zondag 6 december 2009
zaterdag 5 december 2009
Rainy Nokogiriyama
zaterdag 28 november 2009
R.76 or the Grand Kanagawa Loop

According to Hiroshi's blog, Gando-toge was cut through the mountains by poor honey farmers hailing from the Doshi valley who needed a short-cut to Hachioji to sell their merchandise. When they would return and as they were about to crest the last mountain, robbers would appear and deprive the poor farmers of their hard-earned money. This pass became to be known as 盗人峠 "Robbers Pass" and it was only some hundred years later that the name was changed to today's more civilized version.
Gando-toge was much longer than I had imagined and there was one fairly steep section and some splendid views as well. The road connects to Doshimichi and going down there were some superb areas for viewing Fujisan, today unfortunately mostly hidden in the clouds.
Once I hit Doshimichi, I turned left towards the Rd. 76 intersection; this is exactly the area where Doshimichi starts climbing up again after the long downhill from Yamabushi-toge. At the turn-off, I asked an old lady who was pounding rice cakes if I was on the right way to Lake Tanzawa. She frowned at me anxiously and warned me "too dangerous to be going out there all alone!" "Because of bears?, I asked to which she smilingly replied take care!..."Itterasshai !"
I passed by some nice trout fishing establisments and campings and was enjoying the scenery until I hit the first gate. A few hundred meters further behind the curve, the paved road changed into a gravel one. I was a bit nervous as a signboard with Inukoeji Pass 犬超路峠 was pointing in exactly the opposite way and instead I was climbing direction Himeji 姫次.
After a while the gravel road became increasingly bumpy; this was no longer gravel I was riding on but solid rocks stuck deep into the ground. The knobby cyclocross tires did a fine job though as I pushed ahead in 34-25 always in the saddle. I was completely by myself and it was very quiet. Nevertheless, it felt as if I was constantly being watched by some creature. I almost panicked when a bunch of rocks came tumbling down some 20 meters further uphill. I guess some scared animal higher up must have triggered a minor landslide.
I stopped only a couple times to take pictures of the mountain range in the North. Next time I go, I will take more to better illustrate the abominable road conditions. The last 2 or 3 kilometers before reaching the Inukoeji Tunnel were paved again...very wide and in near-perfect condition!
The tunnel inside was quite windy but not as dark as I had expected and also free from rocks and other debris; nevertheless I found the place rather spooky and was relieved to reach the other end safe. The first part of the downhill to Lake Tanzawa is exciting, very wide with no cars (2 more gates further down close the area to ordinary traffic)...perfect for honing one's cornering skills.
Down at Lake Tanzawa, I decided to proceed to Odawara as I felt I had done enough climbing already and didn't like the idea of riding too long along the murderous 246 and then having to face a Yabitsu crowded with other cyclists crawling up like ants.
I was tempted to visit Odawara Castle
but decided to save this for a next time. On to Enoshima! I was surprised to see so many cyclists on Rd. 1 and 134 most of them riding in groups. When I overtook some of these groups, they would give chase forcing me to push all the way...no fair play to do this with a middle-aged man on 35c tires. At speeds above 35km/h, these tires make a most impressive VOOMVOOMVOOM sound discouraging most chasers to stay in my wheel for too long.
At Enoshima, I took a break to watch the surfer girls and eat a dorayaki... The return trip was along the slow Sakaigawa cycling road over Machida, Onekan, Koremasa....

maandag 23 november 2009
Recuperation / 休養
zaterdag 21 november 2009
zondag 15 november 2009
Most colorful ride of the year !
We were blessed with gorgeous weather; not a cloud in the sky. David guided us on his favorite approach into Saitama. We passed several groups of cyclists on Nariki-kaido until we reached the Y-junction turning left to Lake Naguri. Nishibe-san, who had run a strong half marathon last weekend, was experiencing orienteering difficulties all day and almost missed the left turn. Towards the end of today’s ride, we unfortunately lost Nishibe-san when he missed the right turn R.53 leading to Yamabushi-toge and instead went straight through Shomaru tunnel!
All three together, we passed the trout-fishing place turning right; this is where the more serious climbing starts. Maple and other trees were in their autumn glory of russets, yellows and reds still with plenty of greens in between. This must be one of the most dynamic routes in Kanto: small waterfalls on both sides of the route, rockfall scattered all over the road, deep potholes almost one meter in diameter… . After a few kilometers, a blockade appeared…”the usual stuff,” I thought without bothering to read the signboard. A few weeks ago, I had done the same and encountered only some lazy woodcutters and two bulldozers on the side of the road. Today, however, we got stopped by an impassable stretch of gravel about 15 meters long but only 30cm or so wide with a two steep inclines of more gravel going all the way up on one side and down about 5 meters on the other side toward the river…one misstep and man and bike would become an instant avalanche! Rather get wet feet instead!...which is exactly what we opted for…cautiously descending the gravel slope into the river flowing below and wading the 15 meters through the cold water and then climbing up the slope again! I don’t think I would have dared to do this alone. To get the complete picture, check out David's spectacular shots! This is one of the nice things of cycling with one’s buddies…you can achieve more!
We passed several mountain hunters in their typical khaki and orange outfits carrying rifles. Could it be that the Saitama Mountain Hunting Association struck a secret deal with the Saitama Wood Cutting Association asking them to render the road impassable and put up those barricades on both sides so that the whole area becomes the exclusive hunting territory of these hunters? I wouldn’t be surprised; after all, Japan is a society of collusion.
On top of Arima-toge, we enjoyed a splendid view of Lake Naguri and surroundings and also were able to see the Shinjuku high-rise buildings. We encountered more dangerous and arrogant hunters on our descent. One jeep carrying two of them almost ran right into David riding entirely on the opposite half of the road. Murderers! David barely escaped a full-frontal collision thanks to a miraculous reflex. I caught a glimpse of the driver…he was laughing behind the wheel! Disgusting!
More beautiful tinted autumn leaves made us forget the near-disastrous encounter and just as David had stopped to photograph some red leaves overhead, his front wheel suddenly went pssshhh…instant flat! Tubeless tires are a bit of a hassle to fix, I learned. The front tire had suffered a side cut which David managed to fix with a piece of plastic after we had inserted an inner tube.
Down in Chichibu, we had a quick lunch and David and I finished the rest of the ride over Yamabushi-toge after we had tried in vain to reconnect with Nishibe-san. Back home, I washed my Ridley and took a long bath followed by a big plate of spaghetti and a glas of chilled beer well-deserved after a high-octane day in the saddle!
"Where there is a will, there is a road!"

