I was determined to get out the bike yesterday. The forecast was for a warm day with some moderate wind. The only fly in the ointment was the temperature in the morning: about 3C. I finally got underway at 9:50, which was later than I’d planned but not as late as it might have been — almost an hour earlier than my last ride in December.

初走り

Discounting a brief commute last weekend, this ride was my 初走り — the first ride of the new year. I’m ahead of my 2025 game already, when I skipped all of January and finally got on the bike on 2 February.

When Nana asked where I was headed, I already had Kawagoe in mind. But from experience I knew that might be fighting into a headwind. So I told her I was going to Arakawa and then would decide based on the wind direction.

While taking this photo on the levee, there was absolutely no wind at all, so I headed upstream. On the course down by the river, there was a mild crosswind. It might have taken one gear off my speed, but certainly it was no reason to turn back.

I still wasn’t fully committed to the ride when I reached my first rest spot at Asaka Weir. I’d have liked to have one of Nana’s world-famous onigiri at this point — it was about 11 a.m. — but the odor coming off the local farms put me off. Instead I continued on my way. As I cycled, I realized I wanted to chase Nantaisan (a 2,484m mountain in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture), which was visible from the top of the levee — however faintly in the gathering haze.

At the entrance to Kawagoe, right where the Iruna river meets the Arakawa, there’s been some construction blocking the cycling course for more than a year. I hadn’t been up this way in nearly a year, but I was pretty sure the construction was finished. The impression was reinforced by the related traffic signs having been removed. When I emerged at the site of the previous closure, I was greeted by the sight of a new driving school. (Oddly, though, I didn’t see any signs for it.)

I was getting very hungry by the time I reached Kawagoe Sports Park, as well as a bit fatigued. I considered stopping at the park and having lunch, then heading home (thinking about my target of finishing by 4 p.m.), but then I thought how silly it would be to come this far and give up just a handful of kilometers from the goal. In fact I reached Koedo in just over 20 minutes after that. As usual on a sunny weekend, the area was packed with visitors. I did my best not to get in anyone’s way while I got my snap and got out.

Back at the park I ate three mentaiko onigiri without pausing, washed down with a half-liter of Pokari, and messaged Nana just after 1 p.m. that I was on my way. I was happy at first to find I was benefiting from the wind, but that changed not long after I passed the driving school. Suddenly I was facing into a very stiff headwind. Garmin said it was 13-14km/h, and coming from pretty much the direction I was headed.

Needless to say, this put a bit of a crimp in my style. My pace slowed to a crawl and I focused on keeping my neck and shoulders relaxed, maintaining circulation in my hands and feet and butt. I continued on like this for more than 15km, taking a break whenever my hands and bum started screaming. My slowest 5km split for the downriver run was 11.4km/h.

For the last couple of kilometers the river turns almost due east, and at last the wind let up. My pace increased to around 24km/h, which is typical on a flat road.

I arrived back at my favorite sign just as a little league baseball game had finished. The climb from the cycling course up to the top of the levee was chock-a-block with cars and boys on bicycles. It was hard to keep my patience.

After taking the snap, I found a spot under the Toda Bridge where I could sit and eat the final onigiri before heading back into traffic. At about 2:50 I messaged Nana I was on the way home.

And that was it. It’s a downhill run to the tower from there and my only concern was the traffic. At 3:56 I wheeled Kuroko into the bicycle parking and messaged Nana I was home.

It’s been four years since I rode to Kawagoe for 初走り. My riding time on that occasion was more than 20 minutes shorter than now. On a moving time of 4:45:45, I averaged 18.4km/h. And given the wind, I’m very happy with that.