On Sunday I could finally do my March Century ride (166 km with 2242 m of elevation gain,
on Strava), extending my "Century a Month" streak to 115 consecutive months. Five more months to go to make it 10 years!
It had been three weeks since my last ride as I couldn't ride for the two weekends, first because of my trip to Germany for the funeral, then 7 days of post-flight quarantine because another passenger on the return flight had tested positive (otherwise I would have been exempt from quarantine as Germany is no longer on Japan's high risk country list and I've had my 3rd vaccine dose).
I have the 360+ km Flèche ride from Aichi to Tokyo coming up in just over 3 weeks. On two of the remaining weekends I'm signed up for a 200 km brevet, the first one being the very hilly AJ Nishi-Tokyo west Izu brevet that I completed barely under the time limit last October.
To get into shape for these rides I picked a hilly course, the Nenogongen loop which is a slightly shorter version of the even more hilly Ome temple loop.
It was sunny but only 4° C when I set off from Tokyo at 06:15 wearing my winter trousers. In case it got too warm later in the day I packed some shorts with long underwear and I went for my AJ Nishi-Tokyo long sleeve jersey instead of my GS Astuto winter jersey. I did wear the shorts for a few hours from Ome but before Nenogongen I changed back into the clothes I'd been wearing in the morning. It was the same 4° C as in Tokyo in the morning up on the Greenline (the road on the ridge) even during mid-day!
In Hanno I stopped for a chat with Mr Nishi Masaaki, a retired art professor whose house and workshop were on the route.
I saw some cherry blossoms along the route but not too many yet. The mountains around Hanno will always see it later than down in Tokyo where it's much warmer.
The steep Takayama climb to the Greenline was hard, though I walked less than last time I rode it with friends. Maybe that was because by myself I could ride more slowly up to the climb and was still fresher.
The long descent to route 299 was chilly. I decided to change back into my trousers. After that I felt a bit more comfortable.
By the time I got to Nenogongen the shopkeepers at the entrance were already packing up. There was almost nobody around. The doors of the main temple building were already closed, you could not see the inside. I followed the footpath on the side to the hill behind the main building up to the temple bell at the top of the mountain. From there I could see Tokyo Sky tree.
My legs were aching as I made my way back to Ome via a few more hills and cold descents. I stopped at Nepalese restaurant Sherpa for dinner, after which I felt much better. I got back around 22:30. Mission accomplished!