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von bikesnob28hb | 2. Juni 2010 · 02:46

MOB Tweed Heaven

It is well know within Positivo circles that Mob is a secret admirer of the Rapha tweed 3-piece cycling suit (pictured below):

Now he is officially Herr Professor Mob no doubt his wardrobe has changed enabling him to look the part. The author is wondering whether he travelled to London for the latest Tweed Run 2010. If not I offer this video clip for some professorial fashion tips (moustache optional).

No, this is not a scene out of a Monty Python movie. There are some beautiful bikes.

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von bikesnob28hb | 30. Mai 2010 · 13:59

The Famous Five… (and then there were Three Daves)

With apologies to Enid Byton who wrote the series of Famous Five books about 4 adventurous youngsters and their large mongrel, Timmy (not Dave) – although some might argue that we count as mongrels. Apologies also to any Brit between the ages of 9 and 70 who were made to read these books. My 9 year old daughter has just been given one to read by her teacher.

Originally we were to be the Five Daves (one of who really is called David) but the ride started with just three. He who is really David did not show at 6:30am at Ebisu station while Geoff cried off at 5:56am. Despite his wife arriving from Sydney the previous day he thought (until the last minute obviously) that it would be OK to abandon his wife in Tokyo for over half a day while he went riding. We are impressed with how high riding comes on his list of priorities. Also impressive was a mail from him this evening to say that he did after all get out to do a Starbucks loop (rte 20 & Onekan) this afternoon. Chapeau. Mrs Geoff has not yet been reached for comment……

As a tip of the hat to MOB, our spiritual leader and fan of mid 70s & 80s punk and new wave music I would like to point out there was a Finnish punk band by the name of The Widows which did cover versions of the theme tune to the TV series of The Famous Five. No idea why. Digression over.

It was surprisingly cold and damp when we started out and it never warmed up. We agreed it was like a morning in England. Dave Knott, a.k.a. James, was riding his brand new BMC SLX01.

We passed the usual collection of youngsters having had a hard night and several pretty young things on their cellphones. Who are they speaking to at 6:30am??? Dave K has a theory but it is not appropriate to repeat here a de-base this fine and upstanding blog-site. Apart from a training ride before next weekend’s Fuji Hill Climb we used the ride as an opportunity to get a group photo of our new Gazetta della Bicci jerseys to send back to the blogger in London who created this fine website. For most of ride the jerseys were covered by wind-breakers. Along the river, up route 20 and eventually a turn off towards Magino which took us along a beautiful rode with a couple of climbs, one particularly nasty at 12-14% but thankfully not very long. This road brought us out close to the turn-off to Miyagase where we stopped for the usual steak-on-a-stick. I ended up going for noodles to try to warm up.

Pro-Dave Machin went off up Yabitsu like the proverbial cheetah with a fire lit under its

backside while Dave K and I rode tempo and chatted. I just didn’t feel my legs were working today, but rather like lat weekend in the Tokyo-Itoigawa ride things started working after about 85-90km of riding. Could I be Jerome v3.0??!! The climb up Yabitsu was just about the only time we rode without wind-breakers. Riders coming the other way no doubt admired our fine black jerseys and thought…..“hmmm, I saw one of those about 10 minutes ago worn by a foreigner in a hurry“. And in a hurry he was. Pro-Dave set a new record up Yabitsu at 45min, breaking the previous best by 4 mins. Behind we also achieved personal bests of 57mins (7 min improvement). At the top was the only time I was warm on the ride but was soon freezing again on the descent, but no matter, as I knew donuts were waiting. 2 each and off to Hadano station for the 1 hr ride back to Shinjuku with a hot chocolate.

So, you think the write-up is over and there has been no mention of Rapha. Once in Shinjuku I took Dave K on a detour to Psy’z (pronounced ’size‘ of course) to pick up a pair of gloves like mine. Psy’z (motto: „Throw Peace to Someone“) is also one of the very few Rapha stockists in Japan. The lady immediately recognised our Rapha bib-shorts so I thought I play my trump card and show her the limited edition Fi’zi:k Rapha Condor Sharp team saddle on my bike. She said she liked it and had 4 of them already.

Psy’z seems to be affiliated with a group of bike shops specialising in high end bikes (Zuki, Psycrithm and Bik!t). This group’s motto qualifies for listing on the site http://www.engrish.com: „Finest your life with Honey & Bicycle“. Of course.

116km, 1500m climbing, new personal best on Yabitsu, 2 donuts, one hot chocolate, 2 beers at home and wonderful company. Thanks guys.

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von bikesnob28hb | 30. Mai 2010 · 07:10

Human Powered Vehicle Challenge – Portland, Oregon this weekend

Just could not pass up this one … from the city that brings the world MCSpandx, this wanna be racer /cycle commuting surgeon, the Providence Bridge Pedal with its tens of thousands of participants …

… the city that is home to many, many bicycle craftspeople and hosted the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in 2008, The ‚Worst Day of the Year Ride‘ each February, the annual, weeklong Cycle Oregon, the 527-mile Race Across Oregon, and currently ranked by Bicycling Magazine as the second most bicycle friendly city in the U.S.A. (slipping a bit recently), my home town, Portland, Oregon.

This weekend, the Portland International Raceway is hosting the annual Oregon Human Power Challenge, which includes not only the usual fully faired streamliner recumbents, but also the Left Coast Velomobile gathering as well this year, and an e-power assist category (36 volt limit and various wattage and other sub-categories). Lots of 2009 photos here.

When will we see something like this in Tokyo?

Which will happen first:
(A) BP stops the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, or
(B) these curious vehicles take over the streets of the cities across the U.S.A.?

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von bikesnob28hb | 28. Mai 2010 · 10:09

Positivo UK (retro) chapter have been out and about scouting for challenging routes to ride with Positivistas‘ spiritual leader, Radfuehrer MOB. Press reports indicate that MOB has plans to visit the UK chapter in June.

With transalp 2011 just around the corner there are talks about thinking about starting to commit to training…. 2 pints please… cheers.

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von bikesnob28hb | 27. Mai 2010 · 10:52

Road to Recovery

WARNING — This post includes an x-ray of some new hardware that some may find disturbing.
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Just a quick note that I had surgery on my elbow on Tuesday as planned — two TI pins plus some extra wire so the bone will heal properly. Back home yesterday, in time to watch #1 son’s high school graduation and make a short visit back to work today, to be followed with a longer day tomorrow.

The arm is in a half cast for the time being, but in a week I should be able to start to move it and do some rehab exercises. The ribs also feel as if they are healing, but I probably won’t be on a bicycle again until after a trip that is scheduled in late June, and I am still scratching my head about what I can do to reduce the risk of another injury, since I don’t enjoy the whole hospital experience. I will need another visit anyway in 6-12 months to have the hardware removed.

The best I have come up with so far is (1) avoid back streets, sidewalks, pedestrian paths (including the Tama-sai except when it is empty) and all forms of non-automotive congestion, and (2) lose enough weight so that my bones don’t break when I fall, and so that maybe I can brake/react/evade a bit more quickly. Other suggestions are welcome.

… I should add, thanks to all for the many well wishes, and to those who forwarded this article about Jens Voigt’s recovery last year after crashing out of the Tour — prominent on the front of the NY Times Online just a day or two after my injury.

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von bikesnob28hb | 27. Mai 2010 · 05:51

Baiku tsu Waku

‚on yer bikes..

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von bikesnob28hb | 27. Mai 2010 · 05:20

2010 Fuji Entries

entry postcards have arrived.. 28 in all.. details/itinerary to follow next week..

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von bikesnob28hb | 27. Mai 2010 · 04:17

My bike for Fuji Hill Climb – who needs fancy colours??

96 teeth up front. My biggest worry is the descent.

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von bikesnob28hb | 26. Mai 2010 · 14:04

Tom’s next bike?

www.ritteracing.com/

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von bikesnob28hb | 23. Mai 2010 · 14:29

Tokyo-Itoigawa: Been there, done that.

James and I met at Ebisu station at 4pm on Friday and rode to Hachioji ahead of the 300km Tokyo-Itoigawa ride on Saturday. My pre-hydration plans had gone awry during the week as I ended up going out every night. To make matters worse I spent much of Friday at the Komazawa Olympic Stadium for my children’s sports day. 29 degrees and sunny, but much hotter down on the asphalt track. Not a good place to be. Having been so lucky as to travel to many exotic places around the world, exploring central Hachioji wasn’t to be missed. James and I met in the lobby. We were both wearing black Rapha T-shirts, but they were different designs so we did not have to scratch one another’s eyes out and pull hair and vow to never acknowledge one another again. Even if the good people of Hachioji had been aware that the Tour of Japan was going on at the time and the Rapha Condor Sharp team was participating I somehow doubt they would have mistaken us for professional cyclists.

We found an excellent little bar with a big Shane MacGowan poster (below, ex-Pogues lead singer who was thrown out because he was too rowdy and drunk even for an 80s Irish band so formed his own back-up band called The Popes) serving beer from a micro-brewery in Karuizawa.

The first pint of liquid carbs hardly touched the sides but as we are sensible we resisted the siren call of the beer tap and went across the street for some pasta and pizza and a little more liquid carb loading. Here we were well looked after by Eriko and Ernest (not from Hachioji but Ghana). Ernest’s card has him as President Ernest Amoah. Up before my alarm at 2:30 (no morning jogging) I realised I had forgotten my chamois cream – am must for a long ride. James saved my behind with his tube of DZ Nuts. We cruised briskly to the Takaozan start with Kevin and CJ who had arrived at midnight so were short of sleep – but they are lawyers – where we met up with the rest of the team (Jerome, James M, Chris, Yair and Stephen).

You will see from the photo that Kevin has an „interesting“ way of carrying his food for a ride, especially the banana. I was reminded of the scene from the classic movie „This is Spinal Tap“ in which the drummer of the heavy metal band goes through an airport security X-ray machine with a zucchini wrapped in aluminium foil down the front of his spandex trousers.

At this stage I should dwell on the word team for a moment. We gathered at the start but in true PE fashion, that was the only time we were together. As planned James M shot off like a cheetah with his backside in flames. I saw him as he turned out of the car park but then could not distinguish his blinking rear light from all the red lights flashing at the roadworks. He was gone. The rest of the group went off at a fast pace but split into 2 groups. Jerome was ahead over the top and off with the front group. At one stage some of the riders around him remonstrated about his riding style (traffic lights?) and received the true Gallic response of „le bras d’honneur„.

On the way to the first check point just before the entrance to the Sasago tunnel CJ and Kevin were strong and seemed full of beans. However a combination of little sleep and a puncture caused them to fall back and continue at their own pace. James K, Chris, Stephen and me came up behind a group of local riders who were very fast off the traffic lights. We had to accelerate hard to keep up from each red light before settling in behind and enjoying the tow. Assuming they were a group of friends we let them rotate amongst themselves. Included in their number was a petite non-male rider who was every bit as quick as all the others and she took her turn at the front. It was only when chatting at one set of lights that I realised none of them knew each other until about 4:30 that morning so the PE train took over with Stephen taking a strong and long pull. For a man like Stephen this ride seemed like a gentle Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. He had after all cycled from London to Tokyo. However, at this stage we did not know that a dodgy curry had led to a case of Montezuma’s Revenge. This led him to fall behind midway through the ride as he paid one of his twelve visits to the little boys‘ room. To his credit he caught up and we were to ride the final stage together.

The road led us through Matsumoto City’s Strip Mall from Hell. Always on the alert for cars turning left into a store car park without checking mirrors. There were a couple of very close shaves and then a lunatic in a grey Honda Odyssey twice accelerated and swerved aggressively in front of me. Watch out for said madman, license plate Matsumoto 500 45-92.

This was a long ride so food and drink were important. Some may have eaten too much at the outset and suffered. Jerome says he didn’t feel good for the first 100kms even though he went off ahead. When I asked whether he was armed with his trademark eggs he said he had six of them so I felt the diesel would fire up at some stage. I worked to hang on to him and an until-then-miserable Japanese man with an annoying bell hanging under his saddle who kept trying to get away from us but who we would catch at red lights. Once he realised he couldn’t get away he accepted Jerome’s wheel and life became much easier for him and he became friendly.

After about 200km some started to flag and needed food. We found ourselves on what must be one of the few roads in Japan without a convenience store. We were getting desperate so would have settled for a chain other than the PE approved 7-11. We eventually found a 7-11 and refueled and rested. The picture below is of a tired man who had returned from a business trip at 11pm on Friday night, not slept as he had to prepare his bike to spend his Saturday riding 300km (edited: thanks to Pro-Dave for the correction). These Israelis are tough….

Once again the Van Houten Cocoa did wonders for me and from then on I felt great. After we restarted Jerome said he needed time to digest his food so we rode at a ’normal‘ pace. After about 10km he announced it was time to test his legs. He invited me to sit on his wheel and he pounded the pedals of his day-glow yellow 17 year old Peugeot tri-bike. We overtook a rider who had passed us a few minutes earlier and I invited him to get on my wheel. We flew along at 48-50km/h and the man behind me must have thought Christmas had come early as we blasted past several groups including a couple of teams. At the next check point we had a huge smile on his face and thanked us profusely before going on his way. The finish was only about 50km from the last check point so spirits were high again. We left as a group and rode fast together, usually with Jerome on the front. The orange PE train picked up a few thankful riders as it sped towards Itoigawa. The tunnels were no fun at all but otherwise the views were stunning. Jerome had his head down and was pouring on the power. Later I asked him whether he could see much when using the tri-bars as from behind it looked like he had his head down. He told me that he looks up from time to time to see the road ahead! Apparently there were lots of paragliders up in the air but I saw none as I was so focused on Jerome’s back wheel, clinging on for dear life.

Tunnels are never fun but when they are long, have a rough surface and there are short-tempered truck drivers who had already had to negotiate a few hundred cyclists on the road earlier around, they are definitely not fun. In one tunnel there was what sounded like an outburst of machine-gun fire which turned out to be a broken spoke in James‘ back wheel. Such power it must take……… Once we regrouped outside the tunnel and he ‚fixed‘ his bike it felt like we would just cruise to the finish and look for a photo opportunity or two.

In this last leg of the ride we were overtaken at quite high speed by a one-armed cyclist. In the ofuro (hot bath) afterwards a Japanese rider told me that this individual is famous in Japan. He is also a strong climber. Whereas he would be lighter it must be difficult to balance when going up a hill. For those who might be wondering about improving their climbing ability, an arm weighs a little over 3kg (The total arm mass is given as mean 3.216kg with a standard deviation of 0.464kg – from Clauser, „Weigth, volume, and center of mass of segments of the human body“, 1969, p.45).

The end came sooner than we expected and was a bit anti-climactic. We could see the town of Itoigawa a few kms ahead down on the coast but out of nowhere baton-man appeared to guide us into the Hotel Itoigawa grounds and the finish. James M was sitting there, showered, changed with a beer. He was disappointed to have taken more than 9 hours including all stops thanks to a blow out after being hit by a bird. He discovered that the small group he couldn’t keep up with after a while were…….. Japanese Olympic riders. It turns out he placed 26th overall and would have made the top 10 without this mishap. A tremendous performance from James ‚Dave the PRO‘ M. The rest of us ex the sleep deprived lawyers finished in 12 1/2 hours of which 10 hrs were in the saddle. It was not a race but apparently we placed a little better than halfway amongst the 500 entrants.

The finish: Coppi and Gimondi with road-dirt