I have fallen a little behind since CaM Month #125 in January. This was my February report:
With a 162 km bike ride (
on Strava) down the east coast of Izu (Odawara-Inatori-Odawara) my February Century is done. That's month #126 of Century a Month.
I had been tempted by a ride to Kazahari that a friend had announced, but the worry about hitting an impassable frozen dead end somewhere above 1000 m (3300 ft) of elevation and not being able to complete the century distance that day turned me off the idea. I'll be out of the country from Friday to the following Saturday, which doesn't leave many chances for long rides in this short month. So Izu it was.
After the snow on Friday I was happy to see a milder forecast for Saturday and Sunday. I decided to go for shorts, with long underwear and my rainwear for the morning and night part of the ride. The morning was indeed chilly, the rainwear definietly was no match for the fleece-lined trousers I normally wear in winter, but from the late morning to sunset I was fine in shorts and most of the time also in the t-shirt (without wind breaker). Midday temperatures would have been too warm for the winter trousers.
Passsing through Manazuru, Yugawara, Atami, Ito and then the backroads between Ito and Jogasaki brought back memories of brevets, Flèche rides and group rides. The 400 and 600 km brevets by AJ Nishi-Tokyo take a route through Izu in opposite directions. The only time I had previously cycled beyond my halfway point of Inatori was at a 300 km brevet of AJ Kanagawa in November 2021 (2021BRM1120, Kamakura-Shimoda-Zushi).
I had started the ride without breakfast at home and only had two sandwiches during the first third. That definitely was too little. Later I bought bananas, a bag of mikan and more sandwiches.
The course is hilly, with about 1,000 m (3300 ft) of elevation gain on each half but a lot of the time there are ocean views to take your mind of the climbing.
I knew I would be riding much of the return part after dark, but still spent time talking to people I met. At one convenience store I saw a Cannondale gravel bike outside. When the owner came out we had a chat. He looked old enough to be in retirement and lived in Atami. Last year he spent a year off the bike because of a heart issue but could now resume riding. He was on his way to a hot spring bath.
South of Jogasaki I passed some public toilets and noticed a big handcart there with a flag and a message "Nihon'isshū-chū" in Kanji characters (circumnavigating Japan). Next to it a tent had been set up. Following my curiosity, I stopped and returned to greet the guy standing next to the cart. It turned out he was on a mission to walk the entire coastline of Japan. He had left Osaka on foot on December 12 last year. He said his average pace was about 3.5 km/h, covering some 20 km a day. The plan was to make it up the east coast of Honshu in time to be able to spend the 4 warmest months of the year walking around Hokkaido before heading south again.
The handcart was equipped with reflectors, a flag, a blinking bar and a headlight for safety. With the tent and all belongings packed, it weighed about 100 kg (220 lb). Izu is a hilly place to pull this kind of weight.
Mr Kaidō gave me his business card. You can follow him on Instagram as @
REIwano_rearcarman
