With just one day to go, I got in my first ride of December, and most likely my last ride of 2025. The day dawned cold, and I slow-rolled the start to allow things to warm up a bit. The forecast high was 16C, and I knew if I was dressed for 2C at the outset then I’d be too hot at midday.

As a result I was much too easy-going about preparation, and got on the road almost an hour later than planned. Part of the delay was mounting a new trunk bag on the rear rack — I had to adjust the mounting bracket width with the help of a paper caliper — and then once I started off the rear derailleur was stuck and I couldn’t pedal the wheel. I must have given either the shifter or the derailleur itself a knock during the prep, because the chain was stretched across four or five cogs and wouldn’t move until I manually pulled the derailleur away and reseated the chain. After two tries at that I was finally on the way.

Back in the saddle

I was no sooner on the road than I felt immediately at home on the bike again. I felt pretty strong on the 9m climb up towards Koshu Kaido along Chuo Koen, and that feeling stayed with me for some time.

After Meiji Jingu Gaien, there’s a dip followed by a climb, then a turn past Geihinkan (the former Akasaka Palace), and then another fast dip and a climb back up before reaching the Imperial Palace. In both cases I missed the green light at the bottom of the climb and so had to make my way slowly up under my own power. At the edge of the Imperial Palace I decided to bypass the Diet building and government ministries in light of my late start, shaving about 5km (and incidentally a couple of more climbs) off my route.

From the Imperial Palace, I mounted up from the curb on the non-drive side of the bike, and something didn’t settle in right. I hadn’t gone far before it was clear that one of the round, hairy boiz was trapped between the saddle and my thigh. A quick tug at my tights at a subsequent light only seemed to make things worse, and I was soon limping along with one knee extended to avoid crushing one of the pair.

I continued in this fashion as far as the Bank of Tokyo, where I leaned the bicycle against a tree, turned my back to the building (hoping to avoid any security cameras) and gave my tights a thorough tugging and reshuffling. After that I was able to mount up and continue on without wincing with each pedal stroke.

Possibly the longest line I’ve ever seen

After that things settled down and I was able to proceed towards the bay without further incident, although Kachidoki Bridge presented a formidable challenge — a jogger was keeping pace with me on the way up the archway. Not long after stopping for a snap of Rainbow Bay bridge I passed under a pedestrian promenade and it was lined end to end with people. “Glad I’m not going that way today,” I thought — a bit too soon as it happened. When I pulled up at my usual 7-11 near Tokyo Big Sight, the line of people had snaked back and continued along the walkway next to the bench where I was enjoying a couple of large nikuman.

From a security guard’s armband I was able to make out コミケット and so I looked that up — Comic Market. They’re holding their 107th convention at Tokyo Big Sight today and tomorrow. And I can attest they had a full turnout, with the line to enter stretching several kilometers.

Keep on keepin’ on

From Big Sight there are a couple of bridges to climb back towards Toyosu, and I was really lagging after the second one. I briefly toyed with the idea of heading straight home from there, but on the following descent I caught my breath, realized I was basically OK and still making pretty good time. I continued on my way. There’s a long, bum-aching stretch to reach Tokyo Skytree along the Sumida river, with plenty of traffic lights, but once I’m going in that direction there’s nothing for it but to continue on.

After the challenging climb up to Tokyo Daigaku (after starting from a stop at the bottom again dammit!) I was disappointed to find the famous Akamon being refurbished, with completion set for 2017. (Nana would say this is my curse.) I left Tokyo Daigaku behind about 2:20, thinking I’d make Budokan in less than 30 minutes, after passing Tokyo Dome. In fact I made it in 20 minutes, climbing very slowly up Kudanzaka.

After finishing off a baumkuchen and most of the remaining water, I checked the time: 2:50. I let Nana know I’d be home between 3:30 and 4 and set out one last time. Did I have one climb remaining from a dead stop at the bottom? Yes, I did. And I made it, thankful for my jogging-pace lowest gear.

The rest was traffic lights and dodging idiot drivers and idiot cyclists and nursing a somewhat painful knee. I stopped outside the tower and messaged Nana I was home at 3:34.

With a late start and comfort issues along the way, I took my time. On a moving time of 3:05:03, I averaged 17.4km/h.

New gear

I had two bits of new gear for the ride: the trunk bag mentioned above, and a new Garmin GPS unit.

The trunk bag — or onigiri containment system — is not meant to be a regular piece of equipment. I want it as an overflow bag when I’m on tour, particularly for the CPAP machine, which I discovered in Ohio is an awkward fit for the panniers. The trunk bag has a handy carrying strap and a quick release connection, meaning I can store valuables in it and quickly bring them with me if I make a stop — at a café for lunch, for example.

(No actual onigiri involved in today’s test ride, as I hadn’t informed Nana I’d be cycling today.)

Once the initial adjustment with the paper caliper was done, the bag worked fine, holding snugly to the rack in use and removing quickly when desired. On the other hand, it makes mounting and dismounting very awkward. When used in conjunction with panniers, I may get in the habit of tilting the bike nearly on its side before stepping over it.

The new Garmin worked without a hiccup. It recognized the satellites immediately. The display was bright, with very saturated colors, and I was able to read it (mostly) even with my single-focal length riding shades.

I’d thought at first it wasn’t keeping track of 5km splits, and thought I’d have a look at that during one of the stops. I finally chanced to glance down at it just as it was signaling the 8th 5km split (for 40km total), and realized the truth: I’d turned the notification alarm down too far when setting up the unit in the relative quiet of my den.

The Di2 sensor had connected right from the start, with the settings synced from the old Garmin, and I was pleased to see that the gear ratios had synced also — saving me the trouble of inputting them manually again.

The only remaining issue was the lack of notifications from social media — for example when Nana messaged me while en route. I’ll have to see if this was also me not noticing the quiet beep, or if I need to resync with the phone.

I didn’t use the Garmin for navigation on today’s ride because I know the route well. So that experience remains to be tested.

Going out with a whimper

I spent far less time on the bikes this year than in previous years, racking up only 55% of the kilometers I’d done in 2024 and breaking my four-year streak of riding the year in miles. Some of this was up to the weather and the amount of time the bikes were being built or serviced in the Workshop in the Sky, but more of it was lethargy that increased in line with my decline in fitness. This is obviously a vicious spiral, and I’ll have to get back in the saddle for the Year of the Horse.

	Kilometers	Miles
2017*	1,081.72	672
2018	2,168.55	1,347
2019	3,464.54	2,152
2020	2,731.95	1,697
2021	4,054.48	2,519
2022	3,539.53	2,199
2023	3,681.56	2,287
2024	3,303.49	2,052
2025	1,813.69	1,127

Here are some highlights of rides in 2025:

• February
  • Very late 初走り
• March
  • Teganuma and Back
• April
  • Sakura Century
• May
  • Something to do
• June
  • Before the heat rolls in
• July
  • Sunday I’m In Love
• August
  • Baptism
• September
  • Tohoku Terminated
• October
  • We’re back!
• November
  • Edogawa overcast
• December
  • Breaking the Lethargy Habit

In all, I had three rides with José this year. He’s likely to be even more busy next year than this, so we’ll have to see how that goes.

In addition to the rides, I had two major projects in 2025:

• Building Hornsby to replace Dionysus
• New wheels and a major overhaul for Kuroko in the Jumping Through Hoops project