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Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer

BRM423 400 km on the Elephant NFE (Mt Fuji Big Loop)

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I have finished a 400 km brevet, repeating last year’s success, after an unsuccessful initial attempt in 2014. BRM423 NishiTokyo 400 km Fuji Big Loop (BRM423西東京400km富士大回り) was my third brevet on my new Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer (NFE), after a 200 km brevet in Izu and a 300 km one around Mt Fuji. Previously I rode all my brevets on my Bike Friday Pocket Rocket.

Like most brevets by AJ NishiTokyo this brevet starts and finishes in Machida. It heads out towards Lake Yamanakako via Doshi road, then via Lake Motosuko to Minami Alps City. From there it turns down to the coast at Fuji City, crosses Izu peninsula via Shuzenji to Ito on the east coast and back up to Machida via Odawara. Altogether it visits four prefectures (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka).

This year it was a little too late for cherry blossom season even in the cooler mountain regions, but there are plenty of purple Wisteria (藤, fuji) in full bloom everywhere.

After my pre-ride of the course two weeks earlier I considered going back to the Bike Friday for its ease of taking it on a train should I not finish the ride. The week before the event I had a very busy schedule, taking friends from overseas to Meiji shrine, Asakusa, Kamakura, Mt Takao and the Tsukiji fish market among other places. Lots of walking and hiking and not quite enough sleep. However, after a final dinner on Thursday we said farewell and I slept in on Friday morning. I went for the NFE after all, to be able to compare it with last year’s ride. If I got sleepy some place in Izu I would simply find a place to sleep and cycle home at my own pace.

The night before the event

I left home around 18:30 on Friday as I had booked a room at the Tokyoko Inn in Sagamihara, about 2 km from the start. I first set off in cycling shorts, but after about a km turned around and got changed into long uniqlo trousers and also packed a pair of regular shorts. In my luggage were long johns and long sleeved underwear as well as a light wind breaker and my rain wear.

With all that gear I was covered for the full range of temperatures and weather conditions I might encounter. I even brought full fingered gloves, which I never needed, nor did I use the warm underwear. The rain wear I ended up only wearing briefly.

The rooms at the Tokyoko Inn are not luxurious but clean and functional and offer all the basic necessities. In my room I finished my conbini (convenience store) dinner and went to bed around 21:40. I slept reasonably well until my alarm woke me up at 05:20. After a shower and simple breakfast I got changed into my shorts, expecting I would not need trousers during daytime until at least Yamanakako. I was right – it was quite warm during the day, even up near Mt Fuji. While almost everybody at the start wore leg warmers or long lycra trousers, I was perfectly comfortable in my uniqlo shorts.

At the start

I got to the reception desk in front of the Cherubim bike shop fairly late, when people had already started moving on to the start point to get ready for the briefing. After getting my brevet card and saying hello to friends and taking some pictures, I also headed over. One cyclist showed up on his BD-1 folding bike.

At the briefing we were reminded of the risks of our sport: A few years ago a participant had badly crashed on the Rt300 descent from Motosuko and had to be airlifted by helicopter to the nearest hospital. “If you need a helicopter, please try to stay alive until the hospital in Kofu”, joked one of the staff members and reminded us that the ride isn’t over until we have safely reached our own front door.

After the briefing the safety check started (lights, reflective jacket, bell) and then we were off.

Via Doshi to Yamanakako

The weather forecast for Saturday was mostly cloudy, with some scattered rain during the night and on Sunday, which is pretty much how it played out.

Up until Doshi village most of the cherry blossoms were gone already, replaced by fresh seasonal green everywhere.

About 50 km from Machida we came across the quiz checkpoint and I took a picture of a poster on a particular drinks vending machine to prove that I had been there.

I bought some milk tea and had a banana or two, before heading on after the break.

I worked pretty hard up Doshi road to the village and made good time. This year I never fell behind the minimum average (15 km/h) counted from the start, unlike last year, where I was in deficit by the time I got to Yamanakako and only regained enough time on the biggest descent (from Motosuko to PC1) to stay 20 minutes ahead of cut-off time at PC1, 125 km from the start. This year I was an extra hour (1 hour 20 minutes) ahead at PC1 instead!

I could recover on the descent after the pass between Doshi and Yamanakako and it wasn’t as cold as when I rode it two weeks ago. Partly that was because I arrived much earlier in the day.

Yamanakako with Fuji-san:

The cherry blossom season at Yamanakako starts a lot later than in Tokyo:

After the lake we joined the main road, which always tends to be busy, but at least initially we could enjoy more descending. Then after the Fuji Q Highland theme park the road quality deteriorates and stays poor for a long time, but there’s no real alternative if you want to make good time.

Motosuko to Minami Alps

Motosuko is where you could find the Fuji view shown on the 1000 yen note, but often it’s obscured by clouds:

After the tunnel behind the lake (before which staff reminded us to switch on our lights) I started the descent. I did not even put on a wind breaker because it still wasn’t too cold. Last year this had been the coldest part of the brevet route. I could descend much faster than on my pre-ride two weeks earlier, where I had arrived here after sunset, but not wanting to try out Japanese helicopter rides I was still careful.

After PC1 the road was mostly flat for the next 27 km to PC2 in Minami Alps. We ended up with a good tailwind, which is always a pleasure. I chatted to a local road cyclist about our event and he took my picture. Around 15:30 I got to PC2, 151 km into the course, now almost 1:30 ahead of cut-off time – 1:10 faster than last year!

Minami Alps (Yamanashi) views of Mt Fuji:

Though I was concerned about facing a head wind on the way back from Minami Alps, this part of the route has a long downhill section, so the wind doesn’t really bother you because gravity takes care of it and your legs still recover.

Heading into the night

From Kajikazawa the route joins major Rt52 along the Fuji river. We shared the roads with lots of cars, trucks and buses until we got to the Rt300 bridge near Minobu, where we crossed over to the east bank to follow the Minobu railway line. Riding in the dark now I was starting to feel a little bit tired, but not too bad yet. At PC3 in Shibakawa I was now over two hours ahead of cut-off time. I rewarded myself with some fried chicken, a walnut bread stick and some cocoa.

It had started drizzling and I finally put on my rain wear, but soon found it too uncomfortable. The mesh inside the trousers was rubbing against my skin as I was still wearing my uniqlo shorts underneath. Also, the saddle felt very uncomfortable with this combination. So I found another conbini and changed into my regular trousers and my uniqlo windbreaker instead. Neither was as waterproof as the rain wear, but infinitely more comfortable and sufficient for the slight drizzle that kept coming and going.

About 4 hours after I had stopped at PC3 I arrived at PC4 near Shuzenji in Izu, after a long urban ride through Fuji City and Numazu towards the centre of the peninsula. Still almost two hours ahead, I treated myself to a cup of coffee and a bun with Wiener sausage. From here to the end of the ride I would see more and more people taking naps, but I did not join them yet.

I climbed about 8 km to the pass on Rt12 over to Ito. This was in the wee hours of the morning, so none of us could admire the beautiful views I had seen here two weeks earlier. The long descent to Ito was very welcome, giving me a chance to rest before the four major climbs along the coastal road to Odawara.

Near Atami I finally did lie down for a turbo-nap of only 10 minutes on the wet asphalt of a conbini. I set my alarm so as not to oversleep, rested my head on the rain wear bag as a pillow and dozed off. Next to me two other participants were sleeping. I found cyclists sleeping by the road side again and again as I was making my way to Odawara and on to PC5 near Fujizawa (90 km from PC4). A few breaks with coffee and food helped to keep me going. I knew I had a decent time buffer and was happy to eat into it to make the pace more comfortable.

Odawara to Machida

After Odawara the road flattened out but also got busier with Sunday morning traffic. At 06:24 I finally rolled up in front of the Circle-K store that served as the final control, PC5 – exactly one hour before closing time. I had 3:36 to cover the final 36 km, which I means I could make it with an average speed of no more than 10 km/h. With traffic lights I usually average around 18 km/h in central Tokyo. So I should have been fine.

My shoes and socks were wet from water from puddles that had splashed up. I was tired but only 36 km away from the goal, which is almost nothing if you’ve already done 10 times as much, right?

I struggled on, checking the time and remaining distance on the GPS regularly. I did another conbini stop for the toilet and food. The rain got worse.

Why tubeless with sealant is better

When the light turned green at the Rt246 intersection, I started up but noticed a funny wobble. I came to a halt on the opposite side and looked back – my rear tyre was complete flat. I had suffered a puncture! This was 16 km from the finish line.

I knew how hard both Shintaro and Tim had struggled when they mounted the tyres on my rims, so I wasn’t looking forward to the repair, but it was my only chance. A quick check found a glass shard of 3-4 mm embedded in the tread of the rear tyre and I pulled it out. I had two spare tubes with me, one in the front bag, one under the saddle, so theoretically I should have been able to recover from the problem, as long as I didn’t run out of time.

My fingers got greasy from the chain when removing the rear wheel, but that was a minor inconvenience. I got out my tool kit and tried prying the tyre off the rim using the plastic tyre levers. On the Bike Friday I could have done this by hand and the whole job would have taken no more than 10 minutes, but with the tubeless-ready Velocity Blunt SL rims the tyre beads are firmly seated and do not come off easily. It seemed like I would almost break the tyre levers before the beads would move. I just didn’t have the right technique.

I tried and tried and had almost given up when I finally managed to work my way into loosening it from one point and from there around the whole circumference. I could then remove the punctured tube. I installed the spare tube and slightly inflated it so it would hold its position, then began the equally tricky part of getting the bead to slide back over the rim, without puncturing the tube or tearing up the side walls. Then get the wheel back in, with the rotor sliding into the brake caliper and the cassette engaging the chain and derailleur. Somehow after some wiggling and more grease on my fingers everything came back into place again. Then inflate the new tube and hope it doesn’t explode from being pinched somewhere. I knew I wasn’t giving the tyre much pressure but the only pump I had was a mini pump I bought 4 1/2 years ago for my Bike Friday with its much less voluminous tyres.

I checked the time when I thought I had just enough air to risk going back on the road – 09:09, only 51 minutes left before 10:00. I collected all my bits and rode off.

I lost time at many red lights. It was only when I got down to about 3 km from the finish that I got confidence I would still make it.

At the finish line

In the end I rolled up in front of the Cherubim bike shop at 09:56, 4 minutes before event closing time. I think I had been the last person still on the course, as I didn’t see anybody else arrive after me. Everybody had been waiting for me. It was a great relief to have made it after all. This was my first puncture in any of the brevets I have done since 2012.

AJ NishiTokyo staff checking brevet card and receipts:

Taking shelter from the drizzle at the finish:

After the event closed, everybody helped breaking down the reception desk and tent and packed things up. We posed for a group photograph, said goodbye until the next event and we headed home.

Some 15 km after Machida I slept for another half an hour on a park bench by the side of the Tamagawa river, before I could complete my ride home: The ride is not over until you arrive safely at your front door! 🙂

Conclusions

First of all, my thanks to AJ NishiTokyo for this great event 🙂 Everybody got home safely, whether they DNF’ed or completed. It’s a great course and we were mostly lucky with the weather.

Like at the brevets in Izu (200 km) and the Fuji 300 km I was very happy with the Elephant NFE. It works very well for me. I make good time on it. Carrying luggage on the front carrier is surprisingly aerodynamic, as it shields the rider from wind and everything is always within easy reach. I’m planning on getting a bigger front bag though.

The difficulty of changing tubes with my current rim / tyre combination compared to the Bike Friday is a bit of an Achilles heel for this bike. I will have to rethink that. One option would be to move to a completely tubeless setup with sealant, which would at least take care of minor punctures, but I will have to see what tyres will work for that and what rim tape, valves and sealant to use.

The Bike Friday will gets its pump back and the NFE will get its own bigger pump.

I will also look for different rain pants. I have a very good Polaris rain jacket, but the trousers from a set I recently bought at a home center to replace a pair torn in a crash in November did not work well enough for long rides.

I don’t have any brevets scheduled for May, but in early June I’m signed up for BRM604 NishiTokyo 600 km Lake Suwa. I will again be riding it on the Elephant NFE and the experience gained from the last three brevets should help. Finishing a 600 km ride in 40 hours is still a long shot for me, but I’ll give it another try and even if I fail, I’ll see great countryside, meet nice people and bring home beautiful pictures 🙂

National Cherry Blossom Explorer

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With my biggest ride of the year so far, I am now up to 44 months of at least one century ride (160+ km) per month.

Last April I for the first time managed to complete a 400 km brevet under the 27 hour time limit. It was 2015BRM418, a 400 km loop around Mt Fuji with AJ NishiTokyo (BRM418西東京400km富士大回り). I think it greatly helped that two weeks before the event I pre-rode the course at my own pace. Having done the same course on a rainy Easter weekend made the actual event seem a lot less intimidating than it would have been otherwise.

In the process I got to see a lot of beautiful cherry blossoms across four prefectures of Japan (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka). So I thought, I’m signed up for this year’s AJ NishiTokyo 400 km and it’s this time of the year, why not do the same crazy thing again? 🙂

A few things were different though:

1) I decided not to do the full 400 km brevet route plus almost another 60 km to get to the start and home again from the finish. I cut out about 50 km in the middle (PC1 to PC2 and back to where the courses passes near PC1 again), getting me closer to 400 km instead of last year’s 460 km mammoth ride.

2) I didn’t start to prepare for the ride until a little before midnight on Friday. I originally wanted to ride from Sunday to Monday, but then had to move it up a day. Consequently I only slept a bit over 5 hours before the ride, which is not good. I ended up getting very sleepy, more about that later.

3) On the upside, it didn’t rain, which helped. I still wore my rain gear, but only for the cold at times.

4) I did the ride on my new bike, the Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer, on which I had already completed 200 km and 300 km brevets in February and March. I don’t have a rinko bag for the Elephant NFE, so aborting the ride and taking the train home like I did after my DNF (Did Not Finish) in 2014 was not an option, as it would have been with my folding road bike, the Bike Friday Pocket Rocket.

I left home around 07:30 and cycled to the starting point in Machida 28 km from here. From there I followed the course through Sagamihara to Doshi road, up a mountain valley towards Lake Yamanakako near Mt Fuji.

While the cherry blossoms were well past their prime down in the Kanto plain, the higher up I got the fresher or even immature they still looked.

Before I reached Doshi village they seemed to be in full bloom (“mankai” in Japanese).

I stopped for coffee and cake at the Doshi Road Station (どうし道の駅, Doshi Michi no Eki).

At the top of valley, on the final climb to the pass the cherry trees either had no blossoms at all yet or just a few blossoms with the rest of the branch still as buds.

It was markedly cooler once I got out of the tunnel before the descent to the lake. Soon I saw my first views of a big Mt Fuji. I was lucky and it was mostly unobscured. I stopped for pictures several times, on the way to the lake and then on the bike path along the lake shore.

From the west side of Lake Yamanakako I joined major Rt138/139 that would take me to Lake Motosuko. I had some food at a convenience store and put on more clothes again. Rt139 near Fujiyoshida and Kawaguchiko is not only busy but also very rough and really could do with resurfacing, but at least the wide tyres of the NFE took the edge off the bone-rattling ride of the crumbling, patched-up and pot-holed asphalt.

I passed many cars as the road went downhill towards Kawaguchiko, then it started climbing again towards Lake Saiko, before finally descending again near Lake Motosuko.

By the time I reached the turn-off to Motosuko, the sun hat set and it was rapidly getting dark. I took a few more pictures at the deserted lake in the fading evening light before entering the tunnel. On the steep descent on Rt300 I kept the speed down, not wanting to take any chances misjudging a corner in the darkness. Finally I got to the turn-off to another climb and tunnel over to an adjacent valley. From there the route went downhill again all the way to PC1.

Looking at my time, I decided to cross the Fujikawa river here and head down Rt52 after a food stop. Traffic wasn’t too bad. Eventually the course crossed over to the left bank of the river again, where Rt300 joins Rt52. It followed the Minobu railway line down to Shibakawa. I remembered this part of the route as more hilly from last year’s ride than I experienced it on this ride. From PC3 it wasn’t that far from the coast in Fuji city, but I started yawning more and more. I was about 200 km from home by then.

I was very glad to cross the Fujikawa river and turn east, towards Mishima. I did OK on the urban stretch along the coast and until I entered Izu. The closer I go to Shuzenji, the more I felt the night time cold and the tiredness. When I finally arrived at PC4 in Shuzenji in the interior of Izu around 05:00, I got a cup of coffee and took a one hour nap outside, leaning against a wall.

After I woke up again, I got back on the bike and started climbing Rt12 to the pass over to Ito. The sun was up by then and I enjoyed the early morning views.

The cherry blossoms around there were beautiful.

The long descent down to the coast in Ito gave me some recovery time, but there were still another four climbs over the next 30 km to Odawara, until the coastal road finally flattened out. Near the fake Atami castle I found some trees with piles of dry leaves underneath, which invited me to lie down again.

I used my rain gear bag as a pillow and rested on a futon of dried leaves, only metres from the busy coastal road and its weekend traffic. An hour later I woke up again, refreshed enough to ride home.

In Odawara I stopped for cherry blossom pictures at the castle moat.

Near Hiratsuka I turned off the brevet course to seek the shortest possible route home. While Rt45 was indeed much shorter than the randonnee route, it was also quite hilly, especially the half closer to Tokyo and it was not a nice road, with lots of cars. In the end it even merges into Rt246, probably my least favourite cycling road in Kanagawa prefecture. Still, it got me home before 17:00 on Sunday afternoon. My wife was glad to see me return safely and that’s always a good thing 🙂

I probably would have enjoyed the ride more if I hadn’t started with the ambition of staying close to brevet speeds. I would have slept earlier and longer and would have had more fun on the last part. Still, I ended up with close to 400 km and 3800 m of elevation gain with many, many beautiful views. The night time part of the ride would have been easier with warmer clothes too. I was over-estimating how warm it would stay after dark.

I am seriously considering trying the Bike Friday again for the brevet ride. It would make it easier to cut the ride short and take the train home, should I lose the battle against sleep. I love both my National Forest Explorer and my Bike Friday, one for its comfort, the other for its versatility. They are both great bikes and Japan is a great country to ride them in.

BRM326 NishiTokyo – 360 km around Mt Fuji on my NFE

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My first introduction to Randonneuring was a 300 km ride around Mt Fuji with AJ NishiTokyo on my Bike Friday in May 2012 (2012BRM519). It starts at 22:00 on a Saturday night, with a 20 hour time limit for a finish by 18:00 on Sunday. This ride offers so much variety. If the weather is good you get to see Mt Fuji from almost all directions, with a foreground that ranges from industrial factories to dairy pastures (and smells that match the image). Temperatures can vary as much as 20 degrees C during the ride. Lighting changes from midnight to noon, sunrise to sunset. The course includes multiple 30 km climbs and 20 km continuous descents, with elevations from sea level to over 1100 m.

This Fuji loop is the one brevet I have done every year since then, though it felt very different each time. In 2013 we got gorgeous views of Mt Fuji (2013BRM518). The next year it rained continuously for the first 150 km (2014BRM419). In 2015 I was joined by my son Shintaro, for whom it was his first brevet too (2015BRM328). For 2016 I switched to my new Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer (2016BRM326).

Last year, when I still rode the brevet on my Bike Friday, Shintaro and I took the train to Machida. Since I don’t have a rinko bag for my Elephant NFE, I decided to ride out to Machida for the start and also to ride back from the finish after the event. This brought the total to around 360 km with 3300 m of elevation gain.

Preparation

My intention was to get a couple of hours of sleep on Saturday afternoon before heading out to Machida, but I was still messing around with batteries for cameras, lights and USB power (for the phone and GPS) and then trying to install a Wahoo speed/cadence sensor delivered that morning when I was already supposed to be in bed. I ran out of time on the speed sensor and took it off the bike again. When I finally did lie down for an hour, I found I couldn’t go to sleep so I ended up only resting with my eyes closed. Note to myself: If you start on a Saturday night, make sure you finish this stuff by Friday night!

I left home around 18:30 and headed to Machida at an easy pace. At a convenience store not far from the start I bought a bunch of bananas and had some food and rest before I headed to the registration. I made a mental note to add 28.5 km to the cue sheet distances for my GPS distance count, as this was how much I already cycled.

To Enoshima and Odawara

At the start I met many friends, some of whom I meet at almost every AJ NishiTokyo brevet. I loaded up the route on the GPS and after the briefing and safety inspection we headed off. The first 39 km down to Enoshima are mostly flat and there are always other cyclists to ride with. Once I stopped at a convenience store to use the toilet, but back on the road another group of randonneurs soon showed up. We got to Enoshima before midnight and had our brevet cards signed by a staff member. In most previous years I mostly rode alone from Enoshima to Odawara, but this year I had no problem riding with other people all the way to PC1 (point de contrôle 1 = check point #1), 73 km from the start / 102 km from home, where we arrived about 01:30 in the morning.

Gotemba, Fuji city and PC2

From here to Gotemba I mostly rode by myself, as I’m a slow climber. The road gains about 450 m of elevation over 30 km. There is relatively little traffic as locals are in bed and long distance traffic uses the parallel running Rt246 or Tomei expressway. It felt great when the climb finally leveled off near Gotemba and I stopped to get changed.

Knowing from experience how cold the early morning descent towards Numazu can be, I had brought sufficient layers. I was wearing long johns under my warm uniqlo lined trousers, plus four layers at the top: heattech underwear, Half-Fast Cycling long sleeve jersey, Bicycle Line winter jacket, uniqlo wind breaker. I wrapped a towel around my head and fixed it in place with the helmet chin straps, which kept my ears, cheeks and the chin toasty warm. The 7-11 knitted smartphone gloves are the warmest I have, more comfortable than my Bicycle Line winter gloves. I felt totally comfortable over the next 20+ km, as I was charging down towards the coast at 30 km/h and more with several other cyclists in trail.

Once the road flattened out I had to take off a layer and my towel so I wouldn’t overheat. Then I chased behind another passing randonneur and drafted him until a few km before the Fujikawa bridge. The morning was beautiful as the sun came out, with the moon still in the sky on the other side.

I could see snow on the peaks of the Japanese Southern Alps to the west.

Mount Fuji was visible to the north, but initially only its base could be seen while the top was obscured by clouds. Gradually the clouds thinned and the still wintry top was revealed.

I briefly stopped for food at a convenience store. I couldn’t really afford to take time for a sit-down breakfast at a restaurant. When you’re a slow cyclist like me you have to minimize time off the bike to still make time limits, particularly when you also take time to take pictures!

Finally I crossed the Fujikawa river and turned away from the coast, riding together with another randonneur until PC2 (167 km from the start / 195 km from home).

The west side of Mt Fuji

This was around 7:20, so I was about 1:45 ahead of cutoff time, but the biggest climb still lay ahead. From PC2 to the viewpoint above Lake Motosu-ko the road climbed relentlessly for over 30 km and I would burn up much of that cushion as my speed would drop below the 15 km average that cutoff times are based on. I would remind myself of beautiful view of the lake that lay ahead, plus the easy descent towards Kawaguchiko and then a long and fast one on the main road down to Tsuru, where PC3 was located. I would reclaim a lot of time again on those descents.

But the real treat on the climb are the Fuji views and the quiet back country. Especially at the higher end the road passes many dairy farms so the eyes wander over green meadows, blue skies and white snow on the slopes of Mt Fuji.

It was around 11:00 when I finally reached the car park at the viewpoint, around 200 km from the start and 228 km from home, to admire the view of Lake Motosu-ko.

The car park was completely deserted. This time it was warm and sunny, unlike in 2014 when it had rained throughout the night and we had to descend from here in wet clothes and shoes and only a few degrees above freezing.

Fujiyoshia, Tsuru, Akiyama

The descent down to the main Rt139 felt relatively short now that it was warm and dry. Rt139 is not the greatest road, its surface rough and worn and there are many cars but the wide 650B tyres of the NFE absorbed the worst of the roughness and traffic was lighter than at other times I had taken it.

In Fujiyoshida I met another cyclist and together we started the descent down towards Tsuru. This is a fast downhill and fun, even though it’s still a bad road with too much traffic.

I had recovered a little on the descent, but still my legs were feeling worn out and it was getting more and more difficult to sit on the saddle, unlike on the Izu brevet, where I was happy until the end.

I made it to PC3 45 minutes ahead of the cutoff. Knowing I had previously completed with half an hour spare at this point, I felt fairly confident I could finish the remaining 66 km under the time limit.

I got more food, ate a bit and refilled my bottles, then headed off towards the Akiyama climb on Rt35, the biggest remaining climb. It passes by the Maglev test track and is followed by about 10 km of mostly descending. I like the villages and rural scenery around there, even if I couldn’t quite enjoy it as much with my sore legs and bottom. I was also starting to yawn every now and then as the effects of adrenaline wore off and lack of sleep started catching up with me. Still, it was nothing like on my first ride of this course. So I just kept turning the pedals, up and down the hills, and counted down the km and remaining minutes until I got closer and closer to Machida.

Finishing the ride

On the last few km before the finish a car turning left totally ignored me going straight and cut me off, but I managed to avoid it. I rode together with three other cyclists and we pulled up together in front of the Cherubim bike shop 15 minutes before the 18:00 closing time.

After having my brevet card and receipts checked, I relaxed with other cyclists and staff and waited for the remaining participants to return safely before course closing time. Then I cycled back to Tokyo, stopping at one conbini for a cup of coffee and a short 15 minute nap on a chair, since I was really getting sleepy by now. I got home safely, took a shower and went to bed.

Summary and outlook

It was an amazing experience again. We were very lucky with the weather. I loved getting good views of Mt Fuji again.

I’m happy with my result and very happy with my bike. Considering that unlike last year I didn’t sleep the afternoon before the ride and that I didn’t take a train to Machida but cycled to the start I didn’t make it easy for myself, but still achieved what I had set out to do.

I know on the climb to the Motosu-ko viewpoint and also from PC3 to Machida I had worked much harder last year, to make sure Shintaro and I would not exceed the time limit (DNF). This year I took it easier on those climbs. I think I could afford to do that because I had done well on the flat and downhill sections to Odawara (PC1) and from Gotemba to PC2, which was made much easier by the Elephant NFE and its superior comfort from the wider 650B tyres.

Next up will be BRM423 400 km around Mt Fuji, again with AJ NishiTokyo. Last year was the first time I completed that, in 26:01 (59 minutes under the limit) by not sleeping at all. I think I’ll try that plan again this year. It will hinge on getting enough sleep upfront, but otherwise I think I’m well prepared for the next adventure.

BRM227 NishiTokyo 200 in Izu on the Elephant NFE

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BRM227 NishiTokyo 200 km “Shiokatsuo” (BRM227西東京200kmしおかつお下賀茂コース) on 2016-02-27 was my first brevet of the new year and also the first on my new bicycle, the Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer (Elephant NFE).

Having cycled relatively little in January and February I was worried about my fitness level. Also, since building up the NFE from a frame+fork set at the beginning of the month I hadn’t put much distance on it yet. Until the day before the ride I was still undecided whether to go back to my proven Bike Friday (BF), on which I have done about 35,000 km so far or go for it on the new bike.

I had done similar brevets on the west coast of Izu peninsula with AJ NishiTokyo in 2013 and 2014. For 2016, a choice of the either the 2013 (Shimogamo) or 2014 (Matsuzaki) route was offered. I went for the Shimogamo route, even though it’s supposed to have about 400 m more elevation gain. The Matsuzaki course (which I may try again next year) doesn’t reach down as far south and contains more out-and-back stretches instead of loops.

I had reserved a room at the Tokoyo Inn at Mishima station, across the street from the event start, so I wouldn’t have to drive two hours before the event.

On Friday I visited Tim at GS Astuto to have the spokes of the wheels he built for the NFE retensioned after 275 km of running in period. Tim helpfully also adjusted my disk brakes and tightened up my left crank which got rid of clicking noises while pedaling. That gave me the confidence to go for the NFE for the event. Thank you, Tim! 🙂

On Saturday morning I was up early, checking the view outside. The sky looked completely clear. I changed into my cycling gear, grabbed a cup of coffee and some bread rolls at the hotel breakfast buffet and headed over to the coin parking where I had left the NFE in the back of the Prius.

A few minutes later I rolled up to the start in front of Mishima station. The new bike got a lot of attention from fellow randonneurs. You don’t actually see a lot of “randonneur” bikes at Japanese randoneuring events and the combination of modern disc brakes with old school Honjo fenders and a Brooks saddle made the elephant an even rarer beast.

After the course briefing we pushed the bikes to the opposite end of the station for the safety check (lights, bell, reflective vest? Check!) and off we went.

The initial speed was even more moderate than usual at brevet starts. A large group of us hung together on the mostly flat 30 km or so until the first (untimed) check point. I saw my first views of Mt Fuji but didn’t want to stop for pictures to stay with the group.

At the 7-Eleven I took off my winter jacket and the full fingered gloves. I did not need to put either back on for the rest of the ride, as I was always warm enough. I put the jacket into a plastic bag and strapped it to the back of the saddle. We were about 25 minutes ahead of minimum speed.

From here the road climbed for a couple of km to a mountain pass, followed by a long and fast descent to Toi onsen on the coast. I felt much more confident descending at high speed than I would have been on the Bike Friday. The wider Compass Babyshoe Pass EL tyres provide so much traction and absorb most road bumps effortlessly.

At the coast we got some Fuji views and I stopped for some pictures. On the way down to Matsuzaki the road passed through numerous tunnels and over many climbs and descents. The tunnels interrupted GPS reception and since I don’t have a wheel speed sensor installed yet, my displayed km count started falling further and further behind actual distance covered. I knew Strava would fill in the gaps on uploads, but I had to guess by how much to adjust the current number to estimate how far it was to the next control.

The area around Dogashima is particularly picturesque.

I was glad it didn’t get quite as warm as when I rode it in 2014. With my warm underwear I still sweated on the climbs, but I didn’t get quite as as dehydrated as then.

After Matsuzaki the course turned away from the coast to avoid the picturesque but narrow and busy coastal road around Iwachi onsen. We climbed up a very steep and narrow backroad, past some farmhouses and Shitake mushroom plantations in the woods.

I rode alone most of the time, but came across the same fellow cyclists over and over as we all stopped at different times to get food, take pictures or for physiological breaks.

I was making good progress and felt increasingly confident about how I’d do in the brevet. By the time I got close to PC1 almost 100 km from the start and only about 15 km short of Shimoda on the southern tip of the peninsula, I was about 45 minutes ahead of minimum speed.

Still, I kept all stops as short as possible and didn’t even allow myself any hot coffee, which takes too long to sip. My choice of drink was mostly chocolate milk, along with my staple food of bananas.

The loop at the southern end of the course had been reversed from the first time I rode the Shimogamo course, to reduce the need to cycle into a coastal headwind.

As I headed back up to Matsuzaki it was not as clear any more as in the morning. I ended up not seeing any more Fuji views in the afternoon, even in the northwestern corner of the peninsula. The sun was getting low as I passed through Dogashima again, then through Toi, where I stocked up on food at the last convenience stores before the sparsely populated NW corner.

Compared to my earlier rides I was feeling a lot less fatigued, even though the NFE is no lighter than the Bike Friday.

Much of the last 40 km before PC2 was very windy, with strong gusts gripping the bikes, but the NFE with its low trail fork is not very sensitive to that (same for the BF) and I felt safe at all times. The low trail fork also makes it easier to make quick corrections to avoid pot holes, sewer covers, etc.

Darkness fell and we descended from the last big hill at the NW corner. I followed close behind another rider, with the Lumotec dynamo light flooding the road with light. We kept a pretty good pace for the next 15 km and rolled up to the Ministop at the edge of civilization at almost the same time. I was about 50 minutes ahead of cutoff time, with only 13 km to go. In a 200 km brevet you gain an extra 10 minutes of time after the last PC: The cut-off time for all PCs is based on their distance from the start divided by 15 km/h, but the overall limit is 13 1/2 hours, not 13 1/3 hours as it would be with a strict 15 km/h minimum speed. So basically I had 2 hours to cover the final 13 km — I could take it easy for the urban ride back to Mishima.

When I finally did buy a cup of coffee at the 7-Eleven near Mishima station that served as the goal, it was 20:00, exactly an hour from course closing time: My first NFE brevet was my fastest Izu brevet ever. And somehow I had still managed to take 101 photographs since the morning 🙂

While I enjoyed my coffee, a few fellow riders rolled up to the conbini. After they had also bought food and drinks and kept the receipts, we cycled back to the Toyoko Inn together, 3 km from the goal, where the reception desk was for the receipt check to confirm we had properly completed the ride.

I really had a great day. I had started the ride still worried if this might be the first ever 200 km brevet that I might not finish under the time limit, but instead I improved my best time and felt great doing so. The cooler temperatures definitely helped, but so did the comfortable ride of the NFE.

I am looking forward to my next brevet, BRM326 NishiTokyo 300 km Mt Fuji, on the same course around Mt Fuji that had served as a my first introduction to randonneuring in May 2012. Meanwhile I still love my Bike Friday and enjoy every km I ride on it. For courses involving train trips it probably will still be my #1 choice, as it’s easier to pack into a small package and it is still my go-to bike for rides around town.

Moving to Disc Brakes for the Bike Friday and Elephant NFE

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Last week I bought a pair of mechanical Shimano BR-CX77 disc brakes for my Bike Friday Pocket Rocket. A friend of mine was selling them cheaply since he had upgraded to hydro/mechanical brakes.

Later this month I’ll receive a new fork with IS disc tabs for my Bike Friday and will install one of these using the 160F post mount adapter. Tokyo Bike Friday dealer ehicle will be installing the fork and a new threadless headset for me, allowing me to convert my nearly 4 year old BF to disc brakes at the front. For now I won’t be changing the rear triangle and the rim brakes at the back, since most of my braking has always been on the front.

Another friend of mine is interested in picking up the rear brake for his bike (his fork and front hub don’t support discs). Thus we both get a bargain price upgrade out of this pair.

Depending on how I like the second hand CX77 in action, I may then buy a new pair for use with my Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer (NFE).

Here is an IRD Alpina-D front derailleur (FD) for the NFE. I’ll use it with my Spa Cycles TD-2 touring crank. It’s very similar to older Ultegra FD’s and works well with smaller chain rings:

Finally here is one of the Compass Babyshoe Pass Extralight tires (650Bx42) that I’ve bought for the NFE. These should make for a cushy but fast ride. A friend of mine is using the 700Cx32 Stampede Pass tires and loves them.

More reading about the NFE build:

Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer Build

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With the arrival of my Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer frame and fork still a few months away I have started collecting parts for building up the complete bike once the frame arrives. The first part was a new Brooks saddle, which I received as a birthday gift from my son.

Next came the Spa Cycles TD-2 Touring Triple cranks, which at £75 (about 15,000 yen including shipping to Japan) were excellent value:

The ramps and pins should ensure it works with Shimano STI shifters. The cranks are made by Sugino in Japan from 6061 aluminium. It looks the same as the Sugino Alpina 2 triple, but without the Sugino logo. The Zicral (7075-T6) chain rings are branded for Spa Cycles but perhaps made by Stronglight. I chose the 46/34/24 chain ring combination as it will give me my ideal gear ratios when combined with a 10 speed Ultegra 12-30 cassette (from 21.0 to 100.7 gear inches). It doesn’t exceed to 22T capacity of Shimano triple front derailleurs (Shimano 105 FD-5703, Shimano Ultegra FD-6703).

This is the Haulin’ Colin porteur rack powder-coated in Elephant NFE green (RAL 6021). I was surprised how light it was when I received it. Here is how Fred Blasdel uses his:

I’ve ordered my 650B wheels from GS Astuto. They will be built using Velocity Blunt SL rims, a Shutter Precision PL-8 dynamo hub at the front and a White Industry CLD rear hub.

My first choice of tyres will be the Compass 650B x 42 Babyshoe Pass Extralight tyres.

The front derailleur will be an IRD Alpina-D Triple, the rear derailleur an Ultegra RD-6700-GS (medium cage).

Other likely components:

  • B&M Lumotec IQ Cyo Premium senso plus (head light)
  • B&M Lumotec Secula Plus (rear light)
  • Nitto Randonneur handle bars
  • Shimano 105 triple 5703 shifters
  • TRP Hy/Rd hydro-mechanical disc brakes
  • Shimano UN55 square taper bottom bracket (113 mm)
  • Shimano PD-M520 pedals
  • Stem – TBD
  • Head set – TBD
  • Seat post – TBD
  • Mudguards – TBD

One comment on the styling of the bike. The script font used for the model name on the top tube is more than a nod to the font used by the US Forest Service on their park signs and in their publications.

However, the NFE frame colour is little lighter than the colour US Forest Service vehicles are painted in:


  U.S. Forest Service (Federal Standard 14260)  
versus
  National Forest Explorer (RAL 6021) 

See also:

Elephant Bikes NFE Build (Tokyo International Cyclists)
Elephant Bikes NFE Goes 11 Speed (with OX601D and hydraulic disc brakes

My Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer

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I have ordered a second bike, an Elephant Bikes National Forest Explorer (Elephant NFE). I wanted something with enough clearance for wider tyres and mudguards as well as disc brakes. I was looking for a light and lively frame for fast, comfortable rides (not planning any heavy duty touring). Lots of cyclocross (CX) bikes would have fit that bill, but none have low trail geometry like classic French randonneurs or my Bike Friday. Elephant Bike’s unique low trail disk fork is really what attracted me. The frame set is hand-made by bike builder Glen Copus in Spokane, WA.

The virtue of versatility
The Elephant NFE is probably one of the most versatile bikes around. I like versatile: My current Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, on which I’ve done about 30,000 km in less than 4 years, has served me well for anything from grocery shopping at the supermarket to 600 km randonées in the mountains of Japan. Road bikes optimized for racing on the other hand do well at exactly one purpose, racing. That’s something I’m not really interested in.

In an interview with Bicycle Times, Jan Heine (Bicycle Quarterly) contrasted the versatility of cars with more restricted designs on modern road bikes:

You buy a Porsche today, you can take it to the racetrack if you want and at the same time it’s fully equipped to drive to the office, you can get groceries on the way home, you can even take your girlfriend or wife to a resort, you can do all those functions in one car. On a racing bike, where are you going to put the groceries?

My idea of cycling is mostly one day touring. I ride to see places. I also love to take pictures of the places I visit. I often use the bike for distances that many people would use cars for, unless I have passengers. I don’t want to be restricted to daytime riding or clear skies or smooth roads or only part of the year. This goes back a long time: The first bike I bought as a 17 year old had mudguards and a rear rack. During one 5 month stretch in high school I put as much as 7500 km on it, including one solo ride of 220 km.

These days my threshold for a long ride is 160 km, a “century” distance. I don’t want to carry more luggage than I need in 24 hours, but but when you ride a whole day and go from sea level to half way up Mt Fuji and back, you need more stuff than fits in jersey pockets. I dislike heavy backpacks on a long ride. Therefore my idea of the ideal bike is not a race machine but a general purpose tool. My Bike Friday comes pretty close.

One thing I didn’t like about my current bike was brake performance in the rain. In June 2013 I rode home from the epic “Otsuki 4.5” mountain loop when I got caught in a massive downpour on top of Matsuhime (1,240 m). The Matsuhime descent in the rain on a 15% grade with wet rim brakes was no fun at all. Also I’ve had too many white-knuckle moments braking in traffic in the rain, when the calliper brakes first have to wipe the water off the rims before they they start biting on the next rotation. Disc brakes work in any weather and that settles it for me.

The search for another bike
Three and a half years ago I bought my first road bike in many years, a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket. This drop-bar road bike has 20″ wheels and folds small enough to pack into a regular size suitcase. I’ve been very happy with it, riding it through all seasons and putting three times more distance on it than I put on my car (a 2008 Prius). For both 2013 and 2014 I averaged more than 750 km per month and that’s even without a commute (I work from home). In March 2012 I signed up for a 300 km brevet three months later, then did three training rides of about 200 km for it. It was the first of many brevets. Except for August 2012 I have done at least one ride of 160 km or more every calendar month since March 2012 (a 33 month run from September 2012 to May 2015). In September 2013 I rode 574 km when trying my first 600 km brevet while in April 2015 I successfully completed a 400 km brevet.

Over these years, many people have suggested to me that I would find it easier to complete brevets or to keep up with other cyclists in group rides if I were to ride a 700C bike instead of my Bike Friday. I beg to disagree. The Bike Friday has actually been more comfortable than many conventional road bikes. Especially with 20 x 1 3/8″ (ETRTO 37-451) tyres at lower pressure, the bike vibrates less then narrow 23 mm road tyres pumped up to maximum pressure. The dynamo hub lighting, mud guards, Brooks saddle and the smart phone holder for easy navigation all help with long rides at all hours in any weather. It has been an extremely versatile and practical bike.

I have tried the 700C carbon road bikes of my wife and my son. I also tried a titanium bike lent to me by my friend Tim of GS Astuto. Yes, these big wheeled bikes roll more smoothly over speed bumps and other surface irregularities and they were lighter, which helped on many hills, but their gearing is also much higher, which is tough on really steep climbs. Due to the smaller wheels of my bike, the gearing of my road triple (50/39/30 chain rings + 11-28T cassette) works out more like that of a mountain bike (44/32/22 + 11-28T). The lightest gear of my son’s carbon road bike with compact crank is almost 50% heavier than my lightest gear. It’s actually heavier than the lightest gear on the middle chain ring of my Bike Friday triple.

Heavy gears are not only a problem when I get tired towards the end of a 13 hour ride. I also find that when I grind higher gears with more torque at lower cadences I may go faster, but I often pay for it with knee pain afterwards. I don’t really want to take any chances with my knees, as I intend to keep on riding into old age. Knee pain has been the reason I stopped running. I don’t want it to end my cycling.

I found the gear range of 22-92 gear inches on my Bike Friday perfect for me. I don’t need any gears for pedalling faster than 45 km/h, as on a long ride I rarely even do as much as 30 km/h on the flat. However I will often encounter steep hills that I can only crawl up at 6 km/h. Low gearing lets me do that at 60 rpm while still seated and my knees will thank me for it.

So while I was looking for possible new bikes with disc brakes or other nice features, the question of how to keep my low gearing prevented me from going for most off-the-shelf bikes. I would have to start from a frame set and add components that will work for me.

Low trail geometry
I had noticed that the steering on my Bike Friday felt different from 700C road bikes and put it down to the difference in mass of the wheels. The steering of the Bike Friday felt quick, but at the same time it didn’t seem affected as much by sudden gusts of wind from the side. To me it felt like the Bike Friday was easy to control via the handle bar input whereas the big bikes responded more to the rider shifting his weight around. I started reading about Jan Heine and his rediscovery of mid-century French randonneur bikes with low trail geometries, which work well for front-mounted loads. Their steering was supposed to feel like that. Then I found out that the Bike Friday, by virtue of its short fork, also had low trail geometry. That made me very curious about low trail road bikes.

As if finding a road bike with low gearing that was neither a heavy touring bike nor like a mountain bike wasn’t difficult enough, I started looking around if anyone made a bike with low trail geometry that also offered disc brakes, my primary reason to look beyond the Bike Friday. For months I didn’t come across anything. Many low-trail proponents are also sceptics with regards to certain bicycle innovations. For example, Jan Heine still uses a 5-speed freewheel like I did in the 1970s and doesn’t use integrated shifters (e.g. Shimano STI).

A couple of months ago I came across an article by Alex Wetmore in which he described a custom-built low-trail fork with traditional bend but with disc brakes.

Then a couple of weeks ago I came across a mention of a 650B bike with disc brakes in a comment posted on Jan Heine’s blog (https://janheine.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/the-enduro-allroad-bike/), called the Elephant National Forest Explorer. I googled the bike. The fork in the first picture I came across looked exactly like the one I had seen on Alex Wetmore’s blog. That was because builder Glen Copus based it on Alex’ proven design when he built an NFE for Fred Blasdel.

The next day I sent an email to John Speare of Elephant Bikes. He told me they were going to do another production run in a couple of weeks. A week later I got an email that they were taking orders now. It was an easy decision: There is no other bike like it. I sent my deposit the next day. I will probably get the frame and fork in August and hopefully start riding the bike in September.

Planning the build
I still haven’t decided how to get my low gears, but it will have to work with Shimano STI so I can shift and brake from the same hand position for urban riding. The choice is between a compact plus double crank (e.g. 42/26), a touring triple (e.g. 46/34/24) or a road triple with large cassette (e.g. the new Tiagra 4703). Either of those will give me the gears I need.

The plan is to build up the NFE with a dynamo hub (Shutter Precision PL-8), a Brooks saddle (B17), a porteur front rack with a bag and some supple, wide 650B tyres such as the 42 mm wide Compass Babyshoe Pass EL.

A front rack gives easy access to items you need during rides without having to dismount. Since the weight rests on the normally much more lightly loaded front wheel it doesn’t require beefing up the whole frame as in typical touring bikes. Thus you get both load carrying ability and a light, fast frame – a perfect combination.

Stay tuned for the first ride reports later this year 🙂

400 km in 26 hours on a Bike Friday

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On April 18/19 I rode the BRM418 Fuji Omawari (“Fuji Big Loop”) 400 km brevet by AJ NishiTokyo. It was part of my quest to complete 200-300-400-600 km brevets in one year for the Super Randonneur title. Those four are also needed to qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris this August, which I’m not seriously planning for.

The course had a 27 hour time limit, from 07:00 on Saturday to 10:00 on Sunday. The total elevation gain of the course is about 3700 m over an official distance of 402.4 km. There were five check points (PC1-5, point de contrôle), all of them convenience stores from which we needed to get receipts, plus one quiz check point halfway to PC1.

As for most AJ NishiTokyo events the start and finish were at the Cherubim bike shop in Machida. From there the course heads out via Doshi michi (Rt413) to Yamanako (Lake Yamanaka), past Motosuko (Lake Motosu) to Minami Alps city, then down to the coast, across Izu to Ito, Atami, Odawara and back to Machida.

Though it might look like most of the climbing was in the first quarter because of the highest elevation there, there is more total elevation gain yet to come after the big descent from the Fuji five lake area.

I had tried this event last year but around the half-way point started to fade badly from lack of sleep . There was no way I could make the remaining control closing times. Even after sleeping some time I decided not to cycle all the way back but to take the train from Odawara station, so I didn’t even do the full distance.

To prevent a repeat of this outcome I decided to:
1) get more sleep upfront and
2) not to bring a rinko bag on the ride 🙂

I also rode the complete course as a personal ride without time limit two weeks before the event, Tokyo to Tokyo (460+ km total). This gave me a better feel for the course, for how my body would react and what clothes would be appropriate this season. And it worked!

On Friday night I checked into a cheap hotel near Machida so I would have a quiet early night and wouldn’t have to take the bike on the first train in the morning to make it to the registration desk by 06:00, before the briefing at 06:30. At 5000 yen the hotel was cheap, but the supposedly non-smoking room reeked of cigarette smoke. It was hot and stuffy too, so I woke up several times. Unfortunately the similarly priced but much nicer Toyoko Inn in Sagamihara where I had staid before BRM110 in January was full…

Saturday morning started out sunny, but I had packed my rain gear in case of rain on Sunday and as an extra layer if it got too cold at night. I never needed it during the ride: A wind breaker was enough for the cold and it didn’t start drizzling until Sunday afternoon.

On the way to the start I bought some bananas for breakfast. At the briefing we were told about some course changes in the latest version of the cue sheet, then a safety check and we were off. I think I was the only one at the start without leg warmers.

Doshi michi has a lot of ups and downs before it reaches the 1114 m pass before Yamanakako, so you actually climb something like 1700 m up to that point and we also faced head winds. I think I was passed by almost all participants by the time I reached the lake.

Unlike at the ride two weeks earlier Fuji was visible this time.

I was wearing my shorts and no wind breaker. For that it was chilly, especially at Motosuko which was covered in low clouds with only 7 degrees C according to a road side display. The coldest point of the ride was not before sunrise in Izu but at noon at Motosuko.

Due to the amount of climbing I was running about 20 minutes behind the minimum average speed for PC closing times by then. Not coincidentally though, PC1 had been placed after a long fast descent at much lower elevation, so we could make up a lot of lost time. It was extremely windy on the steep Rt300 descent the other side of the Motosuko tunnel, but temperatures also got much milder again.

I made it to PC1 (a Seven 11 at 125 km) 20 minutes before closing time, then on to PC2 (a Lawson) in Minami Alps at 152 km, also with only 20 minutes spare.

After PC2 came a long downhill stretch, which was great for recovery. The Yamanashi side of Mt Fuji staid in full view for a long time.

As the sun set we joined Rt52 towards the coast, a fast flat road with a fair amount of traffic.

I passed a few other cyclists before we got to the hilly section leading to PC3 (a Circle K at Shibakawa, 217 km). This is where it started to get difficult last year, but not this time: After riding this section in the rain after midnight two weeks earlier, it felt downright comfortable in evening hours in the dry.

I was wondering where I would get really sleepy. I didn’t think I was so well prepared after that hotel stay, but my pace didn’t drop. At the Ministop that served as PC4 in Izu (km 275) I found myself an hour ahead of closing time. Several others took a nap at the conbini. I was too excited to nap and had a cup of coffee instead.

In the dark on the pass over to the east coast of Izu I startled a small deer and later some racoon-like animal, but nothing scary.

There are four climbs on the coastal road before Odawara, each one several km long. I didn’t take any pictures in the early dawn. It was cool and overcast, not clear and warm as when I passed there last year:

Near Atami I stopped for my third cup of coffee at a conbini as I was feeling sleepy, when an accident happened outside. A group of Randonneurs who were part of a different event had passed and one of them had his front wheel caught in a gap in a sewer grate. He had landed head first on the road, cracked his helmet and probably broke his nose. When I got there he was lying flat on his back on the side walk, with a handkerchief covering his face, not moving but conscious. There was blood on the road. His friends had called an ambulance which soon arrived. The other cyclists then asked us to continue. That situation kind of woke me up again. Ours is a dangerous sport indeed! Drafting in a group does have aerodynamic benefits, but only the lead man gets an unobstructed view of the road ahead.

I made it to the last big climb before Odawara as the sun came up and knew I was looking good on time. There were several other randonneurs that I kept seeing as we stopped at different times but were basically at a similar pace. At PC5 (366 km) I knew I could make it to Machida even if I only averaged 15 km/h, with only 36 km and no real hills to go in light Sunday morning traffic.

“You’re riding 400 km on THAT?” asked a female cyclist, pointing at my Bike Friday as I was having milk tea and sandwiches outside the last conbini. The people who see me regularly at AJ NishiTokyo events are no longer surprised that I do these long distance rides on a road bike with small wheels that happens to fold, but many others still find it hard to believe you don’t have to pedal more. Thankfully somebody back in the 1880s invented something called the “safety bicycle” with gears and a chain, a novel design that broke the 1 pedal revolution = 1 wheel revolution link of the “ordinary bicycle” that had preceded it. So I can assure them that on a 400 km ride I don’t need to pedal any more than somebody riding the same event on a 700C bike and the relative position of the contact points (seat, pedals, handle bar) is the same too.

I got to Machida with a big grin on my face, rolling up in front of Cherubim at 09:01, 59 minutes before the 10:00 closing time. I had my brevet card checked, showed my receipts and the quiz point photograph, then sat down for refreshments and a chat. More cyclists arrived, one or two at a time. The very last one still on the course literally made it at the last minute, arriving at 09:59 to general cheers 🙂

My next brevet will be BRM530 to Suwako (Lake Suwa in Nagano) and back, a 600 km ride. Going without sleep for its entire 40 hour time limit won’t be an option there, but I’ll try to prepare well. I’ve cycled most of the route in 2013 and 2014 already.

A couple of days before the brevet I ordered N+1, an Elephant Bikes NFE frame set. It’s basically a low trail geometry randonneur bike with disc brakes. Production will start next month and I should receive it in August.

So this autumn I’ll probably be doing the “Kintaro” (Ashigara) and “Shiokatsuo” (West Izu) 200 km brevets on new 650B wheels with a dynamo hub and discs that Tim (GS Astuto) will be building for the new green bike.