6 September 2010

Pro for a day - Kamaishi standard

How many times do you get the chance to enter a sports event for free? Probably either never, or a thousand times once you've won a medal at the olympics for pushing a big stone along the ice or running quickly along a track whilst jumping over obstacles, or jumping a long way into a sandpit. So normally it takes some kind of achievement to be invited to an event, but here in Japan the ability to be foreign still has its advantages and 3 of the Namban Rengo, the Tokyo based international running club, took up an offer too good to be true to compete in the 21st Kamaishi International Triathlon, a long way north in Iwate ken.

A thousand thanks to Kimm, who was the main protagonist in arranging this party, I am sure he would have been on the shinkansen journey to Shinhanamaki without illness, but maybe next year we will send you north to take part as a pro for the day, hope you get well soon.

We were kindly put up at Sun Route Hotel, the largest building in central Kamaishi. The view out the windows here is not so great, smoke rising from the iron ore factory which is the focal point of the place. The city was made by its iron mines but now they're closed down the towns population has shrunk from 100,000 to 30,000.
Its only about now that we realise the triathlon takes place several kilometers from this industrial town, its going to be a logistical task to go to and from the registration and carbo party, then the event the next day. Luckily we get a call from Kobayashi san, the organiser of the tri, to say that he has sent a minibus over to take us from the hotel with bikes to the party. Saves a couple of taxi journeys or cycling through tunnels in the dark, so we jump in. Chris jumps in the boot with the bikes to take extra of the race machines, hes not taking any chances with the local drivers on these country roads. We know Chris is in determined mood, he was wanting Satoko to help him find caffeine tablets at the pharmacy.

tasty sanma
We register, and are rewarded with a very heavy goodie bag containing everything from a t shirt, towel, energy gels, other nutrition samples, water bottles to wakame (type of seaweed).
At the party Phil gets talking to a group of big Aussies, Kiwis and Tongans - they're professional rugby players, playing for the iron works as a commercial team - apparently one of the best in Japan. They're happy to live in this part of the world, and seem to have been rewarded with Russian wives as part of the deal as well. One of the WAGs is singing 80s songs at the carbo party, and not doing a bad job.

We have time to test the sea temp with a good swim before the food is served, so work up an appetite. These tri events all put on a good show, here we had large barbecued scallops and fish and as much noodles as we could eat. There was even enough onigiri, bananas and drinks to take for breakfast as well. After the introduction from various officials, a local dragon dance accompanied by taiko drums took to the stage and the party ended with a small fireworks show. Very impressive, smooth show.

Sunday morning starts with a visit to the convenience store at the corner of the hotel for water, energy gels and we find Chris doing the same before we get on the bus at 6.30am. Although Phil is just yards away in the foyer of the hotel, the clock in the bus says 6:32 and so the bus driver is getting anxious in a very Japanese manner as we will not be on schedule. We do our best to calm him down and Phil boards the bus and we make the short 7-8km journey to the start.

Its a beautiful morning, the sea looks so inviting and the mountains look breathtaking around the bay. The weather couldnt be better at this stage, yet we know its going to warm up considerably before we finish. As Im explaining to Chris about the dangers of over inflating tyres, theres a loud bang as someones tyre explodes somewhere in the rows of bikes, could be due to the rising temperature. Hope they discovered this in time.
Eventually, after the usual rituals of racking and unracking, placing the shoes etc, we get to main event. Almost forgot we had to do the race, the setting is so pleasant, and Im looking forward to this.

A real athlete being interviewed
for a documentary.
The swim is a straight 750m out, round the bouy then back. Couldnt be smoother, temperature around 23 degrees so perfect conditions. Before the start, I attempt to make myself panic and hyperventilate by swimming fast and catching sea water in my mouth. This seems to work, as I start well in the swim and dont panic in any part of the swim. Psychologically this was my best swim of the year, yet I only managed 28min 21s, 101st place! Maybe my other swims I had gone faster, and so found myself out of breath thrashing amongst the masses??

As always, its good to get out of the water. No sign of Phil, hes long gone after an impressive 23m43s! But I do find Chris faffing around in the transition area, hes only 10s ahead of me for the swim but I make a swift exit for the first time. My first race to wear my shirt under the wetsuit, it really is a waste of time trying to fight with a cycle jersey and race numbers after in transition.

The first 5km ride takes us first along the coast and back, one dark tunnel is unnerving as its very early into the ride and with sunglasses on its very difficult to see anything at all. Another basically flat 5km, then the route climbs for 10km following a river up a scenic valley, at around 3-4%, possibly 5-6% at the top. Going around a large cone at the half way point, we expect to freewheel all the way home, except theres a noticeable headwind, and this means pedalling all the way downhill. Its quite exposed, and here I was crying out for a set of tribars - next season I will upgrade.
Some blatant drafting took place in this race - one group of 5 were clearly in chaingang mode, it was very satisfying to pedal straight past them! Im sure if a group had overtaken me, I might have latched on for the ride, but again in this race I was passing everyone from start to finish - the benefit of having a very bad swim I suppose.

In this race I even went without a saddle bag, so no repair kit of any kind. Later we find out that the fastest female punctured, put in a spare tube and still did a 1hr 7min ride! Very impressive. This is the last time I'll ride a tri without a spare inner tube, it would be a waste of a weekend, training time and a lot of money for the sake of not carying spares. 

A decent transition to run, small stop to tuck laces into my shoes, and I soon found all progress made on the bike start to fall away I felt the heat rising. At the first turning cone, I spotted Chris not so far behind. I managed to hold him off on the bike, but the run was to be something else. 2 laps of 5km, with one short steep section on the return the run is either waterside or in the forest so again pleasant scenery.
At the 5km point, I stopped and took a few bows to a lady with a hosepipe, they found it very amusing and I enjoyed the soaking, however my shoes filled with water and I was squelching along the road after this. Bad mistake. Also, I could see Chris had closed considerably and I felt like I was slowing down. Sure enough, he overtook me about 6km mark and I had no response. Any ideas of making it a sprint finish were dashed by my inability to fight against the heat and my own slow pace.

After the race we are interviewed by the local newspaper, and I tell him how great the course was, how hot it was, what a great event its been etc, but when he asks "Why were you invited to this triathlon?" I dont have a good answer. Except to spread the word of Kamaishi triathlon. 

After the grilling by the press we all took a relaxing swim in the sea. Then more food followed by presentations and the journey home.

Its been a great weekend, and a well organised triathlon. The swim, bike and run courses were excellent and the field was very strong at the head of the field. I was 51st here, but a similar time in the Tokyo island series got me close to a top 20 place. I guess the best racers in northern Japan all race here. If you're going to do the race, it would be worth trying to get the hotel near the race itself rather than staying out in Kamaishi town. Many were camping on the small space left for tents, the weather is still great at this time of year, another recommendation for next year.

Whether we will be invited back again remains to be seen - I am sure that if Kobayashi san thought all foreign triathletes living in Japan were super athletes, his illusion is broken now.

It was a great honour to be invited to this race, thanks to Kimm, Mika, and Kobyashi san for making it all happen. We did our best, and enjoyed the weekend as pro triathletes. Now back to the day job.

Full Results
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28 August 2010

Seaside to summit

Tokyo -> Mt Fuji 5th Station
Its been a while since Travis first suggested this ride back in April, allowing time for everyone to prepare to join the latest of his 24 hour endurance events. Tokyo to Niigata, Tokyo to Nagoya, and now Tokyo to the summit of Mount Fuji and back in 24hours! Originally, the idea was to ride from the seaside closer to Mt Fuji than Tokyo, say Odawara, but in the end it makes more sense(?) to start from home than taking the first train out to a distant point which would end up with a much steeper climb, and possibly a double climb depending on the route. I would never have thought this possible if I hadn't been on the 180km+ rides earlier this year, its something to build up to.

As they say in Japan, "A wise man climbs Mount Fuji once, a fool climbs twice." This was to be my second ascent to the summit and so the only one foolish enough to join in, after Philip and Todor found they had less traumatic events in their diaries on this day. Shame not to have company, but the weather was looking perfect and this would be the final weekend of the official Mt Fuji hill hiking season when the mountain huts are still open.

The ride started only 4.5km for me at the junction of 246 and Konpachi dorii, ten to one in the morning at the 7-11 on the junction of 246 and Konpachi dorii. So hot at this hour! Probably 27-28 degrees as we head south-west along route 246 to route 16 and up to Hashimoto. Not a route I would normally take, and one I will not take again as the 246 is heavy traffic and almost feels like highway in places. I'd rather be on the Onekai, but at this hour of the morning its relatively quiet and we make rapid progress to arrive at the first combini break just beyond Hashimoto before continuing on to the 413, Doshi michi.

The Doshi michi is the classic route to Yamanakako, the largest of the 5 lakes of Mount Fuji. Virtually a 35km climb, which starts off incredibly gently but winds itself up to be a significant climb before dropping down to the lake. Cycling through the night the roads are lit by an almost full moon, but much more adequately by Travis' high powered head(!) lights. The combini at Doshi village is closed, but we refuel with drinks from the vending machines and I realise that we are now soaked not so much in sweat as by dew in the cooler air as we approach 1000m altitude.

On descending 413 after the tunnel, we get the first awesome view of Mt Fuji, glowing red like Ayers Rock in the morning light.  At this point, we're both thinking and Travis says later, "Its a bloody long way to the top."


After many photos and one of the most scenic lake rides possible, we reach the end of lake Yamanaka and descend towards Fujiyoshida and have a well earned breakfast or two. We've completed stage 1 of the mission! It would be very tempting to sleep a few hours here, and Travis is caught "resting his eyes" when I return from the loo, but we're both ready and focused on stage 2, which will be uphill as far as the road goes, to the 5th station on the Subaru line at 2400m.

Its 2000 yen for cars and 200 yen for bikes, and the road is 23km up from the toll booth. We're already 5km up the climb at this point, so a brief rest is appreciated. The Subaru line is a gentle 5% average incline, but thoughts of breaking my 1hr 12min time from the hill climb race earlier this year never cross my mind as theres going to be another massive effort after we reach the 5th station today. 2 hours is the anticipated time for the climb today and from restaurant to the top we are right on schedule.
I love this climb, the gentle slope which flattens in sections to allow the speed to build means you never need to raise the heart rate too much (unless racing), theres plenty of shade from the trees and higher up we are rewarded with views across to the southern alps. The final 2km are super fast, its hard to believe you are still going uphill until the final sting in the tail as the road rises before the coach park at the top.

So stage 2 complete, we arrive at the 5th station, 2300m above sea level and amongst the thousands of tired hikers who have climbed the mountain over night and are now waiting for their lifts back home. We get changed, I put on leggings and under layer, and change into running shoes. For this climb, boots are unnecessary unless in bad weather, and we both make great progress up the mountain stopping at each station on the way up for brief respite. The rockiest section is 8-9th station, pulling yourself up on the chains takes the strain off the legs. We ascend faster than most, the only guy climbing faster than us is trying to run up and we even catch up with him towards the 9th station.

I reckon climbing by day is much more pleasant, the temperature is not so hot as I feared in the sun (around 15 degrees, even at the top!) and we get to see what we're climbing up. On average, you would climb over night to be guaranteed a clear view at sunrise, after which the mountain generates enough cloud so you can't see anything on the way down, but today the cloud remains thin and at times welcome as it shades us from the sun.

It takes us 4 hours to reach the top of the climb. This was the time suggested by Philip, and its not a bad time for the ascent. With the climb out of the way, we decide to walk around the crater, which takes another 1hr 10 min. Its a rewarding walk, and Travis was keen to post a letter from the post office at the top so I had no complaints about doing the extra walk. Except the post office was closed ! Imagine walking all that way to find out the PO was shut. Only now I find out that the PO is open 42 days a year, until mid August so we can only send a text message from the summit instead - not quite the same. Oh well, I sent a letter to my dad last time I was here, but it would have been nice for Travis to have done the same.

Its on the crater loop that we really feel the altitude, and discover how sensitive our heads are to oxygen deprivation at this height. Every small step upwards is painful, not so much the legs as in a gasping for breath and growing headache. Then every small step downwards is a relief, your brain is saying well done, this is the way to go.  The photo to the right is meters from the highest point at 3776m, Travis is feeling the pain at this point!

I'm out of water after the extra loop, so I have to buy a 500¥ bottle of coke before the descent, down the volcanic ash trails where everyone slips, slides and stumbles at some point. This could be a very quick descent, but its also a time to be cautious and when knees and ankles turn to jelly. Travis was soon feeling the pain, and our estimated 2hr descent took around 3hours. But then 2hours was the estimate of Philip, who last year ran up and down Mt Fuji 7 times in 7 weeks in preparation for the hill climb race so its not surprising we took a while longer. I reckon my recent run training and half-ironman in Aberfeldy was of clear advantage here, and I was surprised how good I felt, all the way to the bottom of the trail, back to the 5th station.

Unsurprisingly our bikes were still where we had left them, someone could have made off with some expensive souvenirs this day. As the sun was setting, we quickly put cycling shoes on, wind breakers and gloves and enjoyed the 28km descent back to Fuji yoshida. The descent was so long that we were dazzled by the sun at the top, and at the bottom it was total darkness. Descending faster than the cars, then passing the buses causing the traffic hold up, we had clear roads down past the toll booths where I think the toll guards were trying to shout something to us, probably slow down, but I didnt want to break  at this point. In fact, the whole descent I barely touched the brakes, just sitting upright and using my body as an airbrake was enough to comfortably get down the mountain.

Back to the main road and time for more food, reflection on a great achievement and thoughts of how to get home. Travis had already said he would not have the legs to cycle back, and I was glad to hear this as cycling back in the dark down the Doshi michi for another 130km would just destroy the good thoughts about this ride/hike to the summit. So we eat quickly, buy some bin liners from the convenience store to use as bike bags and head for the next train to Otsuki and then Tokyo bound.

A wonderful day, and a great achievement, thanks Travis for suggesting the ride and for great company all day from Tokyo to Fuji and back again!
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2 August 2010

Sunny Chiba

Its been a hot and humid July, too hot to really enjoy the cycling, and far too hot to type up blog reports of rides. The weekends since Oshima have still seen plenty of mileage, but when I get home Ive been too hot and bothered to write about the days efforts - especially after the longest of the long rides at 212km.
Also, since the last report Ive been to the UK for a couple of weeks for a friends wedding, but also managed to get plenty of mountainbiking at Innerleithen/Glentress and also a mountain bike marathon through the limestone gorges and stunning scenery of the Yorkshire dales from Grassington, close to Malham cove. But this blog is supposed to be about Japanese rides, or should I rename the site? Ill stick to the orignal plan for the moment at least - but theres another 2 week respite from the summer heat starting this coming weekend, with the Aberfeldy middle distance on the 15th August....

Anyway, 19th July was 海の日 Umi no hi or day of the sea, and so another of the numerous Japanese bank holidays. A post on Tokyo Cycling Club for a ride around the back roads of Chiba was inviting, and I met up with the group at Honda station. Holiday ride, holiday start as we cycled 1km to the first convenience store stop. But this is OK, as Phil the organizer points out there wont be any more stops for 60km so we stock up with drinks and food.

At the next crossroads, Petes tyre punctures so we get another break from the ferocious sun rays. The TCC elite sprint to the only shade at the top of the hill, a small bus stop. They are able to laugh at the unfortunate few who must idle outside the booth with no air movement whilst waiting for the inner tube to be replaced.

Rides in Chiba are tough. Totally different from a Tokyo west side ride, Chiba doesnt have the high mountains but is certainly not flat. I've worked out now that the big mountain stages are half uphill, and half downhill. But here in Chiba, we seem to be up hill most of the time, but the descents are not steep enough to freewheel, so we end up cycling the whole distance, proving more tiring at the end of the day.

At the southern most point of the planned route, I say goodbye and head off west to Kanaya and the ferry to Kurihama, Miura hanto. The roads through the center of Chiba are really nice, little traffic - its the coastal roads which draw the heavy traffic. Especially on a long sunny weekend like this, the surf beaches of south / east Chiba draw large crowds and are best avoided.

I was so glad to get onto the ferry, dive into the air conditioned lounge and drink as much as I could from the vending machines on board. The ferry runs every hour every day of the year, and takes about 40mins so not much time to eat your yaki soba and rest before exiting the ferry back into the heat of southern Miura hanto.

On previous rides, Miura hanto has always been a ride cicumnavigating the coastline, which is a great ride in itself, but today Im on a mission to get to the final point, Zushi beach, as soon as possible. I eventually found route 27, somehow this was confusing leaving Kurihama. Must have been the heat, but I was heading up different roads with the usual 6th sense of road navigation telling me this was the wrong route.
Miura hanto is normally a ride of beaches and scenery, even if the last section up to Kamakura is busy traffic, but today route 27 was far more urbanised than I had expected. Virtually the whole length from south to west coast was at least lightly built up, so not a route I would recommend except to get you from Kurihama to the north as fast as possible.

So the day of the sea, and I finally got to my goal - Zushi beach. An utterly different place to the same beach we visited for swim training back in April. Now its July/August, the official beach season so the whole beach front is covered in temporary bars, restaurants, basketball courts and plenty of peaches as far as the eye can wander.
A huge area is marked off for swimming, and I dive in. A huge area is marked off for swimming, most unused of course so if you swim beyond the waders its clear ocean for yourself - and the jellyfish.  But what to do with the carbon bike whilst Im in the water? Oh just leave it by the vending machine. It'll be fine.
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12 June 2010

Tokyo Island Series Part 2 - Oshima

大島 - Oshima, the big island triathlon was another well organised, enjoyable and fun event on the Tokyo islands.
I took the night ferry from Yokohama, arriving at the other Motomachi soon after 6am and cycled the short distance up to pension Subaru for a tasty breakfast on their vast lawn garden. Nice place, I would recommend staying here if you are on the island. As I arrived early, I was able to check out the cycle course with Jerome, a Frenchman staying at the pension with his family. It was obvious the cycle would be fast, as we were flying along at almost 50kmph with no effort on the flat course due to the strong tail wind. Even better, the return road was protected by trees and inland, so we would not have to pedal so hard on the way back.
The main concern was the swim - the wind was creating quite a sea, and the waves were big enough to redirect the jetfoil, with the other Namban Rengo on board, to Okata port as it is more sheltered. The most important part of the swim is the warm up - get used to being out at sea, the temperature and the current. We could only practise a short distance but it was clear that this swim would be about survival first, having a reasonable finish time second.
I bobbed up and down in the waves, spotting several small blue fish in the clear water below, but on the return to shore crested a wave and smacked straight into an oncoming Japanese man, lucky we were not fast swimmers or we could have been knocked out and the tri would have ended here. Instead, my goggles popped apart on impact at the nose piece and I was left to breast stroke back to the black sandy beach, where I could safely put the goggles back together again. 
I started in group 1, which is ordered by age not speed, and unknown to us the organisers had shortened the course by 300m due to the conditions. Also, we were to swim clockwise, not anticlockwise as in the program again due to wave conditions. It was a struggle to get a sight to the next bouy at times, I really had to wait to be at the top of a wave to take a look ahead to make sure my direction was good. After the first lap, I found myself swimming through the back markers of the 2nd and 3rd groups, and it seemed that many people were in difficulty, being picked up by the lifeguards on their surfboard. Over 20 people failed the swim, no major problems but the choppy water was just too much for them. I was glad to finish this swim, and clamber over the rocks to get up to transition. 

So my next triathlon - I must wear my cycle shirt under my wetsuit. Here, I managed to first put the shirt on backwards, then tear the number off one corner and so have to repin it back on, and some more general fumbling before getting on the road. Every second counts in these standard distance triathlons, so next time I dont need this hassle. 
As expected, the bike was fast, up to 57.5kmph on the mainly flat road out along the coast, nice views across the lava fields and generally I went as fast as possible and managed to catch Phil on the first lap, he is a much better swimmer than me. He asked if this was my second lap, but I wasnt going that fast!

2 water bottles and 2 energy gels are my intake for these Olympic distance events, it seems to work well taking one gel after 5km and 35km of the bike. 

After T2, I felt like I was flying and having a really strong run, but I should have realised that again this was due to the strong tailwind taking me out to the 5km marker. Every aid station I soaked myself in water, it was really hot out there. After rounding the 5km cone, the brutal run home began, and the true strong runners would have made there mark on this section. It is so important to finish with a strong run, you lose so much time when tired on a run, though here I would say the headwind was more of a limiting factor than my tiredness as I ran on the brink of getting a stitch the whole way home. 

The finish area is immediately between 2 onsen, and the open air baths were free to competitors so we took a well deserved soak overlooking the ocean. 

In the end, I was pleased with my time and placing, the main area I could improve is my run time. Oh and the transition. And maybe the swim as well. And concentrate more in the later stages of the bike section.

The after event party involved lots of local seafood, especially サザエSazae, turban shells. Luckily no stinking kusaya dried fish on offer here. After the lively taiko drumming we sat out a lengthy raffle in which none of us won any prizes before drinking some more beer in the foyer of Motozo and Megs hotel.

It proved to be an early night, and an early morning for me as I woke at 3:30am to at first enjoy the England USA world cup match, but of course become increasingly frustrated at the lack of further goals and the goalkeeping blunder of all time.
Jerome and his friend Tanaka san were up for cycling to the top of the mountain at 6am, the 11km climb took us up to the crater and lava fields, and to the base of the cloud layer. Not worth hiking any further today, another day it would be nice to mountain bike down the other side of this volcano. Instead we descend to the east of the island, avoiding a 2m snake on the way down, and loop around the north of the island before breakfast. 

Nice to have breakfast with the others before they leave for the fast jetfoil back to Tokyo, but I still have plenty of time and explore more beaches, the other onsen, and finish up swimming in a very nice pool at Okata. Well worth a swim, there are cold showers above and a nice way to spend the final hour waiting for the ferry back to the mainland.

Sayonara Oshima, mata rainen.


Full Results
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6 June 2010

7th Fuji Hill Climb

After Miyakojima,  Mount Fuji hill climb was one of my main goals for 2010. The race is in its 7th year now and more popular than ever with over 5400 entrants. The main race is 24km long and averages 5.2% gradient, with the steepest section being 7.8% and total ascent of 1270m. An athletes section starts lower down the slopes and covers 28km, ascent 1435m.

On the very same day, Mount Fuji International Hill climb is taking place - on the Azami line road, its half the distance, same ascent and so twice the gradient! Make sure you know which race you're applying for if you want to enter one of these races next year. Not sure why they're both on the same date, I can only guess it is an agreement with Fuji national park.

Kimm from the running group Namban Rengo had found a nice hotel/onsen to on the southern side of Kawaguchiko for 7 athletes and Phils family from Australia who are over visiting. But Kimm, Keren and Tim had made a big mistake - cycling from Tokyo west along the Doushi road, (long, steady climb) over 150km on the Saturday, lead by the Sergey who was out for a day ride and never cycles at a leisurely pace.

Instead I enjoyed a relaxing train journey, no express trains just reading the paper and listening to podcasts in preparation for the big race. After arriving at Fujiyoshida station, I cycled up through the torii to Sengen-jinja. In the past, climbing Mount Fuji was a pilgrimage and climbers would visit this shrine before starting the ascent. So it was a good place for me to visit the day before the event. Very atmospheric, huge cedar trees and attractive setting, it always seems like you're stepping back in time or to a different world when visiting temples and shrines in Japan.


After leaving the shrine I cycled up to Fujihokuroku park for registration, which was quickly done as I could see heavy rain clouds forming in the warm late afternoon. I had to wait in Fuji visitors center for some heavy showers to pass, then cycled over to the hotel, took and onsen and had some tasty local food in nearby restaurant.



And so the alarms were set for 4.15am. This was essential, as we had to cycle to the start before 6am when the buses carrying bags depart for the finish line. Crossing the lake, Tim got a flat - bad news, we all had to carry on as we had no time to spare at this point, but in the end Tim repaired the flat and got to the start in time.

Misty start to the day, no sign of the big mountain as we share coffee shotz and people drink Red Bull, energy gels and other products with caffeine. A real Floyd Landis breakfast for all. I was happy with water and the shotz, no point carrying extra weight up the hill in my stomach.

We were all in the 3rd group, 7:05am start after the mountain bikers and womens groups set off. It will mean we will be cycling past them all later, but at least if they start early, they'll be up and down sooner and the event will take less time. We roll out for 1.5km and this works very well in steadying everyone and sorting out the group before we roll across the startline after turning left onto the Subaru line road. From here its up all the way !

The gradient of this climb is very gentle, even though its up for 24km. With this in mind I knew drafting would be a possibility, but I was surprised at just how much drafting was possible and how significant this would be for my final time. We climbed on, the air cooled but I was sweating all the way up. Great views across and above the cloud layer to the snow covered southern alps.

The steepest kilometer of the course, 19km-20km has a prize for the fastest to complete this section so a small prize for the winner. I wonder if anyone purposely tries to win this prize? Everyone around seems to plod on at their comfortable speed.

22km-23km feels like its downhill, but its still up yet the speed accelerates and I find Im doing 39kmph, working well with a Japanese rider and we continue to fly past many racers through the final snow tunnels before the final kick of the climb up the the finish line, and I pay for the high speed here as Im out of breath, and crossing the line in 1hr 12min 21s I starting gasping for breath in the thin air.

Theres a special award for times, I might be receiving a silver spacer for my headset in the post next week - (gold 1hr 5, silver 1hr 15, bronze 1hr 30). Also 1hr 15min is the time to register as athletes class in next years event!

Kimm was several minutes behind me, and on training rides I havent been able to keep up with him, so I think the ride out yesterday had to have affected his and Kerens times.

Did I mention James and Tim were riding fixed gear bikes? Very impressive, but how about descending 24km on a fixie! James was wondering why there were no other fixed gear bikes on the climb, well for me, Im sticking with my 11 speed compact.

Then followed the amazing 24km descent, which this week was pleasantly warm compared to last week. In the rule book, we were supposed to be going less than 20kmph starting in controlled groups and not overtaking the lead vehicle, but the lead vehicle must have been moving as we sailed down the mountain. Otherwise, this would have been slower going down than on the way up!

Tasty udon was served at the finish, and I met Steve who had started in the 8th group along with the Positivo Espresso team members. They had made this trip in style with a  team bus to take them to Fuji Highland resort hotel and even designed a special team jersey for the climb. 4 of them were up for cycling back to Tokyo and we eventually left the hotel, after posting the towel/clothes/event junk back home rather than carrying it.

Between Fujikyu and Yamanako is heavy traffic, and not pleasant but once you're at the lake you get the final perfect view of Mount Fuji for the day across the water. A short climb follows (very short, almost didnt notice this one) then the Doushi road is one huge roller coaster road all the way back to Tokyo. Except this roller coaster is mainly downhill and very fast, its such a great road and we are quickly back in the outskirts of Hashimoto, where James takes us on an interesting alternative route to the more direct road I am familiar with, over what is known as the "tank road." This is a hilly area with a bike/running track which was used by Mitsubishi to test tanks many years ago. Today its a great break from the traffic, the build up starts around Sagamiko, before we hit the One kai and roll down to the Tamagawa. In total, its 170km for the day, but the main mileage is downhill, but oh yes there was one significant climb this morning wasn't there?



Results later............


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