Six of us from Semas Racing got up bright and early and headed to Hinode (West of Tokyo) near Okutama this morning. This is near where we did some MTBing last year at Okutama. My MTB was covered in dust yesterday and there was a hole in the saddle. ( A reminder of my near fall over a precipice last year). I took it for a spin and made sure it was working well and it was. Added a bit of air to the suspension.
I got up at 5:00, headed out about 5:40 and met up with everybody at the our usual Sunday morning rendezvous under the Musashino line at Misato. (Nagareyama Bridge). (13km ride warm-up.)
After loading the bikes on and into the 2 cars we got on the expressway for Hinode. One pit stop at a 7/11. From Hinode station we drove up to Tsurutsuru onsen (hot spring bath-house) where we would later rest our weary limbs before coming home.
The first goal was to get our backpacks laden with warm clothes and food as well as pushing our mountain bikes to the peak of Hinode mountain where we would have lunch. After having the largest heaviest back pack last year, I opted for a large bum pack that had a water bottle holder. It was perfect except there would be no back support should I crash over a trunk. The climb was no easy task but compared to last year’s trek through the vertical forest in the icy snow at Okutama the path to the top of Hinode was relatively tame (no snow at all). 90% of it was too steep or gravelly to ride so we had to walk and push our bikes a lot of the way.
Feeling like I needed to put in some Tokyo Marathon training and not wanting to be last to the top like I was last year, I bolted ahead by myself to the top. Riding and pushing where I felt it was suitable. Stopping for photos and water when too bushed. Could really feel that I was fitter than last year. Certainly weighing almost 12kg less helped.
Once at the top we took photos and heated up the gas cookers to boil the water for our cup ramens (noodles). With my ramen I had a snickers, a tuna-mayo onigiri (rice ball) some mixed nuts and finished off my Zero Cola. Elderly hikers also started to gather and they went one step further in the cooking dept and had a big pot where they were boiling up fresh soup and the men were already drinking beers in the sun.
Yes, the weather was great. Occasionally the sound of the wind could be heard roaring up the West of the mountain range but we were pretty much protected all day walking up and riding down the East side.
After lunch it was mostly downhill. Not wanting to go off the steep sides or be impaled on a tree stump I was pretty cautious at first. Still fresh in my mind was the fall from last year. I found I was riding better if I went ahead by myself rather than follow the others. It was better to look ahead and not react to what the riders ahead were doing but to just go with the flow. So I went most of the way down ahead of everybody and had fun carving out lines between the tree stumps, woody roots, rocks and holes. I didn’t come off once but I did slide out a bit and hit my arm on a boulder.
Was fun. I have to do it more than once a year though. I think the legs got some kind of Tokyo marathon training out if it. I was very slow walking downhill. (cautious mostly).
Once at the bottom though we had a 5km climb back up to the onsen on the road form the station. That was the real ride of the day.
The onsen was great but being one of only 2 foreigners in there at the time we always stick out like a sore thumb and are probably treated a little differently by the staff. Always a little paranoid about the onsens after reading the Debito court case. Well, making a gaijin gaff, I was the only person in our group not to bring any towels. ( I thought there’d be hire towels or complimentary ones). After half undressing and realising there were no towels around and everybody else had their own I sheepishly redresed and headed down to reception where I bought 2 hand towels for 110yen each. Very cheap. Cheaper than renting towels at other onsens.
After relaxing in the hot bath I had a nice tall Asahi beer and waited for everybody else to be finished.
I wanted to spend more time in the bath and relaxing but everybody else was keen to get moving. I bought myself another beer for the car trip home which almost put me to sleep on the freeway.
Probably only about 40km on the bike for the day, but a day in the mountains on a MTB is worth about 3 road race rides of the same distance. (in pain and effort).
More photos here