Anna's First Biwa-ichi

Mt. Aso, Day 4 (Osaka Port to home)

Mt. Aso, Day 3

Mt. Aso, Day 2

Mt. Aso, Day 1

First the good news: no crashes, no punctures, no rain, no cold, no mental trials.

Bad news: unrelenting wind that added hours and hours to the trip. A broken chain that added another hour and a half.

A ride of 325km is daunting, mentally I broke the trip down into four sub-rides (84km, 95km, 79km, and 65km), which makes it feel so much easier.   The first quarter of the distance had half of the climbing, yet I finished it in less than three hours, so I was on track to do the whole trip in 12 hours, plus a lunch stop.  But after about 100km, I came to a place in the coast where the wind was switched on like a wind tunnel, and for what turned out to be all but about 45 minutes of the rest of the day, I had a strong, consistent wind in my face.  Where I should have been easily averaging 30~35kph, I was pushing to do 21~23kph. For hour after hour after hour.

I thought that at least it would turn into a side wind once I left the coast to head inland, and for a while near Kanazawa, it was, and I was cooking 35~40kph, but once further inland (or further into the lateness of the day) the wind was different, and I had the wind in my face for the rest of the trip. 

Once along the coast road, far from any civilization, I came across a small truck parked on the side of the road, with its lights on and no one in it. I doubled back and peered down to the rocky shore looking for the fisherman who had left his lights on, but saw no one. Looked all around, and eventually saw a guy up on the mountain, perhaps picking mountain vegetables. I yelled up "YOUR LIGHTS ARE ON" a couple times, until his reaction made it clear that he understood, and I continued on. Good deed done for the day.

At about the 205km point, my chain started to do weird things and make very bad-sounding noises, and I was shocked to find that it was falling apart. One of the pins had come loose. I was in the middle of nowhere (Google told me that there was a bike shop 16km away) and I thought I was screwed, but then I realized that I could fix it. For years I'd carried a chain-break tool in my saddle bag, along with a quick-repair link. I'd never used either on the road, though had used the latter a lot early on when I waxed my chain instead of oiling it.  So I was pleased as punch with myself for being able to fix it.  I lost just 30 minutes.  But while it mostly seemed to be good as new, at times it would suddenly start skipping with every pedal stroke, so I rode the 16km to the bike shop and had them put on a new chain. It seems that the quick link was defective, or I had installed it wrong. In any case, I had a new chain and I headed back into the wind.

It was nice to see Kanazawa Station. I hadn't been there for 11 years, since: http://regex.info/blog/2008-06-13/836

I'm glad that I'd brought extra power and an extra tail light. I fully expected to arrive before sundown, but I ended up riding hours in the dark.

At least I was completely comfortable, temperature wise, all day.  In the morning it was cold, but I didn't feel cold. In the evening it was cool and I felt cool. It was lovely all day.  And despite the wind, which would normally be soul-crushing for me, I just took it in stride and continued on. Mentally, an easy ride.

 Friends, beers, and BBQ awaited me. That too, was lovely.

My 2nd-longest ride (after the 408km https://www.strava.com/activities/1257572019 ), my 3rd double  century (200+ mile ride), my 45th century (100+ mile ride). My 146th 100km+ ride.

I need 197 more double centuries to get my Eddington Number to 200. 😂

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Jeffrey Friedl

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Anna's First Biwa-ichi

Mt. Aso, Day 4 (Osaka Port to home)

Mt. Aso, Day 3

Mt. Aso, Day 2

Mt. Aso, Day 1

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