From the end of April, this time of year makes it feel like a real waste to stay indoors when the weather is nice.
When that happens, I feel the urge to just jump outside, beckoned by the sunshine, and keep my pedals turning.
It puts me in the mood to enjoy various roads, take in the scenery, spend long hours in the saddle, and have good conversations with my friends and my bike.
And whenever I'm in that mood, I always hop on my road bike.
That's because a road bike is the perfect machine for going fast, covering long distances, and heading to "that place" far away.
You might not associate "Circles" with road bikes, but that's just because not many of our staff are into racing or intense training—we actually ride our road bikes all over the place.
Of course, if we come across some decent-looking gravel along the way, we often just plow right through it.
Just recently, I headed out for a ride on my road bike.
On this day, I was joined by a senior colleague and owner of a SEVEN CYCLES Axiom SL, who guided me through a route I'd never ridden before.
The moments when the sun filtered through the trees were beautiful; I could smell the fresh green leaves from the dense, vibrant forest and look out over some exhilarating scenery.
The rice fields hadn't been planted yet, but the scenery will surely be spectacular once the rice is growing tall, so I’ve already decided to visit again.
The sun kept playing hide-and-seek, and it was chilly at times, but it was a fulfilling day.
Between us, Takumi was freezing in just his short-sleeved jersey, so I lent him the SEARCH AND STATE S1-V Riding Vest I had with me.
Still, I was amazed by his monster-level stamina.
On this day, we based ourselves in Obara, Toyota City—the holy land for roadies—and covered about 70km with nearly 1,500m of elevation gain.
The map below includes some paths that aren't officially recognized as roads, but it should be fairly accurate.
It also includes some gravel sections, but they're manageable even with road tires.
Check it out if you're interested.