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Today - April 2012

Got up at 5am to do a run to Tama, after 5 hours sleep in which I had to get up 3 times for my daughter I was exhausted and I hadn't even got out the door... So when I got the message from my mate saying he was feeling sick I was all to happy to fall back in bed.

Anyway got up and out for a speedy Arakawa run. It is getting hot out!!
57km, 32km moving average and a Strava KOM to boot!

I guess the 2 days off the bike refreshed my legs!:bike::bike::bike:

Ride on boys!!!
 
Had planned to join the pre BBQ ride today but since I hadn't managed to even fall asleep at 6am this morning I decided to not go.
Went for a few laps around the palace instead to wake my legs up after 2-3 weeks off the bike again.
I have been travelling for the last two weeks and tried to use the hotel treadmill as often as possible.....I am sure the cardio fitness benefits from running but I still felt kinda weak today.
Will make a push during golden week with the training :bike:
 
Woke up late and slow around 8AM, took train to Otsuki and climbed Matsuhime for the first time. Enjoyed the sun & the climb, descended back to the dam lake and took a right turn into the road that connects to north side of O-toge.
The road condition was the worst I've ever ridden, but enjoyed that as well.
Then I had a flat rear tyre, at which point I realised I forgot my mini pump :)
So, I kept climbing the bad road for another 10km, descended O-toge for 20km, with my rear tyre flat.
Again, I enjoyed them.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/172392296
 
A short probe of the nearby mountains yesterday (30km), hang gliding practice and a short run by the river today (25km). I'll sleep like a log tonight :D.
 
Was just out back (north-facing), and there's a great view of the big dipper (upside down), and also Polaris.

Do any TOITO folks (or others) ever use the stars?
 
Then I had a flat rear tyre, at which point I realised I forgot my mini pump :)
So, I kept climbing the bad road for another 10km, descended O-toge for 20km, with my rear tyre flat.

Bloody hell!
 
Went for a 230km tour today, didn't expect to meet anybody. So the whole day there was no cyclist on the road. Then suddenly I run into SteveT. Nothing special right? Well it happen at Cape Sata - the southernmost point of kyushuu. Pretty surprised. :eek: Small world ....
 
I cycled from Setagaya to the Arakawa and did Pete's Greenline Epic ride without, uhm, all the Greenline Epic bits :eek:

By that I mean I did just the first and last third of his route, up and down the Arakawa between Tokyo and Sakado (Saitama), without the interesting hilly bit in the middle. Pete's GPS trail was very useful for finding the best routes along the river bank. 133 km in total, which brings my monthly total to 1000 km with two days to go.

Unfortunately I couldn't leave home until almost 10:00 today. So I just visited my mother-in-law:

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and had cheesecake and Wiener coffee at Cafe Kranz, the best cafe in Sakado (it's in front of Kitasakado station).

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The undeclared objective was to see more of the mighty Arakawa and do some speed training on flat roads and that's exactly what I got. I really liked the Arakawa route. It gave me a totally different perspective on travelling between Tokyo and Sakado, where I used to live back in the 1990s. I'd always taken the train line to Ikebukuru or Kanetsu Expressway by car.

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I'll come back for the Greenline and the hills of western Saitama another time. The Arakawa is a great route, I just wish I didn't have to cross so much of Tokyo to get there from my home.
 
Started a master's degree in April, and though I never originally had any intentions of doing this kind of cycling I couldn't resist checking out the Uni bike racing club.

Had my first run with them today, down by the Arakawa river! Really enjoyed the experience of cycling in a double paceline. Also really enjoyed riding away from cars, for a change! Remains to be seen if I will still derive so much enjoyment when we get down to some proper training, though! :eek:
 
Great ride with the pre-BBQ joiners! Including a bonus pickup near Wada (Pedal Strike) . Was probably my slowest time ever due to ongoing intestinal infection (ugh) - but managed to to stick it out to Takao where we ate a small lunch and yours truly took the train back. Human body is so picky - just small differences in health condition create large effects in power / stamina.
 
Tim thanks for arranging this ride! It was great to meet so many new people, while enjoying conversation and cycling, at least until the climbs.:D This was my first mountain course group ride, and the first of many.:bike: I look forward to seeing everyone at the BBQ today.:cool:

Cheers,
Kevin
 
Tim, sorry to hear the intestinal problems still have an effect. Looking forward to joining the social ride and then the barbecue later today!
 
spent the best part of the day slogging it out in the hanno/chichibu area couple of near misses on the down hills with drivers on the wrong side of the road on the swith backs but i always wanted to see what cyclocross was like. all of the roads were pretty busy with everyone going to look at the flowers in chichibu all in all was a good day minus dying in the half way up the 3rd big climb but it gave me a good lesson in nutrion and the importance of taking more than 2 bananas on a ride....had a good kip outside a ramen shop that i refuelled at 30k's from home when i finally refueled.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/87621737/?open_ive_done=1&new_route=1
 
Unusual for me--about 1250m of climbing, according to garmin. A bit over 60km.

And I'm jealous of the bbq!
 
First ride of GW in Nagano. Hot as summer and unusual for April - clothing selection was a bit poor for this type of weather. Totally burnt now.

Did five climbs in 51km, totalling 1482m of climbing (including the monster 18% section on rt498). There's no junk miles here. This was enough, I will go again tomorrow.

Later this evening I stood up and had my first head rush of the year. Shouldn't really have been holding the baby at the time....
 
Unusual for me--about 1250m of climbing, according to garmin. A bit over 60km.

And I'm jealous of the bbq!

The barbecue was great - my pics >> HERE <<

Was it just me or was this the hottest day of the year so far? I was pretty exhausted when I got home, far worse than after the 132 km yesterday even though today was less than half the distance. I probably didn't drink enough while we were out there and ended up dehydrated (only going to pee once, at the end of the afternoon, should have been a clue). I definitely don't want to end up dehydrated at the brevet in three weeks. Note to myself: Must always drink enough water!

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sorry I couldn't say hi at the shop Joe it was so busy today!

anyways I was really sad I couldn't attend the bbq I'll be donating regardless
 
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