Month: January 2019
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Tamagawa Course Round Trip
I often ride the Tamagawa Cycling Course, either for itself or as a launching point for another destination. For example, the Otarumi Touge, Okutama and Yokohama routes all use the Tamagawa course as a launching point. When I’m riding the course for itself, though, I usually start at Futako Tamagawa and then choose either to…
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In the bag
There’s a lot of planning and a bit of purchasing to do in preparation for lejog in June. The first big purchase took a bit more effort than expected, including a lot of help from Nana: an Evoc Bike Travel Bag Pro. I already have a bike bag. I bought a nice padded bag for…
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Otarumi Touge
Otarumi Touge (Pass) is a popular cyclists’ destination near Mt. Takao at the border of Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. Naturally, because it’s a mountain pass, getting there involves a bit of climbing. The Halfakid and I had attempted the route last November, but we lost an hour to a mechanical and I was on a…
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Solo snow cycling
I was watching the forecast closely this weekend. At first we were expecting rain and possibly snow on Sunday, but gradually the forecast evolved towards rain Saturday night. That could mean icy roads Sunday morning, so I decided to ride today despite the cold and gloomy skies. I’d only gotten as far as the Halfakid’s…
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The Raleigh Superbe
This would have been very similar to the matched pair of bicycles my father bought for himself and my mother back in the late 1960s: It’s all quite familiar: the green-and-white two-tone paint, Brooks leather saddle, color-matched rear rack, ineffectual silver pump, dynamo hub and rear Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub. One extra not shown here would…
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初走り: First Ride of the New Year
The first ride of the New Year is always something of a landmark event. In the past I’ve typically done my quick jaunt down the Tama river to Haneda, because I can have it done in four or five hours and so not be out in the cold so long. So that’s been something of…