I’d intended to ride yesterday, but hadn’t slept well and so relaxed at home all day. I slept much better last night but still awoke feeling tired and listless. I spent some time staring at the map, wondering if there was a shorter (and less trafficked) route from home to the Tamagawa. And then while back-tracking over that I noticed a good-sized park not far away, Zenpukuji Ike.

It took me a while to realize I’d been there before, on a few occasions, but always by car or train. And then while examining the route I noticed that the Zenpukuji river, which flows from the pond, joins up with the Kanda river and that runs past my residence. So rather than plot out a route beforehand, I decided to just follow the river, take it easy and see to what extent I could stay on the riverside paths and out of traffic.

After adding Zenpukuji Ike as a destination in Garmin, I set out along the river path. Of course the Garmin kept trying to steer me into traffic, but I could ignore it and just follow the river. The path was alternately cobbled and paved, not overly wide, and had a brace of wickets to maneuver every 50m or so when it crossed a street. Occasionally I would come across some construction or a section where there simply was no path, and there I would make a brief foray into traffic before returning to the river.

Soon after branching from the Kanda river to Zenpukuji, I spotted The Great Sacred Hall of Risshō Kōseikai, which gave me a good sense of the direction in which I was headed. The river path here varied from wide, newly maintained cobbles to narrow, rather sketchy pavement. Then I entered Wadabori park and had a smoothly paved cycling course separated from the pedestrian path — for the most part. At one crossing I didn’t notice the gift from the doggy right between the wickets until it was too late. Fortunately there was a section immediately following with a mixture of leaves, pine needles and sawdust, and riding through this had the intended effect.

After leaving the park I came to a section where the path squeezed quite narrowly between the river and the neighboring houses, making it unsuitable for cycling. Two pedestrians would have found it challenging to pass in that narrow space. I diverted onto the roadway for a few hundred meters and then tried the river again: same sign — a very narrow path not suited to cycling. I took my bearings at that point and decided to let the Garmin guide me through traffic to the goal. This it did without much fuss, apart from trying to guide me on a road for motor vehicles only near Ogikubo station.

The pond proved to be a good goal for the day. Tranquil, and with plenty of shade from the sun that was just starting to emerge from the overcast sky. I’d stopped at a convenience store just 1km before arriving at the pond, so I had a couple of salsa dogs and a bottle of Pokari to top up my energy. Then I continued around the park, looking for the various sights. Unfortunately one of the sights I’d been looking forward to — the Osonoi Waterfall — was cordoned off from the public, and I could barely get in an oblique shot from behind the barrier.

Straight return

Once I’d passed Ogikubo station on my way to the pond, I realized I was on Ome Kaido, and I knew the Garmin would just take me home that way if I asked for the shortest route back. I’m sure it would be fine — not an unbelievable amount of traffic racing along and delivery trucks parked in the bike lane every 50m, oh no … While I swatted mosquitos biting at my legs, I texted Nana that I was on my way home and resigned myself to the autobahn.

It was fine. I had more to worry about from other cyclists than from the drivers. I wasn’t tired at all and pushed the pace. From the time I joined Ome Kaido it took almost exactly 30 minutes to get back to Nakano Sakaue, for an average pace of 17km/h even including the time spent waiting at lights.

The ride turned out to be perfect for my mood and energy level today. I was home at 11:21, when the temperature was pushing 28C, so I beat the hottest part of the day. I might return to Zenpukuji Ike, but I may have a proper gander at Street View before I do to work out where I can follow the river and where I should muddle with the traffic on the paved roads.