I had plans to cycle to Kawagoe today, but got a late start after going back to bed after breakfast. Instead I set out on the Tokyo Landmarks ride.

Right from the start I knew I was tired. My thighs were OK, but I was fatigued overall. It’s been quite a week. There are not a lot of climbs on the route but a couple are steepish, and I wondered if I would make them.

After Jingu Gaien it’s a lot of up-down past the Tokyo Diet and the ministries. At Aoyama-Itchome, knowing there was construction midway up the climb, I didn’t even try to push it but just got off the bike at the bottom and walked leisurely to the top. From there it was past Roppongi and then a long downhill to Shiba Koen. I was looking forward to a relaxing rest, only to find a festival in full swing.

Hungry

I worked my way carefully through the crowd until I found an area in the shade where I could sit down after propping Kuroko against a nearby tree. It was nearly 10:30 and I was hungry, so I ate a couple of Nana’s world-famous onigiri.

As I was eating, a group of about five small children (I’m guessing 2-4 years old) spied me and began staring at me with huge round eyes, as if they were famished. Sorry, kids. I don’t have enough for everyone. Their parents ignored me and instead got the children to sit down nearby and have some juice.

While I rested, I took stock of my condition. It was about 24C and I was sweating freely, but I was fine with that and assumed I’d be fine with the forecast high of 28C. On the other hand, it was very bright — bright enough I was starting to get a headache despite my visor and sunglasses. I knew that I could continue riding at a leisurely pace, but I would be pushing the bike up more than a few climbs.

Shortcut

From Shiba Koen it’s a couple of kilometers straight to the Imperial Palace. I passed a couple of much younger men in Bora kit (didn’t see what bikes they had), and one of them smiled broadly and gave me a thumb’s up.

As I proceeded around the palace, I took stops every few hundred meters to photograph the many gates and yagura. And I realized I could simply continue around, and then on to Kudanzaka and Budokan. From there it would be a short ride home.

I dismounted and pushed the bike up the sidewalk at Kudanzaka until I reached Tayasumon. After getting my snaps and drinking a bit of water, I pedaled the more gentle slope to Kudanzaka Park at the top of the hill. I took my time there sitting on a shaded bench, finishing up the onigiri and water. I watched as a group of about six riders appeared through the Tayasumon gate, and then cycled up the hill and turned to pass by me.

At 11:30 I sent Nana the photos of Chidorigafuchi so she would know where I was, and said I’d be home by 1. There were still a couple of dips by Hanzomon and I wasn’t sure how they would go. I was fine getting over them in the end, and even made the light at the top of the second one that I invariably hit red.

After that I continued home at a leisurely pace, looking for places in the shade to wait for red lights. As I neared Shinjuku station I stuck to the marked bike lanes and respected all the lights. Once clear of the station it occurred to me that I should stroll the length of Central Park to get a view of the ajisai, after which I would nearly be home.

Even with my stroll through the park, I arrived home at 12:16. On a moving time of 1:53:31, I averaged 15.9km/h — certainly a relaxed pace. Garmie reports an average temperature of 33.5C for the ride, but that’s the result of leaving black plastic out in the hot sun rather than a reading of the actual temperature. Weather Underground says the high was 27C.