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Today Today - December 2015

My 2015 Round-Up

Veloviewer takes all my Stravr data and makes nice graphics with it. Does a picture paint sixteen-thousand kilometers?

2015 graphic.png

I enjoyed so many memorable rides in the last year. I'll mention just a few of the highlights. Started off as always with a traffic-free Half-Fast group ride around the Yamanote. (We will do that again tomorrow.) Failing to keep up with the TCC boys in the snow-lined mountain roads of Minakami in April was fun; it's too bad the Brass Monkey Lodge has closed for business. Very much enjoyed the Golden Week trek mostly across Gunma that ended with my longest-ever single-day ride. The Norikura Charity Challenge for TELL that I organised in July was a great success despite some horrible weather conditions, and when the sun came out I enjoyed a mountain bike lesson. Cycling unexpectedly from Toyama to Gifu in August because of an apparently closed road - that was a blast. Hooking up with @hat and beard, @AlexGiesswein, @bloaker and others for some off-roading in Chiba was a great experience although that day was too damned hot. Got to the fifth station of Mt Fuji twice, with different groups. The Ome Temple Loop. Riding five times up Yabitsu on midsummer's day for the hell of it. Completing the Sado Longride 210 for the third time. And finally, my very silly Kyoto ride, Birota Impudens.

I also cycled to work and back 131 times - assuming I get home safely tonight - which is ten times more than in 2014.

What a great hobby! I'm happy to have the resources to indulge myself so much, and to have TCC and other outlets for my need to type about it all.

I started the year aiming to collect all the virtual Stravr MTS ("Monthly Training Something") challenge badges, meaning a minimum of 1250 km each month. I missed these individual monthly distance totals in Aug, Sep & Oct, so that goal will roll over to 2016. You can see the gradient of the graph ease off in those missed months.

2015 graph.png

So... how was your cycling year? What do you resolve to do differently or again or more or less in 2016?
 
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@D'Pioneer was nice enough to show me around northern Edogawa area today. We met up at about 45 km from the sea mark, rode past Sekiyado and around the Watarase Heart-Shaped lake, after which I've taken the train back from Koga. With the ride back home from the return station, I bagged exactly 100.4 km. Great way to finish 2015 and enter the new year. After having an entry level road bike (mainly for commuting) around 2008-2009 and being off the bike since, I've rediscovered it in 2015 and plan to give it even more gas in 2016. Happy New Year everyone. And now the selfies:

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Going Houdini on the windbreaker:
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Apparently my turn to pull (when I can hardly keep up):
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The complete lack of traffic and people will sooth your city shattered soul.
He's right people. It's completely forsaken up there. Just perfect. You can have the river to yourselves. It's what I imagined northern Japan (Akita or similar) must look like, but 50 km from downtown Tokyo. In terms of effort needed to get out and what you get in return I think Edogawa may just beat even Arakawa (what with all the gates, cyclists, kids etc.)
 
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