Snow Biking in Japan

cycling training on snow with road racing bikes with studded tires

Mt.Tokachidake (Mt.Tokachi) 144

Temperature: minus 9 degrees Celsius at the Tokachidake Hot Springs (Tokachidake Onsen).

A depression of 972hPa of central pressure was crossing Hokkaido. He was supposed to train at the Mikuni Pass or the Kitami Pass. However, the Mikuni Pass and was closed due to the storm and also the route bypassing the Kitami Pass was closed due to the storm. So the Kitami Pass was full of traffic diverting the closed bypass. Therefore, he decided to train at the Mt.Tokachidake where there were few damages. The road surface was covered with a hard ice beneath the fresh snow. It happened frequently that the studs didn’t reach the hard surface of ice because of a thick fresh snow. So the tires spun off on the climb and skidded on the descent several times. Moreover, as he rode in the clouds, super-cooled water of clouds frozen the surface of wires. So the derailleur and the front brake which works with a wire had problems working properly.

Pictures