Tama River

  • Beware The Rides Of March

    By the Australian reckoning, where seasons change on the first day of the month, I am always a sucker when I get on a bike in March and suddenly expect spring conditions. No amount of experience seems to change the way I approach this. And it only happens in March, really, where I await the transition from winter to spring, which seems to drag on for an interminably long time. Every year, the gap between winter and spring seems to linger longer than ever before. Of course, each year is a relatively shorter period of life, so all things considered, it’s actually shorter. Japanese has a saying to describe this…

  • Happy Riding In More Ways Than One

    Every ride on a bike is a good one in my books (even those that have had wretched outcomes), but I had a few extra happy moments when I went out this morning. Happy is the name of my mate’s pet beagle, and I got to meet them on their predawn constitutional for the first time in months. It topped off a great ride with an otherworldly mist over the rivers I rode and the gradation of color in the skies as the sun began to rise, which was a pleasing sight, indeed. Happy, the dog, barked like crazy, and I don’t think that’s because he enjoys my company. But…

  • Hey, Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud

    For a few minutes this morning, cycling along the Tama and Asa rivers in western Tokyo was sublime as the sun started to rise and mists rising up from the water formed clouds. There are a few periods in the year when this phenomenon occurs, usually in the autumn and spring when the water and air temperatures diverge to a large degree. This year had, to me, seemed to be an archetypically Tokyo winter; the first in years. It has been chilly, sunny and windy: all phenomena I associate with the coldest part of the year. It hasn’t happened like that for the past few years, though, especially last year…

  • The Lady In The Lake

    Not much has been going on recently, but just living life has kept us busy. During a quick lunchtime ride yesterday, the skies and setting gave me a ripper chance to take photos of La Cangura in the shallow waters of a wading pool in a park beside the Tama River. I’ve been cycling a little bit every day, but not as much as I would have wanted, and certainly not with the types of elevations I should be aiming for. But you deal with your hand, and the clouds made for a moody atmosphere that I appreciated. I’d been lucky to get some dynamic skies during rides over the…

  • Deluge Opens A Door To Delightful Demonstration

    After weeks without rain, Tokyo finally got a bit of precipitation this week–hopefully without any great damage–but for us, it was welcome relief for the parched garden, as well we some beautiful sights on the bike. I’ve always been a sucker for reflection photos and the rain provides a plethora of opportunities to take these shots. It was bleak and gray in the office yesterday, and while the storm looked spectacular in its ferocity from the upper floors, that didn’t translate too well once I’d pulled out the camera. But I got a bit of a bonus this morning as the skies turned on a show just minutes before I…

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    Big Red Bike Tour Stage 5: Beating Around The Bush

    Considering the Big Red is made to go pretty much anywhere, I shouldn’t have been beating around the bush about going off road. But I have: until today, when we hit the dirt. I can’t go far from home as I need to look after Dino the rosy faced lovebird. But that was fine as my regular route along the Tama River also has many off-road tracks. I can’t say the idea of rough riding is enticing, but I figured I’d give it a try today. I almost immediately regretted it, though, as just minutes into hitting the dirt track, I looked down to my computer device only to discover…

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    Big Red Bike Tour Stage 1: Chilling With Chooks

    Chooks and geegees played an unexpectedly pleasant role as the Big Red Bike Tour Stage 1 got underway. Unsure where to go and uneasy to leave the ailing Dino the rosy faced lovebird alone for too long, I decided to enlist the aid of Mrs. Kangaeroo. Mrs. Kangaeroo is a great horse rider and had a session planned. Back in the day I often used to ride by Gocoo Horse Village, the corral where she rides frequently, but I haven’t been there for many years. Nestled in the mountains, Gocoo was a cool option to beat the heat. Leaving almost an hour after Mrs. Kangaeroo, I was surprised to arrive…

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Paddy, Tell Me Now, ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’

    Tempted by the rice paddies, which now look like mirrors as they are filled with water and the stems planted, I rode through western Tokyo along the Tama and Aki rivers into Itsukaichi to climb and take beautiful photos. It’s been a while since I have ridden in the mountains, but the stars aligned today and I decided I’d try to see whether I could still do it. I’m about 30 kilograms heavier than the last time I rode higher than 400 meters in elevation, which I reckon was about four years ago. And now I’ve just remembered that I rode a climb earlier this year, so I am lying….

  • Mornings Are Pleasant When You Can Meet A Pheasant

    May presented me with yet another delightful way to start the day, getting great encounters with the Japanese green pheasants that are a symbol of the Tama River. Every morning around this time of the year I get to see and hear the pheasants while I go on my customary ride. This morning, I managed to capture some shots of the bolder males along the river. Yesterday’s rain also left the paths filled with puddles, which are opportunities for reflection in more ways than one. I’m lucky enough to get shots in this are every year. I always find the reflections to produce breathtaking results. This year, Big Red makes…

  • Cherry Bomb!

    Cherry blossoms have started to bloom in Tokyo’s suburbs. For the most part, flowers have yet to reach peak bloom along my most-traversed part of the Tama River. But in some of the areas where the flowers are at their best, the view is lovely. It was a bonus to be able to see them in flower this morning as I had presumed the entire weekend to be a washout. It rained incessantly yesterday. It gave me time to do some much-needed study for work, which is paying me to take the course I’m doing. I should be putting in a bit more effort on my studies than I am….