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Approach to Tsuru Pass – in the Clouds

I woke up early Sunday anticipating a long ride in somewhat cooler and dry weather. The morning paper predicted cloudy with a 20% chance of rain in the morning, and sunny with a 10% chance of rain in the afternoon. I usually ignore forecasts until the night before or day of a ride, since the Japanese weather changes so quickly (or the forecasting is so bad) that the forecast is worthless until the last 12-24 hours. Well, now I’ve confirmed yet again that the forecasts are worth very little even during the last 12-24 hours.

I had a nice ride in misty rain to Uenohara and up Tawa/Tsuru passes on Rte 18 … but turned back on Tsuru when the rain got too heavy and the weather too cold. All in all, a peaceful solo ride, the longest I’ve had in two months (165 km+).

Thanks to Tom Spillaert for showing me the road to Tawa/Tsuru two years ago. Rte 18’s „Uenohara-Tabayama Line“ is still a beautiful valley, good road surface with almost no car traffic.

KARMALIZM 2008

SuperDeluxe
August 30, 2008
19:00～　start、Door 2,500yen (1drink)

lets have a go!

http://www.karmalizm.com/menu01.html

Remember??

Time to re-visit!
Pack your flip flops and lets go.
Saturday, 23.08.

David and I will stay with Stephan & David. They kindly offered their 3rd bedroom for anyone interested (thanks, S&D!). Otherwise, the „ayashii pension“ (right next to the gaijin cafe) has re-opened and might be an option.
http://whitebeach-shimoda.com

If Saturday don’t suit, we could try to meet somewhere (the spiral bridge?!! 😉 on Sunday and ride together…

The cyclist violently knocked off his bike by a rookie cop was back at work on Wednesday – and friends said he’s not the type to „hold a grudge.“

„I’m really sorry, but I’m not talking to the press,“ Christopher Long, 29, said as he manned an organic fruits-and-vegetables stand at the Union Square farmers market.

„There are charges against me, and I don’t want anything to affect my case,“ said Long, who had two large scabs on his knees from the body block.

Long, of New Jersey, was charged with assault and resisting arrest after the cop insisted the cyclist had tried to run him over in a Critical Mass rally Friday in Times Square.

A dramatic video starkly contradicted rookie Officer Patrick Pogan’s statements. It shows the 22-year-old cop running toward Long and slamming him to the sidewalk.

Pogan, a former high school football lineman, has been stripped of his gun and badge while the incident is investigated.

Police sources have said the charges against Long would likely be dropped.

Long will „get over it and he’s not the type of guy to hold a grudge,“ said Justin Ford, 25, a bike courier and a friend of Long’s, but Long’s lawyer said he may sue.

Ford said he was glad for the videotape record.

„It’s really good and important that people are there to film stuff like this and show what really happens,“ said Ford, echoing statements made by Critical Mass riders alleging police brutality.

„Unfortunately, the . . . incident is part of a pattern of targeting Critical Mass bike riders,“ said civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, citing three prior occasions when cops were taped manhandling cyclists.

nydailynews

My commute today brought to mind a special ride that I enjoyed with Jerome almost exactly 3 years ago in the summer of 2005.

We had each returned triumphant from our respective major cycling events of the year. Jerome had completed the Transalp Tour with Juliane, along with hundreds (thousands?) of other two-person teams. I had survived the less-well-known „Matt Tour,“ going from Knoxville Tennessee, over the Smokey Mountains and then along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive back toward its terminus in Front Royal, Virginia with two vans and about 15 riders, led by Dr. Matt Parker.

We were both in peak condition, and the heat of Tokyo summer seemed no barrier as we headed out Yaen-Kaido (Local Rte 20) to get out of town as quickly as possible toward Doshi Michi, Yabitsu and scenic country in the hills.

What, you might ask, brought the 2005 ride to mind as I commuted to work this morning? It was not the heat, but an aroma. A very ripe, sweet, rich and complex aroma, perhaps better described as a stench.

Yes, back in 2005, as we headed out to the country we repeatedly got stuck behind, passed, were passed by, and then got stuck again behind, a sky blue colored truck with a familiar shape to Tokyo residents, a garbage truck full of „nama“ (raw, ripe) garbage. The stench made Jerome pretty nauseous, and we eventually pulled off for an unscheduled stop at a 7/11 store to recover. As usual, Jerome’s recovery was fast and the rest of the ride went fine, but the memory of the garbage truck lingered (maybe it was in our clothes?).

This morning (Tuesday), the trucks must have been picking up some very ripe garbage that had been sitting in a very hot garbage bins since late last week. Maybe the truck we saw in 2005 had been driving around and around for the past 3 years, as the same load of garbage grew more and more ripe? Except today I passed MANY of these trucks. I must have been going through an area where Tuesday is scheduled for burnable, raw garbage removal. The smell was, memorable, even unforgetable.

And now for something completely different, a report from the Onion News Network on President Bush’s latest disaster relief effort:

http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/videoplayer/flvplayer.swf
Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

[Michael to add post details]

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