The weather has been cooler this week, with rain, following temperatures touching 30C at the beginning of the week. This morning was positively chilly, with a cold wind under overcast skies. Rather than set off at 8 as I’d intended, I waited until 10, when the temperature had reached 14C, and I wore a long-sleeve jersey over a light vest.

Once underway, I wondered if I’d waited too long or overdressed. I was definitely too warm at times. But there were also chilly periods where the sun was hidden by the clouds and the wind was blowing.

When I reached the Imperial Palace, it was beset by joggers more than tourists. I got lucky with a gap in the flow in front of Otemon gate.

I’d had an upset stomach yesterday, and when Nana asked last night if I’d be riding today I gave her a vague answer. As a result, she hadn’t prepared any of her world-famous onigiri.

Before reaching the Arakawa, I stopped at a convenience store to fill up on goodies for my lunch. I crossed the river and sat in the Stand By Me Park and ate, while trying to stave off the ants who were interested in both me and my lunch.

After lunch I continued on towards Edogawa. As soon as I turned upstream on Kyu Edogawa I was riding into the teeth of the wind. It wasn’t as bad as I’ve experienced on occasion on the Edogawa, but between that and my stomach — which was giving me some warning signs about the convenience store lunch — I decided that was the extent of the day’s wanderings. I backtracked, crossed the Kyu Edogawa for a snap of the Tokyo Disney Resort fountain, and then let Nana know I was on my way home.

Fortunately the way back up the Arakawa was less windy than the neighboring Kyu Edogawa had been. I stopped once to turn on the light on my helmet before rejoining traffic.

At Kudanshita I waited patiently behind a truck until the crosswalk cleared, and then cycled up Kudanzaka in my lowest gear. I was still feeling fresh, especially compared to my return ride last week (which, to be fair, was twice as long) and had no trouble with the climb. I sat on a bench overlooking Chidorigafuchi and ate a chocolate chip cookie. When I finished it was 1:45, so I messaged Nana I’d be home by 3 p.m.

I still felt strong on the final leg of the ride and made good time all the way home, despite waiting two cycles of the light at Yotsuya. Contrary to what I’d told Nana, I arrived home at 2:16 — if that’s not a record time for me from Budokan to home, then it’s very nearly so.

On a moving time of 2:50:54, I averaged 18.0km/h. I wasn’t pushing hard the entire ride, more on the return than in the morning. Given that the lion’s share of the riding was in traffic, it would be hard to improve on that pace.