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... 

Of the many passes of Green Line

Solo ride on the popular 'Green Line' in the rain. Lust greeneries, mountain passes, narrow roads, very few cars and bunch of trail runners makes it an enjoyable ride.

Some of the many mountain passes of Green Line

Gando Toge & Lake Tsukui

I have been thinking for a while to ride the closed forest road on the north side of Lake Tsukui and took this oppurtunity on my ride to Gando Toge (巌道峠) using my cross bike.

It was a cloudy day and left early and plan to be back for lunch (or late lunch). I took the quickest path to the wild west using Tsurukawa Kaido and then followed the nice cycling/walking path just north of Machida Kaido until Route 16. Did a small diversion ride to Lake Shiroyama for a quick hill climb before Lake Tsukui.

The view from Lake Tsukui is great as usual with the nice twisty small road. Now for the challenging part of crossing the closed forest road, the first problem is always, 'how do you get your bike across the closed gate?'... I solved that quickly with the small opening on the right side, just small enough for people to squeeze themselves in rather than lifting the bike over the fence. The road was really bad with remnants of past small avalanches. It took great focus to traverse this small wet and slippery stone pathway and have to walk a lot, not to mention spider webs. I was rewarded with a nice waterfall flooding the road. I probably go back again during the dry winter months and without the hassle of thick vegetations.

As a transition to Gando Toge, I took the nice hilly backroads south of Lake Sagami. The climb to the pass was very nice and I have the road all by myself. There were part of the climb that was pretty steep, probably greater than 15%. GPS slope reading didn't show because the climb was too slow on the steep portion. The descent was technical, with stones, roads made into river and lots of twisty steep descents. Though the view was very nice.

I finished the ride with the hilly portion of Doshi Michi and passing a few roads off the main highway.

Ogano-machi (Oku-Chichibu) Loop

Did a half day ride around Ogano Town in Saitama Prefecture on my cross bike. The course passes thru beautiful forest, rivers and mountains. I started at Ryokami Michi no Eki (両神道の駅) and followed a clockwise route to Otaki, then follow Nakatsu river taking me to an old mining town Nichitsu and loop back using R299.  This route also takes me to two mountain passes.

From Ryokami Michi no Eki, I rode K35 going south and turned west before the tunnel and followed a small tributary with a 15 kilometers of tough dirt forest road (Ontakesan Rindo) peaking at around 900+ meters. I have the road all by myself expect for a couple of motocross riders, who were racing on this track. The gravel is loose and lots of mid-size gravels making it difficult to have traction.  After the very steep descent, I joined the major road R140, which connects to Yamanashi via a long tunnel, and pass thru scenic Otaki village. I stopped by the bridge connecting to an school and took a few pictures of a 'small' river (Arakawa River). R140 splits into two and I followed the north road and then to K210 following Nakatsu River.  Along K210, there were remnants of the old road and I ride it as much as I can. These old roads, not passable by cars, is dedicated for hikers or walkers and is rewarded by picturesque views of the gorge. Would like to come back again during fall to view the kaleidoscope autumn colors.

Upstream of Nakatsu River is the old mining town of Nichitsu, mostly abandoned but still working with minimal activities. 'Do not enter' sign dotted the road. After the town, a long dark, cold and wet tunnel brings you to the other side of the mountain for a long descent to Chichibu. The entrance of the tunnel was a little bit scary because of dense fog blowing out of it. I hesitated for a moment....

Start of Ontakesan Rindo　（御岳山林道）

15 kilometers of off road. This part is relatively good road.

Still climbing....

Abandoned shelter on the steep descent.

Shot from Otaki bridge (大滝）

Takizawa Dam (滝沢ダム）

Old bridge on the old road...

Old post office at old mining town Nichitsu.

No entry abounds in front of deserted buildings...

Dense fog blowing out of the tunnel after visiting the deserted town...

Inside the tunnel... cold, wet and chilly...

Resting on top of the mountain pass.

Hoyo Temple (法養寺）at Ryokami

Small garden at Ryokami.

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

BRM512 Kazahari 200 km

Before the brevet, I did the usual preparation:

• Q-sheet printed and laminated (check)
• Clothes (check)
• Bike maintenance (check)
• Participant Agreement Form (check)
• Entry list (Opps... my name is not on the list!!!)

Hmm... my name wasn't on the BRM512 entry list. Kind of confused a little bit. A quick check on Sports Entry website confirmed that I actually registered for the BRM515 (Tue) not the BRM512 (Sat) event. The course and distance is the same. I thought I have registered on the Saturday event. Anyway, I sent an email to the organizer if I can still attend the BRM512 and they confirmed that I could, so got a late entry. I cannot move my BRM515 registration to Sat, so I'm both registered for the 200 km event. I though I can use the Tuesday event as a backup (and I actually will be using it... more on that later). The organizer updated their entry list on their website and now that I can put a [check] on the entry list, I have confirmed that I'm ready for the event.

Woke up around 4:30 and had a quick cereal breakfast. I made sure I pack my homemade energy bar and left home around 5:10. The starting point is around 10 km from home and arrived 5:40. The morning briefing has already started. I quickly registered and received my brevet card.

At meeting point before the 6:00AM start.

The bike I used for this brevet.

Feeling good...

The ride to the first checkpoint was uneventful and was confident on the route (due to previous week reconn ride). There were a bunch of riders so we made sure we ride in waves of 5-10 riders so not to interfere much with the traffic. After many traffic lights, reached the first checkpoint (46 km)  after 2:15 hours. Quickly got my receipt and off to the climb to Kazahari Pass. I felt good on the climb and found my rhythm.

Then around midway to the pass at 485m, while shifting down, I heard a load crack on the right shifter. I tried to shift down again but the lever is not pulling the cable. I think have broken the shift lever. I can shift up but not down and while trying to figure out what was wrong, I shifted all the way to the top gear. That was a mistake that cause me to DNF (Did Not Finish). Adjusting the rear mech limit stops could only bring me two gears down (15T) and there was no way I can climb Kazahari Pass with this gearing. I decided to turn back and call the organizer I DNF. I was not happy with broken shifter. I have been using this SRAM groupset for only just a year. Not sure if this is a manufacturing issue or something else.

While riding down, I was pondering replacing my shifter with the more traditional downtube shifters. They are bullet proof and simple mechanically and could last a long time. I can only worry about broken cables, which should be easy to repair on the road. I stopped by Y's Road at Tamasai and they didn't have the stock parts I wanted to buy. 

As I wanted to ride this bike for few more brevet this month, I'm going for quick modification as follow:

1. Replace the rear derailer with Tiagra.
2. Cut the shift cable on the handlebar and only use the SRAM brifter for braking.
3. Install a downtube front and rear shifter.

Now, I just need to find a shop that has the Tiagra derailer.

The cause of my DNF... broken shift lever (SRAM RIVAL)

Another view.

Got stuck with 15T...

Golden Week

Part I: Ootaki Village (王滝村)

Ootaki village is located just south of Mt. Ontake, which is the second highest volcano in Japan situated northeast of Nagoya and just recently changed status to 'active volcano'. Ootaki is the place of the famous 100km Cross Mountain Bike race (Self-Discovery Adventure). I did the 100 km loop a couple times in the past few years and also joined 2011 100 km race. Last year race was cut to 75 km due to heavy rainfall. I finished 290 out of the 307 finishers despite a broken chain on the last 8 km and have to finish by foot (and pushing the bike)...

I kind of like this place with the little hamlet overlooking the lake and always try to visit at least once a year. I wanted to join the race this spring but unfortunately conflicted with the 600 km brevet schedule. I try to see if I can join the autumn race.

Did some fun ride along the valley...

Recently created lake due to an earthquake in Ootaki (王滝村）

Spring is just arriving in Ootaki.

Next stop was Narai-juku (奈良井宿). This stop along Nakasendo had the highest spot along the Kiso route going thru the Torii Pass (鳥居峠). I followed the old trail to the top of the pass with my cross bike and found the route to be narrow and steep. One can easily fall to the deep ravines if not careful. It sure came across as one of the difficult pass of Nakasendo.

Famous bridge in Narai NakaSendo (奈良井 中山道)

On the way to Torii Toge (鳥居峠)

Taken from Torii Toge famous Tea House

Torii Toge

Full blossoms at Narai Station (奈良井駅)

奈良井宿

Reliable Sturdy Work Horse.

Part II:
In spite of the rainy forecast from mid-week, I pushed thru the plan to cycle to Gunma for a couple of days during the golden week gap (aka, working days). This is a back to back endurance ride (long and slow ride) to help build my endurance for the upcoming long brevet. It also turned out to be a good training for riding in the rain... probably too much of it.

I like riding in the rain and getting wet, as long as it is not freezing. I was happy that the temperature forecast wasn't that cold. I bought along a rain pants in case I needed the warmth and I ended up not using it. I was happy with the rain wear I had (for three season riding in the rain).

The Good:

• Helmet rain cover
• Clear eye protector
• Rain Jacket with vents
• Base layer
• Water sports gloves
• Shimano cycling sandal

The Bad:

• Short front fender mud flaps
• Feeding while riding in the rain

With the default length of the SKS front mud flaps, there are still HUGE amount of craps hitting the bottom brackets, crankset and my feet. I brought a thin rubber and extended the mud flaps to almost near the ground. This sorted out the front fender. As for the rear...

On the way to Gunma... rain, rain and rain...

Mid-way to Gunma with a rain break.

Cycling feet after 10 hours of continuous rain.