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The slope from the Tamagawa up to my house offers at best 20-25 meters elevation change, and only one short stretch that requires a low gear … never even bothered to measure it precisely.  The „hospital hill“ at Sakura-ga-oka and Tama Hills, is over 15 kms away and not very steep, as the grade gradually shifts from 2-3% up to 5-6% near the top.  Most of the hills in central Tokyo offer only short stretches, mostly no more than 100-200 meters long, so you barely get going before you stop.
James M. last year mentioned the climb to Yomiuri Land as a good training spot.  I tried it once but somehow it had fallen off my radar screen during my off time last summer.  I’ve stopped by twice in the past month, each time doing the climb 4-5 times as part of a short ride.  From the train station roundabout at the bottom to the top of the main climb is a little over 700 meters distance, and a little over 60 meters of elevation change.  There is a 9-10% grade, with a bit less at the very bottom and top sections.  Little or no traffic.  Other cyclists are there doing the same thing.  There are what seem to be Yomiuri Giants baseball fans hanging out at the back entrance to the ballpark/training facility near the top  … they acknowledge your effort on your 3rd and subsequent climbs.  And a big plus for the Giants fan (not me), the roadside is lined with flags, one marking each Giants victory this past season.  Maybe even better motivation for any Hanshin fans. 
Highly recommended for training.

The hill to Yomiuri Land.  Does not look like much viewed from Tamagawahara-bashi

This view from the bottom of the climb.  It continues around a curve to the right.

Directions:  Cross the Tamagawa from Tokyo at Tamagawahara-bashi (the road to One-Kansen, Tsurugawa Kaido – Rte 19).  Continue across Kawasaki Kaido (Rte 9 – the major crossing just after going under the train tracks within 500 meters of the river), then turn left at the next signal onto Rte 124.  Proceed until you go under the Keio tracks and turn left into the roundabout on the South entrance of Keio Yomiuri Land Station.  In the photo above, you can see the station platform on the left edge of the photo.  Climb and descend.  Climb and descend.  Repeat until you wilt.

Jerome and I did a „scouting“ ride on Saturday, checking out the road conditions to Yanagisawa Pass as he contemplates his idea of a 2-day year-end ride from Tokyo to Kyoto (to the extent practicable, via an interior route).  Whether this is do-able will depend on the weather conditions, to say the least.
We have gotten in a very nice series of late-year rides, the weather being far more cooperative in Kanto than it has been for our colleagues in the Positivo Espresso European chapters.  Two weeks ago there was Yamanakako (via Yamabushi Pass), then last weekend Yabitsu 2X, and now Yanagisawa.  Oh Yeah!
On December 4 mid-day, as the sun cleared the hilltops and shown down warmly on the Michi-no-Eki (rest stop) at Tabayama-Mura, Jerome’s idea of an interior ride to Kyoto seemed not such a crazy idea.

It might not seem quite as smart when trying to change a flat tire at 10 or 11PM Dec 30 on National Rte 19, somewhere along the Kisogawa in Nagano/Gifu, in sub-freezing temperatures.
In any event, on Saturday I was suffering some after-effects of a Friday evening feast, did not feel at my strongest, so we just went up to Yanagisawa, stopped for Curried Udon, turned around and I hopped the train from Oume, instead of crazier ideas such as a side trip to Kamihikawa, or maybe coming home via Imagawa Pass and a soak in the hot spring in Kosuge that we missed on Halloween morning.  Still, 170+ km and over 2000 meters of climbing for me, and home by 6PM.  Jerome, of course, rode all the way home, putting his day at 230 km or so.
The climb up Route 411 beyond Okutama-ko was … peaceful, with very little traffic, as nice as I have ever seen it.  The view from Yanagisawa toward Mt. Fuji was breathtaking.

Even more so without obstructions:

On the way up the hill, the thermometer at 1400 meters elevation reported 11 degrees C.  On the way back down, after 2PM, the sun had slipped below the edge of the Southern ridge and the valley was entirely in the shade.  The thermometer at 1400 meters showed 4 degrees.
We stopped briefly at Okutama-ko, hoping to catch a ray of sunlight … but were 15 minutes late, the sun slipping across the waters and still lighting the dam and opposite hillside.

As with last weekend, this was a nice, recreational pace.
I’ll embed the Garmin data … but one complaint.  Garmin has switched from Google Maps to an MS/Bing version.  I hope they are saving money and will pass the savings on to the consumer, since it seems to provide a noticeably inferior view on screen.
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/58799881

„New Wimbledon Theatre is thrilled to announce the biggest pantomime cast to date to celebrate the theatre’s 100th birthday. 

Global mega-star David Hasselhoff will be playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan alongside star of Pineapple Studios Louie Spence who plays the cabin boy, Roger.

David Hasselhoff, best known for the iconic roles of Michael Knight in Knight Rider and Mitch Buchanan in the most watched TV show in history, Baywatch will be making his pantomime debut in the swashbuckling family show Peter Pan.“

Buy Tickets

I hope our European members are able to get tickets for this sure to be sold out performance.

Editorial Comment

I am a bit worried that I need to prepare in case I receive a letter threating legal action from a certain Colonel Manfred von Holstein, something about my Cervelo R3-SL infringing a patent of a great German bicycle manufacturer, Canyon.  Seriously, Dominic mentioned to me yesterday that Cervelo had lost some kind of lawsuit to Canyon recently … so I had to look for it.

Can’t we just get along?

Reading both the Canyon and Cervelo press releases (you can find them on their websites, or check HERE where both are printed one after the other), you would think these were two entirely different courts.  Canyon gets excited about the fact that the EPO — that’s the „European Patent Office“, not the illegal performance enhancing substance — found that its „patent was fully patentable“.  Nice to hear, but does not mean anything.  But Cervelo points out that in fact the EPO ruled the relevant claim of Canyon invalid, and sent it back to the local court for Canyon to try to prove a narrower claim, and Cervelo mentions 4 frames that already used the narrower concept before Canyon filed for its patent …

My quick assessment is that Canyon is using this for publicity purposes — pushing out misleading „victory“ statements when it has achieved no such thing — and trying to stain the reputation of Cervelo.  It declared victory on November 18, before the EPO hearing was even held on November 24, a pre-emptive strike.  And I can see lots of articles have been removed from sites — no doubt after Cervelo or its fans complained.  A low blow by Canyon.  By the time this is over, there will be lots of interim decisions, lots of mistaken releases and parroting news stories that „Cervelo frames found to infringe Canyon patent“ (a Google search finds this one on Cyclingnews.com, now removed but available in a cached version on Google — totally misleading headline, even though the story quotes from both parties‘ press releases). The actual court case will fade away without any final judgment that Cervelo did anything wrong, on a frame design that it will have long since stopped making.

Both companies are wrong about the one thing they agree on.  The Canyon CEO says:  „I would like to emphasise once again that this judgement will have no effect on private persons.“  Cervelo:  „We agree with Canyon on one thing, which is that this case will have no effect on consumers.“

In fact, if these companies spend their time and effort fighting over patents that one of them filed over minor tweaks in bicycle frame design, then they will not spend their time or money making better bicycles. The companies will be distracted.  The lawyers will make a little money off it.  Consumers (and riders — those who got booted when Garmin and Cervelo teams merged) will pay the bill.

My vote — let’s take this EPO out of cycling. There is no Canyon frame in my future.

P.S. The EPO decision is not yet on their website, but should be within the next few weeks.

Who would want to get from Kofu to Sagamihara in 15 minutes?  Is Japan really in a fiscal position to pay trillions of yen for this convenience?  The few times I have been on a train from Kofu back toward Tokyo (Chuo-sen, via Hachioji toward Shinjuku), the passengers have been mostly groups of older people on excursions, couples with children going to/from a visit to relatives, and hikers and cyclists.  Three weeks ago when I hopped a train back from Kofu on the return from the races at Saiko, I secured my bike bag and took my seat, then a group of 5-6 Japanese touring cyclists boarded a few stops later, at Enzan, and looked enviously at my prime bike bag location.  They needed to walk through to the next car to find a place they could store their bags.

In any event, for any of us who happen to be still in Japan, and still cycling to Yamanashi, in 2020, the trip half way home may get a LOT faster.  These trains have already clocked 581 kph on the test track (even my Garmin 705 does not say I am going THAT fast on my Cervelo).  And after a further eight years of construction, by 2028, the service should go all the way to Tokyo!  Let’s hope they manage to include enough space in the Maglev for bike bags!

Some hurried emails Friday evening ended up with a suggested 7:20AM start at/near my house.  Dominic arrived a few minutes early, Rapha clad and riding the Cervelo he bought from Knotty.  Dominic explained, as per his email, that he could not ride out with us because of duty with his daughters, but he wanted to stretch his legs early and so went for a spin.  It was good to at least have a few minutes to talk … actually more than a few, as I waited for Jerome, who missed his alarm and called to say he would be at my place in 20 minutes or so.

In any event, Jerome and I decided to go out Onekan, and the North Shore of Tsukuiko, then decide on a destination.   The weather was clear and brisk the leaves spectacular.  And this was a true „recreational ride“, without a pre-determined destination and at a reasonable pace.

The brisk weather and foliage („koyou„) made for a spectacular day … though that meant lots of people were out.

Looking South over Tsukui-ko toward Yabitsu, on the horizon.

We made the obligatory stop at Casa Pablo Escobar on the North shore of Tsukui.

The guard dog was indeed a bad dog — neither seen nor heard.

One of the henchmen did make an appearance, and he looked a bit threatening when I snapped his photo. (I wish I could remember to suck in my gut like that for photos.)

Miyagase-ko, getting ready for the Christmas festival.

Hillside at Miyagaseko, with blue sky and puffy, wintry clouds.

Japanese cloning technology at work — a sheep dog?  a dog-sheep?

Onto the road to Yabitsu.  Usually deserted, it was as crowded as I have ever seen it. We took it easy, snapped photos, and still made it up to the pass in less than an hour.

The glowing Mavic jersey made me visible to drivers in the mirrors rounding corners on the narrow, twisting Rte 70.  The red momiji were beautiful… did not think to stop for a picture until this one, not a great specimen.

During the usual quick descent on the South side, Jerome suggested we stop for food at a „donut shop“ near the convenience store above 246 that marks the „official“ start of the Yabitsu climb.  I smelled the donuts as I passed, then saw the flags, but could not see any shop.  Where was it?  Here:

There are two ladies making donuts inside the shed.  Mostly the donuts get shipped out by truck on large trays … not consumed on site.

The flags mark the spot.

We turned around at the Daily Yamazaki and implemented our plan to climb back over Yabitsu — the first time I have done the South side climb.  It was not bad, some steep sections, and 600 meters elevation gain in 10 km.  On the way back, we swung a bit South of Tsukui-ko, and stopped for some food.  I should have passed on the donuts and eaten a real lunch earlier, but the donut „shop“ was one of those amusing interludes about living in Japan. …

The traffic was heavy, here and on every major road — this line is heading toward Atsugi.

Busted!  A non-PE approved Family Mart.

We took Rte 513, then looped back over to the North shore of Tsukuiko, then via Hashimoto, the tank road and Onekan, and we were back home by 5:30, having ridden 175+ km and climbed about 2450 meters.  Very satisfying.  Now after turkey soup, turkey leftovers, and a hot bath, I should sleep very soundly.

A different stable of bikes leaning – steeds of David, Jerome, Marc Antoine and Camille

Jerome and I left my house at 7:10AM Sunday, stopped at Takao 8:35AM, then continued on to Rte 76, Doshi michi, and to Yamanakako. With James and Dominic looking for a shorter spin, Ludwig and Tom away on a 2-day cyclo cross trip across every mountain in the Japanese archipelago, TCC training along the Arakawa, MOB in Bremen watching the grey skies and early darkness, the Russian into running season and recovering from his evening out with Dominic, Nishibe-san in Kobe … it was just the two of us, together again to relive the glory of Transalp 2009.

We made good time on the first leg. As usual, I started out strong and got weaker over the course of the day, while Jerome started weak and got stronger.  In the morning, he was grumbling about the after effects of nightly Beaujolais Nouveau parties, apparently a big marketing opportunity for French cheese importers, Japan being the destination for 50% of the world’s Beaujolais Nouveau, whatever you may think of the actual wine.)

Things slowed down after I got a flat on Doshi and we stopped for a prolonged tube changing exercise, complete with valve extenders and rim tape adjustments.  Then we stopped again at the convenience store between the turn off for Tsuru (Rte 24) and the Doshi Michi-no-Eki.  As we snacked in the sun at the convenience store, Keren (sp) of TCC pulled up.  He was at the far point of his ride (from Takao) and planning to go over Rte 24 and loop back.  He started by „I saw (on the TCC site) that you were riding today, but did not expect to catch you since I was starting later …“  This brought home the need for us to step up the pace a bit.

As usual, the Doshi traffic was a bit heavy, maybe worse than usual because of the spectacular blue sky and dramatic clouds, the leaves in all shades and colors, from bright red and yellow to greens and browns.  The sunlight and shifting clouds, plus passage of a week, made the scenery even more beautiful than last weekend.  Unfortunately, I left the good camera at home and needed to make due with the Blackberry mini-cam — no foliage photos or panoramas.

On the outbound trip, traffic was worst at the Doshi Michi-no-Eki, where a line of cars waited in the highway to try to get into the parking lot, and some cars near the back of the line pulled out in the roadway in dangerous fashion.  Fortunately, there was also a line of 8-10 Japanese road cyclists — younger fast types, that pulled out of the parking lot just as I passed, and quickly left me behind on the uphill.  But I felt strong-ish still, and made good time.  Jerome had been ahead out of convenience store parking lot and opened a gap, but stopped to take a cellphone call and „had no power“.  I ended up waiting for him 5-10 minutes at the lake.  I passed a bunch of other cyclists, including 2 couples on road bikes and a number of solo riders.  Finally, I started to catch stragglers from the younger fast group.  One, then a second who had slowed — I would not see them again.  Then 2 more, stopped at a vending machine for a drink.  The 2 at the vending machine eventually caught me again, one climbing quickly and steadily.  The second looked like a kid of not more than 20 years old.  As he finally caught me, I said in Japanese, „I weigh nearly 100 kilos.  How much do you weigh, 55?  60?“  The answer „53“.  „If I can climb at this speed, you should be a LOT faster.  The top is just a little further.  Ganbatte!“  That did it, and he pushed ahead for the last 75 meters elevation gain.  When I got to the tunnel entrance, their group was all waiting there for the last stragglers, and they smiled and waved as I passed, no doubt having heard my challenge from their team member.  I accelerated up the last stretch, out of the saddle, just to give them a good show.

Then down the hill to the lakeshore, and the final 10 km around the lake to the cabin that Jerome’s sister Benedicte and her husband Frank rent annually, sharing weekends with several other couples on a rotating basis.  We joined their regular family barbeque, and met their delightful children Marc Antoine and Camille.  This kind of mid-ride feast always seems to re-charge Jerome, whereas I spend the rest of the ride trying to digest the food (and sweat out the beer and wine) while riding.  By the time we left it was already well past 3PM and the sun was below the hills to the south, a wide shadow on this side of the lake.

Jerome watches the barbeque while carbo loading.

Frank runs the grill. He is a runner, who tried Fuji HC on bicycle this year and got second place in his class/age group.

We decide to forgo Mikuni Toge and just ride toward home — back down Doshi, then past Tsukui-ko on the crowded South side, into town via Yaen-kaido and along the Tamagawa (lighted streets, not path, in the dusk/dark).  I figure that once I get over Yamabushi Toge and onto Doshi Michi, I can just cruise downward for the next hour or more and the meal will not bother me too much.

It worked reasonably well, and by the time we hit Yaen Kaido, after suffering through heavy traffic on Doshi and riding through an endless line of sitting cars near Tsukui-ko and beyond toward Machida, I was feeling strong again.  I pulled into my house a little past 7PM, 205 km for the day.
 
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/57402419