Three hillclimb races, plus a solo climb

So recently I have been obsessed with hillclimbs (riding your bike up a mountain road) and I participated in three hillclimb races: Ibukiyama in April, and Koma ga take and Utsukushi ga hara in June. In May, I didn't have any events but I did take the train to KisoFukushima station to do the Ontake hillclimb.

Ibukiyama Driveway Hillclimb 伊吹山ドライブウェイヒルクライム: April 10 2016

This was actually my first hillclimb race. Ibukiyama driveway is normally only accessible by motorized vehicle but every year they open the gates for this race. It goes along the border of Gifu and Shiga Prefectures. The driveway doesn't go all the way to the summit, but it is 15 km long and has a grade of 6.8% (although there are sections that are more than 20%). Up until this point, the longest climb I had ever done was 10 km.
My result was satisfactory for me. I got 79/139 in the women's category with a time of 1:25:33. I wasn't last, in fact I was in the top two thirds. Since it was my longest climb to date, I was just aiming for a finish.
My feelings about the race... At times it was really difficult and I got discouraged when people passed me, but in general it motivated me to do more climbs and especially seek out longer climbs.

Cherry blossoms were in bloom.

At the top after the race.

Solo ride: Ontake Hillclimb 御岳ヒルクライム: May 5 2016

So on Golden Week I decided not to do a tour this year. But I still really wanted a good challenge so I decided to ride my bike up Ontake, which is indeed the volcano that erupted a couple of years ago. Don't worry it's safe because I have been skiing on it twice since. Anyhow, I think this is my hardest climb to date, and also my longest and highest (over 20 km and 1200 m elevation gain... that comes to an average grade of 6%).
So I hopped on the train with my bike in a bag and rode over there, rode up and then rode back down.  It was very difficult. Have you ever tried to drink from a water bottle at 80% maximum heart rate riding up a 6% hill? I wouldn't recommend it. The Ontake climb doesn't have any long downhill sections. Just REALLY steep sections followed by not so steep sections.
My total time was 2:11:54 for a distance of 20.8 km.

Halfway there, looking at the summit.

At the top of the road, looking at the summit.

The road goes right through a ski area.
On the way down I had to take a picture of my bike next to a ski lift!

About 5 km down from the top.

 After I finished, I was immensely satisfied (I finally broke my highest and longest climb record, and I rode my bike up a volcano!) If you haven't tried this, I highly recommend it.
The only bad thing about riding up Ontake is, you know there aren't many steeper, longer, or more challenging rides left in Japan... If I want to break my record I pretty much have to ride Mt. Fuji.
Another bad thing about riding up Ontake is that after an hour you feel like you're just about to give in and then you realize that you're only halfway up.

Central Alps Hillclimb 中央アルプスヒルクライム: June 12 2016

After Ibukiyama I signed up for two more races, Central Alps (Kiso-komagatake) and Tour De Utsukushigahara, both in Nagano. Komagatake is in Komagane city and has some ski hills. Like Ibukiyama, the driveway is normally closed to regular traffic and only buses can run up and down, but they closed down the driveway until 9 am for the race. It was only about 9.7 km but a lot steeper on average than Ibukiyama with an average of 8.4%. In addition, there were NO downhill sections (around km 12, Ibukiyama has a couple short downhill section where I was able to put out 30 km/h) so I felt it was almost more challenging.
I was able to get 12th of 18 in the women's category with a time of 1:08:44. Overall my place was 169th out of 194 participants. Not my best time on a 10 km climb but I really don't have the hills around here in Aichi/Gifu to practice steep sections long distance. Anyhow I will be looking for some steep hills soon to practice my form. One thing I am happy with on this race is the fact that I was able to sprint to the finish and also pass quite a few people and keep up with or pass people of a similar pace.
After the race up the 9.6 km climb, we took the tram (no extra charge) nearly up to the summit where the award ceremony was held and they gave us free food and drink. The view from there was amazing.

Tour De Utsukushigahara ツール・ド・美ヶ原: June 26 2016

Utsukushigahara is a highland just outside of Matsumoto city, in Nagano prefecture. "Utsukushi" means beautiful in Japanese. I have to say this hillclimb was very beautiful and it was calming when I was standing on the pedals yet barely inching forward in some sections (average of 17% over half a km at the start). By the way... there was a recumbent bike class, and it had maybe 8-10 riders. I was impressed. I don't even want to think about doing some of those >10% sections on a recumbent bike.

The "Champion" class started first, then the women's class was second.

The course is almost 22 km and the average grade is 6%. Mostly it is 1-2 km sections of 8%, 13% and so on interspersed by very short downhill or flat sections. However, 17km in there are several downhill sections where I was able to put out 55 km/h. For that reason I definitely want to go next year as well.
I have to say I'm quite happy with my result. I actually got 30th out of 61, so in the top half of the women's category. My time was 1:53:25.

My favourite TV show, Charider (チャリダー) was there doing a segment 

The view from the top (parking lot/finish line)

After the race we got locally grown tomatoes with salt!! Delicious

Women's category Top 6.
The first place winner had a time of about 1:20.
The overall race winner had a time of about 1:06.

After the race, I got to go in an onsen (the best way to end a day of hard working out, or in this case, just before lunch). Matsumoto city is famous for Asama Onsen. Since most of the participants in the race were men, there were almost no women in the onsen so it was very peaceful.

Golden Week 2015: Shikoku, Chugoku and Kansai cycling tour

In Japan, Golden Week is a week of 3 or 4 consecutive national holidays and is a popular time to travel for Japanese people.

This year I decided to see Shikoku which is the only main island I hadn't been to in Japan. I went by bicycle and carried my tent and sleeping bag with me. The only other tour I have done with the tent was around Lake Biwako and that was only 3 nights or 400 km!

You know what another goal of this tour was? To visit 29 prefectures before I turn 29. So now I have visited 29 prefectures!

Day 1: April 29th, 2015

I left Nagoya late, at 11:30 am. oops. I took the Shinkansen to Okayama and transferred to a local line going to Shikoku. I got to Kagawa Prefecture, at Sakaide station (you can take the train across to Shikoku, by bridge) and rode for about 3 hours before finding a place to camp.
Kagawa is Japan's smallest prefecture, at a whopping 1876.73 square km. (2nd smallest: Osaka; 3rd: Tokyo; 4th: Okinawa)

Tent Sweet Tent.

 Day 2: April 30th, 2015

On my second day I went from Kagawa to Tokushima Prefecture. The weather was perfect. Originally I had planned to go to the coast, but I decided to cut down on time and go inland, across the north area of the prefecture. I found this to be an easy and pleasant day.

By the way this is what my setup looks like. (very minimalist!)

I found a castle there... Kawashima Castle

I think it was around 5 pm I found a spot to camp on a trail in Miyoshi city, Oboke Gorge (literally in the middle of nowhere). The area is famous for rafting tours and I went to an onsen there in the evening! Unfortunately I didn't go rafting!
This is near the site and I took these photos in the morning.

 Day 3: May 1st, 2015

Next I went from Tokushima to Kochi Prefecture. This was a very difficult day because there were two large hillclimbs, one halfway in and one when I was almost finished! But it was also a very enjoyable day because there was beautiful weather and very little traffic. In fact, it is the 3rd least populous prefecture in Japan!

Also, I had a scary discovery in the morning as I went to pump my front tire. The tire had a weak spot and was bulging out, and I had a spare tube but not a spare tire. This means if I hit a rock, or inflated it further and the weak spot broke, I could get a flat. I did not inflate it and hoped I could hold out until I got to Ehime.

I came across this nice temple and got a sticker for my bike

on the final hillclimb... almost at the top

Day 4: May 2nd, 2015

On the fourth day I went from Kochi to Ehime Prefecture. This was a very pleasant day, except for the first 10 or so minutes going from Kochi to Ehime. There was a 5 km long tunnel that was all downhill and I did it all the way going 40-50 km/h. I've done that before but not with a sketchy front tire and carrying camping equipment. Oh well safety 2nd!

Ehime is the prefecture that is connected to Hiroshima Prefecture via the Shimanami Kaido. I planned to set out on the Shimanami Kaido but I had already ridden 50 km from Kochi to Imabari, the north tip of Ehime. Also, around noon I took the opportunity to get my tire changed at Banff Cycle shop (a good Canadian name). I also did laundry (phew) and went to see the castle (just looked at the outside). The Shimanami Kaido is over 70 km long so I wasn't sure if I could do it. However, lo and behold I got to Onomichi, Hiroshima before 8 pm. 

Ehime is very cyclist friendly. This is a regular convenience store that caters to cyclists. The sign says "Conbini cycle oasis: air pump, water, washroom, rest area, info"

In Imabari I took the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing.

In front of the entrance to Imabari Castle

Imabari Castle

I started out on the Shimanami Kaido around 3:30 pm

The Shimanami Kaido connects 9 islands with Shikoku and Honshu. It is like a 70 km long Seawall!

Some of the bridges are about 1 km in length

Day 5: May 3rd, 2015

Day Five was a bit difficult. I was going from Onomichi, in eastern Hiroshima prefecture to Okayama Prefecture. I guess I was just frustrated with the bad state of the roads and the drivers. To top it all off, it started raining around 3 or 4 pm so I decided to get to Okayama city quickly to find a place to camp. After I got my tent all set up I went to Arashi no Yu which is an onsen and ganbanyoku. Ganbanyoku is like a hot sauna where the floor is warm stones, and you just lie and relax.

Before I got to Okayama city I passed through Kurashiki which is a city with a famous historical district. It is also famous for Bizen pottery.

 Day 6: May 4th, 2015

According to my iPhone, it was going to rain on this day too, so I put my camping equipment in a large Air Canada bag before packing on my bike rack. However, the weather was quite fine and by noon I stopped and took everything out to dry. I continued on from Okayama in to Hyogo Prefecture (home of Himeji Castle, Kobe city, and the Hanshin Tigers).

In Himeji I considered skipping the castle to save on time, but I figured why not since it is a world heritage site and literally only hundreds of metres from where I was riding by. I decided not to go in, but just take a picture because the crowds were insane (that's Golden Week for you).

Himeji-jo Castle, a world heritage site which was restored last year

Me outside Himeji Castle

Day 6: May 5th, 2015
CINCO DE MAYO!!!!! Just kidding, this is the last stretch of the trip so I rode over 200 km! I could have split it and got home on the 6th but decided to push myself.
So in the morning I started from my campsite in Miki, Hyogo and went through Ibaraki, Osaka; Kyoto, Kyoto; Otsu, Shiga; Inabe, Mie; and Aisai, Aichi (just to name a few of the cities I passed through).
To date, this is the only double century I've ridden with a tent and gear. It's also the first time I've cycled 6 prefectures in one day!
I didn't do much on this day except eat rice at convenience stores and try to figure out how much longer it would be.

Next Tour

I am hoping to possibly do another tour in August, of Tohoku.

A Public Service Announcement from Emma

When you are a bicycle tourist, or simply meandering around the countryside in Japan, always take your garbage with you! Since there are convenience stores everywhere, you're never likely to be more than 10 km away from a garbage can. So DON'T throw it even if there are other pieces of trash lying around. That trash has been thrown by some stupid Yanki kids. (Perhaps I will make a blog post ranting about them later)

On this trip I threw every little bit of my garbage away. (except for the time I forgot my bike bag in Kagawa... oh and my hammer in Okayama...) And now I'm really cool and you can be too by throwing your garbage in the proper receptacle. 

Love the earth and the earth loves you too!

cycling across Japan's Kii peninsula in 1 day

so when I moved to Nagoya, i wanted to keep it light. I only brought my two backpacks and sent 2 medium-sized boxes of stuff when I moved.
So naturally I had to leave a lot of stuff behind in Wakayama, at the Egawas. (just temporarily)
That included my beloved road bike!
But to tell the truth, I actually kind of left it there on purpose.
My plan was to cycle across Kii, Japan's largest peninsula, during Golden Week... and go home to Nagoya by the power of my own two legs.
Sounds reasonable, right? well... it meant that on my first day I had to cycle across three whole prefectures, from coast to coast. Wakayama, Nara, and Mie! I would also have to leave before 5 am (I actually left at about 4:37). Could I have done it in three days and stayed in Nara on the first night... yep. but after my 150 km ride to and from Koyasan I was looking for a bigger challenge.
From seeing Japanese towns, you may think Japan is quite flat. But actually Japan is mostly mountains, especially the inland areas. and I knew Nara is a basin, so I would have a range of mountains to go up when entering Nara and another exiting!

Day 1

in Kinokawa city, Wakayama

the road from Arida to Kainan is relatively easy, but I thought I would also have a hard time getting from Kainan to Hashimoto in Wakayama prefecture. There are a lot of mountains around there.  actually, however, I found a road, Route 424 I think, following a river. It went through Kinokawa city. Quite a lovely ride through there, and I got to Hashimoto around 8 am, long before all the shops opened. Speaking of stores... thank the gods for convenience stores, with their long hours and immaculate bathrooms. I love Lawson.
My next stop from Hashimoto was Gojo, in Nara prefecture. In Gojo there's a temple called Tenporin-ji so I stopped by there and got a kewl sticker. The man selling omamori at the temple also gave me some snacks, a grab bag of offerings. so I stopped there to munch on potato chips and my home made rice balls. yum.

this is in Nabari city.

From Gojo I went to Sakurai. I got a bit confused about the route a couple of times but no major mixups. Nothing much to see around that area... there was a bit of construction here and there so it wasn't too pleasant. After Sakurai I headed to Nabari, which is the first town I would enter in Mie, passing through Uda. Between Sakurai and Nabari there are a lot of trees and mountains but the road wasn't so steep. It was just pleasant. and I was also getting excited because this was the last half of my ride!

In Iga city.
my bike is somewhere in this picture.
try to find it. (hint: it's on the bridge)

this is a river in Iga city

this is a cherry tree in Iga... and the blossoms still haven't fallen?! what is this, Hokkaido?

just before starting up the mountain road.
hey that's a sweet bike, I wonder whose it is :D

Iga was the last city before I got to Tsu, my destination. Going through Iga was my biggest challenge. Normally I think I could've ridden it without stopping, but at this point (130, 150 km?) with no 30 minute lunch break I was kind of worn thin. so I stopped for about 10 minutes to rest and then continued to the top of the mountain. at this point it was maybe 3 or 4 pm! When I got to the tunnel at the top, I was ecstatic! Needless to say I had never done something like this before. Then I saw the sign that said "Tsu" and enjoyed the beautiful views and a leisurely cruise down the mountain... (okay, I actually yelled Yatta! all the way down going top speed!)

just entered Tsu city, at the top of a mountain!

oh hi guys I'm in Mie

I got to Tsu, the town area, around 6 pm. I was actually going to stay in Hisai, which is closer to where I was coming from than central/downtown Tsu. But when I got there I decided to go a bit further and go right to the ocean, before checking in to the hotel. after all, what's a coast-to-coast ride if you don't go right to the coast?

my love.

after that I went back to the hotel and immediately took a bath in their Onsen, a hot spring public bath. that is the best feeling ever.
Everyone should have the chance to go on a super long bike ride and then relax in an onsen after. It's one of my favourite pastimes!

Here's a map of the route I took. I also took some video and photo footage with my gopro so I will be uploading that to Youtube soon.

View Larger Map

[Edit 2012-06-22] here is the video I put off editing for so long. hope you enjoy it. the video is of wakayama to mie (day 1) only.

[End edit]

Day 2

From Tsu, Mie prefecture to Nagoya, Aichi prefecture it's only about 70 km. I planned my trip like this on purpose, so I would have an easy ride on the second day. But actually I found the first day more enjoyable because I got to go through so many mountains and see all the pretty trees. From Tsu to Nagoya I had to take the highway, and despite being a stat holiday it seemed like every trucker in the Tokai region was going the same way. So there was a lot of traffic! But what the heck could they be bringing from Tsu city, the one place in Japan with no special exports and nothing interesting to its name whatsoever?

All those trucks made me kind of nervous so I tried riding on the shoulder, or on the sidewalk (yes you can ride on the sidewalk in Japan!), but that was really bumpy and not fun at all. so near Yokka-ichi city I stopped to take a rest once and happened to see these two guys fixing their bikes in a parking lot. I went over and asked for directions and it turned out they were going the same way! so we decided to ride together. They had actually ridden from Kyoto that day! One of the guys, Eiji was riding to Tokyo over 4 days. I want to do that someday :D but maybe I'll stick to shorter rides for now!

me and Eiji in Nagoya