Message To The World

ツール・ド・フランスが終わった...。サンフランシスコに来ているおかげで、朝起きてテレビを付けるとちょうどゴール前1時間くらいの一番おもしろい時間になっていて、毎朝見ていた。ランス・アームストロングの復帰とかアルベルト・コンタドールは最強か、とかいろいろ話題のあるレースだけど、なんといっても日本人自転車乗りとしては別府選手と新城選手が日本人として10数年ぶりにスタートしたというのが最大のニュースだった。

おむすび。

おむすび

新城選手でーす


Originally uploaded by luckypines

幸也が、そう、もてぎで俺と一緒に走った（だいぶウソ）幸也が、いや新城選手が、ツールドフランスのスタートリストに載るんだってよー！

新城選手はほんとに、ビーボックスブイグテレコムってプロツアーのチームで、チーム内競争を勝ち抜いて、出るんだよ。すごいよう。アシスト役ではあるけれど（たぶん）、完走してほしい。完走どころじゃない活躍を見せてほしい。がんばれー。

Bbox Bouygues Telecom has named Yukiya Arashiro as one of the riders assured to start the 2009 Tour on July 4 in Monaco. The others include Thomas Voeckler, Pierrick Fédrigo, Pierre Rolland and William Bonnet.

http://beta.velonews.com/article/93370

Calera Mt. Harlan. うまいに決まってる。

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これは第２位ぐらいか！

先週盛大に失敗したニョッキに再挑戦。

Mashed Potatoes

Potato Stick

じゃがいもゆでた後の裏ごしを省く。そして小麦粉ふるうのを忘れる。さらに、卵でかすぎで水分量が増えてしまう。むーん。むずい。

一番ニョッキぽいこ

最終的にはこういう感じ。もちろん味は悪くないので、後はちゃんとにょきにょきしたニョッキが作れればと。

It was the last summer I thought I would ride to my parents' home at the bottom of the Yatsugatake mountains in Yamanashi prefecture.  I remember I read the blog entry by Kondo-san who rode his bike for Kobuchizawa for his friend's wedding ceremony and I sent him an email to ask if the tunnel in the middle of the route was too dangerous for a novice rider like me.  He responded immediately that it should be just fine because even a rude driver would take a little more care in his/her driving in a tunnel, especially when it is narrow without shoulder; I should just turn on the tail light and front light and it should go fine.

I wasn't able to go there by bike the summer, but it was always in my heart - that I climb all the way up to 1000 meter elevation where my parents live.

After attending the last video conference call before I started my golden week holidays, I rode my bike from the office to Yotsuya station where I packed the bike in a bag and caught Chuo Line Rapid Service to Takao.  I then took a lunch in the next train bound for Kofu, which I got off at Otsuki Station around 12:30pm.  It was another beautiful day at Otsuki while I was unpacking the bike and setting up eveything.

Starting from Otsuki station, the first check point is the tunnel I asked Kondo-san about - New Sasago Tunnel.  It was a gentle climbing to the tunnel and in the tunnel was a gentle upslope too, where many big trucks passed me, sometimes so close to scare me a little.  But it was not a dangerous ride in the tunnel and I appreciated Kondo-san's advice because otherwise I may have chosen to climb up the Sasago Touge, for no good reason.

After the tunnel, it was all the way down hill to Kofu city.  Kofu city is a very flat land which is surrounded by mountains.  I marked 55km/h on the road at which I was really scared - too scared I wasn't even able to put on the break.  I was thinking about when I was watching the UCI World Championship Cycle Road Race on TV, in which the fastest a racer marked was near 90km/h.  I was calling myself a wimp when I realized I missed the crossroad where I should have turned to the right.

Passing the closed grapeyards around Katsunuma, Isawa and Koshu, I arrived at Kofu at around 2:30pm.  After taking a short break and called my parents to tell that I was still alive and well, I started again, this time for climbing.  It was around Nirasaki where I missed the turn the second time, but I didn't realize until I finished climbing up the hill.  My Garmin GPS told me to turn right again and again and I finally obeyed to its instruction and... went down the hill I just climbed all the way to the bottom of the Kiyosato line.  It would be just like starting over.

Cherry Blossom

Kiyosato line was also a steep uphill to as the name suggests, Kiyosato where a popular farm first established by a missionary who also introduced american football to Japanese, was.  It was around 8km/h when I was pedaling to climb the last mountain.  My legs cramped and my arms hurt.  However I didn't feel hard to breath and I even felt easier and happier.  It may not be the true second wind that came to me but it was a strange experience.

My parents' home and the streets around it had cherry trees and they welcomed the winner of the one-man tour with their late blossoms.  I then went to a public onsen bath near there to relax and stretch.  I was able to relax in the bath watching Mt. Fuji but was hardly able to stretch because my legs and my arms cramped too much.

Otsuki - Oizumi

Distance vs Elevation

Otsuki - Oizumi 2009 May | Road Biking | Otsuki, Yamanashi-ken, Japan | MotionBased Dashboard

Gratin!

Made gratin for lunch! And I did great. Beginner's luck probably.  Red wine and now watching P.S. I love you.

I even cooked my own white source.  The contents are asparagus rolled by chicken breast and onion.

バーガーマニアでパティメルトとテリヤキ。うまい。

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