Well, I made it to checkpoint 6 -- the Notojima Circle K just up the hill from the park where Tour De Noto ends Day 2/starts Day 3. That was 520 km into the ride (plus an additional 10 km or so from train station to start and various detours).
I finished my ride at a little after 4PM on Saturday, 32 hours into the event. It had been raining off and on the last 16 hours straight.
The new HED Jet 6 wheels worked great. Definitely faster descending and faster (or at least less work to keep "cruising speed") on the flats. I'll update my wheel selection post later.
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| Cervelo with the HED Jet 6 wheels and Brevet Gear at Checkpoint #1 |
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| The suburban sprawl of Route 8 through Sabae, Fukui, Kaga, Komatsu and on and on but flat and with a nice shoulder for cycling, so possible to make okay time with minimal effort |
The main issues were (1) the rain (which was really heavy during a solo stretch of the ride between 3 and 5:30AM to get to Wajima -- very solitary, just me and the frogs) and probably triggered lots of mechanical issues others were suffering, with all the grit that ends up on the bike when it rains, (2) I could not sleep, even though I pulled over a little after midnight, set up in a covered bus stop, and tried to for several hours, leaving me exhausted on Saturday -- a few cat naps helped, but not enough, and (3) no way I would finish Sunday night (as opposed to Monday morning) and so be able to get back to Tokyo for my business trip, so I called it quits Saturday 4:30PM at Notojima, went back to Nagoya/Ichinomiya that night to pick up my things, and came back to Tokyo Sunday morning. ... of course, by Sunday morning the weather was beautiful again. A real missed opportunity.
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| The "survival sheet" (what we used to call a "space blanket" and some tape made an excellent bike bag for the trip back to Nagoya to pick up my gear |
Jerome did not ride -- had a conflict.
I now have only 2+3+3+6+4 = 1800 km toward PBP, since I cannot get to Kyushu for their event later in October. Probably not enough to get a spot for PBP, but who knows? And after the last two Brevets I am starting to feel like I am back in shape ... starting to get there, at least.
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MOB:
David and, if I am not mistaken, also Jerome have joined this weekend's Chubu 1,000 km brevet BRM 1008 orgainized by Audax Randonneurs Chubu. Quite a feat, considering that David and Jerome just completed a brevet of 400 km distance last weekend. For David it is a good opportunity to get to 2.600 km distance within one year which will allow him a place in the Japanese slot for the Paris - Brest - Paris Brevet hold in August 2011. This is the longest (1.200 km), hardest and most famous of all brevets and only organized once every four years.
David asked me to post updates he sents me via blackberry on the Positivo Espresso blog while he is riding which I am enjoying to do. The first one reach me today:
"270 km so far. Want to get closer to wajima tonight. Rain threatening. Battery running low so no photos or updates."
I sincerely hope that this will not be the last we heard from him and keep you updated.
4 comments:
Nevertheless quite an impressive result, riding 16 hours in the rain is much longer than what I usually ride under blue skies.
Do you need to complete a 1.000 km brevet to get a slot for Paris-Brest-Paris or would it be enough to complete two more 600 km brevets?
MOB:
The 2011 Japanese "slots" are awarded based upon Brevet mileage in 2010, with a maximum of 3200 km credited, and a maximum of 600 km credited for any one event. Only one more domestic Japan event this year - Kyushu weekend after next. I have not signed up and don't expect to have time. So I probably only get a slot if there are extra going begging.
No requirements for specific length of events, except to actually "qualify" for PBP under the French Audax rules you need to complete 200, 400 and 600 km rides (or maybe 200, 300 and 400 km events) during 2011 Spring. There are plenty of other events if I don't get a PBP spot. And of course Transalp needs to be my #1 priority.
Best,
David
David send them an e-mail (in Japanese) asking to be promoted or demoted one cat and they will more than happily oblige.
David, a belated congratulations on making 530km, and a lot of it in rain. I know it is still short of your 600km brevet, but nonetheless a lot more than most of us have ever done in one go!
It's interesting they won't credit more than 600km for one event, even though their own event is twice that distance! Is this an admission that with anything longer than 600km you are risking your health and therefore they don't want to encourage it?
Cheers, Ludwig
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