Videos

I recently visited Hokkaido for a while and on my last full day there I thought it might be nice to go for an early morning downhill ride on Mount Teine. Located in Sapporo, Japan, Mt. Teine (手稲山) is a popular spot for local riders.

As I am rather out of shape I took the easy way out and caught a ride up the hill with my friend Shin in his Land Rover. It was nice to be able to throw my bike inside without taking it apart. We hit the top of the hill before 5:30am when it was still really quiet. It was a great morning for a ride down the hill with a moderate temperature and little traffic on the road. My back tire was a bit flat after a puncture the day before but not dangerously so (I didn’t have a normal pump to bring it up to my favoured high pressure). Shin followed me down in his SUV but I don’t think I held him up too much on the descent. In fact, on Strava I came in with the 5th fastest run overall!

I will definitely try to be in shape for both ascents and descents by next spring!

This video is of my first road ride of 2015. It was quite short and on an unfamiliar course but the weather was beautiful so it was very enjoyable. It is not the most exciting piece of footage in the world, but it fairly representative of a flat land ride in this part of Japan.

I have not been able to get out for as many rides as I would like (well, nowhere near as many rides) over the last year or two. I really hope to be able to get a lot more rides in this year!