Category: Uncategorized
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I wondered how far these riders were going today. It was shortly after 8 a.m. I was riding the coastal road toward Manazuru, watching the Audax Japan reflectors on the saddle bags of the road cyclists ahead of me. With saddle bags, top-tube bags, and reflective vests, they were immediately recognizable as brevet riders. Multiple…
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Building a Long-Ride Prediction Tool with AI, Part 2 In the previous post, I wrote about why I wanted to build a personal long-ride prediction tool: I wanted to know what time I needed to leave in order to get home before sunset. Strava tells me the distance and elevation gain, but it does not…
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Building a Long-Ride Prediction Tool with AI, Part 1 In the previous post, I wrote about building a long-ride prediction tool with help from AI and then taking it out for a test ride to West Izu. The idea was simple enough: load a route created in Strava, have the tool estimate the total elapsed…
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I have always wanted to try making something like this. You know how pro riders often tape a stem sheet to their bike with a nutrition plan, course profile, and so on? I wanted to imitate that. Whenever I go on a long ride, I usually estimate the total elapsed time including breaks before deciding…
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It is the famous Kawazu-zakura that begins to bud from early to mid-February, just as the Tohi-zakura petals have fallen. Among the early-blooming cherry blossoms, it is perhaps one of the most well known. This variety is called Kawazu-zakura because its original tree stands in Kawazu, in eastern Izu near Shimoda. However, these cherry trees…
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January is still winter. That holds true even in Izu, which is considered a relatively warm region. At times, temperatures drop into the single digits, and the mountains of the Amagi Highlands, rising over 1,000 meters above sea level, may be dusted with snow. Even in such cold weather, however, there is a type of…
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“Izu-Ichi” refers to a cycling route that makes a complete loop around the Izu Peninsula along the coast. There are several variations, each differing in total distance and elevation gain. https://www.strava.com/routes/3162788641041358950 Much of the Izu Peninsula consists of sheer cliffs that drop straight down to the sea, so even though the route follows the coastline,…
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Heda is a small fishing port, flanked by steep mountains on both sides, with a long, narrow sandspit lined with pine trees stretching out into the sea. From there, a road climbs steeply up to the starting point of the Nishi-Izu Skyline, a route that runs north to south at around 800 meters above sea…
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The route with the most merciless slope in the Izu Peninsula is from this Ugusu. From Ugusu, a small town by the sea, you start running towards the Amagi Plateau in front of you, and it is a gentle riverside road for a while. Eventually, when the houses were cut off and you entered the…