Category: Takaosan Guchi
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Too Late, or Too Early?
Sakura season is drawing to a close, with delicate pink petals falling like stock market indices. I thought this might be a good chance to catch the dogwood blooming along the Asakawa, but it seems I was a week or two early. I know they are in bloom when the koinobori are flying over the…
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Date with a Mountain
Today is Sports Day, a national holiday, and anyway I have the entire week off. I told Nana I’d be leaving at 7 a.m., but I let her sleep in until nearly 7, and then departed just after 8. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and mild weather. The only clouds were those…
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No Gas in the Tank
Hot on the heels of four straight days of commuting by bike, I set out this morning for Takaosan with the goal of putting 100km on the clock. Takaosan is the launching point of the climb to Otarumi pass, and it was definitely a case of “We’ll see when we get there” as to whether…
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Fujisan and Takaosan Dawdle
I had an easy-going ride on Sunday, setting out in single-digit temperatures (Celsius). Nana had not made any onigiri, so my first stop was at a convenience store for some food to keep me going throughout the day. I’d replaced the disc brake pads on Saturday. The front pads, which had been squealing for a…
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Late Off the Line
It was after 9 a.m. before I finally got on the bike this morning, and right away I was facing lines of traffic, backed up by road repairs and other construction work. I passed kilometer upon kilometer of vehicles idling at a standstill before I finally reached the cycling course at Tamagawa. Nana had once…
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Refused at the gate
Optimistic start I finally got on the bike on Day 3 of a three-day weekend. On Saturday I was suffering from a tummy ailment, and yesterday we had lots of “guerilla weather,” including a number of tornadoes. This morning the skies were blue, with fluffy white clouds. While Nana whipped up a batch of her…