A week ago I did my first mountain ride this year - 174 km to Yamanakako via Rt35 to Tsuru, then Rt24 to Doshi. From the lake I headed down to Odawara, where I caught an express train back to Tokyo. The ride makes March the 19th consecutive month with a century ride.
At the higher elevations the ground was still snow covered but all the roads were passable, no problem, even at over 1000m.
I ate 15 bananas, some bread, yogurt and nikuman (Chinese-style steamed bun filled with minced meat). I met some middle aged Japanese road cyclists from Hachioji, one of them on a TT bike. They recognized my Tokyo Cycling Club jersey (probably from a podium picture of a more worthy member in a magazine). They were a little surprised that I wanted to cycle from Tokyo to Odawara on "kore?" ("that thing" - pointing to my Bike Friday folding bike).
I didn't really pay much attention to time vs. distance while riding, unlike in a brevet where I always need to stay under the cut off time. I enjoy long rides more without time pressure, but I put up with it in brevets because I also like riding with others and learning new routes and the time limit comes as part of the deal.
Strictly speaking it wasn't a training ride, but I needed to get a feel for what the temperatures may be like and what clothes would work. I wore Tim's new jacket in place of a winter jacket until about 10:00 and then again from about 15:00. It worked well on both 1000+ m passes near Yamanakako.
Plum blossoms:
Too much snow this winter:
Exit from the Rt24 tunnel to Doshi:
Fields around Doshi village:
Kagosaka pass:
Ashigara mountains:
Fuji sunset:
Selfie with new jacket and Fuji:
