Today's trip--to Omiya and Back

Found a nice little path that follows a river for nearly half the route. Just before passing under the Musashino line, the Shibakawa route becomes unpaved, and two paths branch off to the right and left. I took the left path, and found out it was a very good path for getting to Omiya, perhaps even better than the Shibakawa cycling road itself.

Did a total of about 65km, though about 10 km were just wandering that didn't make it to the map. 4 hrs riding time, much longer trip time (something like 8 hours!)

I took a box lunch, then bought some more onigiri later. Didn't konk out until the last 15 minutes or so.

Update: noticed a pronounced shimmy in the rear tire on this trip, and will most likely have to replace the tire. I may also need to get the rim trued or replaced. I just noticed it after I put on the fenders, so it may be I somehow screwed up the alignment when I removed the rear tire to place the fender, but that seems unlikely. The tires are very worn on one side from when I was riding on an underinflated tube. Grrr! Hopefully it's nothing more than a worn tire problem, but the wobble is very noticeable. I wouldn't mind getting some experience truing a tire before going on a real bike trip, but I also want a quick fix!

Was pretty tired (this is the next day) when I woke up, but I feel more relaxed and energetic now. Would love to go for a ride right now!

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Shopping

Took a trip down to Y's Classic in Okachimachi to pick up some new handlebar ends for the bike. I bought some ends the other day, but they hurt my hands, so I decided to drop 6000 for a new bar ends/handlebar grips set. At the same time, I decided to trust myself and buy some fenders as well. A rather impatient clerk at Y's once told me that it was impossible to add fenders to my bike because it has fat tires. I knew he wasn't really thinking about it and just wanted to get rid of me, but the fenders cost 4000 and if they didn't work, I was screwed. But, of course, he was wrong, and the fenders did fit, though with only a small margin. I have to keep my eyes on them, because if a piece of the fender starts to rub against the tire, I could be in big trouble.

~24 km
Pretty good, didn't bottom out. I ate a couple of onigiri and a corn dog ("American dog"), and that kept me going. I was able to keep up a 24km/hr pace when I had room, but had to stop a lot because of the many intersections.

Nishiarai to Y's and back

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Time to get serious

Well, it's been a while, but I plan to start updating this frequently now that summer is beginning. I hope to lose at least 20 kilos by the end of the summer.

Today I decided to take it easy--I've been eating and drinking too much crap since I came here, and I'm really out of shape. I'm changing the diet, too, but that's not my focus here.

I went for an hour and ten minutes there and back along part of the Arakawa.

21.24 km
Average speed:19.5km/hr.

I checked my new bike computer using the kilometer signs along the bikepath, and it seems to be roughly correct. Plus, bikely/google maps also agree.

I stretched after 45 minutes (always forget to do it beforehand) and it made an obvious difference. I was doing 24km/hr outbound, with the wind, then 20km/hr on the way back against the wind. After I stretched thighs, calves, and ankles, I got back on and managed about 24km/hr against the wind.

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The map shows half the trip: the return trip followed roughly the same path.