{"id":1059,"date":"2012-11-11T00:52:29","date_gmt":"2012-11-11T08:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2012-11-11T00:52:31","modified_gmt":"2012-11-11T08:52:31","slug":"back-in-japan-yoko-dirt-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=1059","title":{"rendered":"Back in Japan – Yoko Dirt Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to my last work project running long in Sasebo, my time back at home was just a week long before I headed back to Japan for some work in Yokosuka.\u00a0\u00a0 I flew back into Japan on a Saturday evening and decided to try and shake off some jet lag with ride on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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After grabbing a rental bike and setting it up with my pedals and some sizing tweaks I was through on the bike garb and on the road.\u00a0\u00a0 Today was not an exploration ride\u00a0but a return to the Fugato-yama area<\/a> which is one of my regular stomping grounds when I am in this neck of the woods.<\/p>\n

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It was a beautiful sunny day with a touch fall briskness in the air.\u00a0\u00a0Despite only having about\u00a06 hours of sleep after being up for 26 hours I felt really good on the street riding out to the trails.\u00a0\u00a0 I think this was a combination of being a bit fitter than I have been in the last six months coupled with still be ing a bit\u00a0on Japan time with only having a week on US time.\u00a0 Whatever the reason, I was digging having some energy in the tank and some iron in the legs while out in some nice nature.<\/p>\n

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The trails were in exceptionally good condition.\u00a0\u00a0 Obviously it had not rained heavy for maybe a week as some of the sections that are hellishly slippery when moist were fairly managable which was another\u00a0bonus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It was a substantual act of being unselfish that I\u00a0stopped to take this photo.\u00a0 This is a long section of awesome flowing\u00a0gravity feed goodness that just makes you smile.\u00a0 Most times of the year the steep hillside is somewhat hidden by the vegitation.\u00a0 With winter on its way the mixed forest flora is thinning out some to reveal more\u00a0of its often “stealth” exposure.<\/p>\n

\"Yoko-Reflective<\/p>\n

I did not have a huge route planned out here on this day as I had plans for the evening.\u00a0\u00a0 I had a handful of street miles to ride back to my hotel after\u00a0popping out of the woods.\u00a0 So there I was\u00a0“just riding along” on the sidewalk along highway 16.\u00a0\u00a0I managd to clip a sign like the one above while going about 20mph that jerked my handlebar pretty hard.\u00a0 I was able to correct enough to keep from going full on body surfing on the concrete but\u00a0the bike\u00a0went way off line and Iended checking a concrete wall with my shoulder.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My head also smacked the wall, but my helmet completely earned its keep so the melon was no worse for wear.<\/p>\n

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For those who have been wondering, my test reveal that roadside Japanese concrete seems to have an average grit fact of somewhere between\u00a030 and 45.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After\u00a0a very stingy shower, I hopped back on the bike and rode a did a few\u00a0more miles of street riding\u00a0over to friends Ken and Emi house.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u00a0had nice evening\u00a0of catching up things over tasty Japanese microbrews and a yummy homemade dinner.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a mighty fine opening day back in the land of the rising sun!<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t A couple of weekends in Idyllwild<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/div>