Tokyo Bay Enduro

Back in September, Sergey created the post on the Tokyo Cycling Club website for the clubs traditional end of year event and bonenkai (party!) and since that date the riders registered, and even the teams registered have changed many times. I was able to take up the place of Yair after his hospitalization in team C along with Travis of sea-to-summit fame and the more than capable Doug, who I met for the first time on the day.

5 of us met at Kisarazu station in Chiba, for a 9:30 roll out to the new Sodegaura race track, just 17km away. Nice warm up, and by the time we had arrived Doug and his family had secured a nice spot in the pits for us and Alan and Naomi were already there having driven over by car.

The circuit is 2.4km long, a short but noticeable rise after the start to a right hand bend, then downhill to a long right hand bend which came back uphill and would prove to be the toughest section of the course for me, as riders accelerated out of the bend and gaps opened in the pack. After that, long flat bends before a long right hand bend and an uphil sprint past the pit lane up to the long finish straight.

We started off 11:30 for the 4 hour enduro, I was the first to go in TCC-C team. The first few laps were mayhem, I saw several crashes, bikes bouncing in the air and yellow flags waving to warn us of the danger ahead. At one point I thought they were wanting to bring the safety car back, as riders were all over the track to the left of the pit entrance.  Another crash caused meant I was on the wrong side of a small gap, but this was easy to sprint across at this early stage. The trouble is this race is open to all levels. With experienced amateur riders (some had radio back to pit crew!) driving the peloton at 50kph+, suddenly there are small children, large men, anime mamacharis in the midst of the chase. It would be a shame to limit the entry, as its a good experience of bike racing, but I would recommend an 18 certificate for this event at least!

At one point someone took a chunk out of my derailleur with their front wheel. On closer inspection after the event the damage was not much more than a scratch, but it could have been so much worse.

So my prerace plan was going well. This was to stay upright and stay with the lead group for the first 50 mins, then put in some extra effort for the next 30 mins to see what was possible. In fact, all that was possible was to move towards the front of the leading pack, and very briefly ride at the very front. It was clear that after an hour there were fresh legs appearing in the pack, several of these were attempting to ride off the front in pursuit style but none were succseful for long.



I could have stuck with the pace a while longer, but certainly couldnt chase down all these attacks so I was happy to give my 3,2,1 lap remaining signals and on my final lap accelarate up the pit lane to pass the timing chip ankle strap on to Doug. Average speed was 40.1kph including the 2 safety laps, which weren't so slow or safe. I was level with the main pack at this stage, but still a few seconds would pass before Doug could start rolling. He did a great job and sprinted down the main pack, making contact within the lap so all was going well.

Somewhere in Dougs turn the peloton really began to split, and so when Travis went out for the final effort it was difficult to see which group was actually in the lead, who was chasing or who had been lapped.  Still, Travis made a great sprint on the final lap, which proved to be very valuable as he grabbed 8th place for our team, a great result to finish in the top 10. The B team of Alan, Sergey, Gunnar finished 5th and the girls got second place, so a respectable day for the TCC.

After the race, Phil took us on a nice quiet as possible route to Chiba and to some well earned beer and food. Thanks for this Phil, and to all who took part in this exciting, great day out in Chiba.