I’ve been watching today’s forecast for nearly two weeks, with a couple of weather sites (Yahoo and tenki.jp) going back and forth over whether it would rain. About four days ago the two sites seemed to agree on rain, and then two days ago it was cloudy but no rain. This morning the forecast was for overcast skies, with a chance of rain in the evening. Done: I’m riding.

The (old) new saddle took a moment to adjust to. One sits in the B17 (particularly when the tensioning mechanism is broken) but on the C15. But once that first moment had passed, all was good.

I always stop at the same landmarks on this ride and take the same photos, so today I made an effort to get some different angles. The skies were blue as I passed Meiji Jingu Gaien, Akasaka, the Imperial Palace and the financial district. But things clouded up soon after that. By the time I reached Tsukiji, it was fully overcast.

I had my usual stop at Tokyo Big Sight for some of Nana’s world-famous mentaiko onigiri, and then set the course for Ryogoku Kokugikan on Garmie before proceeding. When I first started riding this course (taken from the Bike Tokyo course) some years ago, Ryogoku Kokugikan — the sumo stadium — was a regular feature. But I’ve updated the course over the years, and I think I last went by Ryogoku around 2018. I’d spent a bit of time this morning plotting the course and realized it wasn’t an enormous diversion from my usual route.

The rain started as I arrived at Tokyo University. It didn’t come down hard — I saw the occasional car wiper swiping, and I didn’t get soaked through at any point. The gentle rain continued until I reached Budokan, and then while I was having a final break there, the sun peeked through the clouds again.

I arrived at Budokan about 1:12 p.m. and had a brief rest. I’d originally told Nana I’d be home around 2-3, so now my goal was to get home before 2. Garmie was warning me about the Di2 battery, so I also wanted to get home before that died (although I didn’t think it was a problem). After that I mostly had luck with the lights, and reminded myself to be patient when I had to wait for a light or for a thoughtless driver (or stupid cyclist).

After cooling my heels at the final traffic light at Central Park, I arrived home and stopped Garmie at 1:45 p.m., 4:23:12 after setting out.

When I stopped the clock at 56km, I thought that’s a bit short. It took me switching back and forth between today’s ride and the most recent go-round of this route to realize I’d followed the road around the palace and gone straight into the financial district. Usually I just touch the palace moat before turning off for the National Diet building and the various ministries before coming to a rest at Shiba park, with a view of Tokyo Tower. From there it’s past the famous Zojoji Temple and back to the Palace.

That segment also includes the lion’s share of climbing on this route, so it’s curious I overlooked it.

On a moving time of 4:23:12, I averaged 19.5km/h. That’s very good for what is by and large urban riding. I was getting a bit saddle-weary (but not saddle sore) by the end, but everything was fine overall.

A cacophony of mechanicals

I was thinking I might have to adjust the saddle height and angle, but I seem to have got them right on the first try. There’s been a small clicking noise in time with the pedaling over the past couple of rides which continued today. I was hoping it was the broken saddle but it seems I’m going to have track this one down. In the worst case, it might be time for a new bottom bracket (or at least an adjustment).

The brake rubbing happened at various times throughout the ride. If cleaning the pistons and rebleeding the brakes doesn’t resolve this, it might be time to replace the calipers. I’d hoped they’d last quite a bit longer than this, though.

The headset is still not quite right. I can feel the fork vibrating when I apply the front brake. I’ll have another look.

It’s probably time to replace the chain and rear cassette. I measured the chain for wear recently, and it showed about 50%. I’d expect another 1,000km or so after that, but there were issues today. There’s been an on-and-off noisy shift with a particular cog on the back, from which I suspect a bent tooth. But today I had the chain nearly come off the front, with no provocation, followed by a series of noisy and missed shifts on the rear. It all smoothed out in five minutes or so, but it’s suboptimal to say the least. I have the replacement parts to hand, so it’s just waiting for a rainy day that I’m not at work or on the road otherwise.

In the end the battery got me home without further issue. And yes, I’ve just now swapped it out for the spare and put this battery on the charger.

Today’s ride netted me a couple of Garmin badges: the October Weekend 40K, for riding 40km between October 25 and 27, and the October Tour, for racking up more than 400km during October — 443.29 km in fact.