After weeks of bad weather, mechanicals and prior commitments, the stars aligned today for a long ride with José. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit more than I have been recently, but without committing to too much effort. With those parameters in mind I decided on Edogawa. When it’s not too windy, it’s a low-effort ride, and we can choose where we want to turn around.

For a change, I had confirmation from José while still preparing that he was up and getting ready. I set out not long after my target of 7 a.m. and was on the road in slightly chilly conditions under overcast skies. I was fine with a windbreaker over my jersey. I had good luck with the lights en route to the Imperial Palace, and arrived at Nihonbashi well before our agreed meeting time of 8.

After the meet-up with José and the usual stop at the last convenience store before Arakawa, we were soon on the Kyu-Edogawa and working our way to the Edogawa. The weather remained mild, if a bit cooler than forecast, and when we finally emerged alongside the river proper, it was into the slightest of headwinds.

Another onigiri done gone

I’d been telling José we’d stop at the park by the Tora-san café, and he was confused by that. “Isn’t that on Arakawa?” “No, wait and see.” He soon realized he wasn’t clearly distinguishing the two rivers in his mind. We arrived at the park not long after I marked 40km done, and sat down to an early lunch of Nana’s world-famous onigiri: kombu tororo and umeboshi. While José was performing his magic disappearing act on three onigiri in rapid succession, he allowed that he’d pretty much reached his riding goal for the day.

Weighed down by Fortified with bellies full of onigiri, we turned towards home, the slight wind now at our backs. Our greatest worry was where to find a public restroom on the way. There were many dotting the course by the river, adjacent to each baseball or soccer playing field. But most of them were surrounded by swarms of auto traffic — we went more than 5km before finding one where the traffic was sparse enough for us to risk straying off the path.

As we neared the confluence with the Kyo-Edogawa we were greeted by an unexpected sight: past the river, past the city, there was majestic Fujisan rising out of the mists. We stopped for a quick snap before continuing.

A rather tender subject

As the Magic Kingdom hove into view and we turned along the pathways leading to Kasai Rinkai Park and Arakawa, José was making noises about being nearly home. Yes, I reminded him, so long as we can get you there without you falling on your shoulder! When we got to the portion of the path in question we joked about how curvy it was and strewn with obstacles. (It’s straight as an arrow and free of any obstruction.)

Back in traffic, I was tempted to turn the lights on. But I wanted to make sure that the current setting, auto, was working as expected, so I kept my hands off the switch. After another pitstop we continued to make good time through city traffic back towards home.

After leaving José at Nihonbashi I continued on my way towards Budokan. When I reached Kudanzaka I was still feeling remarkably fresh — yes, my bum was a little tender, but nothing to put me off extra kilometers at this point. My thighs were good and so I soldiered on up the hill, albeit in my lowest gear. It was a nice contrast to my last few visits, where I simply gave up and pushed the bike up the hill.

The X Factor

After the obligatory snaps, I sat down in the park to eat the remaining food picked up at a convenience store along the way. As I ate I wondered: why was the Kudanzaka well within my abilities today (and why did I still feel so fresh), when on my last three attempts I wasn’t even tempted to try and pedal it? I could certainly credit our frequent stops and generous fueling, but another reason presented itself as the winning factor: the temperature. The forecast had been for a high of 23C, but in fact it had just barely touched 20. And at no point did I feel the heat leeching the strength from my body.

At 1:44 p.m., my final snack done and with some water left in my bottle, I messaged Nana I would by home by 2:45 and set out one last time. I continued along the way to marvel how good I felt: hands, bum and thighs all OK. I’d had a bit of stiffness in my neck along Eitai Dori, but that was gone as well now. I simply had to get home, and could take my own sweet time doing so.

The final ride home did not present any challenges. I was able to confirm that the dynamo lights were lighting up when the conditions required (including when I garaged the bike). At 2:22 p.m. I messaged Nana and José that I was home, and not long after that I’d downed a beer and was resting in the bath.

On a moving time of 4:32:55, I’d averaged 18.8km/h, which is really good considering I was loafing along all day. The record shows we spent nearly 2 hours 40 minutes resting, eating, chatting — and waiting in traffic, of course. For this I have no regrets.

Mechanicals

Following my rerouting of the chain, Kuroko was fine and I spent the ride enjoying the Silence of the Cogs. José’s bike meanwhile seems to be suffering from a slow leak in the rear tire. We’d filled it up at the start and stopped again about 25km from the end to top it up. He realized it’s probably time to replace the tube.