Round and Round, Up and Down (x50)

Some time ago, Jim invited me to a 150km criterium race in his prefecture, Hyogo, quite close to Himeji and now the race was upon us. 50 laps of a 3km circuit, a small climb and close racing initially sounded like a recipe for tumbles and not ideal training for the forthcoming triathlon, but the distance was perfect and for that reason plus the adrenalin rush of crit racing and also a chance to see Jims family I took the shinkansen west to Aioi (with a stopover in Osaka, to see Diegos new setup and climb Osaka skytower)

The temperature was cool, 8-10 degrees but dry. We arrived in time to do a warm up lap, and immediately I realised that the small climb was significant. A steady 7-8% climb finishing with a hairpin bend before the track descended with a sharp chicane, into another climb which started off gentle but became progressively steeper, then a long curving descent back to the start/finish line. No real flat at all, so this course would suit a climber, or at least an attack built on the ascent/descent at some point. A testing circuit, and one I wouldn't go near in the rain.

We lined up at the start of the bunch, which was around 40 riders. On the first 3 laps, I made an effort to stay with one guy who looked like he was trying to win the race from the first lap. In fact, after 3 laps, he pulled aside and let his team mate pick up the baton! Yes, anyone with a number over 100 was in a team, so I my battle to stay with him merely opened up a gap for myself and 2 other riders, #8 and #9.

This mini breakaway worked well for many laps, and I was very happy to be away from the main group, out of danger as I never got the line perfect down the chicane and was always touching the brakes until the last lap. The minibreak would have been better if #8 hadnt kept trying to ride away from us, so after 51km he fell away, as did #9 and I was left on my own, building up a steady lead on the main group. Very soon #9 was lapped, he really blew at this early stage!

Yoshimi, Jims wife, did an amazing job by waiting at the top hairpin of the climb, handing us water bottles and relaying time gaps. At one point I was up to 2mins on the group, and was starting to dream of the podium. Alas, the main group reacted around 100km, and started to knock 15s off the gap each lap until they eventually caught me. I sat up and relaxed for a few laps, but unfortunately for me once the group had finally caught me, the race really warmed up.

After a few laps at increased speed, the decisive break was made at the bottom of the long climb and the pack disintegrated at this point. From here on, I was on my own again to cycle the final 40km, not really slowing down but unable to increase my speed to get near the leaders who had been resting until now. In the end I was lapped by the winner, I remember he was amazed he had caught me up, or else he was amazed that I was still cycling fast after the long breakaway, I couldnt tell which.

In the end, I covered the 150km in 4hr 56, and felt reasonably good after this event. Even better, I finished 5th place, 2 places behind Jim! Jim of course played a much more tactical race than me, sitting quietly in the pack all the way and finishing strong and not far off second place. Later, Jims GPS showed the ascent per lap to be 54-55m, so 50 laps makes a massive 2750m of ascent for the day!

An obligatory trip to an interesting onsen on the way home, perfect after a days exertion on the bike. This onsen had many different baths, from the usual relaxing type to ones to one with a low electric current and another had an outdoor TV screen in one bath, the bath was crowded with folk watching the baseball.
Cant beat a good onsen after a day on the slopes whether its snowboarding or today on the bike, so nice one Jim for finding this interesting (and very popular) onsen.

I'll be back for Chikusa hill climb after Golden week!