sure I get it.

Phil
 
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