Last Sunday, my husband came down with a recurring cold. I was not feeling well, and it was raining in the morning, so I wondered what to do.
But after noon, the rain had completely stopped and the road surface was thirsty, so I left home on my road bike.
先週の日曜日、夫は風邪をぶり返してダウン。私もなんだか体調がイマイチだったうえ、朝は雨が降っていてどうしようかと悩んだが、お昼過ぎはすっかり雨がやみ、路面も渇いたのでロードバイクで家を出た。

First solo ride in a long time.
I didn't have much time that day, and I wasn't sure of my stamina, so I took the road I was used to riding on, and slowly climbed one very steep hill from near Noborito, and then went down, almost went a little further, but decided to go back the way I had come.
久しぶりのソロライド。
この日は時間もあまりないし、体力も自信がなかったから、走り慣れた道を走り、登戸の近くから激坂を１つゆっくり上り、下って、その先まで少し行きかけたが、来た道をまた戻ることにした。

I thought about going home, but decided to extend the distance a little more and at least have a cup of coffee before heading home, so I turned left on the national highway and headed straight for CROSS COFFEE, a cycling cafe near Yanokuchi Station. I pedaled my bicycle, muttering to myself, "I thought it would be a short ride to Yanokuchi, but it's a little further than I thought”.
そのまま帰ろうかとも思ったが、もう少しだけ距離を延ばしてお茶ぐらい飲んで帰ろうと、国道を左に曲がってまっすぐ、矢野口駅近くのサイクリングカフェ、CROSS COFFEEに向かった。矢野口まではすぐと思ったけれど、意外にあるなぁなんて心の中でつぶやきながら、自転車を漕ぐ。

The occasional solo ride took my thoughts to unusual places. It is a small adventure in everyday life to turn the pedal in this way, at will, to any place I like.
I have tried much harder things in the past, going far away almost every week to ride on steep mountain roads, challenging unpaved roads, and sometimes riding long distances of 200 or 300 km in a day... Some might say, what's the adventure in riding on a few kilometers of a nearby national road, but riding with my husband is a completely different mindset than riding alone.
たまのソロライドは、いつもと違うところに考えが向かっていった。
こうやって気ままに、好きな場所へとべダルを回すのは、日常の中の小さな冒険だ。これまで、ほぼ毎週のように遠くまで行って険しい山道を走ったり、未舗装のチャレンジングな道や、ときには1日に200km、300kmの長距離を走破したり…と、もっとずっとハードなことに挑戦してきたのだから、近場の数キロの国道を走って、何が冒険なのかと言われそうだが、夫と一緒に走るのと、１人で走るのとはまったく心持ちが違うのだ。

My husband, who has a good sense of direction and loves to think of routes, likes to think of new ways to get there each time, even in familiar places, and tries to avoid national roads with many cars as much as possible. It allows me to follow my husband on a comfortable route and to encounter many unknown places and beautiful landscapes. It's a wonderful experience.
方向感覚に優れていてルートを考えるのが大好きな夫は、慣れた場所でも毎回新しい行き方がないか考えるのが好きだし、車が多い国道はできる限り避けて通ろうとする。おかげで私は夫について行けば快適なルートを走ることができるし、未知の場所にも、美しい景色にもたくさん出合うことができる。それは素晴らしい体験だ。

However, my husband's efforts to take a different route each time and to choose the most enjoyable route possible made it even more difficult for me, who has a terrible sense of direction, to remember the way. I don't feel like I can come here again by myself at all. When I have a chance to ride alone, as I did on this day, I can finally learn the road a little better, and even if it is a busy national highway, just one unplanned turn on the road is a little fresh and exciting.
けれど、毎回できるだけ違うルートを通ろうとしたり、少しでも楽しい道を選ぼうとする夫の努力によって、ひどい方向音痴の私はますます道を覚えられない。自分でまたここに来られる気はまったくしない。ほんのたまに、この日のように１人で走る機会があると、やっと少しは道を覚えられるし、車通りの多い国道であろうと、予定外の道を１つ曲がるだけでちょっぴり新鮮で、ワクワクするのだ。

I remember when I had just started riding my bicycle. I was in high spirits when my husband and I went for the first time to Zebra Coffee in Tsukui, a popular place for bicycle riders. This was probably the first time I had rode less than 50 km from home, or nearly 100 km round trip, and I was happy to have made it this far.
自転車に乗り始めて間もない頃のことを思い出す。自転車乗りがみんな行くという津久井のゼブラコーヒーに夫と２人で初めて行って、気分は高揚していた。自宅から50km弱、往復で100km近い距離を走るのは、おそらくこの日が初めてで、ここまで来られたことがうれしくてたまらなかった。

Looking at the Google map, I said, "Hey, if we go straight on this road, we can reach Lake Yamanaka in another 50 km. Let's go there next time," I said excitedly. A few weekends later, I booked a lodge by Lake Yamanaka and carried out a challenge ride to Lake Yamanaka... It rained that day in early November, but we still couldn't give up and set off, having a hard time getting to Lake Yamanaka...
Google mapを見ながら、「ねえ、この道をさらにまっすぐ行ったら、あと50kmで山中湖まで行けるんだね。次は行ってみようよ」と、興奮気味の私。その数週間後の週末に、山中湖の湖畔に宿を予約し、山中湖までのチャレンジライドを実行した。11月初めのその日は雨が降り、それでも諦めきれずに出発して、大変な思いをして山中湖までたどりつくことになるのだが…。

The 50km from Zebra Coffee onward was a really tough ride for me as a beginner, as it was uphill all the way. It was well after dark when we arrived at the lodge, our rain-soaked body cold and exhausted. My husband said, "I heard that people who are used to it can make the round trip in a day”. At the time, I could not believe how such a feat was possible, but about a year later, we had made the round trip from central Tokyo to Lake Yamanaka, a distance of less than 200 km, in a single day.
ゼブラコーヒーから先の50kmはずっと登り基調で、初心者の私には本当にキツいライドだった。宿に着いたのはすっかり日が暮れたあとで、雨に濡れた体は冷え、疲れきっていた。「慣れてる人は、1日で往復するらしいよ」という夫の言葉に、どうやったらそんな芸当ができるのか信じられなかったが、その約１年後には都心から山中湖まで200km弱の距離を1日で往復していたのだった。

Even now, when I ride the Doshi Road from near Zebra Coffee to Lake Yamanaka, I remember those days and feel happy. My husband, however, says that he does not want to ride on Doshi road with so many cars nowadays.
私は今でも、ゼブラコーヒーの先から山中湖へとまっすぐ向かう道志道を走ると、そのころのことを思い出して楽しい気分になる。けれど夫は、車の多い道志道なんて、今はできれば走りたくないと言う。

It is up to the individual to feel what part of the ride he or she enjoys most, but a bicycle is always full of possibilities and adventures. Whether it's a ride of a few kilometers around the house or hundreds of kilometers, there are always possibilities and adventures to be had on a bicycle. It was a solo ride that made me think about such things again.
どんなところに楽しさを感じるかは人それぞれだけれど、自転車はいつだって、可能性と冒険に満ちあふれている。家の近くの数キロのライドだとしても、何百キロの距離を走ることだとしても。そんなことを改めて考えたソロライドだった。

photo&text by Chie Ikumi