Notices
Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling Do you enjoy centuries, double centuries, brevets, randonnees, and 24-hour time trials? Share ride reports, and exchange training, equipment, and nutrition information specific to long distance cycling. This isn't for tours, this is for endurance events cycling

2014 Century-A-Month Club

Old 08-10-14, 09:30 PM
  #26  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued)

More sunflowers:



Trying out a faster vehicle for a change:



Hydrangeas:



A little before the Doshi Michi no Eki, I stopped at an ice cream vending machine which had served as a quiz check point on the AJ Nishi-Tokyo 400 km brevet.


I bought a chocolate-mint bar, but to my surprise when I opened the pickup flap there was a blueberry bar next to my ice cream that I had neither selected nor paid for. Since there was no way to return that, I offered it to another cyclist who just happened to roll up to buy drinks.


It turned out he had been cycle-touring and this was his last day. He had left Iwate prefecture 600 km away a week ago, cycling down to Tokyo. He was also on his way to Yamanakako.


Selfies with both cameras were duly taken:



It cooled off at the tunnel before the descent to Yamanakoko. Around Yamanakako in the evening it was only 23C.








It was dark as I cycled up Kagosaka toge, which is one of the highest but also the shortest of the climbs on this route and is followed by the longest descent.


Once I slowed down because of a shadow of something I saw in the middle of the road. As a car came up the other way, it started moving and disappeared into forest. It definitely was no deer, but I think it looked more like a wild boar than a bear. Whatever it was, I was glad I did not come much closer to it.


It was hard to stay awake while standing on the train back to Tokyo from Odawara. Despite the heat I enjoyed this ride. I drank lots of water, including three bottles from vending machines (usually go for tap water as much as possible). I started out really slow, which I think was the way to go until it cooled off at higher altitude and later in the day. This gave the ride some balance, instead of ending up feeling half dead in the end.


Having done my century ride of the month on the first weekend, I can now feel easy about where and how far I ride for the rest of the month
joewein is offline  
Old 09-08-14, 10:14 AM
  #27  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 123
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
great pics/posts thanks
ronfinch is offline  
Old 09-15-14, 02:38 AM
  #28  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
I'm up to 25 months of at least one 160+ km ride a month. Yesterday I came back with 190 km with 1905 m of climbing, one swollen lip, a bruised knee and 80km of half-cleated riding.





In February I had signed up for the BRM315 Nishi-Tokyo 200 km "Kintaro" brevet, but due to too much snow it got postponed to October 18, 2014 (BRM1018西東京200km金太郎). It will be my last brevet of the season.





The route this year is a little different from last year, so I thought I'd include at least the part that's different as part of my September long ride. Last year's route went from Machida via Rt35/Akiyama to Tsuru, then Rt24 to Doshi and Yamanakako. From there it headed over the Ashigara mountains (where Kintaro was supposed to have wrestled bears, hence the name of the event) and back to Machida.


This year it climbs from Tsuru on Rt139 to Kawaguchiko, swings around the back of the lake, then over to Yamanakako. The rest of the route is the same. I had always only descended from the Fujiyoshida/Kawaguchiko area to Tsuru, but never climbed that way.


I left home at 06:00 and was not really aiming for brevet minimum speed. I just wanted to get the distance and experience the route. At a little before 08:00 I passed the Cherubim bike shop in Machida, where the reception desk will be for the event.


The ride out to Akiyama was uneventful. I had passed the roads there many times on my own, in brevets and with Half-Fast, but one conbini at which I didn't stop to stock up on bananas turned out to be the last one before Tsuru.


I really like the area for its nature, old farm houses quiet atmosphere. The rice harvest has already begun.








I stopped at a vending machine (which are plentiful along Rt35) to buy one bottle of water and chatted to another cyclist there. It seemed the few shops around there were all closed on a Sunday.


A little while later I passed one small shop on the right and noticed a sign in the window with Kanji that suggested it was open for business. I walked in and saw bunches of bananas on the table. Score! "Banana-wa ichiban!" said the friendly shopkeeper, who was amazed how many climbs I still had ahead of me. But with enough time and bananas you really can go anywhere


At a conbini in Tsuru I had some coffee and yoghurt, then started the climb up to the Fuji 5-lakes. The road didn't feel as steep as I had assumed it from the fun, fast descent going the other way. Near Tokaichiba station I noticed some waterfalls with unusual rock formations on the left and an onsen right next to it. So I stopped for pictures:








At Fujikawaguchiko I stopped at one temple for some pictures.







(continued)
joewein is offline  
Old 09-15-14, 02:39 AM
  #29  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued)

Around the Kawaguchiko area the roads were crowded with cars and tourists. As I slowly made my way to the lake, traffic was virtually gridlocked. Passing stopped cars on the left and moving towards the red light, suddenly I saw a rear door pop open on a van right in front of me. I wasn't going fast and immediately hit the brakes, but it was too close to stop. The door banged into the side of my handle bars and I went down. My arms caught most of the energy of the fall, but I still hit my lip against something. My right knee was bruised from the crash and my right index finger hurt, perhaps having been caught between the right hood and the door. I tasted blood in my mouth.


The driver and his two female passengers got out of the car, apologized and offered me tissues for the blood. I checked my myself in the car mirror, looked over my body and checked the bike. It looked like nothing was broken. I didn't really feel like the hassle of calling the police to file an accident report, which would cost me an hour or so of cycling time. The passenger who had opened the door without looking probably learnt her lesson. So I told them I was going to be OK and we parted. I didn't even ask for a business card or phone number.


Slowly I continued at the side of the road towards the lake. Then when I stopped once to cross a road as a pedestrian, I noticed I had difficulties uncleating the right shoe. One of the two screws that normally holds the cleat in place had gone absent without leave, so the cleat no longer disengaged when turning the foot outside. I decided a cleat that never disengaged was a bigger safety risk than one that doesn't engage, got out the multi-tool and took off the other screw too. The shoe did not stay in place very easily, as the SPD pedal is small and its steel surface is slippery.


It was too cloudy to get a good view of Mt Fuji. This view across Kawaguchiko is about the best I managed:





As my foot kept slipping off the pedal and I still had 80 km to go to Odawara, my planned destination, I thought of possible fixes. In the end, I used a short section of cut inner tube that I carry to strap things to the bike, slung it through the holes in the pedal and tied some knots in it. The rubber added enough friction that the pedal became a lot more usable again. On I cycled past Yamanakako and past this unusual place:







It got dark as I descended on the Gotemba side. Basically the whole road from Fujiyoshida to Gotemba was one big traffic jam. Wary of car doors that could open any moment, I still passed many of them:





In Odawara I got on the last car of a train to Shinjuku which was almost empty since it was late in the day, set my alarm a little before arrival at my local station and managed a bit of a nap. I got home about 17 hours after I'd left, took a shower and went to bed

Last edited by joewein; 09-15-14 at 03:20 AM.
joewein is offline  
Old 09-19-14, 10:19 AM
  #30  
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
New to forums. Quick question--2 friends and I did the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls last month and discussed using it as a launching point for a century-a-month challenge. I recall reading of a certificate you can earn for doing so. Does anyone recall the name of the certifying organization . . . assuming the program still exists? Also, is your "club" a calendar-based one (i.e., we can't do August 2014 through July 2015) and join the brotherhood? Thanks in advance!
BowesEsq is offline  
Old 09-22-14, 04:53 AM
  #31  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
Not sure about formal "Century-a-Month" awards and certificates. The closest that comes to mine is Randonneur USA's R-12 award, but that's for brevets (200 km or more), not centuries.

As for this challenge here, you just get started any month you feel ready for it and keep it up for as many months as you can!
joewein is offline  
Old 11-25-14, 06:24 AM
  #32  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
I've fallen a bit behind with posting century rides and pictures. Meanwhile I'm up to 27 consecutive months of "one century ride a month". I wrote the following report on Monday, Oct 13, 2014:

===

On Sunday I rode 198 km ride with 2095 m of climbing in the Chichibu area (including ride from the station after train return to Tokyo). It was my fourth ride there but my first one alone to the Ogurazawa (小倉沢) ruins in the mountains of Saitama, better known in English as Nichitsu ghost town.

Here's a picture of one of the workers' dormitories from my first ride in November 2012:



Here's what I found yesterday:



With damaged roofs and broken or open windows, all these structures will gradually rot and collapse.

I had already set off for this ride on Saturday, only having to turn around an hour from home with a broken RD cable. After fixing it, I rescheduled the ride for the next day and almost got Mike to join me. Maybe it was better that he couldn't make it. I doubt he would have been into descending the rindo (forest road) the other side of the tunnel above the ghost town in the dark in fog and drizzle, which is what I ended up doing. And my phone kept powering down before I got to the ruins, which I guess wouldn't have made any difference after an accident because I was out of cell phone reception anyway.

Anyway, I got up at 04:30 to leave at 05:30 for a 06:00 meetup with Mike, but then got his email that he couldn't make it. So I set off on my own on a fairly loaded bike (2 water bottles, train bag, wind breaker, winter jacket, nylon rain pants, ski gloves, dried figs and mangoes, 2nd spare tube, spare camera batteries). I actually used almost everything I carried, except for the winter gloves, spare tubes and tools.

Train spotters were out in full force at one railway bridge over the Tamagawa:



I was slower than usual on the way to Oume, where I had some coffee at a convenience store.

Tamagawasui shrine:



The Hamura water works supplies much of Tokyo with drinking water taken from the Tamagawa:



Outlander PHEV being recharged at a Mitsubishi dealer:



I followed Pete's recommended Oume-to-Chichibu route via Yamabushi toge.


At a temple near Naguri:







I arrived in Chichibu a little after noon and took a break at a convenience store. I headed on around 12:40. Out in the countryside the autumn leaves were only just starting.



(continued below)

Last edited by joewein; 11-27-14 at 05:28 AM.
joewein is offline  
Old 11-25-14, 06:26 AM
  #33  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued from above)

The sky was rather gloomy, with the top of hills covered in low clouds





At the lake and dam:



It got a little more colourful as elevation increased:



Working to prevent rock slides:



Following the river:



View from in front of the lower tunnel:



It was only 14 C by then and I was rushing against daylight. I wanted to at least reach the upper tunnel by sunset.

I periodically topped up charge on my GPS and phone (for the map), but suddenly and without any warning my phone went dark. I had to power it up again from scratch. Unsurprisingly for the location, it came up without network connection. I launched Google Maps but soon the phone lost power again. I repeated this a few times, then gave up on it. Basically, once you're past the lower tunnel, you can't get really lost as long as you follow the road, turn right at the Rt299 junction and then follow the signs to Chichibu (秩父). It was still disconcerting: If I had a major technical problem or accident on my own, I could not alert anybody. So maybe this ride was not such a smart idea

At the ruins:



Once I passed the ruins, it was already twilight. The fog of mountain top clouds got thicker and thicker. I got to the tunnel around 17:30. Passing through it, it seemed much longer than I remembered it. On the other side it was dark. No twilight, only night and thick fog. The temperature was down to 10 C.

I changed into my winter jacket and put on my rain pants, using the bicycle headlight. It took me half an hour to descend the 7 km from the tunnel to the Rt299 junction because of limited visibility in the night time fog, which I experienced as a slight drizzle as I moved through it. Twice I startled deers in the darkness and one small animal (could have been a tanuki) fled from the road.

I was much relieved when I turned on to 299 and the fog lifted as I descended. I passed the first villages and 18 km from the Rt299 junction found the first convenience store. Coffee and food time, yeah!

Somehow the GPS missed the speed sensor signal when I started up again (weak button cell in the sensor?) and the next 12 km went unrecorded, until I manually resumed when I noticed it. Strava counted 10 km as the crow flies while RWGPS missed the gap altogether.

The route back to Chichibu is well signposted, so not having the map on the phone wasn't a problem. I arrived at Seibuchichibu station around 20:35 and caught a Red Arrow to Ikebukuro at 21:25. I tried charging the phone again and it started working again. Not sure what gremlin (or ghost) had gotten into it near the ruins. Maybe a dodgy phone battery. I slept on the train, reassembled the bike at Ikebukuro and then cycled home to Setagaya, getting back to the house just after midnight. It was a very long day, but I'm glad to have extended my "Century ride (160+ km) a month" series to 26 months (Sep 2012-Oct 2014), regardless of how Saturday's 200 km brevet goes.

I'll be leaving for the US on Sunday, but would like to try the route again when I get back, this time with an earlier start from Chichibu to avoid the night ride on the mountain, which wasn't really much fun. The leaves should be great by then. We would just need some sunshine for nice autumn pictures like last year
joewein is offline  
Old 11-25-14, 06:35 AM
  #34  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
Report originally written on Oct 20, 2014:

===

BRM1018 AJ Nishi-Tokyo 200 km "Kintaro Yuhi no Taki" was my fifth and last brevet of the season, all of them organized by AJ Nishi-Tokyo.





I first participated in the AJ Nishi-Tokyo 200 km "Kintaro" brevet in April 2013. For 2014, the club moved most of its brevets forward by one month to make room in June for a 600 km brevet, so it could offer the full 200-300-400-600 km "Super Randonneur" series in that space. That's because next year's SR series can be used for qualifying for the quadriennial Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) event to be held in August 2015. Due to the timing of PBP, all 4 distances have to be covered by June to secure a spot. The earlier seasonal start made the events more vulnerable to wintery conditions. Originally scheduled for March 15, the 2014 Kintaro brevet had been postponed to October 18 due to the impact of heavy snowfall in February. The organisers weren't sure if Kagosaka toge would be clear of snow in time.

After not finishing the 400 and 600 km brevets in May and June, I was determined to prepare well for this one. I did some hill repeats at Yomiuriland, as well as clocking up more distance. Between Sep 14 and Oct 12 I did four mountain rides of between 188 and 219 km, including a test ride of 60% of the BRM1018 route.

Determined not to repeat my mistake of the last brevets, I went to bed relatively early on Friday night (23:00) to catch almost 5 hours of sleep despite having to get up before 04:00 to catch a train from Chitosefunabashi station to Machida at 05:01. The weather forecast was good, so I went without mudguards on the bike, but with the temperature forecast for Tokyo only in the 13-20 C range and the prospect of a 20 km fast descent from Kagosaka Toge at over 1100 m, I packed both a wind breaker and a winter jacket into my large carradice saddle bag. Instead of bib shorts I opted for uniqlo long johns and old corduroy trousers.



At Machida station I unpacked the bike and rode to the Cherubim bike shop 6 km away, which serves as the base for most AJ Nishi-Tokyo events. On the way I saw a few other randonneurs, including the guy who had previously participated on a Surly Pugsley fat tyre bike. He was using a full suspension mountain bike this time (and again finished successfully). I was welcomed at the reception area. Having participated in 8 Nishi-Tokyo rides so far, I was greeted like an old friend. My small wheeled Bike Friday got far less attention than my Half-Fast Cycling jersey whose humorous design attracted numerous questions throughout the event.



After the route briefing and bike security inspection we set off. For the first couple of km I was surrounded by about a dozen other people, but the group gradually broke up as traffic lights intervened and the group stretched out. When I wasn't drafting someone else I was following the route on my Navi2Coach GPS breadcrumb display. I had downloaded a GPX file from RouteLabo for the GPS and a KML file for Google Maps 6.x for my Android, using both devices in conjunction.

This definitely wasn't an easy ride (AJ Nishi-Tokyo doesn't do easy rides!), as I well remembered from last year. The hills started about 15 km into the route and didn't really end until 5 km from the finish. It's fair to say that on this ride it was always either uphill or downhill in the mountains or there was urban traffic, with traffic lights and congestions. The only flat segment without traffic lights that sticks in mind was the picturesque loop around Kawaguchiko (Lake Kawaguchi). To do well on this course you had to have trained on hills extensively.

Unlike on my test ride in September, I stopped and stocked up on water and bananas at the last convenience store before Magino. Therefore I didn't have to worry about running out of fuel or water on rural Rt35 past Akiyama to Tsuru, which as far as convenience storesconvenience store are concerned is a desert. I set off from there with three other cyclists and ended up chatting much of the distance to Akiyama with a nice lady from Yokohama. Maybe I lost some time with all the talking, but it was fun.

The temperature was perfect. I wasn't wearing my wind breaker in the morning, but I didn't really need it during daytime and still I didn't get hot on the climbs. On the descent from the Maglev test track to PC1 (check point 1) near Tsuru I tried to make as much time as possible and kept the stop short at the convenience store. From there it was about 20 km uphill on Rt139 to Kawaguchiko. It's a long climb, but not very steep. I was looking forward to taking more pictures of the waterfalls with hexagonal basalt formations that I had found around there on the test ride, but the bridge offering the best views on it was closed for construction work.



Arriving at Kawaguchiko, I took some pictures of the lake and some autumn leaves around it, but there weren't any views of Mt Fuji. All but the lower flanks of the mountain hid behind clouds, which is quite common: I think my success rate with Fuji views in the "Fuji 5 lakes" area is no better than 50:50. There was a quiz point, a spot where we had to write down a word from a particular monument on the brevet card (or bring back a picture of it).



Traffic was much lighter than during the test ride, when I had gotten "doored" by a car stuck in a traffic jam, ending up with a cut lip, an injured knee and a disconnected SPD cleat. No bad incidents this time. There was still some slow traffic in Fujiyoshida (there always is on a weekend), but it was almost mercifully short compared to the test ride.

Near Yamanakako I rode with one of the older riders, climbing Kagosaka toge together. For the long descent on the other side I still did not put on my wind breaker. The winter jacket remained unused for the whole ride.

At the bottom of the 20 km descent was PC2. Just as I arrived, another randonneur set off on his Bike Friday Pocket Rocket Pro (a lighter, more expensive version of the bike I ride). This was the first time I saw another Bike Friday at a brevet. I greeted the cyclist, but didn't have a chance to chat. The convenience store that had served as PC2 last year was closed, so this year a grocery store across the street welcomed us. The family that ran it was very friendly and supportive. They offered to refill our bidons with water and pointed out to me where the bananas were. After buying a bunch and keeping the receipt as evidence I soon set off again.

During the 6 km climb to Ashigara toge I met the older cyclist again as well my lady friend. The afternoon light was beautiful.



The Ashigara toge climb was probably the steepest part of the whole route.





(continued below)
joewein is offline  
Old 11-25-14, 06:36 AM
  #35  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued from above)

A couble of km down beyond the top, the route took a detour to the "Kintaro yuhi no taki" ("Kintaro evening sky waterfall"), where AJ Nishi-Tokyo staff was taking care of us with a barbecue.



I was greeted by Maya, a senior cyclist who I'd met at the Izu brevet in March. She and her husband always had time for picture stops or talking to people, which I really liked. She recounted her latest adventure, a 1200 km brevet from the Netherlands through Germany and Austria to Italy, that she rode in September.


I had to head on for the final third of the course. While it didn't have any climbs as long as the ones in Akiyama, Tsuru-Kawaguchiko or Ashigara toge, it was a constant up and down. Hill after hill after hill. The bits in between that were in towns had traffic lights and lots of cars. When I had arrived at the barbecue place, I was about an hour ahead of the cutoff time. When I headed on, I was on my own and not sure how I would be doing with all those hills and traffic.



Near Matsuda I was passed by another cyclist as I was taking pictures of the sunset and finally glimpsed a view of the top of Mt Fuji (snow covered at this time of the year).



As it got dark I finally put on my wind breaker against the chill. Navigating became more of a challenge, as I always had to activate the backlight of either the phone or GPS to view a map. A few times I didn't bother and overshot a turn, having to back up to where I should have turned. Until then I knew that my GPS distance readout was 6 km ahead of the cue sheet distances for turns and check points (due to the 6 km ride from the station to the start). That arithmetic no longer worked.

After passing one Circle K convenience store with a cyclist outside, I decided to check the cue sheet. My distance read-out was 8 km past PC3, which was supposed to be a Circle K. So I went inside and bought some French toast. The woman at the counter talked to me how hard it was to cycle 200 km and I knew I was in the right place. This was PC3 and I had almost missed it! I exchanged a few words with my fellow randonneur, who was feeling cold off the bike.

Not far down the road we met again at a traffic light. We were both feeling our legs by then. He stayed behind me for the next 30 km, as I was navigating for us by my Android now, climbing hill after hill together. I knew the time buffer had melted with the hills, traffic and navigation errors. That was getting me a little worried. I managed to avoid any more wrong turns, but the hope that the route would flatten out as we got closer to Machida was dashed again and again. My fellow cyclist later told the staff that I kept speeding up further and further as we neared Machida.

I wasn't quite sure how we were on time, but looking at the displayed route on the map and the time of day, I reckoned we would perhaps finish with no more than 10 minutes spare on a 13 1/2 hour course limit, which is not much margin for error. Finally, as we were going full steam ahead on Rt508, still about 5 km from Cherubim, we passed a convenience store with several cyclists in reflective randoneur vests outside and somebody called out: "Joe-san!" SoI stopped and turned back. I had almost cycled past the finish!

It was only then that my foggy brain remembered that the cue sheet covered a distance of 206 km, with the finish at a convenience store 201 km into the course -- 5 km before the finish reception at Cherubim! It had been explained to us at the briefing, but the brain will do strange things after hours of intense cycling. The timing stopped here and we had finished the 201 km course in under 13 hours, with 35 minutes spare. Yeah!

I went inside to buy an item for a receipt to present at the finish desk, where the brevet card and all the evidence are checked. A coup of freshly brewed coffee seemed like a well deserved choice. Sipping it, I chatted to brevet staff and fellow riders. My companion and I had been the last participants on the course, so PC3 could close after us. We cycled the final 5 km to Cherubim at a relaxed pace. After having out cards and receipts checked, I had some refreshments and talked to more people.



The staff returned my train bag, which I had dropped off with them before the event, but I decided not to use it and instead cycle back to Setagaya via Onekansen. Near Noborito I came across another randonneur on his way home and rode with him for a few km. I got home around 23:00, with 242 km of distance and 3010 m of climbing, as measured by Strava.



This concludes my 2014 brevet season. My next event probably will be in February of 2015. Next year I'll take another shot at finishing all 4 categories and thus SR status, even though at the moment 400 and 600 km within the time limit still seems way out of my league.

joewein is offline  
Old 12-10-14, 04:20 AM
  #36  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
Report originally written on Nov 4:

====



This year's Half-Fast Nichitsu loop was a very successful ride. We had 19 people showing up despite the early starting time.

Quite a few more had expressed interest but cancelled. Three more were inspired to ride the loop separately (and counter clockwise, which I've never done), including Tom who did an amazing 240 km "no train ride" loop that day and took great pictures. Kudos to the Iron Man from Belgium,



After a week of nervous glances at weather forecasts, it finally looked promising enough to go ahead with the second annual Half-Fast Nichitsu autumn leaves ride on Sunday. I was not disappointed when I got up in the morning and took a look outside. It had cleared up much. I left home at 05:30 to allow plenty of time for making connections and for buying a Red Arrow ticket at Ikebukuro, a station I don't use much these days. I ended up with a very generous 35 minutes there to do all the necessary, but better safe than sorry. It would not be cool to announce a ride and then not be there...

It was a very early start for most of us and we probably could have had even more participants with a later train. A couple of us met at the platform or chatted on the train.



At Seibuchichibu we set up the bikes, then moved on to a nearby Sunkus conbini, that sadly had already sold out of bananas and didn't have a great choice on other food. The Chichibu area is popular for hiking and for pilgrimages to the numerous temples. We started off about 25 minutes behind scheduled after waiting for one late arrival (missed train).



The sky was mostly blue when we started. Later it became more overcast, but we never had to worry about rain.

I had brought lots of clothes for the descent from the upper tunnel, but it turned out to be the warmest of 5 Nichitsu rides so far. Partly this was for the earlier starting time, which allowed us to reach the highest summit around 13:00. On all my previous rides I had cycled from Tokyo and took the train back afterwards, while this time I did it the other way round. I still needed my warmer clothes when descending from Yamabushi Toge after dark.

Though I had suggested riding as an A and B group, we rode as one group with occasional regroups until the dam at what I considered a fairly high pace. Then some people slowed down, unable to keep up with the A team. Also people started to take pictures around the lake, which offered more scenic views.



Tony and Simon:



Duelling cameras with Ira:



I was by myself while climbing along the river towards the tunnels and felt free to take more pictures. I didn't see any more of the group until I met Sal, who had been waiting for me before the tunnel at the top to make sure I was all right.

(continued)
joewein is offline  
Old 12-10-14, 04:22 AM
  #37  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued)

There were many tourists after the lake, taking pictures. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the ride.

















Near the lower tunnel below the ruins:
















(continued)
joewein is offline  
Old 12-10-14, 04:26 AM
  #38  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued from above)

The bath house:



Climbing from the ruins to the tunnel:





As mentioned, the descent was not as cold as on previous rides. I proceeded carefully because of the wet leaves.

Meeting Tom came as a big surprise. He does amazing distances at amazing speeds, but still manages to take great pictures, which are my passion too.

After a couple of curves I came across Tony who was also taking pictures of the scenery. Many of the slopes on the west side are clearcuts, with trees still lining the rindo down to Rt299, including many bright red Japanese maples. Last year Tony didn't get around to taking any pictures, so he made up for it this year.





After Tony left and I finished my pictures, I got back on the bike again but noticed it felt strange. Indeed the rear tyre had almost no air in it. I had punctured on perhaps the most remote part of the route. Since it was only my fourth puncture in 25,000 km (the last one being at Norikura), I felt a bit rusty getting the wheel back on after the tube change. I had checked the tyre but could not find what had caused the puncture. After pumping it up again, I headed on.



A km or two later I bumped into Xue and Shane, who were doing the loop separately and in the opposite direction. We last rode together at Norikura. They told me they had come across other Half-Fast cyclists attending to a puncture.



A couple of minutes later I caught up with microcord and JackTheCommuter, who were just finishing up their puncture repair. We rode back all the way to Chichibu together, finally as a proper B group It was a pleasure to ride together and have a chance to chat during and after the ride.



Though the mountains were shrouded in clouds when we arrived there around 15:40 (an hour before sunset), I wasn't put off and wanted to complete my first century ride of November, to extend the "century a month" series to 27 months. Even if it rained, I had my rain gear and full fingered gloves with me.

I made it to the top of Yamabushi toge by sunset. The descent towards Naguri was a bit chilly because my clothes were still wet from sweat, as I had done the loop overdressed. Near Naguri the early start after 4 1/2 hours sleep and the recent return from a trip to Canada caught up with me. I took a nap on a bench outside a public toilet before heading on. I felt much relieved to be out of the mountains again as I descended to Oume. From here it was just a ride largely along the Tamagawa.

Omatsuri in Oume:



However, I noticed the tyre pressure was low again. I pumped it back up again and did about 5 km, then pulled into the brightly lit forecourt of a car wash place. The tyre was flat again. This time I searched thoroughly until I found and removed a tiny shard of glass embedded in the tyre that slightly protruded inside, whose position matched the hole in the tube. Instead of using my second spare tube I got out the patch kit and mended the puncture with good old rubber solution and a patch. It held all the way home, no more surprises.

I got home around midnight, having done about 180 km with a bit over 1700 m of elevation after almost two weeks of no cycling. I forgot to start recording until 20 km into the ride, as I was paying more attention to getting the group out of Chichibu than on the GPS logging, so only the final 162 km show up on Strava.

It looks like this particular ride is becoming something of a Half-Fast Cycling tradition.
joewein is offline  
Old 12-11-14, 07:21 PM
  #39  
www.ocrebels.com
 
Rick@OCRR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Los Angeles area
Posts: 6,186

Bikes: Several bikes, Road, Mountain, Commute, etc.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 83 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 2 Posts
Wow, just saw this sticky note! No photos from me but here's the list:
January:
1. Oceanside Century, 106 miles, 4,088 feet of climbing
2. Los Angeles Wheelmen Century, 101 miles, 5128 feet of climbing
3. '84 Olympic course Century, 100.5 miles, 6,444 feet of climbing
February:
4. Palm Springs Century, 104 miles, 3,143 feet of climbing
5 Camino Real Double Century, 194 miles, 8,140 feet of climbing
6. Rebel Riders Blue Century, 103 miles, 5,709 feet of climbing
March:
7. Mount Palomar Century, 94 miles, 8,231 feet of climbing
8. Orange County Death Ride, 103 miles, 8,073 feet of climbing
April:
9. Crystal Lake, GMR/GRR Century, 90.6 miles, 10,932 feet of climbing
10. Tom's Farm Century, 106.2 miles, 4,583 feet of climbing
11. Hemet Double Century, 202 miles, 6,719 feet of climbing
12. Crystal Lake, GMR/GRR Century, 102 miles, 12,959 feet of climbing
13. Devil Mountain Double Century, 206 miles, 20,089 feet of climbing
May:
14. Encanto to Wrightwood and Back Century, 103 miles, 11,780 feet of climbing
June:
15: Karen Climb-fest Century, 111 miles, 12,812 feet of climbing
16. OCRR Gold Century, 101 miles, 4,564 feet of climbing
17. David Wu Climb-Fest Century, 118 miles, 12,520 feet of climbing
18. GMR/GRR Ski-Lifts, Crystal Lake Century, 102 miles, 13,868 feet of climbing
19. Grand Tour Double Century, 200 miles, 9,364 feet of climbing
July:
20. Red Box, Grassy Hollow, Mt. Wilson Century, 100 miles, 10,791 feet of climbing
21. Angeles Crest - Hwy 39 Loop, 118 miles, 12,415 feet of climbing
August:
22. Anaheim to Oceanside to Home, 175 miles, 7,329 feet of climbing
September:
23. Modified OC Death Ride Century, 102 miles, 8,005 feet of climbing
24. Fawnskin Jenk's Lake Loop Century, 90 miles, 6,654 feet of climbing
25. Encanto, Dawson, Crystal Lake Century, 103 miles, 11,191 feet of climbing
26. Knoxville Double Century, 202 miles, 13,901 feet of climbing
October:
27, Bass Lake Double Century, 202 miles, 13,901 feet of climbing
28. Encanto, Crystal Lake, GMR/GRR Century, 96 miles, 11,161 feet of climbing
November:
29. Crystal Lake, Mount Baldy Village, GMR/GRR Century, 102 miles, 11,322 feet of climbing
December:
30. Dead of Winter Double Century, 208 miles, 8,064 feet of climbing.

I think that's all for this year. Our club counts 90+ as a century but only gives one century credit for a double century. I don't know what the rules are about that here.

Rick / OCRR

Last edited by Rick@OCRR; 12-11-14 at 07:29 PM.
Rick@OCRR is offline  
Old 12-12-14, 04:07 AM
  #40  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
Nice list of rides, Rick!

Originally Posted by Rick@OCRR
Our club counts 90+ as a century but only gives one century credit for a double century. I don't know what the rules are about that here.
It's pretty simple: If it's 100 miles or more in a day, it's a century If it's 200 miles or more, it's a double century. And if it's 100 km or more, you can call it a metric century (which this thread is not about). Anything less and it's not a century or a double century, just like a run of 25 miles / 40 km is not a marathon but just a long distance run.
joewein is offline  
Old 12-12-14, 08:11 AM
  #41  
www.ocrebels.com
 
Rick@OCRR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Los Angeles area
Posts: 6,186

Bikes: Several bikes, Road, Mountain, Commute, etc.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 83 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by joewein
It's pretty simple: If it's 100 miles or more in a day, it's a century If it's 200 miles or more, it's a double century. And if it's 100 km or more, you can call it a metric century (which this thread is not about). Anything less and it's not a century or a double century, just like a run of 25 miles / 40 km is not a marathon but just a long distance run.
I think I get it! With your rules, all those slightly less than 100 mi. aren't centuries but for the doubles I do get credit for two centuries. Right?

I have no idea where the "90 mile" rule came from but it's accepted around here. For Los Angeles Wheelmen 90mi. or more can be counted and for the CAL Triple Crown (the double century org.) 190 or more is a double.

Rick / OCRR
Rick@OCRR is offline  
Old 12-22-14, 01:11 PM
  #42  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Willamette Valley
Posts: 105

Bikes: Giant Defy Comp, M60 gravel grinder

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
A friend and I are going to give this a try in 2015 and we are already planning the January century. It looks like a lot of you are doing more than one a month, which is awesome. Hopefully I cant get there.
Mike
Oregonroadruner is offline  
Old 12-23-14, 08:10 AM
  #43  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
I love riding mountains for the views, but when it gets too cold up there in the winter, Miura peninsula is a good place to visit (and so is Boso peninsula in Chiba).



On the second Sunday in December I did my "century of the month" (160+ km) for December. I chose to follow the course of my upcoming January brevet, which will start and finish in Machida for a 203 km loop whose Kanagawa portion largely follows the Miura coastline. The total for the Sunday came to 218 km according to Strava, which makes it my 6th longest ride this year.



The forecast for Tokyo was 3-9°C, but I experienced anything from 1-16°C. I expected wind, but didn't have to fight any. I also expected clouds but not rain and got hail instead! Still, the clouds and hail made for some very atmospheric views, especially around sunset in the Zushi-Kamakura area.





When I took the picture of the bridge in the rain, I was actually approached by a policeman. Apparently, I had unwittingly taken pictures of the Hayama Imperial Villa (葉山御用邸, Hayama Goyōtei) that has a permanent police guard since having been the target of an arson attack by radicals in the 1970s.

I left home at sunrise, around 06:50 and cycled down to Futakotamagawa, where I joined the brevet course about 23 km from its start. I followed the road on the right bank of the river down to Kawasaki, making good progress as it doesn't have a lot of traffic lights. The early morning sun was in my eyes and also of the car and truck drivers behind me, which had me worried a bit, but nothing scary happened. About 3 km after turning onto Rt15 I reached PC1, the first convenience store checkpoint of the brevet.

I had a cup of coffee and headed on to Yokohama. The roads weren't too busy on the Sunday morning. I snapped some pictures around Minato Mirai:





Quite a few cycling clubs were heading south from around Yama****a Koen. The day started off cold but sunny.



As it got warmer I took off one layer and changed into lighter gloves. Until you get past Yokosuka it's not that pretty and there are many cars and traffic lights. I came across this industrial site with rusting old cranes outside:



You get a lot of views of Boso peninsula on the other side of Tokyo bay, as well as commercial shipping in Tokyo bay, including huge container ships and oil tankers.



PC2 was a Familymart in Miuramisaki, a small fishing town about 120 km from the brevet start.



(continued)
joewein is offline  
Old 12-23-14, 08:12 AM
  #44  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued from above)

Gradually some grey clouds started appearing. They looked too much like rain clouds for my taste. I hadn't brought any kind of rain gear and the idea of riding home after dark in wet clothes at a few degrees above freezing didn't appeal to me.





Near Hayama I noticed the first drops on the screen of my smartphone. It gradually picked up in intensity. When I stopped outside a convenience store I noticed that what was coming down was actually not rain or snow but tiny pellets of ice, i.e. light hail. It melted as soon as it touched the ground. I waited inside with a cup of coffee and some food to give it time to stop. I also picked up a 500 yen rain jacket, just in case. Luckily I didn't need it.



Wild garden in a deserted villa:







Enoshima seen from near Kamakura:



(continued)
joewein is offline  
Old 12-23-14, 08:14 AM
  #45  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
(continued from above)

Fishing boats at sunset:





Those beads of lights on the coastal road is the traffic jam outside Kamakura:



Fading sunlight at Kamakura beach:



Night coming to Enoshima:



The route back to Machida consisted of a mixture of easy to follow big roads and smaller backroads with little traffic. I lost a couple of km of recording after PC3 near Samukawa. Most likely my helmet had touched the Pause button of the GPS when I sat it on the handlebar at the MiniStop convenience store. I didn't notice until near Atsugi, where I unpaused the recording. Since Strava fills in straight line distance for any paused segments (including train rides, where this feature is really annoying!) and the course was fairly straight there, the Strava total wasn't affected much (unlike RideWithGPS, which accepts the GPS unit's distance figure).

Near Machida it was the coldest again, at only 1°C. While I could deal with the cold as such, I think it will drain energy during a brevet where you're working against a time limit and where I'll need to maintain a higher pace than I did on this scenic ride.

With this ride completed, my "century a month" record now stands at 28 months. I am hoping to continue it in the New Year.
joewein is offline  
Old 01-02-15, 10:05 AM
  #46  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
I finished up 2014 with more than a dozen centuries, but none in August; went on a 600 mile tour on which a couple days came to 90 miles or so, but none quite reached the 100 mile milestone. I've already lost track, now, but I think that was my fourth year of monthly centuries.

I'll do it again in 2015.
@joewein, I love your photos and vicariously following your cycling around Japan! But... How can I put this politely: could you save your lengthy descriptions for a different venue? Your posts here are so long that I find it hard to find posts in this thread by anyone but you, and if we're going to use this thread to build inspiration, it helps to get the feeling there are lots of us doing it. I know BF offers an "ignore" feature but I never use it.
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
rhm is offline  
Old 01-02-15, 10:11 AM
  #47  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
joewein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 642

Bikes: Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 82 Posts
@rhm: Point taken
joewein is offline  
Old 01-02-15, 10:18 AM
  #48  
rhm
multimodal commuter
 
rhm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,852

Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...

Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 339 Posts
Thanks, Joe!
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
rhm is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Machka
Road Cycling
14
05-06-19 01:11 PM
cranky old dude
Fifty Plus (50+)
4
11-11-12 11:07 AM
Neil_B
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
2
07-21-11 06:23 AM
cranky old dude
Fifty Plus (50+)
23
11-01-10 05:18 PM
jonathanb715
Northern California
20
03-16-10 05:34 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.