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back on the road

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Today I cycled from Kokubunji to Kichijoji on my way to work. I was doing this fairly regularly in 2021 and 2022, but stopped when my derailleur unexpectedly snapped last year. Having a substantial mechanical failure for what is a 25km round trip will shake your confidence!

But lately, the Central train line I usually take has been so crowded that I've given up on the express train altogether and decided that because I need the exercise anyway, I would get back on my bike. Today's trip went well; I avoided rain, the traffic was good, the weather was all right - and the bike stayed together. I'm certainly well off my former pace, taking forty minutes for my return trip and even longer in the morning. Mind you, I only caught 30 green lights on a route with 43 signals, but the real problem is I have nowhere near the degree of fitness I had when cycling 20km every day for nine or ten months of the year in Toronto.

It was a nice change of pace and I hope this marks the beginning of a return to form (so to speak).