thomas
The Crank Engine
- Nov 1, 2005
- 2,054
- 579
Here's a short report on a Yamanaka-ko loop of a different kind Christoph and I embarked on yesterday.
It was the last day of summer, bright and warm - promising a nice ride. A nice ride it was, and a long one. We met at 7:00am at Eda Station with the same facial expression as usual: "Why the hell are we doing that?" - in particular after we had both spent more or less sleepless nights before.
Road traffic was immense. It was the first time we had to use the TCC tactic of "snake riding" OUT of town - the R246 was completely jammed. Originally, we had planned to ride to Hadano and climb up Yabitsu Pass, but Christoph proposed to continue to Gotenba and take the R138 to Yamanaka-ko. As the R138 is very narrow, truck traffic made the ride up Kagosaka Pass somehow difficult. Christoph dashed ahead, waiting for me at the peak, as I had taken a wrong turn ending up on R150 (where we'll be in two weeks time for the Fuji International Hill Climb).
uch:
We didn't waste any time at the lake (no french fries at Denny's!) and took the R139 to Fujiyoshida and, eventually, Otsuki. The heat was unbearable, and I suffered from my frist cramp after the speedy ride along Rs146 and 138. After a long break at what seems to be Otsuki's main combini and waterhole we decided to explore a route partly new to both of us: up the R139 toward Kosuge-mura - 25km of merciless climb up to 1250m. Christoph must have been waiting for more than 20 minutes when I finally reached the top. I suggest to make this route a "TCC official" in the future. Brutal.
The descent down R139 compensated for the pain. It was great to reach the home turf of our good old Ramen shop at Okutama-ko. Lo and behold, Christoph and I had two large bottles of Asahi beer (forgot to take pictures!) prior to accomplishing the last leg of the tour, Tomin-no-mori. Again, Christoph waited patiently at the peak when I arrived huffing and puffing my lungs out. Our last stop was in Itsukaichi where I discovered that my shift cable had broken. Christoph pulled the cable, and I was riding home on a single-speed Trek. 60km from Itsukaichi, fortunately most of it flat!
I cannot thank Christoph enough for his endless patience, it has been a great motivation and inspiration riding with you!
Stats:
Distance 308,93 km
Av 26,6
Mx 63,5
Tm 13:34'35
It was the last day of summer, bright and warm - promising a nice ride. A nice ride it was, and a long one. We met at 7:00am at Eda Station with the same facial expression as usual: "Why the hell are we doing that?" - in particular after we had both spent more or less sleepless nights before.
Road traffic was immense. It was the first time we had to use the TCC tactic of "snake riding" OUT of town - the R246 was completely jammed. Originally, we had planned to ride to Hadano and climb up Yabitsu Pass, but Christoph proposed to continue to Gotenba and take the R138 to Yamanaka-ko. As the R138 is very narrow, truck traffic made the ride up Kagosaka Pass somehow difficult. Christoph dashed ahead, waiting for me at the peak, as I had taken a wrong turn ending up on R150 (where we'll be in two weeks time for the Fuji International Hill Climb).
uch:We didn't waste any time at the lake (no french fries at Denny's!) and took the R139 to Fujiyoshida and, eventually, Otsuki. The heat was unbearable, and I suffered from my frist cramp after the speedy ride along Rs146 and 138. After a long break at what seems to be Otsuki's main combini and waterhole we decided to explore a route partly new to both of us: up the R139 toward Kosuge-mura - 25km of merciless climb up to 1250m. Christoph must have been waiting for more than 20 minutes when I finally reached the top. I suggest to make this route a "TCC official" in the future. Brutal.
The descent down R139 compensated for the pain. It was great to reach the home turf of our good old Ramen shop at Okutama-ko. Lo and behold, Christoph and I had two large bottles of Asahi beer (forgot to take pictures!) prior to accomplishing the last leg of the tour, Tomin-no-mori. Again, Christoph waited patiently at the peak when I arrived huffing and puffing my lungs out. Our last stop was in Itsukaichi where I discovered that my shift cable had broken. Christoph pulled the cable, and I was riding home on a single-speed Trek. 60km from Itsukaichi, fortunately most of it flat!
I cannot thank Christoph enough for his endless patience, it has been a great motivation and inspiration riding with you!
Stats:
Distance 308,93 km
Av 26,6
Mx 63,5
Tm 13:34'35
