Archiv der Kategorie: 2009

von | 11. Januar 2009 · 14:44

SUPER MAMA CHARI GRAND PRIX


Thousands of shopping bikes lined up on a huge street. A common sight in Japan at any given train station. However, I was not standing in front of a station but at the start of the Fuji Speedway Race Track where also Formula One races are held. On Sunday, the Shopping Bike Grand Prix Race was held there.

An interesting concept, bicycle races hold on the fastest circuit for the highest performing cars, with the lowest cost riding option available, a typical Japanese shopping bike or Mama-chari, which can be bought for approximately 10.000 – 20.000 JPY. The shopping bike is somehow the more expensive version of an umbrella in Japan. One tends to forget in front of a station but is perhaps not so much irritated about it and buys a new one immediately. It cost less than two Continental tires for my road racing bike.

So my team „INGENIUM„, entry number 746, has bought a brand new mama chari for the race. We never did this with Positivo before. For the technical-minded pro riders, here are the specifications :

  • A must have is the shopping basket mounted over the front wheel. You need this for the optimal aerodynamic positioning.

  • Ours had a three gear Shimano Nexus shifter. Others had none. It works differently than the shifters on road bikes. You need to turn the handle shifter at least 5 seconds before you actually want to shift and then pedal like hell. If you are lucky the shifter actually shifts when you need it. If you are not lucky, it doesn’t. Or does too late.

  • Most shopping bikes have a backwards curved handle. In combination with the low seat position this reminds you not to do anything imprudent. Ours luckily had a straight handle.

  • The tire size is limited to 26 inch.

  • The saddle post height can be adjusted from BOP to BAOP („Bottoms on the pedals“ to „Bottoms almost on the paddle.

  • All bike have compact cranks (inner only).

Sadly enough, I saw some bikes which had a 6 gears rear derailleur mounted and I can see the same tendency as in road biking: Upgrading the equipment as one is too lazy or simply cannot upgrade the performance of his own body. And that attendants are willing to spend a lot of money on high-grade shopping bikes. I am afraid that it will be only a matter of time when we will see aerodynamic optimized carbon shopping baskets, titan-made bicycle stands and Speedplay cleats for high heel shoes.

I left the house early in the morning, at 4:30 hr to be precise, with our car. Otherwise my team members would have picked me up at 2:30 hr. „We need to avoid traffic congestion“, was the logical argument. It took me about 90 minutes to arrive at Fuji Speedway, and the race started at 8:40 hr. So I guess my teammates had ample time between 4 and 8.30 hr to prepare themselves for the race. Japanese group organization – still not use how to cope with that after all these years here.

Not that preparation is a bad thing. But it definitely is not much fun if it is pitch dark, the landscape is covered in snow and it is freezing cold. Plus there is nothing to do but to wait for the start of the race.

I arrived at the parking lot of the Fuji Speedway and I thought that mistakenly I have driven my daughter to her figure skate training and parked in the middle of the ice rink. Because of the rain the night before, the road was frozen with water and it was almost impossible to walk. I could not even take my MTB up to the start: impossible to ride on it, impossible to go with it.

Everybody was already there and the atmosphere was about the same as the temperature. I thought that we had already a huge amount of grilling and other equipment at our ground, but I saw some more things at our teams which I have not seen so far at other bicycle races: For example a huge stone bowl for making 　sticky rice cakes (Omochi) on a massive wooden stand, at least 50 kg of weight. This was not part of a food stall, but belonged to a racing team.

Also I saw some items which one usually sees at bicycle races: for example rollers where riders on shopping bikes got warmed up. As I have never ever been on a roller, I asked if I could have a try and, yes, I could and so I had my first roller experience on a mama chari.

Actually the whole atmosphere is more like a Japanese Matsuri (festival), than a race.
Then the race started with Yatsuo being our first rider. He is addicted to MTB downhills so he has some cycling experience. We get the saddle out to the maximum and off he is for the start. The other attendants there can be classified in the following groups:

  • Normal people, as seen on shopping bikes on the streets of Japan – 90%
  • People dressed up as Darth Wader, Baikinman, Maids are other stupid characters – 5%
  • People dressed up as cuddly toys – 3% [Toms nightmare]
  • Professional road racers – 2%

My favourite group was one team where every member was disguised as egg plant and had Japanese flags attached to their bag with slogans written on them. I called then „The right wing eggplant field“ or 右翼なす畑. My favourite bike was the one which had mounted a small wooden Japanese house on the back with a board written „Grilled Potatoes“ (焼き芋）.

Yatsu gives everything, makes two laps and is back after 25 minutes. Some of the pro teams are fast, after the first lap the first rider crosses the line in under 9 minutes.

Then it is my turn. At least it is sunny now and the roads are not frozen any more. The way out of the pit is a disaster. As most people have no racing experience, they ride their bikes just like in normal traffic : Moving suddenly to the left or right, cutting corners, not looking behind – this is dangerous stuff here …. this is even more dangerous than a JCRC F class race. This is like P or Q class at best.

The first part of Fuji Speedway is rather nice, a fast downhill, some easy curves. I have never ridden on that bike before, but it feels OK, I try my best, at least aerodynamically. The second part is climbing. Much to my surprise I have to shift down into second gear for the climb. And then even in the first gear. No way to pedal hard, when one cannot extend ones legs. I almost came to a still stand.

I jump out of the saddle, but somehow the position is awkward, the handle height is OK if you sit on the low saddle, but with my height, when I jump up, my arms are too short, so I need to lean forward and my chin almost scraps over the front wheel. It feels like pedaling in one of these swanboats.

But I am still much better doing than a lot of other riders. I would guess that almost two thirds of all riders are walking up the slope. I come to the straight finish and accelerate as fast as I can, then put my hands at the basket and lean my body into the airstream.

One more lap like that and I am back in the pit after 21 minutes. So it took me 10.30 min for one lap in average. My best time at the endurance race with Alain last year here was 7:10 min.

We had four fast laps and we are in 23rd position – out of 962 teams. Not bad.

Then, unfortunately, the other eight members or our team are doing their laps. They share Winston Churchhill’s approach to sports and their performance is exactly like that. Our ranking goes down to above 100, then Yatsuo and me do are four laps, we go up and the down again. This continues until the end of the race, where we finish between 90th and 100th most likely.

Nevertheless I had a good time. Some days later back on the road bike I wonder why I am so high above the road and I am almost afraid to fall down – this is how a day on a mama chari can alter your point of view.

I am pretty sure that with a good bike (6 gears rear derailleur plus long saddlepost) and a strong team of riders from Positivo Espresso and/or TCC we could make a top finish a any Mama Chari race. But we need to act fast, before others find out.

[photos to follow – perhaps]

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von | 9. Januar 2009 · 14:29

Shortest Ride to Blog About

OK, this one will be hard to beat: I rode from my house to IKEA Kohoku store and back today in the afternoon. All in all 4.8 km. But it was cold today plus heavily raining, it definitely didn’t feel like fun. One more day out on the bike, somehow.

By the way, IKEA is now my favorite escape point of the season. During weekdays the cafe is wide, open, empty and light so I can take my PC there, have a very good meal, drink all day for free and access the web on the WLAN. Sometimes I work, sometimes I eat, sometimes I check out good looking mothers. The IKEA CEO was right, their competitors in Japan are not other furniture companies but Disneyland.

From my house to IKEA
Find more Bike Rides in Yokohama, Japan

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von | 8. Januar 2009 · 15:09

Cold Fever Ride

I don’t like getting out of my warm bed early in the morning on a cloudy winter day in Yokohama. Or any other city. If I had knew, that I would be in my bed again 13 hours later, would this have changed my mind? No, because out of this 13 hours, I would have been on the bike for 11.

Ludwig and me met at Tamagawahara bridge, our new meeting point at 8.30 AM and discussed where to go. Doshimichi to Yamanakako was one idea, Kazahari Rindo another. We were in the middle of a heated discussion [as usual] when I looked down my bike and noticed that I did not only forgot to bring my water bottle, but also my bike bag. So we had to come up with something that would bring us home on the bike or at least close. We decided then to go for Tsuru and Tawa as this was a new road for Ludwig and one I have not taken since summer [when I went there with Tom, Nishibe and Laurent on my failed approach to climb Odarumi].

We had some headwind at the Tamagwa and did not progress too fast. So it took some time until we reached Aurore bakery in front of Ome station where I had my traditional breakfast of Royal Milk Bread, delicious as always. Then we decided to make a turn over the bridge close to the house of Ryoko & Stephen and continued on the right side of the Tamagawa towards Okutama lake. Immediately we encountered a group of three bikers [brands of the bikes as well as crank types unknown] which were not exactly slow but no match for us. In order not to be overtaken by no means by these guys we speeded all the way to Okutama and then we made the climb to Okutama lake which went pretty well. We saw the first snow of the season on stretches of the road in the shadow.

A had my Assos Fugu jacket on which is that warm, that I was profoundly sweating inside and I carried more water up the hills in my jacket than I do normally in my water bottle.

A longer lunch break at a non-traditional restaurant was followed by a trip along Okutama lake where we passed by the david J memorial traffic light and continued to the village of Kosuge, the startpoint to four famous passes: Matsuhime, Tsuru, Imagawa and Daibosatsu Pass [大菩薩峠]. Has somebody been up there? We asked a guy at the local grocery store if it is possible to ride up there, but he said „No way!“[道がありません] which of course doesn’t mean anything to us. Something for a MTB?

TOM’s comment: Congratulations Michael & Ludwig…that is a long ride for the mid-winter season! As to Daibosatsutoge, I attempted this one last Summer and confirm you cannot cycle up there which is a pity as it would be a nice alternative to the sometimes boring Yanagisawa. As you can read in my blog, I did the South-side approach where you can go all the way up and cross a ridge called Kamihikawa-toge　上日川峠 and then descend down to Yamato/Sasago. Excellent little road! As you go up, you can see on your righthand side those viaduct bridges leading to Enzan.

Actually I pondered the idea of buying a MTB after the excursion to route 76. After thinking for a while it became more than clear to me that in fact I do own a MTB, my Cannondale Bad Boy and I just need to buy a new set of MTB wheels, as I have now small 23C road wheels mounted. So I can get a MTB for about 40 – 50k JPY and start to explore the trails of Okutama – great. A new set of wheels will also not raise any suspicions at home of overspending as a new bike will most certainly will.

We started the climb up from Kosuge and for a moment we were thinking of riding out to Matsuhime, but the thought of riding back from Otsuki on route 20 let me state a definite „No“. After we have reached already elevation 800, we lost about 100 meters and then the rather steep climb to Tsuru started. I have never gone up that way before, the road is partly like an Autobahn and partly very steep. The whole route is in a valley and it looks somehow desolate and dark with only scare vegetation.

It reminded me of a place in South Tyrol where I went skiing with my parents when I was a kid. We were mostly skiing in a village called Taisten [or Tesido in Italian], which was on the top of a hill and fairly sunny, but sometime we went to a village in a nearby valley called Santa Magdalena which was in the shadow of the nearby mountains, always freezing cold and people used to be poor and grumpy. I always thought: Why are these guys there not moving to the next valley, Spain or California when life is so miserable there that one has to revert to and name places after catholic saints, perhaps to find some consolidation after death. Well, I guess it is the same reluctance that prevents us from marrying at the age of 20, buying a compact crank at 45 or shopping for adult pampers at 75.

We made it to the top and the following ascent on Tawa is much shorter than I had in mind. Then we followed the road to Uenohara and continued on road 20 to Otarumi where Ludwig made his attack and left me far behind. However, at Takaoguchi around 4 PM, Ludwig took the train home while I continued my punishment, partly through the dark.

Below you can see the MapMyRide Map, resulting from Ludwigs Hollux GPS recordings, and below that you see my CICLO data. Clearly one can see the Otraumi peak to the very right of Ludwigs MapMyRide, whereas I continued after the said peak (at less than 3/4 of the distance) and added another 55 km to this ride. I reached the Tamagawa in the sunset and the starting point of Tamagawahara bridge in complete darkness. Finally, after another 20 km through urban Yokohama I was home after an eleven hour trip of 195 km distance. I have not done many longer trips, except for Itoigawa and Shimoda in the summer and for sure I have never done a ride of similar distance during the off-season (November to February). But somehow it was a good training for the upcoming race on Saturday.

In the evening I had fever, agne and was basically I complete useless human being which could not provide any service whatsoever for my family. But I guess that is OK if it is for the sake of a higher purpose. Whatever that may be. Perhaps waking up in the morning in Teneriffe and joining the Astana team for a 3.000 meter ride?

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von | 6. Januar 2009 · 08:50

The Lost Valley

I was longing for some excitement last Sunday and wanted to explore something new. Of course the idea of doing route 76 popped up, but mob wanted me to wait until spring and do it together. I also realized that it is almost exactly eight kilometers from one gate to the other, and another five through the tunnel down to where the proper road starts, so potentially up to 13 kilometers of unpaved road, and thus up to 2.5 hours of walking, which I’d rather not do in solitude. Though solitude I got on the ride I chose instead, but at least on a very pleasant climb on the sunny side of a mountain. 
I left home at the usual time of 8am and enjoyed a particularly crisp and clear sky on the Tamagawa.
Much to my dismay, I found that the Tamagawa cycling path was being peppered with ever more obstacles:
This is just one example – there were at least half a dozen of them on the way. And this is not counting the increase in the number of green speed breakers. I’m all for safety on the cycling path, but how about warning pedestrians to be more careful instead of making life more dangerous for cyclists, especially when the dark breaks?
Having navigated successfully through all the new obstacles, I entered the road to Itsukaichi where only red lights become obstacles in their own right. Overtook a bunch of club riders. Earlier on Tamagawa, I had overtaken at least three riders on a Pinarello, a Colnago and a Campagnolo. It always makes me feel great seeing that expensive brand bikes don’t make riders faster, and that my Canyon provides much better value for money, even if it doesn’t look quite as flashy as the Italian makes.
After a pit stop at a conbini in the town, I followed the Akigawa upstream, on the usual road leading towards Kazahari Toge. The air was very fresh whenever I passed through stretches that the sun had not reached yet, and there were some signs of frost, but no ice on the road.
Some ten kilometers upstream from Itsukaichi, the river splits into Kita-Akigawa and Minami-Akigawa. Route 33 to Kazahari Toge follows the south river, but I turned right into route 201 following the north river. On every single map that I can get hold of, this looks like a long valley without an exit – but maybe the Ministry of Construction has in fact provided for an escape? I wanted to explore. In the worst case I could always return and go up Kazahari Toge the normal road or pass over to Sagamiko.

I certainly had no reason to regret entering such a picturesque valley. Nice farms here and there, the road winding along the river mostly on the north side and thus in warm sunlight which contrasted with the ice that had formed here and there in the river. Almost no traffic as soon as I had passed the first small hamlet, and still a road as broad and nicely paved as a German autobahn.

But eventually everything has to come to an end. And so did the autobahn.
A rather detailed map alerted me to the existence of a waterfall just one hundred (altitude) meters up, so I went to see it. 

Getting to it involved a three-minute hike without bike through a nice forest.
Returning back to the end of the autobahn, I continued straight along Kita-Akigawa until turning right onto a paved road leading up to the hamlet of Kurakake. From this point on the road became really steep, and my compact crank and 12-27 cassette served me well even when going out of the saddle.









Almost continuously in warm sunshine and with increasingly good views of the lost valley below with solitary farms here and there, and a view eventually expanding all the way from the Kazahari mountains to the skyscrapers of downtown Tokyo, I reached Kakekuro, famous for its mushrooms (or so they think). It even boasts a helipad.

This is where the public road really ends, and the world of forest roads starts.
But what a nice forest road – despite all the warnings, it was nicely paved and nice to ride – just a little steep at an average of 14 percent.

Eventually I reached the top of a long long climb, just at Kazahari Toge, where the forest road meets route 206.
From there, the view of the valley and downtown Tokyo 60 kilometers afar (or so my GPS told me) were simply magnificent.

As I was getting ready to descend, noisy Sunday drivers in their sports cars drove by. Shortly after I heard a police siren and was pleased in my schadenfreude.
However, having gone down to Tominnomori for a lunch stop, I couldn’t help noticing a large assembly of police cars, ambulances and fire brigade trucks – at least two each, but probably more (I did not count). Too bad they had not caught a noisy speeding car…
In inquired at the shop where I bought two warm mochi for lunch to learn that someone had collapsed. But why then so much presence? Well, they always go out together. 
There could be an oilspill or something here in the mountains, so one would need more than just an ambulance, was the answer I got.

 Hmm – and then they want to make us believe there aren’t enough policemen and paramedics in Japan? Now I know where to get them from!
On I went all the way down from Kazahari Toge, meeting a number of riders fighting their way up. At the junction with route 33, I turned right and went for another, albeit much shorter, climb to Kobu Tunnel, beyond which I got a very nice view of the Tanzawa mountains and Fuji-san.
Despite my compact crank, I had no difficulty racing down behind a motor bike to the village of Tsubaki. From there, I decided to try and work my way around the awful Uenohara, which involved several more short climbs. I was rewarded by a nice view of Mito-san, the peak towering above Kazahari Toge, but invisible from the road around the pass.
Missing the last turn towards Wada which would have kept me straight on route 522 to Fujino, I ended up on route 521 and found myself at the outskirts of… well, Uenohara. So on I went on route 20 towards Sagamiko, and tired of a long day of cycling, I took Otarumi Toge with the speed necessary to get things over quickly (judging from my GPS marks, it must have been just 20 minutes – not a Bakatoge record, but not bad for the end of a cycling day).
After 140 kilometers of cycling and 2,100 meters of climbing, I got onto a train home from Takaosanguchi. It had been a very nice tour: beautiful landscape and views, basically no traffic in a long valley and on a long climb, in nice warm sunshine (which makes going up Kita-Akigawa to Kazuhari and down route 206 a nice winter climb). Only to be recommended, even if (or because?) maps are useless.


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von | 2. Januar 2009 · 14:41

First 2009 Positivo Espresso Team Training Draws Huge Crowd


Tokyo/Japan [Jan 2nd, 2009]
from our Japan correspondent David Graham [who rarely writes]

Approximately 127.77 million spectators, equal to the total population of Japan minus four wives of attending Positivo Espresso team members, lined the streets today between the Tamagawa and Moto-Hakone to watch the first team training of the Positivo Espresso Team in 2009. Although time and route of the first training has been a well kept secret, after rumours have spread on the news, police and volunteers struggled to keep the masses under control.

The crowds virtually went crazy. Some adults in cars tried to break through the corridor of policemen so that they could be close to their idols.

A bunch of twenty something students in short trousers with strange sashes kept running all the way from Kawasaki to Moto Hakone behind the team. A guy from Toyo Ｕniversity came closest, but missed the team by 8 minutes on the top.


In order to avoid to be recognized by the crowds, the team members took precautions and did not wear today the new

cycling jerseys, sponsored by Mars Petcare, HABA Toys and Wegmans Baggels.

The training was under direction of the new team coach Car Chrismichael, brother-in-law of Chris Carmichael who was contracted on January 1st to coach the four elite riders who attended the training today and all other 128.76 million members who are supposed to join the team in 2009.

„Lance Armstrong might climb up the mountain above Kaloko, wherever that is, in the rain and post photos on twitter …. but who can confirm that he really rode up there? We want to make sure to be seen by a huge crowd of people.„, Chrismichael stated at the start of the day.

Today’s ride included an 80 km more or less flat stretch between Kawasaki and Odawara.


„I want to teach these guys some new skills, such as stopping at red lights. OK, this is a situation rarely encountered at races, but one needs to get a feeling for seeing a red light, processing this information and pulling the brake lever against all logic.“

Because of this new approach, the previous record [set by David Jacob in Okutama July 2008] of 28 policemen and volunteers watching in awe while he blissfully rode through the only red traffic light ever installed in Okutama, was never in danger. David managed a poor „2“ on the open ignored policemen magnitude scale and Ludwig was at least almost hit by a flag wearing volunteer.

The training also focused on „riding together as a team„, however the approach failed after 40 km, when each team member choose the road it would like to go best.


Despite the ethusiastics crowds, there were also some critical voices heard on the sidelines: „These guys should really make more training rides,“ Iijima Koi (36, housewife from Shibuya) said, „I don’t want to ride in crowded trains and stand in line for hours just to see these guys for four seconds.“ And Kudo Ryosuke (98, unemployed) added: „With all Pachinko Parlours closed and only stupid quiz programs on TV, to come here is the only thing one can do on January 2nd anyway.„

The second part of the training consisted of a 14 km long 745m elevation meter climb from Hakone to Moto Hakone. As everybody stared at the team members, it was hard for them to give up or take a break and they were forced to climb up in one go. This resulted in a new Hakone Toge Baka record. Also it showed that guys in their forties are impossible to be outsprinted up a hill by guys in their twenties [provided that the former are on 500.000 JPY plus bikes and the later run].

A police motorcycle escorted the leading rider through the goal area to ensure his safety at the last kilometer. Nevertheless he missed the goal at a left turn and continued straight as he had much power left and didn’t wanted to stop. All riders made it to the top where they attended a soba banquet conducted in their honor at Hakone pass.

When the banquet reached its high point, they sneaked out of the door and continued their training on route 20, nominated not only as „Most beautiful cycling road in Japan“ but recently the decision to ride on route 20 was voted as „The mother of all best decisions“ by an independent panel of decision makers.


They were shadowed until the town of Atami where it seems that they a) bought beer and b) hopped on a bullet train in direction Tokyo where c) later four empty beer cans where found in the garbage container at the rear of car #5.



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Eingeordnet unter 2009, David, James, Mob

von | 1. Januar 2009 · 13:25

Racing Schedule 2009

I am still not finished with writing my New Year Resolution; I got distracted when I opened the JCRC website and noted that the race schedule for 2009 is already decided. Which races to do in 2009? Here are some information and ideas

Example

MAR 15 JCRC TDJ Kawagoe R [type: R/road, HC/hill climb, E/endurance, T/track] 15 km [distance or time/hrs], I [I/individual, T/team], B [Priority,M/must, A/highest, C/lowest] Comment

APR 26 Mitsumine Hill Climb HC ?km I B new race, first time hold

APR Kusatsu HC ?km I C

MAY Itoigawa Fast Run R 294km T M

MAY 24 TOJ Tokyo Stage R 21km I A

JUN Fuji Hill Climb HC 23km I A

JUN 28 JCRC TDJ Hitachi Naka R 21km I A

JUL Tsukuba Enduro E 8hrs T A

OCT Yokohama Stadium Enduro E 5hrs I/T B

OCT Motegi Enduro E 7hrs T B

OCT 04 JCRC Shiobara HC TT:7km/HC:19km I M The official team race of 2009

NOV 08 JCRC TDJ Saiko R 20km I/T A

NOV SEO Festival R ?km I C

DEC Tokyo Enduro E 4hrs T C

If I have the chance and can do some more training with Hiroshi, I would like to do a track race also this year. If there are more proposals, please let me know. Let’s try to get the complete team to the Itoigawa and Shiobara races.

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Eingeordnet unter 2009

von | 27. Dezember 2008 · 08:29

Ekiden Ride

UPDATE 28. December 2008

So far, David, James, Ludwig and me will attend the Ekiden ride on January 2nd. The meeting point is close to the Tamagawa at the Family Mart at the cossing road 15 and road 409 in Kawasaki [see Google map below] at 8.30 AM.

If there is interest, we can do the Hakone climb and then the best downhill in Japan from Hakone Pass to Atami pass on route 20:

Moto Hakone to Atami Route 1 / 20 Ride
Find more Bike Rides in Hakone, Japan

David suggested to do the first ride of the new year on January 2nd from Tokyo to Hakone. As the Ekiden is hold on this day, the roads are sealed off and one can go on the bike in front of the field almost without traffic from Tokyo to Hakone – a once a year opportunity. I could convince my family to go to an onsen in Hakone the same day already, so I would be very much interested to do this ride, but the details, where to start, how to go etc. should be clarified with David. It would be nice to have a larger group of Positivo Espresso Riders together for this trip. Please let me know if you would be available.

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Eingeordnet unter 2009, David

von | 23. November 2008 · 15:06

311

Finally after some wait, JCRC has sent me a confirmation about the registration of the POSITIVO ESPRESSO club in their membership rooster. This year I was officially racing for NFCC Peugeot Calyon, but as I have resigned with the team recently, next year I would like to start for the Positivo Espresso team, thus registration became necessary. In case you would like to attend a JCRC race next year as a member of Positivo Espresso, please write CID (Club Identification Number) 311 on the application form. (There is no advantage whatsoever).

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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 | 31. Oktober 2008 · 16:15

Mama Charinko Race

Just signed up for the Mama Charinko endurance race at Fuji Speedway next January. Will be in a team of about 15 riders, mainly fathers from the figure skating class of our daughter Karen.
A new world.

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Eingeordnet unter 2009, Mob