Half-Fast Mike
Lanterne Rouge-et-vert
- May 22, 2007
- 4,644
- 3,700
Wednesday: took a day off from work and went for a ride. This is becoming quite a regular thing for me, as I have an embarrassment of accumulated paid days. I like it. Left home at 05:30 and drove my van to the depths of Chiba's Bōsō Peninsula, parking-up on a convenient patch of gravel I spotted on StreetView.
I expected this ride to have steep bits, gravelly bits, and to generally be tough. A job for the Niner, then. My Niner hadn't been ridden since October, except for a very brief post-maintenance check last weekend.
Embarking on my voyage, almost the first thing that happened was that the front derailleur stopped shifting. Fortunately it stuck in the small ring. I was thus effectively on a 1x for the rest of the day. Not a problem, given the terrain. I can get by with the free hub not engaging while plummeting.
After an initial paved downhill, things immediately went steeply up and rather muddy. I'd missed this kind of riding - blood pumping in my ears, wondering where the next can of coffee is coming from. ["Mustn't knacker my knees... mustn't knacker my knees"] That first climb felt like it would go on forever, but of course it didn't - 155 m over 1.7 km was average 10.8%, max 18.6%. But on gravel/mud the intensity is much greater than on smooth tarmac.
Most times when I got up to the top of a hill I found myself in drizzle/cloud. It didn't explicitly rain on me, but many roads that I rode had clearly experienced recent showers. I was mostly lucky with the weather.
What goes up must come down! For the first time in a long time I engaged mountain bike mode: standing on the pedals, knees bent, backside stuck out over the back wheel. Wheeeee.....
I saw a lot of these drive-in wildlife traps. I guess they are to catch deer. I saw deer too, but they were skittish and ran away before I could get any photographs of them. I must say the bait, which looks like sawdust, doesn't look terribly appetizing. Well... I'm not a deer, but I didn't see any sprung traps with deer in either.
Random rindō tōge = more fun downhill for Mike.
Another frequent sight was exposed strata in the cliffs. This area of Bōsō is part of the North Awa Mountains, which developed on strongly folded and faulted marine Ogliocene and Mesozoic ricks: principally sandstone and mudstone. This is @hat and beard's former stomping ground, and I fondly remember the 'Chiba Off-Road Death March' ride he led for a few fearless fellows... gosh Josh nearly six years ago. [Perhaps @bloaker remembers, too?]
Made a little detour to cross a bridge over a lake. Was not disappointed.
One tile I needed would require a short hike on a marked trail. The trail involved a lot of sandstone steps. It was drizzling here, as I parked the bike and started climbing stairs. The spot pictured above was particularly narrow, damp and overgrown. Turns out this is a classic Leech Alley.
Yup. Amazingly, this was my first [knowing] encounter with actual leeches, rather than the metaphorical kind, i.e., real estate agents or my own adult children. Now I have to burn those shoes. Yuk. I might not have noticed until later, except one of them was a bit rough while trying to suck on me through my sock. FWIW, they taste like chicken.
After the hike, I rode 17 km more to my van, and then drove to Iwai beach. A further 12 km on the bike to collect three stray tiles, and I was done. I took a quick dip in the sea to sluice off the worst of the sweat, changed clothes discretely, and headed home. Satisfied with a well-planned and well-executed pair of rides, collecting 23 and 3 new tiles, respectively.
Random things seen away from the beaten track, #1.
And the progress GIF you've all been waiting for. Chiba Total Invasion is within reach...
Stravr:
https://www.strava.com/activities/5551286655 (Kanaya Lumpy Loop)
https://www.strava.com/activities/5551466479 (Iwai Beach Recovery Loop)
Notes to self: (1) Check FD and cable; (2) incinerate shoes.
I expected this ride to have steep bits, gravelly bits, and to generally be tough. A job for the Niner, then. My Niner hadn't been ridden since October, except for a very brief post-maintenance check last weekend.
Embarking on my voyage, almost the first thing that happened was that the front derailleur stopped shifting. Fortunately it stuck in the small ring. I was thus effectively on a 1x for the rest of the day. Not a problem, given the terrain. I can get by with the free hub not engaging while plummeting.
After an initial paved downhill, things immediately went steeply up and rather muddy. I'd missed this kind of riding - blood pumping in my ears, wondering where the next can of coffee is coming from. ["Mustn't knacker my knees... mustn't knacker my knees"] That first climb felt like it would go on forever, but of course it didn't - 155 m over 1.7 km was average 10.8%, max 18.6%. But on gravel/mud the intensity is much greater than on smooth tarmac.
Most times when I got up to the top of a hill I found myself in drizzle/cloud. It didn't explicitly rain on me, but many roads that I rode had clearly experienced recent showers. I was mostly lucky with the weather.
What goes up must come down! For the first time in a long time I engaged mountain bike mode: standing on the pedals, knees bent, backside stuck out over the back wheel. Wheeeee.....
I saw a lot of these drive-in wildlife traps. I guess they are to catch deer. I saw deer too, but they were skittish and ran away before I could get any photographs of them. I must say the bait, which looks like sawdust, doesn't look terribly appetizing. Well... I'm not a deer, but I didn't see any sprung traps with deer in either.
Random rindō tōge = more fun downhill for Mike.
Another frequent sight was exposed strata in the cliffs. This area of Bōsō is part of the North Awa Mountains, which developed on strongly folded and faulted marine Ogliocene and Mesozoic ricks: principally sandstone and mudstone. This is @hat and beard's former stomping ground, and I fondly remember the 'Chiba Off-Road Death March' ride he led for a few fearless fellows... gosh Josh nearly six years ago. [Perhaps @bloaker remembers, too?]
Made a little detour to cross a bridge over a lake. Was not disappointed.
One tile I needed would require a short hike on a marked trail. The trail involved a lot of sandstone steps. It was drizzling here, as I parked the bike and started climbing stairs. The spot pictured above was particularly narrow, damp and overgrown. Turns out this is a classic Leech Alley.
Yup. Amazingly, this was my first [knowing] encounter with actual leeches, rather than the metaphorical kind, i.e., real estate agents or my own adult children. Now I have to burn those shoes. Yuk. I might not have noticed until later, except one of them was a bit rough while trying to suck on me through my sock. FWIW, they taste like chicken.
After the hike, I rode 17 km more to my van, and then drove to Iwai beach. A further 12 km on the bike to collect three stray tiles, and I was done. I took a quick dip in the sea to sluice off the worst of the sweat, changed clothes discretely, and headed home. Satisfied with a well-planned and well-executed pair of rides, collecting 23 and 3 new tiles, respectively.
Random things seen away from the beaten track, #1.
And the progress GIF you've all been waiting for. Chiba Total Invasion is within reach...
Stravr:
https://www.strava.com/activities/5551286655 (Kanaya Lumpy Loop)
https://www.strava.com/activities/5551466479 (Iwai Beach Recovery Loop)
Notes to self: (1) Check FD and cable; (2) incinerate shoes.
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