{"id":2868,"date":"2018-07-31T03:53:02","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T18:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2018-07-31\/2868"},"modified":"2018-07-31T03:53:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-30T18:53:02","slug":"cycling-mt-fuji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2018-07-31\/2868","title":{"rendered":"Cycling Mt. Fuji"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180705-AtKawaguchiko_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"My Best View of Mt. Fuji All Day its slope runs up into the clouds in the upper right -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i20180705_AtKawaguchiko\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"My Best View of Mt. Fuji All Day its slope runs up into the clouds in the upper right -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2F20180705-AtKawaguchiko_sm.jpg'>map<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/20180705-AtKawaguchiko_sm.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>My Best View of Mt. Fuji All Day<\/span>\n<br\/>its slope runs up into the clouds in the upper right\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180705-AtKawaguchiko_sm.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2018-07-04'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"My Best View of Mt. Fuji All Day its slope runs up into the clouds in the upper right -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<p>As I wrote in <a href='\/blog\/2018-07-14\/2867'>my previous post<\/a>, <span class='nobr'>I recently<\/span>\nhiked on Mt. Fuji. Today's post is about the next day's bike ride, <span class='nobr'>a 100<\/span>+ mile odyssey that included two\ncycling climbs up Mt. Fuji as far as the paved roads would allow, <span class='nobr'>a typhoon,<\/span> and <span class='nobr'>a\ndead<\/span> iPhone. <span class='nobr'>The dead iPhone<\/span> explains why there are few photos on this post.<\/p>\n\n<p>Here's <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871'>the ride<\/a> at Strava:<\/p>\n\n<iframe class='ic' height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/embed\/5f77b755c9b3fe2a082f139912d800aae51163dd'><\/iframe>\n\n<p>There are no roads to Mt. Fuji's peak at 3,776m (12,389'), of course, but three roads go fairly high up. <span class='nobr'>My\ninitial<\/span> goal of the day was to ride one of them, the same road I'd taken on the way to start the previous day's hike: the\n<span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Subaru Line<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. <span class='nobr'>It's a toll<\/span> road that ends at\nthe <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>5th Station<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, at about 2,300m of elevation (7,550'). Many people\nstart their Mt. Fuji hikes from where it ends.<\/p>\n\n<p>I was a bit apprehensive about the long climb, but also looking forward to it because the forecast\nwas for rain all day, due to the typhoon that has passed the previous day; <span class='nobr'>I enjoy<\/span> riding in the rain\nwhen it's warm and I'm properly prepared for it. <span class='nobr'>In this case<\/span>, <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>properly prepared<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> means that\n<span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> mind getting soaked and <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> have anything that'll be hurt by getting wet.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180705-ViewFromHotel_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"View from the Hotel Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb) -- Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb) -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i20180705_ViewFromHotel\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"View from the Hotel Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb) -- Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb) -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2F20180705-ViewFromHotel_sm.jpg'>map<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/20180705-ViewFromHotel_sm.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>View from the Hotel<\/span>\n<br\/>Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180705-ViewFromHotel_sm.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2018-07-04'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"View from the Hotel Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb) -- Kawaguchiko Hotel (\u6cb3\u53e3\u6e56\u30db\u30c6\u30eb) -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I started out at 8am with an hour-long spin around the lake the hotel sat on. <span class='nobr'>It started<\/span> to rain <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> during that 18km (11mi)\nloop, but <span class='nobr'>I still<\/span> got the <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>best<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> view of Mt. Fuji that I'd have all day:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180705-AtKawaguchiko2_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"Mt Fuji should be there in the upper right -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i20180705_AtKawaguchiko2\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"Mt Fuji should be there in the upper right -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2F20180705-AtKawaguchiko2_sm.jpg'>map<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/20180705-AtKawaguchiko2_sm.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Mt Fuji<\/span>\n<br\/>should be there in the upper right\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180705-AtKawaguchiko2_sm.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2018-07-04'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Mt Fuji should be there in the upper right -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180705-InexplicablePath_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"Inexplicable Path -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i20180705_InexplicablePath\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"Inexplicable Path -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2F20180705-InexplicablePath_sm.jpg'>map<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/20180705-InexplicablePath_sm.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Inexplicable Path<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180705-InexplicablePath_sm.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2018-07-04'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Inexplicable Path -- Fujikawaguchiko-machi, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Having made the loop around the lake and returned to the road in front of the hotel, <span class='nobr'>I turned<\/span> toward\nFuji. Within <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> minutes <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> on the road that heads up to the fifth\nstation, rising quite consistently at <span class='nobr'>a mild<\/span>-but-relenetless 5% for its entire 30km (19mi) length.<\/p>\n\n<p>Half an hour in, I got to the toll booth and paid my 200 yen (US$1.80) and chatted with the tolltaker <span class='nobr'>a\nbit.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>He said that<\/span> there were something like five cyclists the previous day. <span class='nobr'>I\nwas probably<\/span> the only cyclist this day, because, <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> later find out, two hours later, just as\n<span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> arriving at the top, the road was closed due to high winds.<\/p>\n\n<p>And those winds, along with rain, started in earnest soon after <span class='nobr'>I passed<\/span> the toll gate. They didn't bother me much early on, as\n<span class='nobr'>I just<\/span> concentrated on passing the roadside markers placed every 100m, counting down the distance to the end of the road 23km away\n(<a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/segments\/42249640355'>Strava segment<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n<p>I also counted the busses that passed. Extrapolating from the number that passed during one five-kilometer\nstretch, <span class='nobr'>I estimate<\/span> that about 120 busses passed me on the climb.<\/p>\n\n<p>The road on the way up is wide and sweeping and pristine &mdash; just lovely &mdash; and so when <span class='nobr'>a\nbus<\/span> or car wants to pass, it usually just swings out into the oncoming lane to do so. There's usually not that much\ntraffic, but at one point <span class='nobr'>a couple<\/span> of buses had to wait before they could pass me, and it happened to be\nat the one short span on the entire climb where the steepness backed off <span class='nobr'>a bit.<\/span> So, to have some fun and\nto not make them wait so much, <span class='nobr'>I sped up<\/span> considerably. Soon the opposing traffic cleared and they\npassed, but because <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> moving along at <span class='nobr'>a good<\/span> clip they just slowly creeped\nby me. <span class='nobr'>The bus was<\/span> full, and smiling faces in the window passed by slowly. <span class='nobr'>It was\nfun<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n<p>And just as I was giving a nod to someone at the window next to me, <span class='nobr'>I saw 50m<\/span> ahead two deer leap\nacross the road. <span class='nobr'>I'm glad that<\/span> the buses had had to slow down for me earlier, or the deer might be\nvenison.<\/p>\n\n<p>As I got closer to the top, the wind and rain got very strong, and for the last 3km or so <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> such\n<span class='nobr'>a strong<\/span> tailwind that <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> going 40kph uphill, where later on the return\ntrip, despite now going downhill, <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> barely manage half that speed because it was into the\nwind.<\/p>\n\n<p>At the very top, the road ended and the gravel hiking trail I'd taken the previous day started:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180705-EndOfTheRoad_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"End of the Road Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i20180705_EndOfTheRoad\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"End of the Road Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2F20180705-EndOfTheRoad_sm.jpg'>map<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/20180705-EndOfTheRoad_sm.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>End of the Road<\/span>\n<br\/>Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180705-EndOfTheRoad_sm.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2018-07-04'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"End of the Road Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This video doesn't show it well, but the wind was ridiculous:<\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class='ic' width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uJaIe226MHI?ecver=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n<p>It was the strongest wind I'd ever tried to ride in, but as it later turned out, that record would stand for only <span\nclass='nobr'>a few<\/span> hours.<\/p>\n\n<p>I stopped for 45 minutes at a cafe for coffee and food, then ventured out into the cold, powerful winds for the\ntrip down. (The temperature at the top was 10\u00b0C \/ 50\u00b0F)<\/p>\n\n<p>On the way up, it takes considerable effort to ride, so that kept me warm despite the wind and rain and cold. <span class='nobr'>I wouldn't<\/span> have\nthat on the way down, so <span class='nobr'>I wore<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a raincoat,<\/span> mostly as <span class='nobr'>a windbreaker.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I'd not thought<\/span> to bring\nfull-finger gloves, so <span class='nobr'>I got<\/span> two small plastic bags from the cafe and put them over my brake levers, and\njust used the brakes while my hands were inside. <span class='nobr'>It worked<\/span> great to keep the wind off, which is all\n<span class='nobr'>I needed.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p>And that wind was <i>strong<\/i> at first. <span class='nobr'>I kept one<\/span> foot unclipped just in case <span class='nobr'>a gust<\/span> blew me over, and twice within the\nfirst few minutes <span class='nobr'>I came<\/span> to <span class='nobr'>a complete<\/span> stop because the side-gusts were so\nscary. After <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> kilometers of this stop-and-go, <span class='nobr'>I got below<\/span> some line and\nthe strength of the gusts receded considerably. After that it was a <i>lovely<\/i> descent. <span class='nobr'>I took it<\/span>\nslowly because of the rain and wind, so it took 35 minutes (<a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/segments\/42249640431'>Strava segment<\/a>), but on <span class='nobr'>a\nnice<\/span> day it'd have been <span class='nobr'>a lovely<\/span> descent to hit hard. <span class='nobr'>The current<\/span>\nbest-recorded time is <span class='nobr'>a 62kph<\/span>-average 22:46.<\/p>\n\n<p>After exiting the toll booth, there's <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/segments\/42970208688'><span\nclass='nobr'>a 3km<\/span> almost-completely-straight downhill section of road<\/a> cut through the forest. <span class='nobr'>It\nwas still<\/span> rainy and somewhat gusty, but <span class='nobr'>I give<\/span> it <span class='nobr'>a good<\/span> go, passing\nthree buses (the only vehicles <span class='nobr'>I saw<\/span> the entire way down), earning a #14 spot on the leaderboard.<\/p>\n\n<p>I still felt good, so I thought I'd swing south to another of the three roads that head up Mt. Fuji. <span class='nobr'>I\nhadn't<\/span> researched it well, but I'd made <span class='nobr'>a route<\/span> for my Garmin so that <span class='nobr'>I\ncould<\/span> get there. <span class='nobr'>The start<\/span> of the climb was about 20km away, mostly uphill as it turned out, but\nthe last 6km was a <i>lovely<\/i> fast (if it weren't raining) descent.<\/p>\n\n<p>I didn't know it at the time, but the climb <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> about to embark on, <a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/1536894'>more than 11km at more than 10%<\/a>, would end up being the most mentally-difficult\nclimb I'd ever done. <span class='nobr'>The unrelenting<\/span> steepness for the entirety of its long length made it was far worse\nthan the only climb I've ever given up on, the much shorter but <i>much<\/i> steeper climb in Osaka mentioned <a\nhref='\/blog\/2016-12-11\/2759#darkness'>here<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p><span class='nobr'>It begins<\/span> near some kind of military base, as evidenced by the <i>tanks<\/i> that <span class='nobr'>I\nsaw<\/span> moving around as <span class='nobr'>I turned<\/span> onto the road for the climb. <span class='nobr'>The first<\/span>\n3km of road is ramrod straight, 10% grade, wide beautifully-paved road through forest, apparently flanked by more unseen military\nbase, because at one point <span class='nobr'>I almost<\/span> jumped out of my skin when what <span class='nobr'>I can<\/span> only\nimagine was high-caliber machine gun fire erupted not far away in the woods to the side.<\/p>\n\n<p>Also early in the climb, my power-meter pedals started to give really crazy readings. And then, while having stopped to take\n<span class='nobr'>a photo<\/span> of something with my iPhone, the screen suddenly <i>spazzed out<\/i> in <span class='nobr'>a\nvery<\/span> <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>the hardware just went bad<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> kind of way. <span\nclass='nobr'>I immediately<\/span> powered it off. <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> know it at the time, but it would never power\non again, and Apple ended up replacing it. <span class='nobr'>I lost all<\/span> the photos from the day, save those <span\nclass='nobr'>I had<\/span> messagedt to others or posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n<p>The odd timing of these two problems actually had me wonder for <span class='nobr'>a moment<\/span> whether this was the result of some kind\nof military jamming. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I continued on the absolutely-pristine-road 10% climb as it transitioned from ramrod straight to\nserpentine, and after about 15 hairpins (and an hour), I'd done <a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/segments\/42249640495'>about half of the climb<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>For\nthose<\/span> who know cycling in Kyoto, I'll point out that this first half by itself is both longer and steeper than <a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/10729150'>Hanase<\/a>, Kyoto's main hard climb.<\/p>\n\n<p>And from there, the second half of the climb gets even worse, as the road changes from <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>gorgeous\npristine pavement<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> to typical old mountain road covered with moss and detritus, and keeps at it for\n6km at 11%.<\/p>\n\n<p>This climb is sometimes used in the Tour de Japan. <span class='nobr'>One of the<\/span> English-speaking racers describes it\nhere: <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span><a\nhref='http:\/\/theclimbingcyclist.com\/guest-post-the-brutal-mt-fuji-and-the-tour-of-japan\/'><i>The brutal Mt. Fuji and the Tour of\nJapan<\/i>. <\/a><span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p>As the road changes from pristine to questionable, it also suddenly ramps up to 15% for <span class='nobr'>a while,<\/span> and\njust 50 seconds in <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> to stop. <span class='nobr'>I felt defeated<\/span> and just sat there for five\nminutes contemplating turning around. This was the mentally-hardest thing I'd ever done on the bike, just to not turn around.\nJudging from the Strava data, <span class='nobr'>I stopped<\/span> about 11 times during this second half, though sometimes it's\ndifficult to tell because my riding <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>speed<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> was so very slow. <span\nclass='nobr'>For the first<\/span> time in my cycling life, <span class='nobr'>I actually<\/span> had to ride zig-zag across the\nlanes to reduce the grade:<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'>\n<a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/analysis\/26666\/27033'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180705-zigzak.png\" width=\"690\" height=\"443\"\nalt=\"Not My Finest Moment zigzaggy line is on the way up, straight is on the way down\"\nid=\"i20180705_zigzak\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"Not My Finest Moment zigzaggy line is on the way up, straight is on the way down\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Not My Finest Moment<\/span>\n<br\/>zigzaggy line is on the way up, straight is on the way down\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180705-zigzak.png'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Not My Finest Moment zigzaggy line is on the way up, straight is on the way down\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<p>It took almost two more hours, but <span class='nobr'>I eventually<\/span> did make it to the top. <span class='nobr'>The wind\nat<\/span> the very top &mdash; the last minute or so &mdash; far exceeded that from earlier in the day, and <span class='nobr'>I\nwas<\/span> pushed up the last 50m without having to pedal!<\/p>\n\n<p>Thankfully there was a little store\/cafe at the top. <span class='nobr'>I got a<\/span> $3 Coke and some food to recharge\nmy batteries, and plugged in my Garmin cycling computer to recharge its battery.\n<span class='nobr'>I also consulted<\/span> with\nthe guy at the cafe on how to get back, and was crestfallen to realize that the only reasonable way back to the hotel was to\nretrace my steps. <span class='nobr'>The ride between<\/span> the two climbs had included that long fast descent that was so lovely\ngoing down, but now in this exhausted state I'd have to ride back up it. Ugh.<\/p>\n\n<p>Steeling myself for the ride back as the cafe closed at 5pm, <span class='nobr'>I braved<\/span> the strong wind and rain for\n<span class='nobr'>a minute<\/span> until <span class='nobr'>I dropped<\/span> into the trees, and enjoyed the slow winding return\ndown. <span class='nobr'>It took 15<\/span> minutes before <span class='nobr'>I returned<\/span> to the straight section at the\nstart of the climb, and couldn't help but give it <span class='nobr'>a good<\/span> go.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/1685630871\/segments\/42969802149'>This stretch of road<\/a> just invites speed. <span\nclass='nobr'>The road is<\/span> ramrod straight and <i>beautifully<\/i> paved. There are no cross streets. No buildings.\nNothing.... <span class='nobr'>no signs<\/span> of civilization along the entire stretch. <span class='nobr'>It just begs<\/span>\nyou to go as fast as you possibly can.<\/p>\n\n<p>But I didn't. The gusty wind and rain kept me on the brakes much of the way, but <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> still going at 80kph (50mph),\nwith my raincoat flapping like crazy.<\/p>\n\n<p>Also, the guy at the cafe had warned me that the real danger to this stretch of road was deer. <span class='nobr'>The\nsides<\/span> of the roads were mostly clear of trees, <span class='nobr'>a path<\/span> having been cut through the forest, so\n<span class='nobr'>I keep<\/span> an wary eye out for animals. <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> run into any, figuratively or\nliterally, but <span class='nobr'>I did<\/span> have to contend with this slow-moving monstrosity, slowing down considerably to\npass:<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/20180517-WideLoad_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"388\"\nalt=\"Wide Load slow-moving construction equipment from my bike's rear camera as I blast by -- Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Oyama-cho, Shizuoka, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i20180517_WideLoad\"\nitemprop=\"image\"\ntitle=\"Wide Load slow-moving construction equipment from my bike's rear camera as I blast by -- Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Oyama-cho, Shizuoka, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2F20180517-WideLoad_sm.jpg'>map<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/20180517-WideLoad_sm.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Wide Load<\/span>\n<br\/>slow-moving construction equipment\n<br\/>from my bike's rear camera as <span class='nobr'>I blast<\/span> by\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/20180517-WideLoad_sm.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2018-07-04'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Wide Load slow-moving construction equipment from my bike's rear camera as I blast by -- Mt. Fuji (\u5bcc\u58eb\u5c71) -- Oyama-cho, Shizuoka, Japan -- Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>Because I wasn't at all pushing the edge of my envelope, it was just remarkably fun, and it lifted my spirits. <span\nclass='nobr'>I ended<\/span> up averaging only 74kph, but at one point before <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> to slow down for the\nconstruction vehicle <span class='nobr'>I hit<\/span> 84.2kph (52.3mph), which is my new personal record. (The fastest\n<i>average<\/i> for this segment is 91kph (57mph), set by <span class='nobr'>a guy<\/span> who did it <a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/678003105'><i>eight<\/i> times in one day<\/a> as he <a\nhref='https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Everesting'>Everested<\/a> the climb.)<\/p>\n\n<p>After finishing the descent, I spent 25 minutes climbing that hill I'd dreaded earlier, then an easy ride back toward the\nhotel. Much of it was along <span class='nobr'>a main<\/span> road choked with traffic (the <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Fanuc Jam<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, the daily traffic jam from workers at robotics\ncompany Fanuc, where Krish and Ram used to be executives). <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> fly by on the side, which is always fun.<\/p>\n\n<p> Once <span class='nobr'>I got<\/span> near to the hotel, <span class='nobr'>I decided<\/span> to end with another loop around\nthe lake, so as to give me more than the 161km total distance required for a <span\nclass='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>century<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> 100-mile ride. This gave me my 14th-longest ride, and my 21st\n<span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>century<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. With 3,485m (11,434') of climb, it tied for my 6th-most\nclimb in <span class='nobr'>a day.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p>I got back to the hotel at 7:15pm, in good spirits but quite tired.<\/p>\n\n<p>According to Strava's <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Relative Effort<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> metric, this was my\n2nd-most-difficult ride ever, falling between the <a href='\/blog\/2017-11-05\/2833'>400+km pair of loops around\nLake Biwa<\/a> last fall, and the <a href='\/blog\/2016-10-09\/2737'><span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Stupid Cycling\nTricks<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> ride<\/a> from <span class='nobr'>a year<\/span> prior.<\/p>\n\n<p>It also bumped up my <a href='https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arthur_Eddington#Eddington_number_for_cycling'>Eddington number<\/a>\nto 68, the first change since the 400-km ride in the fall had put it to 67. It won't bump up again any time soon, as <span class='nobr'>I need<\/span>\n10 rides over 112km for it to move to 69.<\/p>\n\n<p>Fuji has a third road up its slopes, on the southern edge, which goes up higher than the others, to 2,386m (7,828'). <span class='nobr'>You can ride<\/span> 50km to it from the ocean, for 2,386m of non-stop climb. <span class='nobr'>I hope to<\/span> give that <span class='nobr'>a try<\/span> someday....<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I wrote in my previous post, I recently hiked on Mt. Fuji. Today's post is about the next day's bike ride, a 100+ mile odyssey that included two cycling climbs up Mt. Fuji as far as the paved roads would allow, a typhoon, and a dead iPhone. The dead iPhone explains why there are few photos on this post.<\/p> <p>Here's the ride at Strava:<\/p> <p>There are no roads to Mt. Fuji's peak at 3,776m (12,389'), of course, but three roads go fairly high up. My initial goal of the day was to ride one of them, the same road [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}