Japanese Odyssey - Day One.

Day One

My alarm was set for 4am, I woke at 3:59... a few last minute packing adjustments - don't need this, this and that. Pack everything ready for storage and I am off to the start - 15kms, hopefully it won't take the eternity of last time.

KM Zero - Nihonbashi Bridge...
Time for some pics.

I left my accom at 5:30 ish, 15 km ride to arrive at 6:15 for photos - not a poor pace… can i keep it up…?

The traditional pre ride pictures were taken and just 10 mins behind schedule we depart Nihonbashi Bridge, Tokyo's historical Kilometre Zero.

Incidentally two people were riding commuter bikes... incredible! 'Maybe', I thought, 'maybe, I have a chance...' Ha!

We head out, first as a group but we rapidly split - some riders were moving faster than my sustainable pace - best not try and chase... no point in burning matches. Tokyo is an amazing city, clean, modern, crime free (almost) and big. Our first CP is Cross Coffee - one of the sponsors, it is approx 30kms from the start but still within, what is considered Tokyo City and the many many traffic lights - stop, start... stop, start... it is physically demanding - every time I touch my brakes I am wasting energy. But... I get to see the beautiful Mount Fuji which was probably more exciting for me than you... but, hey, this is about me... no?

Mount Fuji... kinda like Kilimanjaro but with a
shorter name - true story.

The small road to Wada Pass

Cross Coffee CP, a convenient requirement, it allows everyone to check their equipment - GPS tracker, loose straps, batteries, charging etc etc. It also marks the end of the city limits and the countless god damn traffic lights - good, I've seen enough to last the whole ten days.

We leave, I leave... CP1 is a couple hours away - Wada Pass, up a mountain road, and it is time for the serous Maybe I better load the pantry - coffee, milk, yogurt, rice snacks, hot fast food, chocolate...? I stop at one of the thousands of convenience stores and load up with grub, sample the local ‘junk’ cuisine… to be accurate it was a long way above junk :) some yakitori (skewers of grilled meat - usually things like chicken… chicken skin… chicken cartilage…) boiled eggs (they are salted, soft and delicious) spicy chicken and the staple - rice.

Hmmm. another pic of said small road.

I'm off again riding along the river eventually leaving it and climbing up to CP1 - Wada Pass. The road is pretty steep. As I was riding I kept seeing these numbers on the side of the road… 30, 39, 46, 54 etc etc. Definitely not kilometre markers - I wish but they are too quick. The penny dropped at about marker and 'bend' 53… that was around noon. I saw Tobias at the top and I shared some food. Eventually his gf arrived as I was leaving.

Around 3pm I checked my bike - rear brake was rubbing… probably costing me at least 256watts… or maybe 2.56watts... I tried to fix it, this consisted of looking at it intently, shaking the wheel, tapping it... you know the advanced bike mech stuff. Not sure my mechanic skills were up to the task.

Around 5pm I stopped at a gas station - it was  cold and I needed to rug up; M and B arrived and we rode together for a few hours. The route called for either climbing over a big Pass or riding through a long (about 5km) tunnel. The pass would have been beautiful but it was dark, cold and conserving energy seemed a good idea - the tunnel won.

Lots of calories... no?

Eventually we lost M - she was ahead and planning to meet her BF.  B and I found a restaurant, ate some food and continued together for another couple hours. Eventually B stopped to find a bivvy spot around 10 I think. Incidentally B did not have much cold weather gear, just a small puffy jacket and a bivvy bag... no sleeping bag!  Lots of riders had chosen that option - a lot less weight to carry but...

I continued - I wasn’t tired and I wanted to be exhausted before I stopped, otherwise I wouldn’t sleep… I eventually got lost (again) around 12:30 am, I was riding around in circles trying to get onto the 153… I could see it, I passed under it… but access was miles away and... I was cold. Maybe, maybe it was time to get some sleep, temp had dropped (down to -2 I heard) and I was obviously tired enough that I passed out pretty quick… I was wondering about Barney... no sleeping bag...

I was in a farmers field laying next to a workshop I think, I had been on the move for 20 hours... only 210km ish covered… already behind my hoped for schedule… maybe tomorrow I can make up some distance... maybe.

Look - a water falling thing, kinda like one of those things, you know a erm... waterfall.