June is here again, and we are approaching the first weekend of the month.
It’s not that I’m always deeply moved by this time of year, but I think I’ll indulge in a little reminiscing this time around.
The CHRIS KING presents Gourmet Century Ride Asuke, which we held for two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016, took place right around this time, and I recently rode that route for the first time in a while.
CHRIS KING presents Gourmet Century Ride Asuke
The Gourmet Century Ride Asuke was a cycling event that Chris King was regularly hosting at the time in places like Portland and Napa, focused on food and cycling and dedicated to spending a full, luxurious day having fun. SimWorks took on the role of organizer to bring this experience to Japanese cyclists, and for two years in 2015 and 2016, we held it in the Oku-Mikawa region, centering on Sanshu Asuke, located just outside of Nagoya. The concept was to share exquisite food and a somewhat challenging long ride with good friends.
Please see the feature page on SimWorks for each report:
https://sim-works.com/feature
Even though "recently" was already a few weeks ago, while memories of running around frantically to set the route came back vividly, there were also things I had forgotten that surprised even me. While feeling nostalgic for those days, I enjoyed the scenery through fresh eyes, riding at my current level of fitness.
I’ll toot my own horn here, but I reaffirmed that it really is a great route.
The mountain passes might be tough, but the descents run along the river, and it is a very pleasant route where you can ride through an abundance of greenery while being bathed in dappled sunlight. Just be careful not to go too fast, as sharp curves that are hard to see around appear quite often.
Some of the people who participated in the event back then have made a tradition of coming from far away to ride the route themselves, and I’m always happy whenever I see them posting about it on social media.
The distance is about 77km, with about 1600m of elevation gain.
I have recreated the route, so if you are interested, please go check it out.
※ Please note that due to the state of emergency, some of the restaurants around Lake Mikawa—which are perfect for a lunch break—are currently closed. Personally, I recommend the Kamameshi (kettle rice) and raw konnyaku at Yamabiko, a place that took good care of us during the events, though they were closed on this particular day.
