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Half Fast Weekend rides 7, 8 Dec

Half-Fast Mike

Lanterne Rouge-et-vert
May 22, 2007
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Good TGIF, bikers.

This weekend we have two rides outside Tokyo. Warren will lead a longish ride in Chiba, and Sal will do our great Miura Peninsula ride. Early starts both.

Before I turn you over to the ride leaders, however, remember that Wednesday the 11th is our monthly meeting at The Pink Cow. We don't have a presenter yet, so if you have something to show or tell us about -- slide shows, etc. -- let me know soonest. Don't be shy. Of course we're entertaining enough without a presentation, and you can't beat Chef Andy's home cookin'.

Anyway, here's Warren>>>

Saturday 7th of December - Around Lake Kasumigaura

Map : Around Kasumigaura

I'm off exploring again - this time to a large lake in Chiba. The rail fare out is a tiny bit more than we're used to, so I've supplied two alternatives. Its going to be a flat ride but it may be a little cold with the wind across the lake so wrap up. Scenery should be good for Chiba, but the distance is long (86km) so this isn't a beginner ride. We will push off from the South Exit of Tsuchiura Station at 09.30 sharp and shortly after stop at a 7-11 for supplies. Make sure you have your helmet and a Bike Bag.
Option 1. Train leaves Ueno Station at 08:05 from Track 10. JR Joban Line. Arrives Tsuchiura Station at 09:14. Cost¥1,110 (single)
Option 2. Train leaves Ueno Station at 08:30 from Track 17. Ltd Exp Fresh Hitachi 9. Arrives Tsuchiura Station at09:17. Cost ¥1,110 + Ltd Tkt (¥900 unreserved or ¥1,410 reserved) - I'll probably be on this one (give yourself time to buy the Ltd ticket if you are on this!)
Led by Warren o8o 2oo5 8654 warren.preen at nomura.com.

<<< and then Sal for Sunday >>>
Sunday 8th of December - Miura Peninsula Ride
Another HFC classic ride. We're going to the Miura Peninsula... This isn't a beginner ride, but neither is it a race! We'll be riding about 60km with some steep-ish sections (both up and down!) Wonderful scenery, roads through the rice paddies, a lighthouse, a windmill, and more. Route will be something like this.

Train leaves Keikyu Shinagawa Station at 08:57. Use the front cars on the train as the back ones go to Zushi. You want a car that's going to Misaki-guchi and thus stops at Kurihama. Arrive Kurihama at 09:51. We'll aim to arrive at Misaki for lunch at about 11:30, perhaps visit the Dollhouse at Sajima, Our final destination will be Zushi station, where we train back to Tokyo.
Led by Sal (o9o-7816-4612, salvatoresalvino at icloud.com)

<<< Don't forget, both these rides require a bike bag. And contact the individual ride leaders with any questions.

Sunday Don will swing by the Hyatt at 8:20 SHARP for the Miura ride. No grace period.
 
I'll be heading to Tsuchiura tomorrow.

That station is nearer to me than many but what a pain to get to. Some creative cycling may be called for.
 
I thought the point of writing "somebody at example.com" instead of [email protected] was to defeat spambots harvesting email addresses (as well as staying under the radar of search engines), but in this case the obscured anchor text hyper links directly to the clear text email address with an emailto: prefix. Nothing could be easier to harvest.
 
@macrophotofly are you paying attention to all this?
I am now. Seems like a lot of people messaged me on the TCC website on Friday which I didn't see when I quickly checked on Friday lunchtime from work.

When you say you'll meet outside don't hide by the ticket barrier until those outside have left ;p
Don't quite follow. Mike needed his obligatory coffee after cycling to the station from a 5.30am start (mad man ...the cycling, not the coffee... ...actually I reverse that statement, as I prefere cycling to coffee); we assembled bikes on bridge over the rail tracks; and then went out the south east exit. Were you outside? We saw two local guys but they didn't seem too keen to join us. If you were, I'm sorry we missed you - I was checking my phone/e-mail the whole journey over to the station. I also wanted to thank you for the lunch location - perfect stop point and enjoyed a Curry Udon + beverage
 
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@macrophotofly how was it? My TT bars are feeling lonely from lack of use.
Great ride. We had a wind that was less than 5km/hr, especially in the afternoon, so it was fab. We averaged just under 30km/hr going round which is quite fast for HFC and meant the ride was almost over too quickly. Regretting not riding back to Tokyo with Mike to get a few more km's in, even though the roads would have been dull.
I think in future I might do this ride for the HFC in two different ways (i) Publicise it as a good bridge for beginners wanting to do a longer ride after a few 30-50km rides (ii) Pop an extra 40km onto it from some nearby quiet routes and do it again with a similar crowd
 
Meanwhile, @macrophotofly et al., if you really like that train ride but want to see the other way from the station, there's the Tsukuba RinRin Road wot used to be a railway but is now a bike path.

http://www.alientimes.org/Main/TsukubaRinRinRoad

40 km each way, going right alongside Mt. Tsukuba so opportunities to take a detour up the mountain.

Wow - it's four years since we last went.

 
there's the Tsukuba RinRin Road wot used to be a railway but is now a bike path

This was exactly what I was thinking when I mentioned the extra 40km (though the "full lake" is also an excellent idea for me to check out) - based on you mentioning it on Saturday . Unfortunately the in-work dodgy-website blocker won't let me look at the Tsukuba RinRin map either you embedded or on the linked page, so I can't see what station might be at the other end to provide a way in or out. Will have a look tonight or tomorrow night from home. Many thanks

Edit: I can see the article mentions Iwase Town as being the far end - enough for me for now;)
 
Option 1 Bit longer than I originally planned but Train to Oyama (roughly 80mins from either Shinjuku or Ueno) then cycle back roads to Iwase before RinRin Road and circle Kasumigaura = 160km. Looks possible on a winters day
Option 2 Ueno train to Tomobe (69mins), cycle to Iwase before RinRin Road and circle Kasumigaura = 150km. But no easy way to avoid main roads from Tomobe to Iwase
Option 3 Ueno train to Tomobe and onto Iwase (108mins+). Cycle from Iwase = 130km. Long train journey for a basic 130km ride
 
(options)
Option 4 Train to Tsuchiura, ride RinRinRoad out and back (80 km) followed by circuit of lake (80 km). That way folks who are tired or want to rush home can do so after part one, while lunatics continue for part two.

As for climbing Mt. Tsukuba
I've only done this once, up the west approach

It was a nice climb, but I'm sure others here have much more experience and can tell you all about the various routes up (and down) the mountain.

Edit: My mistake. We only did part of that climb that day, in 2007.


Edit 2: The RaceShape global heatmap is a great way to see who is cycling where - and then link directly to the Strava segment

http://raceshape.com/heatmap/
 
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