BRM1006 Aoba 600 Kanto (DNF)

Unfortunately, I have to retire (DNF) due to sickness... I knew from the morning that I didn't feel good and had a sore throat but decided to start anyway hoping to see if it gets better. Obviously, it didn't...

For the rest of the story...

Few days before the brevet, I did a few changes and maintenance, namely:

• Change seat to Fizik Antares (experimental). After the aborted ride, will go back to Brooks :)
• Replaced chain: Already past allowable 'stretch'.
• Replaced rear tyre: See picture below. Still using Continental GranPrix 4-Seasons
• Swap rear wheel to normal wheel as power meter was broken from the previous BRM400 due to rain.
• No Q-sheet on the handlebar bag. Decided just to use GPS. As a backup, I laminated a small pocket size Q-sheet just to fit the back pocket.

The night before, I set alarm clock at 3:20 but didn't alarm. I naturally woke up around 4:00 and was startled a little bit. Now I have to rush and quickly prepared for the ride. I brought a sandwich for breakfast and ate as I rode to the starting location in front of Kawasaki Shimin Museum. I arrived at the starting point at around 5:00 and most of the riders already left. This brevet was fully booked around 120 riders. I heard that the other 600 km brevet, BRM1006 Sagamihara, has only 20+ riders. Sagamihara brevet is a super tough brevet with never ending climbs. Probably more than 8,000 meters in total climb. I was thinking of joining but decided not to. I decided to explore the outskirts of Kanto, which is new to me.

"Jose, it's already late!" shouted my friendly organizer behind me. I smiled and nodded and hurried up on the registration, bike check and promptly left.

As expected, traversing thru Tokyo and into the industrial Chiba is traffic hell. Stop and go traffic and especially worst early in the morning. It is a way for the Police to control over speeding at empty roads by flicking the red-green traffic light shorter and more frequent. The flow only got better from Funabashi around 45 km from the start.

Crossing Boso Peninsula was very nice, from Anegasaki (姉ケ崎) to Katsu-ura (勝浦) was traffic free with very few stops. It was a change of pace and enjoyed the rolling hills and farms of Chiba.

At Control #2 in Katsu-ura, there was an attendance check by one of the organiser. I mentioned to him that I will be retiring soon as my sickness is not getting better. Got confirmation and then eat lunch before continuing. I enjoyed the beach side road for a little bit before cutting the ride short and took the train home from Mobara (茂原駅) station.

One thing I notice about this specific Aoba brevet was there were more supporters and picture taking from the organisers compared in the past. Given a full-house, three-day weekend, relatively easy 600 km and many supporters, there is a high expectation to finish especially for first-timers. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those :(

Till next time.

Rear wheel tyre wear after one season of brevet!!! 

Control Point #1: 77 km

Control Point #2: 135 km. My bike on the background.

Rough Sea taken near KatsuUra, Chiba.

Beautiful KatsuUra Beach

Retired at around 170 km...

... at Mobara Station in Chiba.

BRM908 Aoba 600 Utsukushigahara

It's been a couple of months since my last official brevet. Summer in Japan has been really hot and riding out in the open has been minimise to very early morning or evening short rides. Also took refuge in deep forest single tracks for MTB rides to avoid heat exhaustion and keep some conditioning. Even as of Mid-September, Tokyo temperature still reaches 33C. This is the official recording from weather bureau where temperature is measured 1.2-1.5 meters above a grass lawn in a shaded environment with good air circulation. However, the real temperature is much higher for cyclist in an urban or rural roads as I experience in this ride (as much as 10C difference!).

This 600km brevet is organised by Velo Club Randonneurs Aoba. So far, all my 600km brevet rides (two so far) for this organiser is DNF. Over-sleeping as the reason for DNF didn't go well with the organizer :(. The pressure to finish keeps increasing as they reminded me again with a friendly nudge during the registration.

Also, from the past couple of months, I made a few tweaks on my Rando bike:

• Changed spokes on my dynamo front wheel. [Fed up with constant truing after long brevets]
• Changed to a wider handlebar. [Need more leverage for a heavy front bag]
• Power meter on the rear wheel. [Need a reference to trick my mind]
• Changed back to 27.2 saddle post. [27.0mm with aluminium can spacer is not 27.2mm]

And now for the ride...

Left home around 4:30 prepared for the expected rain forecast (I didn't got wet at all during the ride) and arrived 40 minutes later at the Kawasaki Museum starting point. There were probably around 45 randonneurs and met familiar faces... Maki, Gaku, etc...

The route took us on the flat lands of Kanto just skirting the big mountains on the left side on the road until Usui Toge (碓氷峠) to the plateau of Karuizawa. Then down to famous old town of UnnoJuku (海野宿) and climbed a couple of mountain passes (四十八曲峠と四人峠) before descending to Azumino (安曇野). The second half of the route guide us to high but familiar mountain passes  (杖突峠と富士見峠) and then to a nasty climb to the new tunnel (若彦トンネル) that opened a couple of years ago to connect the city of Kofu and Lake Kawaguchi. A nice descent from Lake Yamanaka follows and finally a nasty Sunday traffic at dusk awaits us at the finish.

Few notes on the ride.

• I was surprised that 80 meter official mountain pass exist (Fuefuki Toge). Yes, you heard me right. Eighty meters in vertical height. This could be the lowest official Toge and I forgot to take a picture on the top of this pass.
• Climbing forest roads at night in remote mountains was scary! There were many noises of running animals (or sort of) on the side of the roads.
• Highest temperature recorded was 41C!!! I was boiling... Luckily, we were following a mountain stream and I dumped myself to cool off!
• I was able to rest and sleep for the night for around 4 hours. Longest night rest I had so far and still able to finish. Found a nice bench in a baseball playground to sleep somewhere in Matsumoto. So far, heavy sleeping goods is worth the baggage :)

So, after completing the brevet in 37 hours and 59 minutes, below are some feedbacks:

Bikes (after the tweaks) :

• Changed spokes on my dynamo front wheel. [Still perfectly true.... Yehey....]
• Changed to a wider handlebar. [Much better and easier to turn especially when tired...]
• Power meter on the rear wheel. [Absolutely necessary going forward!!! Even if my mind is complaining that it is tired, I can assume as third person and talked it out by saying that Jayves is still not working enough... "C'mon, I need more power. Push!Push!Push!". I'm still using the old wired model so cannot sync with Garmin data but a non-issue for realtime use]
• Change back 27.2mm saddle post. [Solid!!!]

Body:

• Butt is painful again after it soften from the last couple of months!!! Need to maintain an iron butt!
• Blisters on the edges of cycling pants. Is there a proper way of 'wearing'?
• Toe pains on both feet. Left foot: pain below the big toe. Right foot: pain above the little toe. Need to tweak the cleats position and spacers.
• Numb fingers.
• Back pain (probably as a result of lower handlerbar position)

Others:

• Garmin Edge 800 lost around 80+ km of GPS data because of device inability to continuously log 20+ hours or 300+km of GPS data. [Need to reset every 300km going forward].
• Camera complained that it wasn't able to access the SD card past Karuizawa. This explain my limited pictures.

Same bike but few tweaks.

I still think the saddle hasn't broken yet!!!

Check this out!!! a hub dynamo that can be installed into existing wheel just by inserting between the fork and existing hub. However, build quality was questionable.

Rare red temple...

Old and new house design.

Megane Bridge.

On top of Usui Toge.

Blisters... 

BRM602 Aoba 600 Hiekawa Toge

I thought I had a good rest after last week 600 km brevet and was looking forward to this event.

The bike...

I tweak my bike a little bit and removed the Nitto front rack, Orlieb handlebar bag attachment and T-bar attachment. This saved around 800+ grams and used the lighter Montbell bag. I also replaced the thick mattress with a lighter one and didn't bought the sleeping bag liner. This brevet has an official sleeping point at Kiyosato with drop bag. However, I opted out of this option and carried all the necessary nap goods.

There were few participants this time.

The starting point is a small cozy park near Keiyo Tamagawa station along Tamagawa River. There probably around 20+ riders, not many riders so I don't expect groups to be formed and probably riding solo for extended time. I also met Craig, wearing Nalshima Frend jersey, at the starting point and his first 600 km brevet. He is fast rider and zoom with the lead group early in the ride. I never saw him again after PC1.

Starting point at a small park at Tamagawa River.

It was a fast pace towards control point 1 (76km) but too many traffic lights. This is to be expected for brevet starting from the metropolis. However, comparing to a similar course three years ago, the organizer has made revision of the course going out of Tokyo and there are more back roads with less cars... making it a little bit better.

After an hour riding, I start noticing that my saddle is swaying left and right when I push the pedal hard and pushed further into the seat tube. It was good that I had a classic frame and a saddle bag support. This limited the lowering of the saddle and was still comfortable pedaling. I did put grease the day before on the seat post as I expect some rain. I didn't expect that the lubricant made it worst. I stopped by a cycle shop in Takasaki and replace the seat post clamp (I thought this was the issue, initially). It worked but the saddle post still goes down after many hours of riding. I came to know after the brevet that the seat post is only 27.0 mm not 27.2 mm. That explains the problem and I put an 'aluminum can' shim to fix the issue.

One tributary of great Tone River in Shibukawa.

The scenery gets better past Shibukawa as the course led us to R354/R145 (also known as part of Japan Romantic Highway). This is also the start of a long climb to Kita-Karuizawa. The greenery along this route is just spectacular. From the top, it is followed by a quick but too-many-turn descent to Karuizawa to Saku. I had a small break/dinner at Saku before attacking next climb to Kiyosato. I was caught in the rain after dinner just before the climb got steeper. It rained hard but stopped after 40 minutes. I found later that the fast riders were safe from the rain in Saku. The sound of frogs was deafening as I passed the farms of Saku.

Small gorge along Japan Romantic Highway

After a long slug, I arrived around 22:10 at Kiyosato manned checkpoint and the cut off time was 1:24. I figured that a long descent from Kiyosato could buy me additional time so I decided to sleep till 2:00. The sleeping place is a small Minshuko with three rooms assigned as sleeping quarters. I did a quick nice hot bath, ate and slept from 23:00. I promptly woke around 2:00, with 3 hours of sleep, and was soon descending to Minobu, Yamanashi Pref. I remember last year brevet in this same route and it was the second night of evening start 600 km brevet. I was so sleepy that I had to slow down on descent from Kiyosato and sleep on one of the underground passage. This time, I was able to descent in anger... After an hour or so, when the course is a little bit flatter, I was attack by sleepiness and was difficult to continue. I found a shelter and probably slept around 4:00. I slept soundly and woke up around 5:30. I was so sleepy that I forgot to set the alarm clock and rewarded with the refreshing sleep but at a cost of not having enough time to check-in Control Point at Shimizu around 9:16. I bailed out at Utsubuna Station on the Minobu Line for a 3:30 hours train back home.

Looking back, I'm beginning to learn that the offering of a nice sleeping quarter at a specified location is good but I force myself to sleeping even if I still had the energy to continue. Later on, I was hit again by a nasty drowsiness after a couple of hours while it was still dark. What I should have done is push hard as long as I can until a few hours before dawn, sleep and wake up on sunrise. This way so that I trick my body clock that I sleep in the dark and wake up when there is light. I had plenty on time and could have plan better for a sleep break... somewhere...

Cow mascot in Nobeyama

I woke up overlooking this village on the side of a hill

Second sleep break in an open bus stop

Fuji River

Bail out point from Utsubuna Station Minobu Line.

BRM526 Shizuoka 600km Norikura

I completed the May 26 Shizuoka 600 km Norikura Brevet with total of 7050 meters climb.

However, it wasn't a good start...

I thought I have loaded everything I needed in the car for the drive to Shizuoka. Next day early morning preparation revealed a shocking truth that I forgot my helmet! I double search all the holes/compartment in the car and hope that it is 'hidden' somewhere. I was panicky and had not come to my senses yet that I forgot. On the third round of search, I have to admit my stupidity... How can one forget the most important mandatory safety accessory for a bike event!!!

After I calmed a little bit, with my cycling wear, I went to the registration area and ready to reveal the sad news that I will DNS (Did Not Start). This was around the time of the briefing. I walk and stand behind the registration desk rather than go straight to hear the briefing. The staff notice right away why I'm not with the group and I broke the news. They were kind of surprised but responded in a professional way, even assuring me by mentioning that some folks also forget their cycling shoes (I think I came across this on some blog)... Luckily, one of the staff overheard the conversation and quickly came forward and he can lend me his helmet as he took it out from the back of his car. He warned me that it is little bit heavy. I told him that it was OK but as I accepted the helmet and able to size it up with my hands.... boy, it was really heavy!! Why should I complain... I gave my gratitude to the staff and now I can start... but, it came light also that I forgot my homemade energy bar... but that is not comparable to what just happened.

Notice the helmet? Thanks to the staff who lend me and gave me one more reason to return back at the finish line. Notice also that I didn't have my reflector vest... another time loss to turn around after the start.

I walk my bike for the bike check after rushing my final preparation. I was given the green light and off I go. I was pondering on the idea on what I should have done in case I DNS... should I go ahead with the brevet but run 'unofficially' without helmet...(nah)... should I just have a day jaunt in Shizuoka... (maybe)...  should I just go home.... as I look down to my wind breaker I notice that I didn't have my reflector vest!!!  I already cycled around 2.5 km. There is no option except to go back (rather than disqualified at night) and take the time loss. I was speculating why did the staff let me go and signed my brevet card at the inspection as I'm speeding back and try to regain the loss time. This was another fatal mistake as I was too focus on catching up and I missed a turn. Overall, I probably loss around 40 minutes total just before the first control point. I'm now officially the last person to arrive at PC1. I figured there is no need to rush while resting at PC1. It is still a long climbing days ahead and I need to focus on the proper pace alone rather than try to catch up with the faster group.

Between PC1 and PC2 is a big climb, a steep descent and followed by many up and downs. By the end of PC2 (160km), total climb is already 2,200 meters and this is just the prolog...

The famous Tenryu River Gorge （天竜峡）

As I was climbing the Niino Pass (新野峠), I started passing few riders and one of them was Suzuki-san, who I met couple of weeks ago on Kazahari Brevet, and exchange a few updates. I notice there is one lady who is sucking his wheel for reason I will know later on. Between PC2 and PC3 takes us the beautiful valley along the Tenryu River and then cross the Central Alps via climb to Gonbee Tunnel (権兵衛トーネル) and a little bit of Kiso Valley before attacking Nagamine Pass (長峰峠) northeast of Mt. Ontake. By the time I reach Nagamine Pass it was already in the evening and will be descending in total darkness at 6 degrees Celsius. Nice but cold 35 km descent to Takayama (高山) and interrupted by a small bump just before PC4.

A town along Tenryu River with Central Alps at the back　（中央アルプス）

Flower garden just before the climb to Gonbee Tunnel （権兵衛トーネルの前）

Time to put warm clothes at the top of Nagamine Pass（長峰峠）

PC4 at Takayama is an unmanned checkpoint but a staff is present and confirming riders on arrival. Had a quick break and asked the staff where is a good place to sleep and the response was in 'Michi No Eki' about 20 km away or in Gero Spa around 70 km away that opens till 6:00AM. They too far away and I decided to use my familiar sleep bed, which is a sheltered bus stop, and was able to find quickly. It was a good shelter bus stop with a sliding door, big enough to put the bike inside and was warm and able to sleep for two hours. No regrets on bringing along a heavy but good soft ground blanket and a warm sleeping bag. I can sleep comfortable anywhere and anytime :)

Feeling fresh again after the sleep, it gave me some strength to climb the small hill right after Takayama and then rewarded with a long mild descent to Gero where I arrived for early breakfast. As I about to leave, I saw Suzuki-san and the lady passed by. I quickly followed them and ride/chat with them for a few hours. I learned to know more about the lady. She is turned out to be Sawada-san and is famous for:

• One of the original Japan brevet founder and organized a brevet in Okayama herself until few years ago
• Multiple PBP under her belt and recently PBP2011
• Famous for not eating/drinking/sleeping much during the event

Suzuki-san, who I got to know was also PBP2011 finisher, is attending the Hokkaido 1500 km multiple brevet event this coming August and was teasing me to attend. I'm tempted but need to confirm the logistic. My curious question on to why she is always sucking wheel to one person, given her strong credentials, was revealed when she mentioned about an eye issue and Suzuki-san was guiding/accompanying her. I bid them farewell at PC5.

Dawn picture of Gero （夜明けの下呂）

The weather was great on Sunday but it was getting really hot. So hot that I'm getting sluggish and I can feel the burn in my arms and neck. I decided to buy a wide brim hat, usually used by old ladies tending farms, for sun protection as well as funnel the flow of air to my face when ascending slowly. It worked but need to be careful on fast descent. In addition, I got to entertain a bunch of riders and the organizers.

Best protection when it is hot.

The last 650+ meters climb at around 500 km was the toughest. After acculumating 6000+ meters of climb, hot, tired and sleepy, I just wish it was a flat road to the finish. But these courses were not designed by me... Just one more.... push!

I arrived at the finish line around 19:00 and official time of 37 hours 02 minutes. I returned the helmet and thank again the staff for a great event. Looking back, the course is tough but cut across many beautiful back roads, rivers, valleys, mountains passes, old towns and great people. Can't wait to have a hot spring bath.

Shots while riding...

Fishing event?

Along R420...

Beautiful sceneries...

BRM519 NishiTokyo 300km Fuji

This brevet is an evening start at 22:00. My first brevet evening start this year.  So far, the other evening start was last year Shizuoka's Karuizawa 600 km brevet. I wasn't really fond of evening start. I remember last year I was so sleepy and can hardly push early in the morning. I ended up sleeping on the cold body-heat-sucking-concrete at 7-11 on the first control.

I was skeptical on today evening start but later on I realize the big advantage which I begin to admire (provided I can figure out a short sleep) especially when starting from Tokyo, namely:

• No traffic on the way to Enoshima and along the coastal area (evening ride). Usually heavy traffic
• No traffic in Susono, Numazu and Fuji area (early in the morning). Usually heavy traffic
• Attendance of different types riders who typically work on Saturday.
• Finish the event in the afternoon and more time for post ride socialization, ready for normal dinner and long night sleep.

I arrived just before 21:00 at the registration area and while filling up the form, a tap on shoulder revield a smiling Joe, who arrive a little bit earlier and ready for his first 300 km brevet ride. We showed each other bike and I was impressed with his electronics and creative attachments. After sampling his homemade energy bar (which was delicious), we moved to the official starting point to a parking area a few blocks away. On the briefing, I was impressed that the organizer joined the Saitama Tohoku 1700 brevet over the golden week. It was unfortunate that he had an accident and DNF but he seems to be OK and recovered. Final check on the bike and we were off.

At the registration...

Joe's famous Orange Pocket Rocket with 8000mAh battery. Did it last the whole journey?

We were taking it easy from the start and peloton was dynamic as riders joined or move on. Lots of traffic light stops also created and/or broke group. There was a time that I started talking english behind and when there was no answer and I looked back, it wasn't Joe. I figured he will catch up and we saw together again at the Enoshima control for the initial pit stop.

Route 134 along Sagami Bay is flat, wide and fast. There was a fast rider I was following and I initiated a rotation. We were rolling around 30-35kph and was joined by two other fast riders and rotating. Probably rolling too fast and my HR is beating uncomfortably fast too early in this event. When I look back, Joe got dropped. I finally got dropped also when R134 merge with R1 and joined another fast group or rather a team, as they have the same jersey, until PC2.  

The stop break at PC2 lowered my HR and after a while find myself cycling alone early in the morning. With no fast group to follow and my body clock conditioned to be sleeping around this time, drowsiness started to kick-in. The desire to sleep is too strong that I gave in. Luckily, I found a sheltered bus stop at Oyama, just before the climb to Gotemba. As I prepare to sleep, I saw Joe passing by and yelled at him that I be sleeping for an hour and off he goes. It was pretty cold but manage to sleep around 30-35 minutes. This was good enough to start my day and trick my mind that I had sleep. I felt strong again and quickly move on. Riding at wee hours in the morning, with only the sound of your pedal stroke and chain, is so peaceful. There is enough moon light to see the silhouette of farms and houses. Dawn cleared way for fast descent from Gotemba to Numazu with very very few cars. As I reach the coastal town of Numazu before the road turns right to Tokaido Road, I saw a few cyclist stop by a Gyudon place, which I promptly followed. We were told that orders will take some time because they just started the preparation. Few decided to wait and few left. I was with the folks who cannot wait. I just opened my bag for a homemade sandwich and energy bar for breakfast on the saddle. The road to Fuji City was totally free of cars early Sunday morning and quickly arrived at PC3. Along the way, I met again Joe in front a convenient store having breakfast overlooking Mt. Fuji. This will be the last time I see him in this course.

The start of a long climb begins immediately from PC3. The first 10-15 kilometers were beautiful rice paddies, with mighty Mt. Fuji in the background, followed by grasslands and forest. As I was slogging, I met Maki and we climbed together for a while. She is a strong brevet rider that I recognized in past brevet events over the years but never manage to meet or speak. She is a super athlete, who started triathlon 18 years ago and now also in ultra and trail running. She can converse in full sentences while I can barely utter a full sentence while climbing. Those conversation made me forgot the suffering on the climb. She was stopping by Narusawa to support the trail runners and still plan to finish on time.  BTW, she rides a beautiful white Cherubim bike. Waved goodbye and did a solo long descent to Tsuru to PC4.

This is the first time I did the reverse route of K35 from Tsuru. It is easier compared coming from the other direction. This is a familiar territory and I always like this quiet hilly route. As we merge to R20 in Uenohar, a fellow brevet cyclist who was following me commented that I descent fast. I smiled and told him I have a heavy bike and it just drops like stone. The last hill is Odarumi and I was competing with other roadies to race up this hill. My legs still felt fresh and manage to attack near the top. The last reward was a long downhill to Takao and was having fun that I forgot to take the left route but instead went straight to the new tunnel. My first time to pass thru the newly finished tunnel and it was a nice long ride inside. Wide enough not to be bothered with cars. Finally reach the goal around 14:36 after the passing thru crowded Machida Kaido. 

Official time is 16 hours 36 minutes. I heard the fastest finisher is around 13 hours 30+ minutes.

Lemond Sarthe with saddle bag and handlebar bag. (Notice my energy drink!)

Different faces of Mt. Fuji.

Mt. Fuji viewed from Iwabuchi, Fuji City...

Mt. Fuji viewed from Asagiri Koken...

Mt. Fuji viewed from Kamiide, Fujinomiya..

Mt. Fuji viewed from Oshikakubo, Fujinomiya..

Mt. Fuji viewed from Fujigane..

Mt. Fuji viewed from Fuji City at 6:00 AM...

Lastly, a backyard picture of solar eclipse today (7:28AM May 21, 2012).

BRM515 Kazahari

I did managed to find a Tiagra 4600-GS rear derailer at Y's in R1 and installed promptly. My current rear mech setup is Shimano Dyna-Sys XT 11-34T rear sprocket and was a little bit concern if I can use the GS version of Tiagra, with low sprocket limit of 30T. I know makers sometimes quote their spec conservatively so I took the risk. This Tiagra is the only Shimano road groupset I know of to support 30T rear sprocket. It turned out to be OK and shifted perfectly on all gears. I have gotten rid of my SRAM shifter and will be sending the defective shifter for replacement under warranty. My Lemond bike can now be commissioned again...

Installed new downtube shifter.

With a Tiagra derailer...

Another look on the weather the night before the event didn't look promising. I decided to use my other Audax bike, with full fender and wider tires (of course, with a downtube shifter). It is little bit heavy but not an issue with the relax pace. The organizer later called my bike a "truck"!!! Not surprised at all when 99% of the riders were using a road racing bikes for brevet.

Left home early in the rain to the starting point. There were 19 on the entry list but only a handful started (probably just 7-8 riders), split 50-50 beginners/veterans. We all rode together until the first control point. However, we cannot really draft because of the rear wheel muddy water spray directly to the face. The group got separated very quickly on the ascent to Kazahari Toge. I arrived at PC2 around 11:25. I was expecting to have my lunch at this point but unfortunately "Tabayama Michi No Eki" doesn't have a restaurant.

My "truck"... 

Starting point under the cover of R246.

On the return leg from PC2, I joined a group of two seasoned brevet riders (Suzuki-san and Tashiro-san). They invited me later to a gourmet lunch along the River. T-san is a very strong brevet rider and showed me a different way of enjoying the event. What T-san do every event is to research a popular restaurants (yes, plural) along the route and enjoy the food. On this route he took us to Soba Taro (蕎麦太郎) along river. I ordered same food as T-san, which is the Wasabi Croquette (わさびコロッケ). We spend around 40 minutes on this restaurant. Around 10 km after the restaurant, T-san and S-san stopped again for another gourmet food stop. This time, I have excused myself as I'm still full. I realize that this is a good motivation to get stronger for the brevet ride. You can use the extra time to enjoy local stuff rather just endlessly pushing the pedals. I will meet both of them again at Shizuoka 600km brevet at the end of the month.

View from Kazahari Pass.

Soba Taro.

Wasabi Croquette