Today marks the beginning of a three-day streak of rain, which motivated me to get out on the bike yesterday. Although I was up early, my stomach wasn’t quite right and so I let Nana sleep in a bit. I put aside earlier plans for a long ride and set out after 9 a.m. with a nonbiri jaunt in mind.

Yamate Dori is always a lot of traffic, and yesterday was no exception. A policeman had parked his bicycle on the side of the road just where it narrowed for a crosswalk, forcing me farther out into the lane to get around it. Then I had an infuriating game of tag with a city bus that lasted over the span of three bus stops. But I arrived at the Arakawa without incident.

After a brief rest I descended from the dike right into a mass of puddles from the previous night’s rain. It was very much the same as in this video from 2021 (start at the 2:20 mark). I’m always amused by the dilettantes who tip-toe through the puddles on their classic steel Italian bikes, while I go blasting through on Kuroko’s 42mm gravel tires.

I only enjoyed the wind’s favor for the first few kilometers, after which it turned increasingly against me. I’d decided from the start this would be a nonbiri ride and so I simply eased up and soldiered on.

About 10:40 I was looking for a spot to stop, relax and enjoy some of Nana’s world-famous onigiri. At the first turn-off the shaded rest area turned out to be surrounded by an enormous puddle. But not much farther on I found a park where the grass was damp and the ground a bit muddy, but it was fine.

In all I stopped twice more, including another new (to me) park where I could sit in (nominal) shade and eat the last onigiri, before reaching the end of the cycling course at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. It was just after 12 and I felt good, despite having fought the increasingly aggressive headwind. When I turned back the going was immediately easier.

Back on the road on Eitai Dori, I stopped for a bottle of Pokari at the first convenience store. As soon as I’d left the river behind, I didn’t have to fight the wind anymore and my pace picked up immediately. I breezed past Nihonbashi for a change and ended up at Kudanzaka about 1:15. I sat on a bench by an enormous twisted cherry tree and chewed on a convenience store hotdog.

I finished resting and at 1:23 I messaged Nana I should be home by 2:30. She replied she’d be at the sauna when I arrived. The ride home was unremarkable apart from the usual challenges presented by drivers and other cyclists, and I was home at 1:55. After parking the bike, I took my bags and shoes out to the Workshop in the Sky for a good hosing down.