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Today was the hardest and longest ride I've done in a while. Hard because the training yesterday was tough. Long because I went from Takao to Mt. Fuji Station No. 3. I had initially planned to go to Station No. 5, but it was a lot further than I thought and I was getting really tired, so when I reached Station No. 3 I turned around.

Left Takao around 8 am. It wasn't too hot yet, around 25 C, although quite humid. Fortunately, the temperature never got much higher than that in the mountains, so I was able to enjoy cool weather almost the entire ride.

At first I felt awful, mostly due to the stiffness in my legs from the previous day's ride. However, after an hour or so I started to feel better. My route was:

Takao to Fujino (Route 20)
Fujino to Aone (Route 76)
Aone to Yamanakako (Route 413)
Yamanakako to Fuji-yoshida (Route 138)
Fuji-yoshida to Mt. Fuji Station No. 3 (Mt. Fuji Subaru Line)

Riding from Fujino to Yamanakako was really pleasant, as the temperature was nice and I felt pretty good. The traffic wasn't too bad either. From Yamanakako to the Subaru Line the traffic was backed up for kilometers, but I just rode right by them. Nice being on a bike!

I've only been up to Mt. Fuji Station No. 5 one time, and it was two years ago, so I forgot how far it was up the Subaru Line. Starting the climb I was already a little worried about my condition, particularly considering that, when I did decide to turn around, I still had to ride all the way back to Takao. It was not a good day for my climbing legs, and I got slower and slower until I decided that it would be best to turn around, particularly when I saw a sign that said it was another 10 kilometers to Sta. No. 5, and I had already spent over an hour climbing to that point.

The ride back was much easier since it was mostly downhill. When I turned around I had ridden almost 100 kilometers in 4 hours 20 minutes. The 100 kilometers back took much less time - I covered them in just 3 hours 15 minutes. The final climb over Otarumi wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, possibly because I was so close to home that I got my second (well, more like ninth or tenth) wind. After yesterday, though, I think I might have ridden just a bit too much. Tomorrow - REST DAY!

7:35, 202 km