Archiv der Kategorie: David

von | 23. Dezember 2008 · 16:09

Spirited Away

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An interesting ride last Sunday. Six riders, three different ways back and now blogs on four sites [Jimmy Shinag/ Vlaamsewielrenner / Hiroshi / Positivo]. I wish we would do all the editing on one blog and write one epic story where everybody contributes from his point of view and create a Rashomon or „Lola rennt“ like story. Champion jersey. On the way to the bridge I discovered already that it didn’t make my any faster. And then going up I came to Sekidobashi with the full intention to show off my new 2008 JCRC Road SERISEOtarumi I felt a lot of pressure, as everybody naturally wanted to beat the champion. But I was still fast enough and get stay within a distance of Tom and Hiroshi which was good enough for this state of the season.

A typical Positivo ride, very fast along the Tamagawa and Asakawa. After we split before Sagamiko station, I had a hard time to keep the pace of Tom and Hiroshi on route 20. I went my own pace and I didn’t thought that I would be slow, but they were just faster. Route 20 was surprisingly empty, as it was a Sunday there were also less trucks on the road. And going through Uenohara without an accident always feels like „the first time“.

Now, the road up to Suzugane was beautiful as always. No traffic at all, only forest and sunshine and as last year, a strong wind that moves the fallen leaves on the road. I almost felt like being included in a movie from Hayao Miyazaki: I am moving through the nature and the spirits and ghosts of the forest are moving the leaves by invisible hands to create hidden messages and symbols. I went twice to the Ghibli museum in Mitaka and one can see a short movie at the cinema there. The first time I saw a short movie about a little girl that hikes through the forest, somehow it left a lasting impression on me. My children are afraid of the movies, I can understand why. There is this nativity with whom the characters, mostly children move through their lives and one can almost smell the danger that waits for them. There is always the expectation, that something, bad, terrible will happen. But it never does. Everything works out fine just naturally.

I felt good, Tom was fast and Hiroshi was not up to the usual standard I have heard about.

We took a photo of all three of us with three cameras at the same time on top of Suzugane pass.

Then we took a break at the cycling manju shop; nobody knows exactly why we stop there, but it seems to be some kind of tradition. As we were sitting there, another cyclist joined us and we chatted about riding here and there. I noticed that he had a helmet with „Ravenello„, the name of a strong JCRC team written on it and I asked him if he belongs to that team. So he said yes and I said that these guys are strong and I often see them at races, Then he asked me, if I would go racing often.

What a splendid opportunity! I felt like Mito Komon! I ripped down my winter jacket so that the full glory of the JCRC champion jersey came into display and said: „Of course I am racing often, I am the champion of 2008.“, not mentioning D class or any other circumstances that would devaluate the full glory of this marvelous achievement. Caught red handed in an orgy of evil, the poor guy dropped down to his knees and grovel. After right and order was restored, we continued on our way.

We rode through the beautiful landscape until we came to a crossing with … route 76. I immediately made up my mind and rode further to Doshi Michi, then to Miyagaseko and further on to Hon-Atsugi where I took the train home. There were very strong gusts when I rode down route 64 from Miyagaseko to Hon-atsugi. At one time I was riding past a small bamboo forest on the left side of the road. A strong wind from behind bended the bamboo almost completely down the ground. Gusts are OK from behind, but not from the side when one is riding fast and when there are a lot of leafs on the road and they are blown into your face it hurts quite amazingly.

167 kms and 9 hours total time, but only 7 hours on the bike. When riding in a group of six, we did not make too much breaks, but later on being with Hiroshi and Tom we did. So I decided not to take any breaks when I was on my own and went in one stretch from route 76 to Hon-Atsugi. So this was the shortest day of the year. From now on it will become perhaps colder, but finally days are getting longer. Good.

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Hiroshi, James

von | 14. Dezember 2008 · 04:53

Jinxed

I woke up this morning at 6 AM and when I looked out of the window the rain had already started to pour down. Now it is almost 12 and it is still raining outside. No way to enjoy the Tokyo Enduro Race today at Tachikawa Kinen Koen, so I informed Tom, David and Ludwig per e-mail this morning that I would not go and all agreed to go back to bed or do other more meaningful things. This is the third time I wanted to attend the race and the third time I couldn’t. I became sick some days before the race in 2005 and in 2007 I applied to late and missed the deadline. This race is jinxed. The location is actually the one where I saw the first cycle race of my life ever, in September1990 a German friend of mine was racing there.

What a bummer that was! Still, when I look at the TCC picture below, I don’t regret the decision to go back to bed. For me too, there has been a jinx on enduro-type races and this would have been the third one in a row after Shuzenji and Motegi last year. It is simply no fun to ride with muddy water spurting right into your face from the backwheels of riders ahead. I admire those TCC cyclists though who decided to brave the elements!

Tom


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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Mob, Tom

von | 30. November 2008 · 22:54

More Chichibu!

Twenty years from now, when most people are asked what they remember about the Fall of 2008, they will answer with some story about the greatest financial crisis since 1929, the election of Barack Obama, or maybe a international political crisis set in motion by Pakistani militants‘ attack in Mumbai on luxury hotels, train stations, restaurants and a synagogue. But for Positivo Espresso members and fans, the dominant events will be, first, David J. and Juliane Prechtl’s relocation to London, and (a distant) second, the discovery and expansion of our riding territory into Chichibu, in addition to Yamanashi, Kanagawa and the far western reaches of Tokyo-to.

Tom led the way, Michael followed, and now Jerome, Juliane and I are catching up. Even David J. managed one sortie before leaving the country to help save the European financial system. But we owe a special debt of gratitude to Ludwig, who actually discovered Chichibu in 2108(?) and mapped many of its passes, before leading the only road building crews ever seen in Chichibu that did not place unnecessary barriers in places that were likely to cause a cyclist to crash, or at least flat his/her tire.

Sunday November 30 it was Jerome’s, Juliane’s and my turn.

Jerome and I rode up the river with James Knott and his group of merry men, who were headed toward Takao/Sagami-ko on their fast pace/early curfew trip. James was on his spectacular 2008 Cervelo SLC-SC, and stayed with us as Jerome took off. … something like 5 km later we noticed that the three of us had ridden away and the rest of James‘ group was nowhere to be seen (flat tires caused the delay). Jerome and I said our goodbyes and pushed ahead to meet Juliane at Aurore Bakery in Oume just after 9AM.

The road was quiet, the air crisp, and the fall colors were spectacular after we left Oume.

On the descent after Shomaru Toge, despite explicit warning signs …

Someone wanted to go faster than everyone else:

Fortunately, a cyclist had left a spare road bike nearby, so the driver could become a rider, and join us for the rest of the day.

Jerome and I celebrated our victory about 2/3 of the way up the hill to Karibazaka-toge, after stopping to change a flat tube and enjoy the view.


We did get to the top without other problems, and the vista to the NE was spectacular.

After riding along the ridge and climbing some to Shiraishi Toge vicinity, we turned left past the Ken-min no Mori parking lot (Saitama’s version of Tokyo’s To-min no Mori) and then took the Maruyama Rindo („forest road“) all the way down the hill into Yokoze/ Chichibu-Shi, a route that allowed us to get to the Seibu Chichibu train station with only 150 meters or so riding along the crowded stretch of Rte. 299, then had an almost civilized lunch and hopped the 2:25PM express train to Ikebukuro.

*The title to this entry, „More Chichibu!“ is to be said loudly, in the tone of Christopher Walken addressing Will Ferrell in the 2000 SNL sketch „More Cowbell“.

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Jerome, Juliane

von | 24. November 2008 · 07:35

LEAN AND MEAN

I promised my family to be back from cycling by 1 PM. And I was back at 1:15 PM, which is unprecedented and breaking every existing Positivo Espresso tradition. So what went terribly wrong – how could this possibly happen?Well it started with all the ingredients of a typical Positivo Espresso tour at David’s home at 7 AM. I needed to devour my 7/11 breakfast and delayed our start. Juliane didn’t show up at all and couldn’t be reached by phone. Jerome was assuming that she might be on her way to Ome, so we even didn’t had a clear plan where to go. I had previously discussed with David, that we will ride to Wada and then return through route 76 to Doshi and back into town through one of the amazing maze roads David was able to identify in the mess of Western Tokyo.

We started to ride along the Tamagawa and immediately tried to make up for the lost time. Three quarters of the members of our superior Saiko race time trial team were present and we rode a fast pace line which went exceptionally well. At Seikobashi we made a last phone call to Juliane, finally giving up on her and then deciding to do the original plan in reverse: First riding out to Tsukui, then travelling along the Doshimichi road 413 until the crossing with road 76, which then leads back to the notorious route 20.

The roads selected by David were very good, it was still early in the morning and even the traffic on the big roads was light. He led a through all the shortcuts with sherpa-like qualities. There were some fast downhills and a lot of climbs.

The crazy Tsukui climb. Almost as high as the offical approval rating of Kim Il Jong in North Korea [close to 120%]


I have done some of this roads before with David, but always in the opposite direction. Now going there it felt less than going downhill, but more like „reverse-climbing“.

We continued to pull each other through at a fast pace; David also has improved compared to the last Chichibu trip. And finally we took a break a a Daily Yamazaki Conbini where not only us, but also other customers of the shop could witness a highlight of the day:

It was cold outside and we were sweaty, naturally we rested inside the Combini at the adult magazine corner and ate our replenishments. All three of us were wearing high quality, overpriced Assos jackets in the colors of the German flag, but what was hidden beyond that jackets was quite different.

When Jerome peeled off his jacket, his space-technology grade high-tec underwear was revealed. As he explained, this garment was originally developed for the Usbekistan army as a full body condom for contraception of male army members. One cannot see this on the photo, but it fully encloses every possible boundary of the human body, starting from the toes on the neck. It also provides labour to the rural knitting community of Usbekistan, having much free time during long winter hours.Unfortunately after extensive testing by the army, for unknown reasons, it failed to shown the expected contraception functionalities, upon which it was sold to France as cycling gear. Jerome swears that it keeps him warm and the amount of sweat emitted by his body should proves him right.

We then continued along road 413 and finally to road 76. Beautiful ups and downs in the autumn scenery. When we reached route 20, Jerome decided that he would try to ride over Wada as originally planned (again, clearly against the Positivo Espresso tradition as we never ride as planned), whereas David and me decided to go home along road 20 and make it back home by lunch.

With a nice tail wind in the back we went fast to Sagamiko station where a big truck lorry, coming up the hill, wanted to turn left and almost crashed with a minicar. I stayed on the scene to watch the whole tragedy unfold, while David moved on to climb Otarumi. This was the second time in three days that I encountered a crazy truck driver.

On Saturday when David, Ludwig and me rode into Chichibu, we made a fast downhill ride at 40 km/hr + on road 299 where we were overtaken by a very long speeding truck. He left ample clearance with us, but by doing so he occupied more than half of the opposite lane and as the road was winding along the valley, there was no way to tell if cars would come up or not. A motorcycle coming in our direction was barely able to squeeze in between the truck and the guiderail, and another white family van could just do the same. I remember all the details, as I was expecting to hear the sound of a crash any moment.

So David was ahead which gave me the motivation to start the reverse Otarumi time trial. The first part is mostly flat which even some descents, but I got blocked by traffic congestion three or four times. But I was feeling good and when the real climb started, a tried to stay at 20 km/hr spinning at a high cadence. Finally I saw David in front of me and overtaking him at elevation 300 meters. He was shouting encourageously:

„Come on Michael, keep going, PUSH IT!“

which gave me the neccessary extra motivation. The last thing I heard of David was:

„Ahem, I am keeping it easy, don’t wait for me!“

I arrived at the top at 17:17 minutes, which is fast, but not my best time. But it is OK I guess.

I nevertheless waited for David on the top and together we made the fast downhill from Otarumi, which was blocked by traffic at the entrance to Takao. But after that the roads were OK and we continued at 35 km/hr towards Sekidobashi, first along road 20 and then later along the Asakawa. Where we went into pace line again.

After a last break at the Y park 7-eleven we started another fast pace line at 35 km/hr along the Tamagawa. Clearly it was starting to rain any minute and there were less people on the pathway as usual. We were really fast and that brought as home so early.

Much earlier as expected. Of course my family has given up all expectations that I would be back on time after many disappointments and subsequently no lunch was prepared. The Saturday trip to Chichibu must have been the last nail in the coffin, I guess. Everybody was out and they came home at 4 PM only, much surprised seeing me showered and neatly dressed.

Jerome made it over Wada, as usually excelling late in the ride. He was also home by 1:30 PM, so on his own he rode on the last stretch very fast as well.

Last 30 minutes are cut off, as the Ciclo stops after 6 hours recording.


A very enjoyable mid-length trip, just the right ride for autumn.
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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Jerome, Juliane, Mob

von | 23. November 2008 · 12:06

Addendum to Mitsumine Shrine pilgrimage: Photos





155km distance, something like 1,700m climbing in total

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Mob

von | 23. November 2008 · 04:13

BREAKING NEWS : MITSUMINE MOUNTAIN FINALLY CONQUERED BY TWO GERMAN DAREDEVILS

After two unsuccessful tries in the past weeks to scale the heights of Mitsumine, two German alpinists and their American Sherpa started yesterday another run. Meeting at the Futago-Mandu, the capitol city of the small Himalayan country of Chichibustan at 8 AM in the morning, the first part of the TREK along the river was fast and various new techniques were tried to add momentum to the tour, thus proving everybody wrong who dared to call the expedition a „late local train“.

At the basecamp in Omir, the friendly locals supplied the adventurers with the required freshly backed, fluffy bread which is traditionally eaten since many years at this place. The town was in a mild uproar, as the local festival of „International High Color Exchange“, whatever that shall mean, was celebrated. From there onwards they entered the hilly lands of Chichibustan. A last supply of water at a holy fountain, and off they went to attack the first mountain of the day, the lowly ranked Yamabushi. Giving it all and, for the first time in the history of mankind, marking the start and the end of the climb, one can expect to see a new addition to the traditional records of the Togebaka.

From there on everything was a fast downhill to the abandoned city of Chichiborek, where a last lunch was taken and prayers for a safe journey were send towards the nearby skies. Along the old trading road to the lost state of Yamanashikan, the three proceeded with great haste and after many dangerous adventures, featuring fabulous creatures disguised as speeding dumper trucks, endless hairpin turns and inhuman exhaustion, they finally arrived at the entrance to a tunnel which should lead to the enchanted Mitsumine mountain. Under many tears they bate farewell to their faithful sherpa who needed to be back at his village before 6 and hunt down some dinner before that.

Thus they entered the tunnel, which was so small that a modern time commuter bus could barely fit into its cross section. The tunnel was dark and water was dripping from the ceiling and the remaining two were constantly afraid that a horde of wild animals, fearless warriors or fabulous creatures disguised as speeding dumper trucks would turn up suddenly right in front of them without any place to let them pass peacefully. After about 170 meters, a branch of the tunnel was leading to the left and finally here they stepped out again into the light, seeing the most wonderful thing they have ever encountered.

Before their eyes, the vast lake of Chichibustan was extending to the horizon, the huge water masses conquered and impounded by a dam, built by a long lost civilisation which the older still remember as „The ministry of Construction“. The two rode over the dam crest and started the final approach on Mitsuhime. Barren was the land and all traces of civilisation were long left behind. In an endless sucession of hairpin curves, the last 600 meters to the top were attacked, steadily moving up at low speeds. The bodies were close to fall apart from sheer exhaust ions and the temperature dropped to a life threathing 3 degrees (plus). Nevertheless the two pressed on and finally, after time has almost come to a standstill, the parking lot of the Mitsumine shrine was detected under shouts of joy.

Now it was only a matter of time until they reached the Mitsuhime shrine itself, which was built by a sage a long time ago on top of the mountain (Note: Why is somebody considered a sage who builds a shrine in such a goddamn difficult accessible place without any infrastructure?). The two planted the German flag on top of the mountain to claim the place once and for all times, before the much competitive Kingdom of Belgium would have any chance to do the same. And then it was already time to start the descent, as the darkness of night was approaching with great speed.

After many more adventures, which are too many and too boring to be told here, they finally arrived already in pitched darkness at the signpost of new civilisation. Their trip was such long, that in the meantime the Seibu department store company, a venerated and fast growing state-owned company has built a railway almost as far as the lake which facilitated very much their return to the capitol. Although, as they noted, the bloody trip on this local trains took more than three hours to complete.

And finally they arrived at home, welcomed by their loved ones and scolded for their emphasis on the adventurous and by not being back for dinner on time.

Thanks David and Ludwig for this very nice trip in late autumn. Ludwig made some photos which he might add to this post in due time.

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Mob

von | 11. November 2008 · 07:47

Championship Reflections

Someday in December, when JCRC will send me the champion jersey for 2008 and I will be the official recognized winner of the „2008 Road serise“, I will definitely invite for a party, possibly at the Positivo shop and then close by. Until then, some reflections on the 2008 JCRC racing season:
For sure I had a lot of luck. Also persistence and power, but most of all luck. Out of the 14 JCRC races I have attended this year (counting the actual races, not the events), 10 have been hill climbs or similar elevation intensive races. And I am not a fast hill climber at all. But luckily some of the strongest contenders this year have given up in the midst of the season, or where promoted to C class. Like fourteen year old Nishimura – who continues to beat me at every single race.
And I was also lucky that the JCRC rules were in my favour. 60 points for attendance of a race and arriving at the goal without getting lapped. And in addition a maximum of 30 points depending on the race result. One could virtually secure championship by just attending. At one point I was at risk to be relegated to E class. That happens if one finishes three times in a row with a time 10% slower than the 10th place rider in a race. But miraculously after finishing 10% lower in the races at Gunma and Shuzenji, the next race (hill climb at Shiobara) was exempted from this rule and the race afterwards (again Gunma) as well. Finally I made the cut in Yokkaichi. But the most luck I had with the weather and that I didn’t encountered any crash or mechanical problems. Weather conditions were good at almost all races, except for Hitachi-Naka and somewhat for Yokkaichi. My competitor and later friend Ishii crashed at Hitachi-Naka almost in front of me and I had to ride over the grass in order to get out of the danger zone. At the Tokyo race (not part of the JCRC series) also in the rain, a guy riding next to me on the inner side of a curve slipped and started to slide in my direction. Instead of cornering I rode straight and straight into the guiderails, barely managing to escape the crash as well as the rails. Is Saiko, at the last race, a rider crashed 30 meters in front of me during the finish sprint and again I was lucky that he felt on the left side and I could pass on the right. At the hill climb in Shiobara, I rode over a chestnut which punctured my back wheel tire. Luckily that happened only 200 meters away from the finish, so I was able to walk to the goal.

And I was lucky that I had no injuries, no colds, nothing. If anything, the JCRC series has told me something about the meaning of luck and that a tiny mishap can ruin the hard work of a complete season. This is not a single race where one can have a good result or not and then again try next year. This was my once in a lifetime chance to achieve something extraordinary in the field of sport and if I would make only one small mistake, I would have wasted my chance and never get a new one.

And this is actually the dark flip side of riding for championship series: I was very worried all the time. Worried that I will crash, get a cold, don’t know the JCRC rules or simply do not race very well and that killed a lot of the fun associated with racing. At Saiko I thought that it might be too risky to ride along with the main group, and just cruise behind them at 30 km/hr in order just to finish and not to get lapped. Because this would have been enough to clinch the title. Just because I was worried, I would have given up to enjoy the race and sprint for victory. I did not in the end, but again I was lucky that I did not crash.

It is less fun to race when one has to race, in the rain or in races where one finished in last place, just because one needs to gather the points. This has been what I have learned this year and I have now much more respect for sportsmen and women who achieve their goals over a long season, be it bicycle riders, soccer teams or figure skaters. I will not try to repeat this again, one season of worries have been enough.
From a point of performance I am a miserable champion I guess. How where my results over the season?

  1. Kawagoe : 30th place out of 38 riders in the goal. Got dropped in a flat course race. Early in the season I was in miserable shape.

  2. Shuzenji : 25/25 Last place, of course at Shuzenji. Couldn’t even keep the pace of the pacemaking motorcycle at the start.

  3. Gunma : 37/37 Last place again. Was lucky that I didn’t got lapped and disqualified.

  4. NATS: 15/22 That was OK, however I also got dropped by the main group in this flat course race.

  5. Miyakejima : 8/9 A lot of points for me because there were only 9 riders in D class. The 9th place was Stephen who I forced into this race. So basically last place again. The solo race the next day was cancelled due to a high poisonous gas concentrations.

  6. Hitachi – Naka : 32/53. A little bit unlucky. First I needed to avoid a crash and temporarily lost contact with the main field, than I choose the wrong wheel to hang on (Alain), although that wheel normally finishes strong.

  7. Gunma : 28/28 Last place again. But I was getting stronger; would have been lapped with my earlier Gunma performance.

  8. Shuzenji : 47/48 Second last place. First indication of performance improvement!

  9. Shiobara : 32/33 on the first day hill climb, 36/37 on the second day hill climb. Apart from the result, this was one of the best races this year.

  10. Gunma : Disqualified. Got lapped shortly before the end of the 8th lap, despite being pulled by Tom.

  11. Yokkaichi : 15/20. Could stay with the main field one lap on this hilly course, but not a second one. Was happy not to end in last place.

  12. Saiko : 14/34. Best performance this year.

In summary, out of 13 races, I finished 8 times in last or second last place or got disqualified.I am not sure how others would judge this, but I think this is not a very champion like performance. My best finish was an 8th place in Miyakejima. Counting from the front, because I left only one ride behind me. Counting from the back, I was good in Saiko (20 riders behind me) and Hitachi Naka (21).
On the other hand I felt that I became stronger and stronger through the season, thanks to a lot of racing and long training rides. In Saiko I felt at the peak and I still had much power let at the finish.

I am really happy, relieved and whatever that everything is over. I am so tired as well. So what is in for next year?

If time allows, I would like to attend some of the races which are either fun to do or where I have at least a chance to make the podium:

  • JCRC / ToJ Kawagoe in March, a 15 km point race
  • Tokyo Tomin race in Oi Futo, a 21 km solo race
  • JCRC / ToJ Hitachi Naka in June, a 30 km solo race
  • JCRC / ToJ Saiko in November, a 20 km solo race

Then I would like to so some of the really challenging races in terms or elevation or distance:

  • Fuji Hill Climb – 1.200 meters up with 5.000 riders
  • Itoigawa Fast Run – 290 km, if we are allowed to start.
  • Tour de Okinawa – 200 km solo race

I also enjoyed the endurance races, such as Tsukuba, Motegi, Fuji Speedway, Yokohama and Tokyo. Preferable in a team. And finally I would like to try some track racing. I hope that a lot of PE guys will join me next year as well.Much of the fun this season and much of the next season as well depends on the good composition and mutual support within the Positivo Espresso team. I am very proud that we have built up a team with very few constraints and rules on the one hand, but a lot of support from and to all riders. I always hated clubs, because one has to go drinking with club mates after the training and there is always this „Are you a member?“ feeling which distinguish the good riders (team members) from the rest (not team members). There is so much time spend on club-activities and less time on the real purpose, the sport itself.

But Positivo Espresso is different, we have of course some hard core riders, some hard core bloggers and maybe some hard core drinkers, but in general we are open and inviting to new team members and try to integrate them. Sometimes I feel that this and that could improve and some things disappoint me, but all in all this is probably the best set-up I have ever been in. We recognize that all our members have their weak points: Juliane? Always late, or not there at all. David: Starts at 210% of his performance level when riding out, finishes at 21%. Tom? Demands too much from us non-hill climbers. Me? always too competitive, cannot loose. Jerome? Sleeps too long. And so on. But again, as a group compared with other groups we are doing very well.
This year was hard in particular, because many good riders left us. david went back to England; Marek moved on, first to Southeast Asia, later to Australia. Juliane will leave in December. Alain from NFCC who was a fabulous sportsman moved back to France. James and Ian from the Irish rovers went to Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. To loose such good riders and friends was hard. On the other hand, some new guys were joining us as well. James did a good job to encourage his friends to make even smaller trips out with us together, so did David. Laurent and Stephen joined us again. Jacques was another funny addition. Ludwig succumbed to the bike bug within record time. And Tom’s daughter should be ready every day after conquering Wada.

So, in a way I guess we are all champions on our own and Positivo Espresso is therefore the team of the champs. I hope that I could make myself somehow understandable without being too melodramatic. I also do not want to write funny posts all the time.


Team Time Trial Performance at Saiko

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, 2009, David, James, Jerome, Juliane, Mob, Stephen, Tom

von | 9. November 2008 · 15:40

D as in "Done"


We attended the JCRC Saiko race today, first the team time trial where we had good discipline and stayed almost the complete race in a four rider line and later the solo races.

I finished in 14th place in the D class race, thereby securing JCRC D Class championship 2008 plus finishing in second place in the Nikkan Sports Tour du Japon 2008 D classification.

Victory


Finally, after 46 years not winning a single sports event (not counting those held at Club Med).
Thanks for all the support from the Positivo Espresso Team Members through a long season which became even longer in October and November.

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, Jerome, Mob

von | 6. November 2008 · 04:43

Wishing

the POSITIVO ESPRESSO Time Trial Team a hell of a strong finish at Saiko!
Good luck Michael, Jerome, Ludwig and Jacques (and David too?) !!
…will be supporting the team from Hotaka, Gunma…
Michael…total victory is within your reach !

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Eingeordnet unter David, Jerome, Mob

von | 3. November 2008 · 11:57

Sunday’s Ride

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Thanks guys for the excellent ride.. took longer than I anticipated but thoroughly enjoyable all the same.. Yabitsu Pass is a fantastic climb, but we need a route home from the bottom to keep away from the trains.. I know everyone will join me in wishing Michael good luck this coming weekend at Saiko.. I am thinking the ‚rest‘ of us might do a Takao trip on Sunday, but perhaps come back along a similar route that Jerome would have used after he left us on the weekend.. TBD.

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Eingeordnet unter 2008, David, James, Jerome, Mob