Category: Strine Sports

Strine Sports

Getting Off to a Good Start

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So far, the winter of 2022-3 has been fairly kind to Tokyo.

Unlike 2022m when the early days of January saw snow and generally gloomy weather, this year has been warm and sunny on the whole.

Kangaeroo got on the bike early today and headed downtown to meet some mates near Tokyo Tower.

It’s Coming of Age Day in Japan, a national holiday, and the first when legal adulthood in Japan is designated as 18 years of age instead of 20, as it had been up until this year.

The holiday is also one of those made flexible a few years ago to give people more time off. While it’s great to have another long weekend, surely it could have been added onto the New Year break to give people a full week instead of forcing them to return to the workplace for one or two days?

Anyway, the rides in and out were both sublime! It’s cold, but not too bad, and there is no strong wind so far, which makes things much easier.

The weather also augurs well for cleaning up the lawn, which Kangaeroo is now gonna get stuck into.

Looks like a tough week ahead, but striving as much as possible to live in the moment and not get too overwhelmed.

Strine Sports

Nature’s Double Delight and Not a Skerrick of Proof

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Nature turned on a absolutely glorious morning – albeit a freezing one.

There was a huge moonset in one direction and a delightful sunrise simultaneously in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, the only camera Kangaeroo was carrying was on a smartphone.

This rarely takes decent pics at the best of times, let alone trying to get a lunar shot, which is challenging at the best of times with the most sophisticated equipment.

Then, blessed with a delightfully colorful sunrise and otherworldly cloud pattern on the return journey, positioning and timing rendered photographic evidence impossible.

Kangaeroo was not in a good spot to capture a good spot and needed to make it home for a meeting.

So, while waxing lyrically about the waning moon and waxing sun, Kangaeroo lacks pretty much a skerrick of evidence to back the claims.

You’re just gonna have to take his word for it, punters.

Yesterday’s moon was also glorious, but the timing today meant riding a bicycle in a westerly direction for the first half of the ride so it drawing closer to the setting moon.

And it was resplendent as it slowly descended below the ridge line created by the Okuchichibu mountains.

Nonetheless, the smartphone did the best it could.

The camera captured the best shots it could, but couldn’t do justice to the beauty of the day.

Win some, lose some, I guess/

Strine Sports

Trekking Up Takao

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For the last day of the 2023 new year’s break, Kangaeroo and Co. headed up to the delightful Mount Takao in Hachioji.

Leaving late in the morning, a short trip by bus and train had us at the foot of the mountain.

A healthy walk of little over an hour had Kangaeroo at the peak.

Normally, Mount Takao affords an amazing view of Mount Fuji.

But this time, the clouds that frequently cover the iconic Japanese mountain won the day, but the view was still magnificent.

A bowl of soba noodles on the top of the mountain, then back down the hill, this time catching a chairlift.

And also copping a view of Kangaeroo Corner (perhaps?) from up on high.

Went shopping and was still home before the sun went down.

Didn’t stop an anxious night of worry about how I am going to be harassed after going back to work.

Strine Sports

Doing Something Better than Nothing

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Kangaeroo had a rare late night, typically torrid sleep and woke with great reluctance when it came time to take a customary morning cycle.

Eventually, Kangaeroo did get up and drag himself out of bed thanks to the events of the previous day.

For much of December and continuing on into the new year, Kangaeroo had been gutsing himself daily.

Pigging out is a traditional way to greet Christmas and the new year.

And this year was no exception.

With a year of substantially reduced inactivity and greatly increased stress and pressure (that resulted in damaging emotional eating as an attempt to either cope or escape), the pig out season started with a hefty weight gain.

And the new year was welcomed in with a family gathering!

That meant a happy, pleasant gathering was celebrated with a huge banquet!

Feeling terrible prompts over-eating.

Feeling wonderful prompts over-eating.

Sounds like someone has a problem with over-eating….

Therefore, it was time to get on the bike, even if that may not have been the preferred option.

So, it was off into the dark and a 20-odd kilometer jaunt.

There was no great uplift during or after the ride.

But it was still better than nothing, and there is no lingering regret at not going out at all.

Strine Sports

Tower of Strength on an Icy Morning

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Today started with a pre-dawn trip to Tokyo Tower.

A quick get-together with some mates over coffee and chockies followed.

And then it was a ride back home.

Now it’s on to familial duties.

It was cold and dark heading into town.

Just about every traffic light seemed determined to earn its keep by making Kangaeroo stop.

Still, Kangaeroo got to ride in with a reasonably quick time.

The get-together was over pretty quickly. It was nice to see some old faces for the first time in a while. It also reaffirmed how much the pandemic has changed things.

Yet another running race had taken over the Tama River cycling road again, which made riding home a little more onerous than a regular day when the track is largely deserted.

The family shindig will also involve a fair bit of riding, both to and fro, with the latter almost certain to take place in the dark. Will need to be careful coming home.

Morning wasn’t a bad start: Nearly 70 km ride

Strine Sports

Enjoying the Cycle of Life

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Kangaeroo is not a young marsupial.

He is old, fat and lazy.

Exercise is not his thing.

Yet, thanks to the humble bicycle, this exercise-averse old codger can enjoy a relatively healthy lifestyle.

Every morning, almost without fail, Kangaeroo wakes, dresses, has a cup of joe and gets on his bike.

For the most part, it’s not a long ride, but it’s a ride.

Kangeroo has got a lot of cobwebs in his head and these rides usually help to clean them out.

They’re back soon after the rides are finished, but even so, they would be much worse without them.

Kangaeroo got into cycling well into middle age, but it has become an increasingly central part of his life.

Things would have been much easier had it been a bigger player further back in time.

So it goes.

Every ride is special, but the past week has been a little bit more so than others.

The weather has been exceptional, especially on the cusp of deep autumn.

The mornings have been crisp, but not too cold, hovering somewhere from 8-10 degrees, making the first few minutes of a ride a bit of a trial, but easily accommodated thereafter.

Skies have been clear and stars visible. Although the morning ride generally heads in a northeasterly direction, the rising sun provides radiant heat from behind.

As the light broadens, the days have soon warmed up.

The warmth combined with the lingering cold of the night brings dawns where mist rises up over the river.

Being a river rider for the most part in the morning, Kangaeroo is then blessed with the delightful sight of mists rising over the greenery of the Tama River parks and riverside and, upon rounding and turning for home, the rising sun.

They provide priceless views.

It’s not just the mists, though.

Starting the ride downstream at this time of the year opens up the opportunity of getting a glorious view of the sunrise.

The sun seems huge heading over the Tama River.

Turning back also offers a few wonderful sights.

Gates along the river provide wonderful backdrops for a quick photo.

And not far from the river are plenty of wooded areas and parks offering delightful views of autumnal leaves in their burning red and yellow hues.

It’s worth rising early to get to see these views.

Strine Sports

New Roads

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Kangaeroo won’t be doing much riding along the Tama River for a while.

For the next few weeks, it will be back in the homeland again.

Riding will be a bit of a challenge while there.

But also a bit exciting!

Oz is far stricter on policing road rules than Japan.

It will be interesting to see whether Kangaeroo can adapt to the differences.

Kangaeroo grew up in the Dandenong Ranges, which are apparently a cycling Mecca for Melburnians, though it wasn’t the case back in the day (at least to the author’s knowledge).

For the time being, though, it’s ta-ta to the Tama! And what a way to say bye!