I’m a bit wiped out and at a loss how to tell the story of today’s ride in my usual pithy style. I don’t even have a hook for the title — I was grasping at straws for something to name the ride on Strava in time for Fearless Leader Joe to see it when he gave me a thumbs-up, and those are simply the first words that popped into my head.

It was a good ride. I was glad José was able to join — his first since November. We took our time, dawdling over Nana’s world-famous onigiri. (José had four.)

The vending machines by Tokyo Gate Bridge were out of order, with a sign pointing to other vending machines a bit further down the path. But we arrived to find they were sold out of both water and Pokari. I got some green tea to top up my empty water bottle.

Back on Eitai Dori, we were passed by a fit young rider wearing a jersey from the Fujisan stage of Tour de Nippon 2025. José and I parted ways at Nihonbashi, and I continued on to Budokan and Chidorigafuchi.

I was feeling good overall, but getting one of my infamous cycling headaches. I only rested a couple of minutes before messaging Nana I would be home by 1:30. In fact I made it at 1:06, despite having to wait for a large group of American tourists on rental cycles holding up the works at a couple of successive intersections.

The total elapsed time includes nearly two hours of waiting at lights and dawdling over onigiri. On a ride time of 3:13:26, I averaged 18.2km/h.

The shifting was flawless today following yesterday’s maintenance. The No. 7 sprocket remains noisy, which is an annoyance. I’ll try to see if I can replace just that one. Apart from that there’s been some noticeable grinding noise in the lowest couple of gears for the past couple of months at least. I’ll have another look, but I confirmed today the chain is not rubbing anything when I’m in those gears.

The feel of the new saddle is quite a change, despite the similarity in appearance to the previous saddle. When I try to move forward onto the nose of the saddle, it very firmly tells me, “No, your bum belongs back here on the wings!” That’s a good thing. I’d like to say it completely solved any saddle sore issues, but I still got weary after a couple of hours in the saddle. I’m not feeling any lingering discomfort now that I’m off the bike, and that in itself is a huge improvement. And as an unexpected benefit, I didn’t experience any finger numbness today. Perhaps with the better saddle fit I’m keeping more of my weight on my bum and off my hands.