there is no "I" in cyclyng

Sunday morning was an early start for everyone as we wanted to get to Kawagoe early to ride the course and check for potential danger zones, places to attack and see if my wheel selection was going to work in the extremely strong and gusting wind.

We left the house at 5am and took the express way all the way rather than run the risk of getting caught in traffic along Route 16. Kaori as usual was driving and told me that it would be ok for me to sleep and conserve energy for the race. With an elevated heart rate, adrenalin as thick as custard coursing through my veins and the serious lack of leg space for my 188cm frame made it impossible.

We arrived with good time to spare and I was able to ride 4 laps of the course before they closed it down for the race preparations. I’m seriously glad I did as Ludwig who raced here last year warned me about the white bands going across the road, I’m not sure what they were covering but they were slightly elevated and when I hit one on the straight at 45kph I got air off it and almost lost control as it took me by surprise. The practice laps also showed me where the race would be won which was obviously the long straight that finished in a tight, narrow turn with a 200-300 meter straight to the finish.

The plan therefore was to position myself just before the second to last corner so that I would be in the 1st, 10 riders of the Peloton giving me the advantage of being slipped streamed by the front riders and seeing where the attack on the final corner would come from and thus launch my own attack.

With all this new found knowledge floating around in my head I went to work as a domestique for Kaori and Tsukino who were also racing today.

Kaori knowing what would happen if lapped put in a valiant effort and managed to keep them at bay till the final corner where they swallowed her and 3 other riders whom for all their efforts received what many felt an unfair a DNF result, but hey rules are rules!

Tsukino was next up in her 3km race for Primary School 1st – 3rd Grade category and was chomping at the bit to get going. This was the biggest group she has ridden in with 21 riders and the fact that she has recently taken the plunge to SPD pedals and shoes made her a little cautious and nervous.

We had to wait in bated breath for her to complete the first lap an come out of the final straight before we knew if she had made any ground. We counted the riders as they came through and started to worry after rider 12 had gone through. Then head down teeth gritted Tsukino shot out of the final corner bearing down on the next rider, with a bellow from me to change gear (Some thought Mt. Fuji had erupted and proceeded to the local emergency relocation zone) she shot out of view and we had to wait for her to complete the final lap before we knew where she was.

The older boys impressively flew down the finishing straight and we counted them in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th in quick succession, 6th, 7th the first girl, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Where was she?

As soon as 11th had fully cleared the corner Tsukino came gunning though head down again chasing hard, she quickly caught 11th and 10th drawing on her last reserves caught 9th place and taking a top 10 position overall and 2nd in the girls.

Amazing effort by her and we were all very proud of her performance!

Next up was our latest recruit Yair Bauer, whom only started riding last year. Again Yair had to battle against a very strong headwind and managed to find his groove with 3 other riders who grouped together taking pulls at the front to keep the peloton from gaining any ground on them. Having watched Yair race last year at Saiko, I must say I’m very impressed with how far he has come in such a short time and the winter rides seem to have paid off.

The sprint finish was pretty exciting with Yair pulling out wide to prevent anyone from drafting his wheel and was just piped to the post by another rider coming in a very respectable 27th.

Next up was Idan, Yair’s son who was racing in the Milky race… the pace was pretty impressive by these young riders and if they stick with it they’ll go on to be serious contenders on the Pro Circuit!

The young lad raced his heart out sporting a shark helmet and placed 4th overall!
With my official domestique and cameraman duties officially over it was time to get myself prepared for the race at 12:30pm, although the time had been pushed back 15-20 minutes due to some very serious accidents. This was highlighted by the fact that the race officials asked us not to remove our hands from the bars upon finishing the race and doing so would result in disqualification. The reason why is because earlier in the day a rider who had finished and saluted his victory was hit by a side wind and created a rather nasty pileup on the finishing line.

At last year’s Saiko Stage in Yamanashi MOB and myself got a very good warm up ride by doing the 10km Time Trial. This really warmed up the muscles and helped me when actually racing so one of the strategies this year is to take my parabolic rollers with me to every event to get a good warm up ride before each race. Using the 2hours spare before my start time I had a light lunch and also did a 40km warm up ride just spinning a long with a few sprints to see how my legs were.

At 12:15 I headed to the assembly point to make sure I was able to get a good position at the front of the peloton, as the further back you go the more inexperienced the rider. The warm up lap was very good natured with the riders complaining about the cold and the blustery winds.Positioned at the start line the officials went over the rules again, reinforcing that they would disqualify any riders taking their hands off the bars to call home, shot cameramen, point to god or pretend to be an American Indian shooting arrows. They also explained the sprint point system and what laps would be for points… I couldn’t work out if it was when the buzzer sounded or if it didn’t so I decided to attack every lap just to be safe!

The first sprint lap arrived and the pace quickened and I entered the final curve at 50kph and taking 2nd in the first sprint followed by 3rd, 1st, 4th and the win on the final lap placing me at 37 points for the race with the closest rival taking 25 points.

All in all it was a great day for everyone who attended from Positivo Espresso and I’m excited to see how everyone does at Shuzenji this weekend, especially Tsukino.]

Also a BIG thank you to Hiroshi-san for shouting encouragement and advice to me throughout the race and for taking some excellent photos!

I will add more photos later

Got up at 5:40am and was accompanied by Humphrey, my biggest supporter who thinks I must be the best rider on the planet as he knows no others, (see photo) to do my usual weather check while he conducted his morning business. Unseasonably warm so no need for warm clothing. When I met Jerome at the Komazawa-dori-Kanpachi junction just before 7am I assumed he had reached the same conclusion as he was dressed in full PE kit (shorts, short-sleeved jersey and matching team gloves). In hindsight it could have been sub-zero and he would not have felt anything thanks to a vast imbalance in his alcohol-sleep ratio. James joined us a few minutes later and off we went. Note that in the interests of saving 10 minutes on a 6 hour ride James now prefers not to come to the traditional Ebisu meeting point but rather go direct to David L’s house.

We set off to the Kawasaki side of Tamagawaharabashi to meet Herr Professor MOB, Ludwig and Fumiki-san who was making excuses about being hungover, but on any ride it is expected that at least some members will be/should be hungover. Very little sympathy for the following reasons: 1. he is very fit, 2. he is only 26 yrs old and 3. he is basically a lung on a stick and loves mountains. This impressive train which included 2 JCRC champions set off along the Onekan. As this was the first decent weekend in a while lots of cyclists were out and as we know from experience, members of Japanese teams decked out in full matching kit have a problem being overtaken by gaijin so felt they had restore some pride and blast past many of us. Some dude in shorts but pretty red booties (why on a day like this?) flashed past me and probably felt better about his masculinity as a result.

From Onekan to Tank Road to Lake Tsukui, past the drug baron’s villa with the cool Land-Rover outside and the obligatory pointless detour (trademarked by MOB) which in this case was to the Tsukui road northern extension which requires climbing equipment or a small bulldozer to clear debris from landslides). Eventually the group split at the turning off to Miyagase. The Professor of International Cyclology, Ludwig and Fumiki-san (lung-on-a-stick who climbed Fuji in 75mins last year) kept going towards Yamanaka and then on to Kofu. It is assumed they got there but nothing has been heard of them since we took a group photo and parted at 9:30am on that beautiful Saturday morning. As tradition has it and PE rules stipulate (need to refer to rule book to confirm), riders must stop at Miyagase-ko to refuel before the assault on Yabitsu Toge. Future riders of this route should be aware however, that leaving central Tokyo (Ebisu) at 6:30am gets you there too early for the steak on a stick or noodles. Power bars and, in Jerome’s case, hard-boiled eggs are no comparison to the steak on a stick. We waited and it was worth it.

Just before turning on to the Yabitsu road, emboldened by steak on a stick and eggs, Jerome announced he was going to ‚have a go‘ up Yabitsu. Perhaps hearing that recently Ludwig had become the first PE member to break 50 minutes spurred him on. When we turned the corner to be greeted by a very strong headwind our Gallic hero may have reconsidered the challenge, but any doubts he had were kept to himself and off he went. Things got worse when the wind was funneled through the tunnel and almost brought mere mortals to a standstill. Before arriving there had been some concern that there could still be ice at the top. Although the weather on Yabitsu deteriorated, it was still warm enough to melt the ice and snow, causing torrents of water to flow down the road. Added to this were the roadworks (residents of Japan know only too well that in March there is a rush to spend the public works budget before the end of the fiscal year) which turned parts of the road into mud creating a scene similar to the old photos of the Tour de France when men were men and rode single gears and roads were unpaved. After dodging old men directing non-existent traffic at work sites and mud and snow, our Gallic hero in his fetching string vest reached the top in 58 minutes achieving his first Togebaka listing – similar to being mentioned in dispatches. His support team swerved to avoid a large frog and were 4 minutes behind.

Terrifying descent in windy conditions as I couldn’t stop thinking about Gert Steegmans who was lifted off the ground by a whirlwind while descending at 75kmh in the recent Paris-Nice Prologue. He’ll be out for a while….. At the bottom of the descent our Gallic hero’s fine senses picked up the smell of fresh donuts and screeched to a halt. When getting cold on a descent one thinks of things like hot baths, beer and donuts. Piping hot and delicious. Had we had a supply of PE stickers we would have used several on the donut shed. All riders to Yabitsu are recommended (required?) to buy donuts at the bottom. Emboldened by 2 donuts, our Gallic hero uttered the fateful phrase: „Let me show you the back roads to Odawara“. We turned right at the conbini and were already thinking of the first beer on a 1:30 or 2pm train. That beer was to come rather later. Have you ever been to Shibusawa High School? Nor had we until then. And then the pretty road through the orchards that was reminiscent of something from the Spring Classics in Flanders. Since the Tomei Expressway has a junction at Odawara and the Tomei was right in front of us, all we had to do basically follow it. We went over it and then under it along a road that turned into a single track and ended under the girders of the Tomei itself. Our Gallic hero’s suggestion of „just climbing down to the road below“ were declined. I would not go down a 100m 60 degree concrete and mud slope with hiking boots on yet alone with bike cleats and a bike on my shoulder. After retracing our path and riding up a short 21 degree slope we found our way down to the village below and on to a road that eventually took us the long way to Odawara, but not before stopping an effete man with a strange hairclip to ask directions. Rather stunned that he had just been approached and conversed with 3 velo-gaijin he immediately whipped out his phone, presumably to share this, the highlight of his day, with his friend or mother. Raided the bakery, hopped on the Shinkansen and opened the beer.

Post script: rather than carry the bikes through Shinagawa station James and I reassembled them on the platform with a view to pushing them through the station. Schoolboy error? A uniformed man with a baton came running over to say we cannot do that. Sensible James walked off doing the gaijin thing but your author decided to ask why it was not allowed. Despite admitting I understood why a bike needs to be in a bag on the train (narrow space etc) I challenged the man several times to explain why I could not push the bike through the station and was told each time: „it is not allowed in the station!“. I suppose that’s all the manual said and it was not for him to ask why way back when he was in Japan Railways School.

No time for a long post, but wanted to offer a brief report of yesterday’s Utsunomiya Audax group’s 200 km Brevet (actually, 210+ km).  A few notes:

1.  The start/finish at Utsunomiya Forest Park (rinshinkouen) is where the Japan Cup pro race  is held each autumn — the only time „known“ European pros from Pro Tour/Continental teams race in Japan each year.  Looks like a nice place for a criterium-style race.  Plenty of up and down!

2.   Utsunomiya is a long way away from Tokyo — I somehow think of it as a suburb like Saitama, but it is further than Saiko on empty roads at 4-6AM.  And yes, they have traffic jams getting back to Tokyo on the Tohoku Expressway on Sunday night, with all the skiers.

3.   For some reason, the trucks stay on the roads even on Sunday in Tochigi/Ibaraki.  The Brevet’s route was typical Japanese countryside, with mixed dry fields, forests, hills, long flat stretches with rice or vegetable plots, lots and lots of scattered houses and little factories, and some (but not much) pachinko/car dealer sprawl.  Traffic was heavier than I would have liked, especially in the afternoon coming back from Tsukuba area on the flat.  If not for this event, I would not recommend the „return“ part of this course, though the Northern „outbound“ part and the many rollers of the „Beef Line“ heading South through some hills, had some nicer sections.

4.    I went out (too) fast all the way to the first checkpoint at 70 km. Then I flatted (and struggled with my tubeless tire for a 15 minute repair, giving up on the „self sealing“ goo I had inside the tire that I hoped would plug the leak, and inserting a tube instead).  Then I close-to-bonked on a hill a few kilometers after that, and the rest of the ride was one long hard slog.

5.    There were several „mountains“, which involved starting a climb at 50 meters above sea level, going up at an average 8-10% grade to 300 or 350 meters elevation, then right back down.  These and the many steeper „rollers“ were extremely painful for me, at 8 kgs over my „fighting weight“ from last year and not having done any serious riding since November.

6.  The Utsunomiya Audax group is incredibly organized.  They had multiple types of queue sheets, maps, GPS data sets, a thick downloadable rule book.  They prepared an updated report on every pothole.  I managed to download their GPS history of each of the 4 legs of the ride, and used this during the event — it took me from start to finish without any need to pull out map or cue sheet.

 David T. from TCC (who was on the Boso ride with Michael K. last month) joined, as did another foreigner (Simon P.) who lives in Hitachi.