Today’s ride was a group event arranged by Grand Cycle Tokyo and took us over two bridges that are usually off-limits to cyclists: Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Gate Bridge. I usually stop for a photo of Rainbow Bridge when I’m doing the Tokyo Landmarks route, and more recently I’ve come up with a route that takes me under one end of Tokyo Gate Bridge.

The reception opened in Odaiba this morning at 6:30, with the first group of riders scheduled to depart at 7:30. Splitting the difference, I set a target of arriving at 7. Working backwards from that, I came up with a 5:45 departure, to meet up with José at 6:20 at Kabukiza.

I’d asked José to message me when he woke up, and still hadn’t heard from him when it was time for me to get on the road. I ran just a few minutes late (which for me is on time for a bike departure), including an attempt to phone José, and finally got underway at 5:53. I made good time through Shinjuku and then along the Imperial Palace, arriving at Kabukiza at 6:30.

Meanwhile, I’d finally got a message from José that he’d awoken at 6:18 and was dashing to get ready. It’s a good thing he doesn’t live far — we met up about 6:50 and immediately fell in behind a line of riders en route to Odaiba. (We could recognize from their bib numbers they were heading for the same event.)

The Long and Winding Road

I hadn’t really understood how large the event was until we arrived at the reception, which was held in a large parking lot. There were rows of tents for rental cycles, and more tents for tonjiru soup at the end of the ride. We joined a snaking line of cyclists walking at a snail’s pace while guides with megaphones shouted repeatedly for us to have our lights on. I was hoping no one was looking too closely — at the pace we were walking, Kuroko’s dynamo-powered headlight wasn’t lit (but the taillight was gleaming).

Our route to the start of the ride wended out of the parking lot, down a brief stretch of road, and then onto a path through a park which led us to the edge of Tokyo Bay. We inched forward, with more helpers shouting instructions to us or wishing us a safe and happy journey.

When we at last arrived at the starting line, we’d taken almost exactly one hour to walk just about 1.5km.

Rainbow Bridge

(We’d been sternly told not to stop along the way to take photos — only bike-mounted cameras allowed. I didn’t bother with the GoPro and so have few photos from the ride.)

The ramp up to Rainbow Bridge was very crowded. I tried to make my way forward without being too aggressive, and knowing that some of the slower riders I was passing early in the climb could well overtake me as we neared the top. It wasn’t long before we got to the end of the ramp and moved onto the bridge proper, and at that point the rise was very gradual. And this was the first moment I clearly saw that the bridge had been totally closed to motor traffic. It was just bicycles everywhere as we took over the pavement.

We made a U-turn before reaching the far end of the bridge and then were quickly descending. I was taking care on the descent with overtaking some slower riders, and I lost track of José. I was sure I was ahead and so slowed and looked over my shoulder from time to time. I passed through the first tunnel (less than 1km) and emerged blinking in the sunlight — still no sign of José. Finally as I was approaching the entrance to the second tunnel, he messaged: Are you behind me? I replied that I’d thought I was ahead. I let him know I was at the entrance to the second tunnel, and then a guide stopped to ask if I was OK. I explained I’d lost track of my son.

At that point I figured I was just losing time and I entered the Tokyo Port Waterfront Tunnel, 3.4km long. I got up a lot of speed descending into the tunnel and kept up the momentum for the climb out at the far end. As I was emerging I got another message from José: he was ahead of me and would wait for me at the first aid station.

We quickly met up. I wanted to use the restroom but the line was very long. Instead we continued onwards to the Tokyo Gate Bridge, stopping just before the bridge at a small trailer restroom at the side of the road.

The climb up Tokyo Gate Bridge isn’t hugely challenging; it just seems it will never end. In fact the roadway is just a bit higher than that of the Rainbow bridge. As we sped down the descent we joked about having to turn around and come right back up, but in fact the route took us around a long stretch through a park with a rest stop before we returned over Gate Bridge and onwards towards the goal.

We were both feeling it in the thighs by the time we’d traversed the Gate Bridge for the second time. José has not been on the bike for some time. He’s been lifting, and did power squats just yesterday. But he hasn’t been stretching properly following his time in the gym.

When we got to the finish we took one look at the line for the tonjiru and decided to go to a nearby convenience store instead. After wolfing down a few treats (José’s first food for the day), we set off for home.

Just about 3km from the finish line, on the way home, I stopped for a photo of Rainbow Bridge. And coming to a stop, José suddenly pulled muscles in both his thighs. I waited patiently and offered support while he stretched, ever so carefully, until he was ready to continue.

We parted ways again at Kabukiza. I killed the navi at this point — I’d had it on to get from Odaiba to Toyosu, but now I knew the way home and it wasn’t quite the shortest route. When I got to the Imperial Palace I turned to continue around the palace grounds to Budokan as usual.

I arrived at Budokan shortly after 12 and messaged Nana that I would be home about 1. (I’d originally told her I’d be home before noon, but that was before I spent an hour walking from reception to the starting line.) I was pretty done in by this point and just took it easy on the way home, arriving at 12:44.

Garmin and Strava usually agree about total elapsed time and distance ridden (they’re working from the same data), but they often disagree about the moving time (vs time spent waiting at lights, eating onigiri, etc.). This time Strava appears to have counted the hour we were shuffling along with our bikes to the start line as moving time, while Garmin does not.

Based on Garmin’s moving time of 4:19:59, I averaged 16.5km/h. That’s not bad considering we were riding in a massive group, and we were often required to stop and wait for a mass start (e.g., after an aid station break).

Did we have fun? Certainly. Will we do it again? Certainly not. The thing about group rides is they frequently involve groups. Today’s ride gave us the opportunity to cross Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Gate Bridge, and to enjoy stunning views from the top (even if we couldn’t stop to photograph them).

Fujisan was a frequent companion during today’s ride, but we didn’t really have the opportunity to stop and get snaps. I finally got the chance after I’d returned home and had a bath, and Nana called me to the balcony to see the sunset.