POSITIVO ESPRESSO

Music and Athletic Performance - The Effects are both Quantifiable and Meaningful

2012-01-28T19:02:00.002+09:00

Today was cold again with a biting wind. I swam last night and will again tonight, and so just took a short ride up and down the river. I felt like I was battling the cold weather and my bulkier than normal clothes, and slogging along.

Recently I have not been using headphones when I ride, even when on quiet stretches of road in the countryside, but today on the return down the road along the Tamagawa I decided to slip them on to listen to a US National Public Radio news show. Then, when I was about half way home, I switched to some random songs -- podcasts of "Today's Top Tune" from KCRW Santa Monica.

As the second song started, my pedaling cadence went up and up, and all of a sudden I felt great and wanted to sprint.

The song was a new version of Rodrigo y Gabriela's Diablo Rojo, with a 13-piece orchestra comprised of some of "Havana's finest" musicians, according to the Podcast blurg. Here is a version from a few years ago without the orchestra ... not as overwhelming or festive as the one on the podcast I heard, but you get the idea:

I had not realized how much I miss riding my bike to music. There is plenty of evidence that music can influence athletic performance. I think most of us have felt it. I know I have -- even when I'm not listening to music while I ride, when I get into a steady rhythm on a climb eventually music will come into my head. But never have I felt my motivation and performance change as much in an instant as it did today when that up tempo Latin music started. ...

It makes me almost want to get on the trainer indoors next week. Almost.

_____________

While I'm embedding videos, I stumbled across this one today -- another cycling promo filmed in my hometown of Portland, this one sponsored by a car company (huh?) . Anyway, I doubt Portland will look quite this nice when I'm there in February for my framebuilding class, but it does look nice.

Sh#t cyclists say

2012-01-24T11:09:00.000+09:00

This has had enough Youtube "views" so that I suspect many cyclists have already seen it in the past 2 weeks since it went up, but just in case ... A bit for a U.S. audience, but hope all will find it amusing.

Hat tip to David M. of RGT Enterprises:

Spring training

2012-01-23T19:06:00.001+09:00

PE Europe committed to Spring Training in Mallorca.

Sunday, 25 March to Sunday, 1 April, training camp in Pollentia (close to Alcudia).

Come join us and overtake (or not?!) these guys down Sa Calobra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uftc6RG0mvs

David & Juliane

Miura Peninsula -- For Mid-Winter Riding and Sashimi

2012-01-22T16:28:00.002+09:00

The sky was dark and the roadway a bit damp when Jerome and I started out Saturday morning. There was something falling out of the sky -- a few small stinging frozen water droplets of sleet or, in Japanese, mizore.

No reason to head toward the mountains today, where the roads were likely to be very treacherous, so we pointed to the South and through congested Kawasaki, Yokohama to the Miura Peninsula.

Neither Jerome nor I would choose to ride in this area under normal conditions, but it is always worth some mid-winter trips and, we realized, it actually offers some beautiful stretches of sea coast along the East side of the Peninsula, once you get past Yokosuka, especially if you stick to the coast as you pass Kannonzaki, East Kurihama and then proceed along Pref Rte 215 around the SE corner and to Jogashima -- the island at the tip.

Mabori Kaigan Koen (Mabori Coastal Park); strong (mostly tail) winds Saturday

My Canyon faces into a stiff breeze at Kannonzaki

Jerome's winter gear -- short sleeve jersey and mesh under layer, but thick feet, hand and head coverings, and bib tights that block the wind high up onto his chest. His new long distance set-up - Ortlieb seat and bar bags

The daikon is hung and dried for a week before pickling. Lots of daikon around Miura.

It is getting from Tokyo to Yokosuka that is painful, as this means passing through an area inhabited by millions of people, together with their trucks and cars. At least the weather kept some folks off the streets and indoors on Saturday. The return up the western side of the Peninsula to Zushi/Kamakura also covers an extremely heavily traveled road -- National Rte 134 most of the way, and Pref Route 207 through Hayama.

All-in-all, about 120km of relatively easy riding, which we tried to do in the spirit of "long slow distance", without getting the heart rate too high but with a good cadence. The reward came at Jogashima, where they serve sashimi fresh off the boat from the adjacent Misakiguchi harbor.

The Reward! Sashimi lunch (free refills of soup and rice) at Ka-ne-a on Jogashima.

Saturday Ride, Weather Permitting

2012-01-20T13:13:00.000+09:00

Snow on the neighboring rooftops this morning

We have had our fun riding in the mountains and enjoying the dry roads of the Kanto area in December and the first half of January, as areas far to our North and West have suffered from snow, rain and generally unpleasant winter cycling weather.

But even Tokyo submits at some point, cold, wet weather making it around the "rain shadow" defense of the mountains of Honshu, and almost guaranteeing that February and early March will bring the worst cycling weather of the year.

Today, we are already getting a taste of things to come, with wet snow falling since before dawn and the forecast for some precipitation again on Saturday afternoon/evening and at times on Sunday. I am hopeful that we will get enough dry weather, with a temperature above freezing, so that a Saturday ride will be possible if we stay in South Kanto.

Absent really unpleasant weather conditions, Jerome and I will leave my house at 7:30AM Saturday for a ride around the Miura Peninsula. We will go clockwise, and may stop at his friend's in Hayama on the return route. This should be another "long, slow distance" effort.

Winter Grime

2012-01-17T22:19:00.002+09:00

Lilac Angel for Larissa

2012-01-17T22:06:00.000+09:00

Over the last three weeks I assembled this bike for the girlfriend of a cycling buddy in Bremen. He wanted his girlfriend to start riding and she asked for something that looks good and suits her personal taste.

Tobi (the guy) was able to buy an old OLMO Speedy Gonzales dated from 1990 or 91 with a complete Shimano 105 7-speed setup for less than 20.000 Yen. It took me two weeks to deassemble the whole bike, grease all parts, spot-repair some rusty patches and scratches, grease, lubricate and adjust headset and bottom bracket as part 1 of this project.

Larissa wanted to have some combination with black and lilac as the dominant colors and chrome and white in the back. As they are still young and work in poorly paid jobs (hospital, kindergarten) they didn't wanted to spend too much money. As opposed to professors working in poorly regarded academic institutions that regularly poor thousands of Euros into the garage equivalent of Greece.

We decided on the main components and technical specs and we purchased the necessary spare parts such as chain, cabling, handle bar tape, brake pads, new saddle, Look pedals and new Schwalbe Ultremo tires. In the end we spend less than 35.000 Yen in total on this bike which was somewhat within the budget.

I think the result is a good looking, feminine bike with a sensible design. The main color is black with lilac cables, saddle and tires outlining the contours of the bike. White is the second colour within the triangle of the upper, lower and saddle tube. Design wise everything fits together.

From a technical point of view the bike is now in good shape and the Shimano 105 components work very well. Shifting is smooth and the braking is now super-aggressive. During the project I found out that the outer chain ring had to be exchanged but I was able to buy a NOS Shimano one from the Eighties as replacement.

As the original components were used there were hardly any compatibility issues. Only the truing of the rear wheel took quite along time in order to get the right mix of tension, torsion and trueness in both directions.

If there is one thing I love and hat it is the glossy black handlebar. It looks very good and very sexy - the combination with black leather would be perfect. However it is a pain to wrap the handle bar with this tape from Fizik and I would recommend to use it only with "pure" handlebars, in other words, don't try to wrap brake or shift cables with it.

Larissa was happy when she picked it up on Sunday and so was her boyfriend. I had fun doing the consulting and assembly. Having done previously the Pescarolo and the Kotter, this has been the third bike I assembled for someone else. This will never become a work to earn a living, however the combination of doing something with my hands and making people happy is a quite satisfying one.

More pics are here.

Daigo Rindo -- Special Secret (no more gravel)

2012-01-16T13:01:00.000+09:00

Tokyo Direction from Daigo Rindo

Tristan, Jerome and I planned a half day January ride on the 15th. Jerome overslept, and so Tristan and I went to Yanokuchi to join James M's group "long slow distance" ride. We stayed with them to Itsukaichi area, said our farewells and announced we were going to loop over Daigo Rindo and back, for an earlier return.

Fumiki said "but isn't there lots of gravel".

Yes, there is. Err, there WAS, the last time I rode it, in the Spring with Laurent.

Now the gravel stretch is beautiful, smooth asphalt.

A good ride was had.

Sunday Morning Ride - Anyone interested?

2012-01-13T22:21:00.001+09:00

Tristan sent a note earlier in the week that he is back in town and wants to ride. We will leave my house at 7:30 (which means 7:10 at Ebisu for anyone who wants to ride out and join). I think Jerome is up for it as well.

Apologies to the early start, but I need to be back home by 2:30PM.

The plan is to maybe go to Itsukaichi, then head to Takao via Daigo Rindo. If time permits we could do Wada Rindo as well (but not over the back side of Wada).

Also, according to his post on TCC's site, James M. is leading a group from Yanokuchi at 8AM, that will do an LSD (long slow distance) ride past Itsukaichi and over Kobu Tunnel, so we could join them for at least part of the ride if there is interest.

Kanto in January

2012-01-08T12:37:00.002+09:00

Fuji-san from Otarumi

On Saturday, I agreed to head out with Jerome in the morning as he headed up to Yamanakako for a weekend with his sister, her family and a friend. I decided to ride out to the area near Sagamiko and the base of Doshimichi, then return alone. This meant I needed to decline the alternative of (1) a possible Miura loop with Tom S., and (2) a Saturday afternoon at the Keirin track in Kawasaki with Hiroshi and his club. It is a rare winter day when I have three possible rides!

Saturday was a classic January Kanto riding weather, sunny and dry, above freezing but not much so.

Jerome and I were both feeling a bit sluggish at first, Jerome still recovering from the ride to Kansai at the New Year, me from exercise swimming at my local pool Friday evening. And we faced a moderate headwind on the first part of the trip, up the Kanagawa. As on December 30, we headed out via One-kansen-Doro, and then the "tank road" and Machida Kaido, then around the South side of Lake Tsukui. This time we refueled early, stopping at the 24-hour restaurant "Gusto" there.

We continued along National Routes 413/412, then veered left onto Pref. Route 517, the gem of a little road through the hilly countryside, with several small climbs, and to Magino where it meets Pref. Route 76 at a "T" intersection.


Self-timer ... not quite framed right. Graffiti visible even on Route 76 at Magino!

A beautiful winter day -- looking NW from Pref Route 520, above the South shore of Sagami-ko

Jerome headed left to the South/toward Doshi Michi and Yamanakako; I headed right to the North/toward National Route 20 and Takao/Tokyo.

I made one stop on the return trip, at a little rest area in Obara, within a kilometer of the base of the climb back over Otarumi Pass and down to Takao. There was a kind of exhibition, with lots of display of posters from previous "bunka no hi" (culture day) holidays, and the woman behind the desk asked me if I had visited the main building nearby "less than one minute's walk". Indeed, I have passed it a hundred times if once, but had never gotten off the bicycle and taken a look behind the carefully tended hedge and impressive gate. The sign in front noted that it is free of charge, so the curious should not hesitate to enter.

What greeted me was a beautiful 200-year-old traditional building, used as a resting point by daimyo (feudal lords) on their way to and from Edo during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The curator on duty explained that this rest-house was shared by The Takashima Han (a/k/a Suwa Han) and two other clans from the Nagano area. Another reminder that it is important to get off the bike once in awhile and enjoy the country one travels through!

Taking a leisurely pace the entire way, it was not the most strenuous of rides. But then again, that was not the point.

What a pain!

2012-01-03T12:09:00.005+09:00

It is now three months since I last touched my bikes. As I reported previously (http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2011/10/three-years.html) strong back pain has changed my life in an unexpected way. Here is the full story of what has happened and what I have done about it.

The morning after an exceptionally hard ride in mid August (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106388342 and http://vlaamsewielrenner.blogspot.com/2011/08/manfred-von-rindomeisteradded-two-new.html), I woke up with a slight but persistent pain in my lower back. I thought I must have slept particularly deep after such an exhausting ride, and my muscles must have relaxed so much that a disk had slipped a bit. This happened to me on occasions many years ago, and the pain always disappeared after some days or weeks.

Alas, this was not the case this time. Worse, I noticed that on subsequent rides my usual back pain while riding got worse, requiring me to take more frequent breaks to relax my back. A longer ride in Austria (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113853004) was particularly painful and I remember being happy that I was back in the hotel after what was a mere 160km and not even 2,000m of climbing - laughable by my standards. The much harder aluminium bike I ride in Germany and Austria was not kind on my back, even on well paved roads.

I managed to complete four more really tough rides back in Japan, despite the pain. My last ride on 1 October was a rather easy one, except for the fact that I did Jinba-san partly by bike, partly pushing my bike, to the utter surprise of all hikers.

At some point during the first week of October, the back pain increased significantly, and it became worse every day. It was so bad that I knew immediately something was really wrong and I had to get an MRI done. I went to the closest orthopaedic clinic with an MRI, and after a short negotiation I was indeed able to get the MRI done right away.

The doctor glanced at the images on his screen for a few seconds, mumbled hernia and said this was to be expected with age and would happen more and more often.

The MRI image indeed showed some protrusion of two disks, similar to what I had ten years ago. Only back then the pain had developed more slowly over time, and was of a more bearable nature.

He prescribed me a few days worth of Mohrus (ketoprofen) tape and handed me a few leaflets explaining how to do exercises to strengthen my back muscles once I'm better. In the meantime, he wanted me to come back every few days for "rehabilitation" exercises, i.e. electric treatment, massage etc.

Tape and electric treatment helped a bit, but not for long. The following week the pain kept increasing to unbearable levels. Always the left side of the back and right down to the left knee. The pain became so strong I could no longer walk properly.

I went back to the doctor, several times. I got his favorite NSAID pain killer (Loxonin = loxoprofen), more tape, more electric treatments. He refused to give me PPIs to protect my stomach as he claimed the insurance claims bureau would reject reimbursement and would even blacklist him for all his claims (a totally absurd claim, but one that is made frequently by Japanese orthopaedists who stopped learning anything new about their field 20 or more years ago). I had to take my own omeprazole pills which I had bought in the US over the counter, just in case.

Overall, he showed little sympathy with me for my pain, belittling it as normal. When I asked for an epidural injection, he claimed I was not in the right condition for such a treatment. Another absurd claim, which only proved he was both clueless and wanted to avoid doing anything that would take more than 30 seconds of his time or refer me to another doctor and thus lose me as a source of income.

On another day of intense pain that kept me away from sitting down and mustering enough concentration for work, I had enough and went to another orthopaedist close to my office. He was a lot more understanding and willing to take the time to discuss treatment options and prescribe a couple of different pain killers for me to try out, each in sufficient quantity so I did not have to come back just 2-3 days later. I had no difficulty getting a PPI (lanzoprazole) prescribed either. He also offered to do an epidural injection, though ideally only a few days later at his own practice (he was working only one afternoon at the clinic I had chosen).

I tried out Lyrica but it made me feel so bad that I had to stop taking it after just two doses. I was back on a combination of two ketoprofen or loxoprofen patches per day, combined with Celecox (celecoxib) and lanzoprazole. Eventually, I managed to convince him to write his very first script for Nexium, the most effective PPI which had launched only a few weeks earlier in Japan (many years after the rest of the world).

In the meantime, I had contacted an uncle of mine in Germany who himself is a hospital-based orthopaedist specialising on the lower back (what luck!). He had already advised me ten years ago on my first bout of hernia. I sent him the MRI and X-ray images which I had bought of the clinic and eventually managed to speak to him by phone. He had uploaded the images into their hospital system and was impressed by their quality.

He quite categorically denied that I had hernia. Some protrusion was normal for one third of people of my age and my type of pain did not fit the pain caused by a disk pushing onto the spinal nerve. (And indeed, it was very different from what I had experienced ten years ago.)

Instead, he suggested that one or two disks may have ruptured. Not only did my pain symptoms point to discogenic pain, but the images also showed so-called high-intensity zones (HIZs) at the edge of two of the disks, and these are normally an indication of rupture.

Normally, disks do not contain nerves, so a rapture should not be felt. In my case, nerves may have grown into the disk(s) - perhaps because of the frequent and prolonged pressure to which they were subjected when I was riding road bikes?

The left-hand image shows a HIZ at the left side of disk L4/5. This would fit the fact that I have strong pain on the left side of my back, going down into my leg, but not beyond the knee.

The second image here shows a HIZ at the back-side of the L3/4 disk. This led at least me to hypothesise that this was the disk that ruptured already in August.

My uncle suggested I should get three epidural injections, sequenced a few days apart. This might both help me to alleviate the strong pain, and also serve as a further diagnostic tool.

I had these done at the second doctor. In case of hernia, injecting a combination of a local anaesthetic (10ml 5% Xylocaine = lidocaine) and a cortisone = steroid (3.3ml dexamethasone) works wonders. The anaesthetic takes away the pain right away, and the steroid takes away the inflammation which may then give pain relief for many weeks or even months.

In my case, initially nothing happened other the skin around my bottom becoming slightly numb. The pain persisted unabated. A few hours later the steroid started working, on my entire body. The back pain went down to much more bearable levels, but I also experienced the typical side effects of too much adrenaline, just like after a very long bike ride: headache, dryness, racing heart etc.

The doctor was puzzled by this, but to me it was already clear that these injections could not have a better effect, as the epidural channel was not connected to the real source of the pain: a raptured disk.

I went back for the second and third injections because they provided still some relief and my uncle had suggested to be persistent. By the third injection, however, I felt rather tense about these injections as they were somewhat painful without the use of a local anaesthetic and dangerous without proper anti-sceptic cleaning of my lower back (an infection in the spine would be disastrous). This probably caused the doctor to pass the needle into my bone rather than the epidural channel and I continued to feel the pain from this mistake for many weeks.

By this time, I had agreed with my uncle what the next steps should be. He said I should get discography done to confirm the hypothesis about the disk raptures and confirm which of the two disks was the real problem.

Discography is nicely described in this short video: http://www.spine-health.com/video/discography-video-non-surgical-back-pain-diagnostic-procedure. This intervention helps to identify which disc, if any, is causing the pain, and why.

If these interventions then confirmed the hypothesis, I should undergo intradiscal electrothermal annuloplasty = IDET, described nicely here: http://www.spine-health.com/video/idet-interactive-video. By literally boiling the painful disc, nerves that have grown into the disc are meant to be destroyed and proteins of the disc are meant to be changed which in turn should lead to some kind of regeneration of the disc. Nobody seems to know how this actually works - but in about half of the cases it is effective.

I asked the Japanese doctor what about doing discography. He reluctantly admitted that was a possibility, but said it would require me going to a hospital and they would then likely want to put me under the knife which he thought was the wrong answer.

Rather than taking more chances and arguing my way through Japanese medicine, I decided it was much easier to put myself into the good care of my uncle - or rather his boss, the medical director of a hospital division specializing in "conservative and operative spinal therapy", as my uncle didn't want to take responsibility for treating relatives and friends.

After some back and forth on the dates and me having to cancel some professional commitments, I flew to Germany in mid November. My uncle and aunt took good care of me and until the actual hospitalization, I stayed two nights with them.

I spent the first morning getting checked up and signed into the hospital, and prepaying for the interventions to come. I received a lot of attention and everybody was exceedingly nice to me - quite a difference from visiting a hospital in Japan where everything works like in a factory (for better and worse). The afternoon I was free to do some sightseeing in this beautiful town of Germany which I had never properly visited before.

The next morning my uncle drove me into the hospital for a 6:30am start. The medical director came by for a quick check-in. This was the first time for me to meet him - up to then my uncle and other younger doctors had done all the preparations. Shortly after 7:00am I was being rolled into the operating room.

It took at least half an hour to get the room prepared (so much again for German efficiency!) - plenty of time for me lying on the operating table to chat with the nurses about my past life as a paramedic. I was nervous - pulse at 80, blood pressure at 140, despite the early hour. Still nothing as nervous as at the start of a cycling race when my pulse was typically at 100! I remembered to ask for a protective cover for my lower parts. Lots of x-rays would be taken during the intervention to help guide the needles being inserted into my disks.

The medical director started injecting a local anaesthetic into my right side of my lower back. Soon after he pushed the pretty thick needle through my skin. Actually, it isn't even a needle - there is no sharp tip, so it took some force to push it through my skin. From then on, he went subsequently deeper through many layers of tissue (8cm in total) to finally reach the first disk. The deeper he got, the more I would feel the advancing needle. Penetrating the disk took some force and was associated with quite some pain - itself an indication that the disk was not without issues.

Next he started pushing contrast media into the disk. If this disk was the cause of my pains, building up pressure inside the disk this way should produce the same pain I normally experience. Alas it did not. Only when 1.5ml was injected did I feel some pain - but not the same pain I normally have.

Needle out and a new needle into the next disk. He deliberately did not tell me in which sequence he was doing the disks as to avoid biasing my perceptions. However, I had already guessed he would have started with the lower of the two and now noticed that the next penetration was higher up. He had to admit defeat :)

Same procedure again, only this time it was harder to reach the disk and also to penetrate it. Not a great

feeling having someone basically poke a knife twice into your back!

Now only 0.7ml of contrast media already produced a lot of pain - though not really the same pain going into my leg that I normally experience. This led him to conclude that proceeding to the next intervention (IDET) was not indicated. He counselled that IDET was an irriversible procedure and he would recommend it only if discography had produced clearer results.

That was in some sense still a disappointment, because I had hoped for some kind of intervention that would finally stop this immense pain!

As with the previous disk, he completed the procedure by injecting a bit of a local anaesthetic into the disk, which would give me amazing relief from all the back pain for the next 16 hours or so (and thus also helped to reconfirm the source of my trouble).

I spent one night in the hospital recovering from the intervention which had swollen my back quite a bit - but took only half a day to disappear again.

The next morning, before leaving the hospital to spend the weekend with my parents, he gave me an epidural injection. Unlike in Japan, this one was masterly placed into the epidural channel just between my bad disks, local anaesthetic and proper disinfection included, done by the medical director without any assistance.

Alas, the effect was no different from the injections in Japan: no immediate relief, and only modest relief from the cortisone over the weekend.

The medical director and my uncle got together over the weekend to discuss my case. For some reason, the medical director hadn't remembered that all my pain was on the left side. When he realised it, all the pieces fell into place. The above X-ray images of the discography show that while the contrast media stayed inside the L3/4 disk, it escaped to the left from L4/5, indicating a completely ruptured disk. Moreover, as a result of the leak, it was not possible to build up the pressure needed to produce my normal back pain, so this explained the initially negative finding.

When I called my uncle Monday morning, he said I should come quickly for an IDET intervention, and not another epidural injection as initially planned.

I was in my hospital bed at 11am, awaiting to be pushed into the OP momentarily, but it eventually took another three hours and a short visit from the medical director before I was really there.

Similar setup as last time - only that I forgot to ask for the X-ray projection until it was too late!

Once again, the needle was inserted into my back and into my L4/5 disk. The first attempt to place the thermal catheder failed as it landed it the wrong place inside the disk (see the first image on the left). Pushing it in and pulling it out was no fun - a very peculiar pain inside my disk which I have never experienced before and hope to never experience again.

In the second attempt, the catheder reached the left-side of the disk. Now temperature was put onto the catheder, in steps up to 85 degrees. The disk became increasingly painful. I agreed to endure for as long as was necessary to achieve a good outcome. When it was over and I looked up, the timer showed 6:53 minutes.

The heat-related pain did not disappear after the catheder was gone, though injecting another round of local anaesthetic at least killed the normal back pain for the next 16 hours. During that time, the heat pain started subsiding, though not disappearing completely. That took another few weeks.

In the first few days after the intervention, I felt remarkably good, except for short bouts of minor heat pain in the disk. However, almost as

soon as I was back in Japan, did the back pain become stronger again. What a disappointment!

Fortunately it is not at the level it was before the intervention, which was truly unbearable. But it is not at a level at which I can be happy, and I am still dependent on taking NSAIDs every day because without them the pain swells back to bad levels.

The prospect of no more improvement makes me wonder what my future will look like: drug dependent until the rest of my life? Not a good prospect, considering the long-term side effects NSAIDs have (chance of earlier death), not even considering the prospect of never getting back onto a bike.

My uncle still thinks I may improve in a few months' time. And in the worst case? Well, he hasn't seen old people with discogenic pain - i.e. maybe I'm finally pain free in 20 years or so...

After six weeks of mandatory rest from exercise, I have started a careful programme of back exercises and walking/hiking. Let's see what this will bring - at a minimum some positive feelings!

* * *

Some final thoughts. Why did this happen to me? Did I overdo the cycling? No doctor wants to confirm, the logic being that many people cycle at least as hard as I did and they don't have their disks rupture, and most people with ruptured disks are not cyclists. Personally I still think that all the strains on my back while riding up to 13 hours a day leaning my body forward must have at least contributed to the problem. The back pain while riding was a warning sign, but as it always disappeared as soon as I got off the bike, I did not take it seriously - it was merely a big annoyance.

Was it perhaps the position on my bikes which was wrong? This is another possibility, as I preferred to sit relatively high and lean forward as much as possible, to gain leverage in my legs and be aerodynamic. To do what I did this felt perfect - except for the back pain. I did experiment with a somewhat lower saddle height, but this did not reduce the pain while riding, and when too low went into my knees. So I am not sure my fitting was poor. If I ever get into the position of riding again, I will of course have a proper bike fit done, just to be safe.

January 2 - Manfred von Holstein Memorial Hakone Ekiden Ride

2011-12-30T16:41:00.002+09:00

Just a note to mention that the Hakone Ekiden ride is coming up soon, on the morning of January 2. The weather forecast is good, as usual: partly sunny and a high of 10 degrees C for Tokyo on the 2nd. Of course, it will be cold in the early morning.

The planning this year is entirely at the TCC site (to the extent you can call it "planning", given Ludwig's absence this year). The group will use his instructions from last year. Details can be found here on the TCC BBS.

For anyone not familiar with this glorious event, reports of 2011 can be found here. And links to prior years can be found here.

_____________________________

Well, another Ekiden ride has come and gone. I had hoped to ride with both my sons, but Henry awoke with a mild fever, so it was just Geoffrey and me. We stayed off of the Ekiden route until somewhere past Yokohama Station so that we could make quick progress without all the red lights, spectators and police, and so keep ahead of the runners despite a late start. This worked fine and we joined we were only waved off the runners' route once, by a policeman who seemed to be sending all of the cyclists off of the "bypass" route and onto the old road past Totsuka Station. The routes reconnected a bit later. We were presumably behind the TCC group from the point where we joined the route -- did not see any familiar faces.

We rode past the thousands and thousands of spectators to Odawara, where we took a long stop and watched the runners pass, then hopped the train home. Mt. Fuji was obscured by clouds, and it was not quite the same without doing the final climb to Hakone -- not nearly as much exercise and not the same intense cheers from the crowd as on the climb. But the seaside was spectacular, the roads were dry, and it was great to do this with Geoffrey during his short winter break visit to Tokyo.

Done with our ride, at an Odawara 7-11

The final left turn before the Odawara checkpoint

Toyo University has a big lead already in Odawara.
Kashiwabara, their "king of the mountains", extended it to 5+ minutes
breaking his own record on the climb to Ashinoko/Hakone

Waseda is in second place at the end of Day 1

Cold Valley

2011-12-30T15:55:00.000+09:00

The cold sky lightens, 6:30AM December 30, on the cold Chuo Line
back from cold Otsuki, as we approach cold Uenohara

For at least the past month, Jerome has been talking about a "repeat" of last year's attempt to complete that most difficult of winter ultra-endurance cycling events, the "inland mountain route" from Tokyo to Kobe on the last two days of the year, arriving just in time to join the Beeren Club for a ride up the route to sacred Mt. Rokko ("Rokko-san") for the ritual viewing of the first sunrise of the New Year (the "Hinode").

Your humble correspondent joined the first leg of the trip last year, as far as snowy Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture (host to the 1998 WINTER Olympics) ... then hopped a train home. This year, with my older son back in Tokyo from university for a very short of visit, I told Jerome that I could not join him.

On a family overnight trip to Izu this Monday/Tuesday, our shinkansen train was delayed in both directions, because of snow on the tracks between Maebara and Nagoya. I fired off an email to Jerome -- if there was snow on the relatively low-lying outskirts of Kansai around Maebara, what would the mountain valleys and passes be like Northeast of there? Surely, only the most courageous (or foolish) cyclist would even try to find out.

On Thursday morning Jerome called. "You know, the weather has become much warmer and has been dry since Monday, I've been watching the forecast and I think I should be able to do it." True, it was noticeably warmer in Tokyo on Thursday (low of 4 degrees C, high of 11, according to my morning newspaper), and if this trend held then it would be much better than what we experienced last year. Jerome said he wanted to get an earlier start than last year, 2AM, so he could be in the Kiso Valley (or over Kamikochi ... madness in trying that route) early in the afternoon.

I hated to see him try this alone, and also wanted a good test of my new dynamo lighting setup, so told him that I might join the first leg -- just the ride out of Tokyo in the dark, assuming I could make it out of the office at a decent hour on the last day of the year, get my bike ready, get some sleep, and manage to stumble out of bed in time for a 2AM start. No need to wait or call if I was not out front and ready to go.

I awoke at 1:45AM after only a few hours of sleep. Tired. We were on the way from my house before 2:15. The weather was not so cold in Tokyo, but he mentioned that Yazaki-san, the dean of the Beeren Club, had told him it was snowing in Nagano on Thursday. Jerome had given up the idea of Kamikochi passage, and was instead aiming for Nakasendo through the Kiso Valley. This should have sent me right back to bed.

The first leg was uneventful, other than a gradually increasing headwind. The Shimano dynamo hub and Phillips Saferide LED worked beautifully. We took Yaen-Kaido, then Machida-Kaido and the south side of Lake Tsuikui, joining Route 20 (Koshu Kaido) just over the hill west of Takao. This route is almost exactly the same distance as going via Takao, but avoids one climb of several hundred meters, in exchange for a few shorter climbs. Neither route has any significant traffic between 2AM and 4AM!

It was just as we passed Tsukui-ko that the weather started to get really cold. At a tunnel before the bridge over the lake, the temperature gauge said it was minus 3 degrees C -- and we had not even started the long climb inland up the valley to Sasago. Rock sand had been spread on the bridge to prevent black ice. We made our first convenience store stop at a 7-11 just over 50 kms into the ride. Even Jerome put on some shoe covers, though he did not yet avail himself of a jacket.

According to Garmin Connect, the AVERAGE temperature for the entire 80km ride was -2.8 degrees C (or 26.9 degrees F) -- and that includes a first 20 km that was mostly well above zero degrees C (or 32 degrees F). Between 4 and 6AM, on the ride out to Otsuki, it must have been -4 or -5 degrees. My water bottles were frozen within minutes of the 7-11 refill, even though I had added hot water from the convenience store's thermos.

At least my feet were warm. I had used a combination of thin wool socks, shoe liners, Gore windstopper/felt-lined overshoes, and "kairo" mini chemical warmers, and this managed to barely keep the cold at bay from my toes. But I had not planned on real sub-zero temperatures. After the first rest stop, as I shivered through a few short downhills before my engine heated up again, I thought my face would turn to ice and fall off. My Sugoi-brand head covering, usually just fine for Kanto mid-winter rides, was inadequate. And even my Nalini winter tights, Assos winter jacket and Craft inner layer with "windstopper" front panel were too thin. I bid Jerome farewell at Otsuki, around 5:45AM -- I would have slowed him down significantly if I continued. I sought refuge in a convenience store by Otsuki Station. My skin was very cold to the touch, not just on my extremities.

I hopped the 6:17AM train back toward Takao, then on to Tachikawa, then the Nambu Line to Musashi Mizunoguchi. Each of these three was a local train, so the doors opened every 2-3 minutes on average. I would just start to warm up from a weak heater under the seat when the train car's 8 double doors would open, admitting blasts of cold air and returning the car to sub-zero. It was a cold 2-hour ride home. Only on the last train, from Musashi Mizunoguchi to Kaminoge, did I finally feel at all warm. Then a hot bath and sleep.

I got an email note that Jerome made it to Kofu by 7:30AM ... but hit strong, gusty headwinds thereafter. He eventually turned around on the climb past Nirasaki, to return to Nirasaki station and get a train for Shiojiri, the entrance to Nakasendo/Kiso Valley. Did the weather actually get better as he headed by train further inland, to the NW, and to a higher elevation? I doubt it. Did he have the sense to stay on a train through Nakasendo and to Gifu, where he was planning to stay with friends? I hope so. Stay tuned.

Update, Evening of December 30: Jerome reports that he remounted the bike at Shiojiri and made it through the Kiso Valley, suffering continually in (cold) headwinds, and arrived at his friends' place in Gifu Prefecture. He was completely knackered (if I've got that Brit expression right) and suggested he might try to find a less mountainous route for day #2 of his ride. At least the weather forecast for Nagoya/Osaka area looks dry, partly sunny, and low/high temperatures of 1 and 10 degrees C respectively, so this bodes well for his chances.

Update, New Year's Day: I received a call from Jerome just after midnight, reporting that he was approaching Rokko-san and Kobe, and another note this morning that he had made it successfully. He departed at 10AM on the 31st from SE Gifu and rode hard, via the North side of Lake Biwa and the Japan Sea (the city of Obama), then over some (icy) mountain roads into Kyoto-fu and on to Kobe. The weather cooperated on the 31st. The hardest part was the headwinds and cold after Kofu, in the hours after we parted ways on the morning of the 30th.

Chesini Storm Trooper

2011-12-12T00:51:00.000+09:00

New bike for my son Henri.
Almost ready. Will replace his wonderful size 52 green Giant bike. HIs is now almost as tall as I am. As a front derailleur ist just a waste of money and additional weight in Bremen I connected instead a storm bell to the left STI lever. Always wanted to have one when I was a boy.

It works wonderful, when you shift the bell starts to become very noisy. This one commands respect on the streets of Bremen.

Union Fixie

2011-12-05T07:43:00.002+09:00

Just completed yesterday the built-up for my first fixie, just in time for a test ride on the weekend. Red theme on a blue basis.

More photos here.

In September I bought an old Union frame from the Seventies at a very good price, an opportunity too good to be missed. As nevertheless I didn't want to spend too much money I thought that a fixie would be a nice and inexpensive project. As usual the right parts accumulated slowly over the course of time. I had no previous experience with a fixie drive train so I had to ask some experts for help and naturally I also made some stupid mistakes. Note in case you don't know: Track bike cogs and BMX cogs have different thread diameters.

Union used to be a large Dutch bicycle manufacturer in the same class as Gazelle, Batavus and Sparta. The company is defunct now, but they made mainly Dutch shopping bikes just as their competitors. Tom probably knows precisely what I am talking about. For marketing and image reasons Union sponsored a racing team in the Seventies. But as they were not able to produce racing frames by themselves, they asked Motta in Italy to weld the frames and labeled them "Union". This is the story I was told about the frame I bought.

I assembled quite a mixed bag of components. I got some mid-priced Campa Record brake levers and Campa Gran Sport brakes as well as a NOS Chorus crank from 2006. I also found some beautiful Mavic 500 hubs and Mavic clincher rims.

Again, as usual I saw some nice parts that I desperately wanted to have and which made the whole project expensive beyond reason. The red saddle is brand new, a replica of an old version and while it is still much more affordable then a carbon saddle it is still way more expensive that it should be. I also bought new hoods for the brake levers which cost about the same money as the levers itself and a NOS 3ttt Gimondi handle bar. But I just love the Gimondi handle bar shape which is a hybrid bewteen a classic racing bar and a track bar. And when I saw the red Veloflex tires at an internet shop in Toulouse I wanted to have them too. Luckily the tax return came just in time to pay everything off.

The weather was miserable today so I just took the bike to the Universum. This was the first time I rode a fixie for a longer distance. David and david gave me the chance to ride their fixies for a few meters in Tokyo but today was very much different. As could be expected I am too stupid to ride a fixie and I need a fixie training camp. So lets see if I can get used to it.

If not I am working on my new Chesini winter bike. Life has alternatives.

Yabitsu in December -- a Reminder

2011-12-05T01:45:00.001+09:00

Mt. Fuji seen while descending the South side of Yabitsu Pass, with viewpoint/tower in foreground.

Sunday December 4 served as a reminder of what a great place Tokyo is for a road cyclist. The weather was Spring-like (sunny and a high around 20 degrees C), and the countryside was full of cyclists. Jerome and I were able to enjoy a spectacular ride through hills, forests, by lakes and along the seacoast, and hop a train to be home around 4PM.

120 km

We went out One-kansen, around the North side of Tsuikui-ko, over to Miyagase-ko, up to Yabitsu Pass, then down the south side and on to the coast line, which we followed back to Kamakura. Not a particularly long or tough ride, but just spectacular.

Some road construction on the "normal route" around North side of Tsukui let us here.
Can you see Mt. Fuji in the distance -- under the wires?

The Miyagase-ko rest area was buzzing with people and their dogs, not to mention cyclists.
We met a couple, 65 yr olds, who live in Fujino and were going to ride up Yabitsu.
The husband stayed on the big ring and beat me to the top. He said they ride 13-15K km each year.

Miyagase-ko from the rest area. Xmas lights ready on the lower left.

A river runs through it -- the lower part of the valley on the North approach to Yabitsu.

At the beach near Enoshima. Lots of sailboats and surfers today, December 4!

Wheel No. 00001 (and dynamo hub)

2011-11-27T20:01:00.001+09:00

Today I built my first wheel -- Shimano dynamo hub (DH-3N80), 32 DT Swiss Competition (2-1.8-2 double butted spokes), Ambrosio clincher rim. It will not be my last.

Nice instructional DVD by Bill Mould, an Alexandria Virginia based wheelbuilder, makes it easy as 1-2-3. One mistake in lacing required me to backtrack 5 minutes or so, but otherwise it went quite smoothly.

Moved some bike tools indoors for comfort, and so I could watch the DVD as I worked.
Note to self: any future housing must have room for a bike shop area indoors.

... Now I just need to wait for the LED light I ordered for use with this ...

I should have gotten a truing stand, tension meter, etc. and learned how to build wheels years ago. I suspect I would have had many fewer wheel problems if I had been prepared to maintain them properly. Checked the tension and trued 2 other wheelsets, and replaced the bearings in the front hub of a commuting wheel as well.
___________________________________________

UPDATE: I ordered a Busch + Mueller Lumotec IQ Cyo Plus LED front light, and a Philips LED SafeRide dynamo front light 60 Lux from Bike24 in Germany. They arrived Tuesday so I was able to try them in the evening. I wish there were some darker streets near my house ... It was easy to connect these -- removing the front brake and then using the brake bolt to hold the light's base/adapter to the frame, then winding the wire around the right fork. The Shimano hub has a very easy to use terminal for the wires -- easy to plug in/unplug when you remove the wheel.

The B + M is smaller and lighter than the Philips. It also was a bit cheaper (46 vs 62 Euro). But I think I made a mistake in ordering the IQ Cyo Plus -- a model without any "senso" (automatic light detector) or a manual on/off switch. The IQ Cyo T senso plus -- which Yan (commenter below) has -- would be a better choice. Anyway, the B + M has a very bright "standlight" which runs from a capacitor and stays on for several minutes even when the hub is not spinning. The main light is also quite bright -- significantly brighter than my Gentos LEDs.

But it has an odd beam pattern, with a bright trapezoid in the middle and some weird dark spots. This would take time to get used to it, I think. And the model I ordered is not "switchable" -- and seems designed for a rim "bottle" dynamo where you switch it off by lifting the dynamo away from the rim of the wheel. My error, though I could add a manual switch if I wanted to ... A mixed verdict.

The Philips is impressive. It is really bright (brighter than the B + M, I think, and WAY brighter than my Gentos LED lights). It has a very smooth, even beam pattern, which projects a carpet of bright light a long way ahead onto the road as you ride, and also manages to throw a bit of light wider to the sides and onto the ground near the front of the bike -- perfect. Also, I got the right model -- with off/on switch, and a separate cable if I want to add a rear LED as well, or connect to another device/charger. The standlight is dimmer than the B + M, but still enough for checking a map and being visible to others. This is consistent with the results of a tester/blogger in the Netherlands reports -- it seems comparable to the much more expensive Supernova E3 Pro or Schmidt Edelux.

The dynamo and Philips LED Saferide light are staying on my commuting fixie for the time being.

At the Kawasaki Keirin Track

2011-11-26T20:46:00.001+09:00

With the brakes and bullhorns off, and 48x14 gearing,
my commuting fixie is a real track bike!

MOB did it at end of 2008, others have since, and now it was my turn to join Hiroshi and his Keihin Pista club for one of their sessions on the Kawasaki keirin track -- to ride the "bank". Gunnar and Tim S. also joined for this event. Tim mentioned that he lived in Portland at one point, and offered to provide info and intros to the cycling (and cycle racing) scene before my visit in February.

It was a great way to spend Saturday afternoon, and I look forward to another visit soon. It took awhile to get used to riding high on the steep banked curve, but it was much easier to get to the top of the bank than I had thought it would be, since on the keirin track the approach is very gradual from the flat to the top of the bank.

There were actually people in the stands as we rode ... all of whom were just there to bet on and watch via big screen some keirin races being held elsewhere (Shizuoka, today) and maybe have some shochu. It was great to go into the velodrome the back way, pass the large room where some of the riders were hanging out, schmoozing, training and tinkering with gear, and to emerge in the infield with music playing and an audience.

Next time I will need to remember to count the number of one lap "pulls" that I do when
we ride in a line. Lots and lots of laps, just not sure how many.

Gunnar's track bike -- Chrome frame, chrome wheels, chrome stem and bars and post!

Hiroshi, Gunnar and Tim are #2, 3 and 4 in the line. Tim was riding the bike Eric borrowed for Saiko --
the GS Astuto carbon frame with Ultegra DI2 electronic shifters and GS Astuto 50mm carbon tubulars.

And there they go!

Practicing my track stand (?), smiling after a try at the Flying 200m

Time flew by, it got colder, dusk neared, and it was time to go, as the facility began to shut down.

Industrial strength rollers for riders to warm up before the race.

More rollers, Hiroshi with his Nagasawa track bike,
and the entrance to the area where the keirin riders were hanging out.

I'm Going to Bike School!

2011-11-19T12:06:00.001+09:00

"Congratulations! Your application for attending classes atUnited Bicycle Institute has been processed and you are now officially enrolledin the Steel TIG Welding Frame Buildingclass, February 13-24, 2012 (class# 2012-59) in Portland, Oregon."

The plan is for this to be my Audax randonneuring frame. Design suggestions are welcome. It will be TIG welded, so a bit more flexibility in design than if it were brazed/lugged, even as a first time builder, though I doubt I will be trying anything 'curly' with the chain/seat stays. Who knows, depending on how it turns out, it may not be the last one I build ...

News from PE UK

2011-11-19T07:17:00.003+09:00

its been a while positivistas...

News from PE UK. Another wonderful trip to the mountains North of Madrid last weekend. The Hotel Palacio Miraflores really is an undiscovered gem. Try the gourmet package - as we have twice this year - and had the two best dinners of the year... oh, and the riding is good too! (although a bottle of champagne, a couple of cocktails, a bottle of red and a cigar don`t make for comfortable hill climbing the following day)

And a new bike... long story but we are now the proud owners of a `curly` Hetchins Magnus Opus with campag 50th Anniversary componentry throughout. This is a thing of rare beauty. Here I am taking possession from previous owner Len (archivist of the Hetchins society) more pics of the bike here.

http://www.hetchins.org/504mo-05.htm

Love to all J & D.

Oh, and we're getting married next year...

Saiko 2011 - Race of Destiny

2011-11-14T07:51:00.001+09:00

I knew it had to be a race of destiny, as the hand of God seemed to part the clouds and the sun shown down upon the start area at Saiko, as I neared the race registration on Saturday afternoon.

Mt Fuji from our lodgings.

Another year, another trip to Saiko for beautiful fall weather and foliage, a weekend at the mountain and a day full of exciting races. Gunnar, Jerome and I stayed at the same well-outfitted, comfortable Sasuga cottage in Oishi, Kawaguchi-ko as Ludwig and I had last year, and cooked a riders' dinner of pasta, as well as sampling a number of the local products. We could not find fresh local vegetables in November, so instead we sampled the products of a number of micro breweries, mostly dunkel (dark beer) and weizen (wheat beer). Fujizakura Kogen; Fujiyama; and one more brewer whose name I've already forgotten. All very nice, even the forgotten one. I was looking for Baird Beer, since I met one of the managers there recently, but did not see any on the shelf in Kawaguchiko.

As for the results, EricinIkebukuro from TCC did well in the X-class in his first JCRC event, 14th place, with an average speed over 41 kph, and he should get a decent class placement. I think we will see him again next year on the JCRC circuit.

Only one "bike leaning" photo this year.

... and one "bike hanging" photo for good measure.

Gunnar, making a guest appearance for Ludwig, whose back is still giving him problem, easily hung with the B-class group for 49 out of 50 km, and was positioning himself for the final sprint ... when he got hemmed in between 2 riders, with someone cutting him off from the left and forcing him into a crash. Fortunately, no broken bones, and it looks as if with a new derailleur hanger and some wheel truing the equipment should be fine.

Far right - Gunnar with B class, after 2 laps, Jerome's finger pointing him out.

Broken derailleur hanger, blood on elbow -- typical race stuff, as Hiroshi looks on

Hiroshi made a good showing in 60km S-Class on his beautiful Colnago ... but was blocked by a crash in front of him within 3 km of the finish and so was not able to contest for the podium. He passed Jerome and me driving home along Doshi michi in his very, very small car, and gave us a friendly "shave and hair cut, 2 bits" honk of his horn.

It's all good!

I enjoyed my C Class race, and managed to do well enough so I should not get bounced to D at least. I stayed on the right/outside edge of the group the entire race, so I would be in the "lee" protected from the headwind as much as possible in the far side of the lake. This worked well for the most part, and on the first 2 laps I was able to conserve energy and yet creep up the group so I was relatively near the front (no more then 20-30% of the way back, on the far right) when we hit the turn and the short nasty uphill 2 km from the start/goal. Even though plenty of people passed me on the short uphill, I managed to keep in contact with the group each time and recover quickly.

Best team kit

On the last lap, on the penultimate turn on the far side of the lake, about 3 km to go, I was pretty far back in the group and went into the turn again on the far right ... but there were 2 riders directly ahead of me, and the front one slowed suddenly. I hit my brakes to avoid barreling into the rider directly in front, and my rear wheel locked and skidded left a few inches. Fortunately, I did not lose balance, and the 5-10 riders behind me in the group were all on my left, so no one hit me either ... but I had decelerated way too much and was off the back just as the acceleration started. I hauled ass and caught the back of the group just before the hill, but was pretty much out of gas and lost contact again ... finishing about 100 meters behind the main bunch at an average speed of approx 40.4 kph. I was 46th out of 60 who registered and maybe 56 who started, 52 of whom finished (or 94 out of 188 in the 3 C-class heats, measured by overall time). This kind of racing requires repeated intense bursts of energy, and I top out far below the level it takes to do really well.

Okay, maybe I was misled by the shaft of sunlight piercing the clouds on Saturday afternoon, and it was not a race of destiny. But it was fun.

Jerome and I rode back to Tokyo, leaving Saiko around 3:45PM, as Gunnar would need to hop the train home with his non-functioning derailleur. It was dark within an hour, as we passed Yamanakako.

Only 100 km more to ride.

Days 3 and 4 - Maizuru to Hiroshima-ken

2011-11-06T13:53:00.000+09:00

The P.E. communications base has just received the latest in a series of updates from Jerome as he continues on the road westward. He stopped in Maizuru on Friday night in "real" lodgings, then braved the rain much of Saturday along the Japan Sea coast past Tottori and to Yonago, and headed inland from there late Saturday evening.

He eventually stopped to sleep -- in an enclosed bus stop, Brevet style.

When he consulted an elderly woman local resident this morning about the location of the next convenience store or other source of breakfast, he was invited inside her house to dine, as she took pity on a bedraggled cyclist.

He made it to Miyoshi (in Hiroshima Prefecture, but about 65 km NE of Hiroshima City), and is hopping a train to start the process of drying out and resting so as to be presentable for Monday business meetings. Approximately 860 km in 3 1/2 days.

The route below is what was on the maps I handed to Jerome at Tsuruga. I'm not sure if is exactly the route he took, but should be very close.

Day Two -- Shokawa to Tsuruga (and beyond?)

2011-11-05T21:07:00.002+09:00

After a night in the comfort of the Sakaeya Ryokan in Shokawa, in deep rural Northwest Gifu, I awoke feeling at least as if at least my cold had not gotten any worse, and I could start day two on the bike without holding Jerome back, or doing myself any damage.

It was apparent from walking around the inn, and from the offer that we leave our bikes inside the front door, blocking access, that we might be the only guests. In the morning, when she brought coffee to our room and we settled up the bill, we asked the innkeeper about the place.

So, it must be quiet now, before the ski season. Do you get many guests in the winter? She replied, "Hmmmm, well I guess there is a little ski area up the valley ... " [Translation: "No guests in winter"]. Well, how about in the summer then? "It is pretty quiet around here in the summer." [Translation: "No guests then either."] The inn was in good shape, the room we stayed in looked near new. Finally, she volunteered, "sometimes we get a group that will stay when they play at the golf course up the road." When was the inn built? "This building, in 1989, ... but we have been open since the Taisho era, and are now the 3rd generation. We used to get merchants stopping through on their travels, but ever since the expressway was built ... not many people come around here."

I guess most businesspeople take the expressway, instead of riding their bicycle to a business meeting 900 km from home ...

We left in the fog and climbed very gradually (1-2-3% grades) out of the valley less than 100 meters vertically and 8 km or so further onto a plain where we reached a small settlement - Hirugano Kogen/Takasu Cho. There was a Daily Yamazaki convenience store, complete with benches across the front exterior, the main one occupied by a very satisfied looking cat. The cat clearly belonged to the store, as its water and food bowls were under the bench (Jerome noted that the cat's porcelain bowl was made in France, and of a type he had once imported into Japan, in a previous job many years ago -- yet another small contribution he has made to the welfare of Japan). The sun came out as we ate breakfast. A younger man waiting for a shuttle bus to take him to his job at an onsen chatted us up. When I mentioned to the older man at the cash register how calm ("otonashii") the cat seemed, he seemed genuinely glad that I had noticed and assured me that there was a second cat around that was the opposite, always hiding from customers and sneaking around. As we mounted our bikes to ride off, two very energetic looking old ladies pulled into the parking lot in a mini-car and literally applauded and cheered when they saw two odd foreign cyclists, just heading out.

With that send-off, and the fog completely burned off, we saw that the fall colors were still vibrant, the air clear and clean, and we were on the beginnings of a very gradual 20 km descent, much of it along a river valley. All seemed right in the world.

Hida Highway, Route 156, in Takasu

On the descent down Route 156 in Takasu

On this stretch, I saw a pension (inn) with the name "White Pecker". At first, I could not imagine why a pension might have that name (?), then it struck me -- the bird in "shiro tori" (White Bird) must be a wood pecker, not the swan that uses the same characters but is pronounced "haku cho" instead.

Anyway, we reached Shirotori and turned to the west onto a 400m elev climb, first up a circular bridge -- the Japanese road equivalent of a spiral staircase -- and then found yet another entrance to a road tunneling through a mountain, closed to bicycles. Instead we headed up the old road, far under a different expressway. Again, it was a connector to the mid-air Tokai Hokuriku Expressway, closed to bicycles.

Yes, the dot way up ahead is Jerome, now in good climbing form.

Now above the highway, looking back down at White Bird, Gifu

Cresting Aburazaka Pass ... shorts and short sleeves in the mountains in November!

Then we looped back and forth and eventually were above the same ribbon of road, reached Aburazaka Pass, and began almost 50 km of gradual downhill and flat, slowed only by a headwind as passed some long reservoirs and then descended the winding gorge of the Kuzuryu River. Neither of us knew what to expect here, and so it was a pleasant surprise that we found ourselves on a good road surface, without too much traffic, and on a cool sunny day even the reservoir was sparkling. We were very happy to emerge from the gorge into the flat area around Echizen Ohno, out of the mountains at last and ready for lunch of "rice omelet" and side dishes.

The next segment of our trip illustrates an important rule of cycling in Japan. Never assume just because a road is "National" instead of "Prefectural" that it will be a major route. And never assume the "Prefectural" one will not be. This seems especially to be the case in Fukui Prefecture. Fukui Prefecture seems to have more funds than the National government for road construction and repair. It is known as the "nuclear Ginza", the home to 13 nuclear power plants, the most concentrated in the world, and it looks very prosperous -- the biggest houses, largest birth weight babies, and most medical clinics per capita, also, according to an article in the most recent Businessweek.

We left Echizen Ohno and headed onto National Route 476, which seemed like the most direct road, bearing south of Fukui City -- hypotenuse instead of legs of the triangle. Strangely, it had no traffic. After a few kilometers we passed a "road closed" sign warning we would need to stop in 1 kilometer. Then a climb started, into the woods and the road narrowed to a single lane -- more of a "rindo" (forest road) than a "kokudo" (national road). We came up to the road construction sight, and found this.

The hole was very deep, and there was no obvious way around on either side as far as one could see. The helper down in the trench was using a cord to pull himself up and out of the steep bank. The bulldozer operator took one good look at us, then a long puff of his cigarette, then said "you cannot make it on a bicycle; you will need to carry it". It was a remarkable statement of the obvious -- no, my bike cannot ride through a 5 meter deep, 10 meter across hole! Yet it was also incredibly bold and helpful -- no effort to turn us back. No worry about liability if we should slip and fall clambering into or out of the hole. In fact, the helper in the trench with the cord held my bicycle so that I could lift it first and then climb out with my hands free. After offering our thanks, we continued up National Route 476, again no traffic for the next 10+ kms, as we climbed a few hundred meters to a pass, along the ridge, then down the other side and into and through another beautiful, isolated farming valley.

Route 476 looking back at Echizen Ohno

Kokudo, not Rindo (?)

After 22 km on Route 476, we finally reached PREFECTURAL Route 2. This looked to offer our last climb before Echizen City, again a short cut in exchange for going over a hill. On my map, it looked to be 200-250 meters to the top. But after a short uphill at 2-3% grade, we saw a new tunnel mouth, and the pavement inside the tunnel was tipped down away from us. Whoosh, we zoomed through the base of the mountain and came out on the plain just to the west of Echizen City, onto Route 8 -- a major road with heavy truck traffic, but at least a decent shoulder.

South of Echizen, Route 8 is unpleasant, but difficult to avoid. It heads Southwest over several small climbs and eventually reaches the Japan Seacoast offering a very nice view down the bay and across to the Tsuruga Peninsula, where the sun was already low in the sky.

Tsuruga Bay, Fukui

Tsuruga Peninsula, Fukui -- there is a nuclear plant just this side of the tip of the peninsula, in the dark shadow, just about 10 km from the city center, while the accident prone "Monju" proto-type fast breeder reactor is just around the corner

There were a few others at the rest area, snapping photos and admiring the view. And we met another long distance cyclist, traveling from Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, toward Osaka. He was stretched out on a bench resting, just like we do sometimes. And he had extra lights for night riding, large water bottle, and plenty of clothes, just like we do.

His bike, on the other hand, was a mama-chari, and he was going at a slightly slower pace. And he was missing a good number of teeth, and did not say anything about business meetings on Monday.

At least it was reassuring to know that we are not the only long distance cyclists in Japan.

Time to head for the train station.

I told Jerome that I had had enough, and planned to hop the train home from Tsuruga, another 20 km ahead. Two days and 410+ km was already too much, pushing my luck with the cold. And I would just hold him back if he wanted to press on far Friday night.

So we made good time through the traffic on Route 8 into the prosperous looking city, ate dinner at "Gusto" near the station, I gave Jerome a spare light, batteries and the complete set of photocopied maps, and we managed to attach his headlamp onto his helmet far enough back so it would not pull the helmet forward. Fed and restocked, he headed off another 50+ km to Maizuru, where he again found real sleeping accommodations Friday evening, to continue again on Saturday. I hopped the train back to Tokyo, and was in my house before 11PM.

Saturday I have been feeding him weather updates and mileage information. He was in heavy rain from midday to late afternoon when he reached Tottori, but the rain seems to have let up along the Japan Sea Coast as predicted, so he decided to continue on in the direction of Yonago by bicycle on Saturday evening. Any more detailed reports of Day 3 (or 4) will need to await his return.

Tokyo-Hiroshima Day One -- Norikura in November

2011-11-05T19:21:00.001+09:00

Jerome waits for me at the top of Norikura Rindo (2700m elev in the Japan Alps), wearing his new Rabobank helmet and all the warm clothes that he brought on this trip -- the only time I've ever seen him bundled up like this.

Over the past week, Jerome and I made plans for the previously announced trip from Tokyo to Sanda/Kobe, taking advantage of the Culture Day" holiday Thursday and a day off work Friday.

First, Jerome contacted Yazaki-san, a longstanding Beeren member who lives in Kofu at least part of the time, and who also has a small farm plot and house where he grew up in the country just west of the City, off of Prefectural Route 12 between Minami Alps and Nirasaki. Yazaki-san seemed happy to give us a place to stay Wednesday night, and mentioned that a few friends were already coming over in advance of a volunteer event on Thursday.

Next, the destination was changed to Hiroshima, as Jerome had business meetings there scheduled for Monday. We debated the details -- would we go through the Kiso Valley along Nakasendo, or over Norikura (2700 meters elev), or compromise with Nomugi Pass (1675 meters elev); would we stop in Takayama after 200 km and 3300 meters climbing, or press on so there was hope to get all the way to Hiroshima? In the end, we agreed only that we would need to stay flexible, adjusting our plan based on weather and progress.

Finally, I stayed up late Monday night waiting for sign-offs or comments on a document from client teams in NY and Tokyo, and awoke Tuesday with a sore throat. I took the train in to work, and it seemed like half the people in the train car were coughing or sneezing -- cold season is here, even though the weather outside feels more like September than November. I felt marginally better on Wednesday, and hoped that if I just did not get worse, I would be able to ride on Thursday. I needed to at least try. The weather forecast promised 3 days of mostly dry, warm weather for all of our route -- the last best chance to ride in higher mountains this year -- and I could not let Jerome down lightly.

Yazaki-san (on the right) and one of his Sophia cycling buddies.

The Yazaki collection.

A late night "snack" of tempura, persimmons from the garden, eggplant from the garden, and a range of other foods and drinks.

Yazaki-san picked us up at Nirasaki Station before 9:30. He and his friends seemed like a great group -- all of them cycled together at Sophia University 40+ years ago, they are now between 65 and 68 in age, and still ride together at times, even those who spent decades off the bike. When we arrived, just before 10PM, the table was laid for us with lots of dishes prepared from Yazaki-san's garden, including a large plate of delicious sliced up persimmons, and several tasty eggplant dishes. (Thursday's volunteer event consisted of a potato digging/harvesting experience at the farm for a group of handicapped persons from Tokyo -- some of the same members who had done the running leg of a triathlon, with Yazaki-san and his friends taking bike and swim segments, in Akita Prefecture last summer). They were enjoying a night of eating and drinking going strong when I awoke briefly at 1:30AM, two hours after I had gone to bed to try to get enough sleep so that I could ride early on Thursday.

Jerome and I woke early and left as quietly as possible, grabbed breakfast at the Lawson down the road, and were on the road in earnest by 5:45AM. I felt a bit weak and achy despite a decent night's sleep, and decided to try to ride well within myself and just not "blow a gasket" that would take me out of the trip before I managed to complete at least a day.

Route 12 is a very nice, quiet road for cyclists running North-South around the western edge of the Kofu metropolis, especially at 6AM on a holiday. I remembered taking it the other direction at 11PM on a Saturday night, on the first Brevet I rode in 2009, when it was equally quiet and smooth -- the experience that made me decide that riding at night in Japan was something I might enjoy a lot, though I had always avoided it before. We made good time over the first 12-13 km to the North, where Route 12 ends at National Route 20 -- exactly at the Nirasaki checkpoint for the Tokyo-Itoigawa Fast Run Classic.

The first two climbs of the trip, from Nirasaki up to Fujimi, and then from Suwa/Okaya up to Shiojiri Pass, seemed very easy and gradual, despite my cold. I realized that every time I had done these before, it was after coming from Tokyo. I had never done them "fresh".

We left the main road after the descent into Shiojiri from the pass, and wound our way up an down through the farmland, eventually joining the "Japan Alps Salad Line." I had ridden the "Fruit Line" on the hillside between Enzan and Katsunuma in Yamanashi, but never the "Salad Line" in Nagano! True to name, there were lots of stands selling fresh vegetables, and persimmons ... all too heavy to carry onward.

We met Route 158 and headed west up the valley along the Nagawa, past several dams and across the big one at the top of the valley, then through several kilometers of tunnels and toward Kamikochi, our third climb up to the 1000 m elevation range.

This trip offered a mix of massive Japanese infrastructure, huge gashes across the landscape, massive eyesores, and spectacular natural beauty. The climb up the valley was no exception, with beautiful fall colors on the slopes and a free running river full of rocky rapids, but the most impressive sight by far the incredible concrete monstrosity at the top.

The tastefully designed "water and electricity" exhibition hall at the tunnel entrance.

We made it onto the Norikura climb by 11:30, pretty much on schedule, and left tunnels and dams behind. We rested around 1400m elev, where there were some restaurants and shops, near many resort homes in the woods.

Our next rest was at 1800m, where a "rest house" was closed and a gate blocked any further progress by automobile. A few older couples wandered around the parking lot snapping photos before hopping back in their cars and turning around.

Looking back down the valley -- too late for fall colors at this elevation.

From a bit higher up.

I climbed the last 900m elevation as slowly as I have in years, no power at all when I tried to push too hard, but not giving up. It was not particularly steep, or hard, just long, and I had no power at all today. More rests and photo stops at various points along the route, then gradually adding clothes -- leg warmers, shoe liners, arm warmers, full fingered gloves, a skullcap that covered the ears.

A long and winding climb.

The Canyon stops for a look at the view, in its Brevet incarnation today - Topeak Dynapack seat bag, wheels with the wide Velocity A23 rims/White Industry hubs/Vittoria Open Pave 24mm tires, and, most important, 36 rear spokes. Also, double front and double rear lights (plus a third front and rear light on my helmet).

Jerome climbed ahead and waited for me at the top. I had warned him he might want to wait a little below, so he could warm up when he started to ride again ... but he found a place in the lee of the wind only a fwe meters from the top. The temperature was just slightly above freezing, and a howling wind hit after we rounded the corner and started down the other side.

The top of the mountain and everything down a few hundred meters below the pass was in the clouds. It looked nothing like the beautiful summer scenery I remembered from Half-fast Mike's video of the same descent on a warm sunny day in July.

Other than Jerome, I saw only one hiker -- heading downhill within a kilometer of the first gate -- for almost 30 kilometers of riding. Great not to worry about tourist buses when rounding the corners on the descent ... but a little bit scary if we had somehow gotten stuck. The huts we passed were all boarded up tightly for the winter -- not easy to pry open, even for shelter from a storm. Jerome kept well behind me on the downhill -- the worst case I could think of was that I would crash, he would ride into me and go down, and then we would both be lying wounded on the mountain as dark and cold set in.

Before we knew it, we were down the hill and onto a long, fast stretch down a beautiful river valley to Hida Takayama. We coasted around the town, enjoying the scenery and noticed it seemed bustling with tourists, including plenty of foreigners. After almost giving up on finding any restaurant appropriate for two sweaty cyclists' early dinner, we finally saw a yakiniku (barbeque) place, Rokubei. We picked the "all you can eat - 90 minute Gifu beef" course, and consulted the cook about our route. I was ready to stop and get some sleep, check into a business hotel and try to recover for a stronger second day. But the yakiniku master said we would be very, very lucky to find any rooms free in Takayama, where the holiday overlapped with a festival (not the main autumn "Takayama Matsuri", a few weeks earlier, but something more obscure yet still sufficient to pack the hotels).

Rokubei's master

We left town and continued west on National Route 158, hoping to get a further 80 km to Shirotori ("White Bird"), which looked large enough so it might have accommodations -- as confirmed by the yakiniku cook. The map showed we would need to climb 3-400 meters up and over Odori ("Little Bird") Pass, 1002m elev, then down and up over a Matsunoki ("Pine Tree") Pass, 1086m elev, down again and up a third (1150m elev) pass, on the first half of this ride.

There was a 4-km tunnel under the first hill, but it was marked "closed to bicycles" and on the map it looked as if it poured right into the expressway at the other end, so we did not chance it and instead headed up and over the climb. Again, we found ourselves on a perfectly good road with almost no traffic. I plodded along. Jerome waited at the top of each little climb.

Mounting up in the dark after
finishing dinner.

The temperature dropped down to 7 or 8 degrees C. Finally, we got a lucky break, as on the third climb we reached our own tunnel entrance, at least 30-35 meters below what we had expected would be the last pass, then headed onto a descent. In the dark along much of this route, we could see the shady outline of an expressway, high in the sky, emerging from one side of a hill, crossing open space, and disappearing into another tunnel. The Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway -- it must have been a very expensive road to build.

After the descent from the third after-dinner climb, we pulled into a "michi no eki" (rest area) at Shokawa, near an entrance to the expressway. The rest area was cold and dark, only a few camper vans in the parking lot with people sleeping overnight, and the restrooms and vending machines functional 24/7. After getting hot "banana au lait" drinks from the vending machine, and using the facilities (heated toilet seat!), I noticed a darkened board with a list of hotels and ryokan (Japanese inns). It was 9:45PM. After almost 250 km and 3500+ meters of climbing, I needed to stop. If we kept on to Shirotori, we might be too late to check in anywhere. Even now, in the countryside, the odds were against us. Jerome called at least half the 20 places on the board. They were closed for the season, or full, or "already preparing for tomorrow", or asleep and not answering the phone.

Eventually, he found a kindly innkeeper, the lady who runs the Sakaeya Ryokan (栄屋旅館, tel 05769 2 2016), together with her husband. She took pity on us and agreed to take us in, for "su domari" (just a place to sleep, no meals -- she did not have extra supplies for breakfast). We enjoyed rice crackers and tea (or, in Jerome's case, beer), a hot bath, a place to rinse and hang our clothes, brush teeth and shave, all the comforts of life, even a nice futon and a TV (sorry, no cable), and most important, a full night's sleep, so we could continue the next day.

Track Party!

2011-10-30T02:20:00.001+09:00

Through work that my office is assisting with related to a charitable project (the Oranda-jima Foundation) to help the recovery of Yamadamachi in Iwate Prefecture from this year's devastating tsunami, I happened to be at a meeting last week where Jan Remie, the manager of Rabobank's Tokyo branch, and Harada-san, one of the other Rabobank Tokyo executives, mentioned that they were a prime sponsor of the opening event planned for today at the new velodrome in Shuzenji on the Izu Peninsula. I immediately mentioned an interest in attending, and was delighted when Jan said that it might be possible -- as a guest, in the "midfield" seating in the center of the arena. On Thursday this week I was told by Okawa-san of Rabobank that there was a second ticket available, so ended up planning a day in Izu with Jerome.

We drove down, and parked at the new velodrome at the Cycle Sports center.

We hopped on our bikes for the trip down into Shuzenji proper, headed South through central Izu, then East up over Hiekawa Toge (Frozen River Pass!) and down to Ito on the coast -- a delightful road I remember riding with David J., Juliane and MOB back in Golden Week of 2008. Then a quick spin up the coast with wind at our backs, and onto Route 19 for the climb up over the Izu Skyline and part of the way down the western slope to complete the loop back to the velodrome. The weather was spectacular, and even on a ride of less than 50 km, we were able to manage about 1000 meters of climbing.

Jerome heads up the forested climb to Hiekawa Toge -- no traffic!

The velodrome is great. The wooden track looks beautiful and very fast, and the building is nice, new, functional, but not over-the-top extravagant. I suspect that Keirin revenues paid for it. After watching the day's festivities, I really want to try to ride on a track.

Thank you, Rabobank, for sponsoring a great event, and for raising money in support of a good cause.

I bought some Rabobank gloves, helmet, t-shirt, and a cap -- profits to go to the Yamadamachi relief effort. I would have bought everything else they had for sale, including socks and a winter-weight long sleeve jersey ... but they were at least 2 sizes too small. If you want to buy some similar gear, let me know and I will see if I can get it for you -- with the profits to go to Yamadamachi recovery.

For a cycling fan, this was a dream event. Theo Bos, Olympic silver medalist and five time world champion at various track events, was there.

Late in the day, Mario Cipollini made a surprise appearance, and even raced and won in a team sprint event with Elia Viviani of Liquigas and another Italian rider.

Cipollini (center) and Viviani (right), in the glare of the spotlights

Cipollini still has quite a motor at age 44, and 22-year old Viviani cleaned up, winning multiple events during the day.

Liquigas' Elia Viviani and Saxobank's Michael Morkov await the medal ceremony after their victory over Rabo, a Japan national track team pair and numerous other pairs in the Madison. They manage to find time to give an autograph to an eager fan in a Chinese dress.

Of course, the Japan national track team, and numerous Keirin stars joined. There was a special Keirin race featuring the Japan national road racers -- including Fumi Beppu, Yukiya Arashiro, Yukihiro Doi and Takashi Miyazawa (who has recently joined Farnese Vini, several of whose Italian riders were in Shuzenji today). 41-year old Shinichi Fukushima, their sempai, won the event.

Beppu and Arashiro, looking relaxed and happy, post-race.

Jerome has told me in the past that he once helped Fumi Beppu get his French visa when Fumi first started racing in Europe. Now, I finally can confirm that the story is true, and Beppu-san still appears grateful to Jerome. He also seems to speak quite decent French. Chapeau, Monsieur Beppu!

Up close to the competitors and, more important, their track bikes

And of course, there were the women's races. Did you think Fassa Bortolo quit sponsoring a cycling team? Wrong. They still have a team, just slightly more attractive than the team Koki Nagai used to work for when he was the mechanic working on bicycles for Petacchi, Bartoli and Rumsas.

Simona Frapporti accepts her victory lei and bouquet

Now it is the Fassa Bortolo Top Girls team. Simona Frapporti won a race, and she and Silvia Valsecchi came close in others. The Japan national track women set several "Japan Records" on the new track -- the first of many that this track will see.

Silvia and Simona, who tore up the track today

I wanted to go back again for more the next day ... now I can understand a little of the Six Days of Ghent.

Our hosts, Jan and Miranda Remie

Chichibustan in Autumn -- Arima Attempt

2011-10-24T09:07:00.002+09:00

On Sunday, a joint Franco-American expedition attempted to reach Arima Pass, a part of deepest Chichibustan long claimed by Belgian explorers for their crown.

We made it past the first bicycle portage -- the road construction having made noticeable progress since I was here in 2009 with Tom, the Belgian explorer, and Nishibe-san, our local guide.

But as we climbed, the jungle closed in, the road condition deteriorated, made worse by recent storms that had left the road covered with wet leaves and gravel in many places, our wheels slipping if we pushed too hard or tried to ride out of the saddle. Eventually, we reached a stretch where the leaves hid an almost complete washout. My rear tire flatted. We turned around, defeated by the road, to head back for an important television event (NZ v France 2011 rugby world championship final). Jerome flatted less than a kilometer into the descent, but the return trip was otherwise without incident, and swift.

Debris across the road to Arima

Unfortunately for the crowd at Chez Bouhet, the valiant French team -- which "showed up" for the first time in several weeks for the final match -- could not quite keep even with the almighty All Blacks of NZ. On the other hand, my new Canyon "shows up" every ride, and performed well again yesterday with the fast HED Jet 6's -- a first try as I will definitely want them on for Saiko next month.

Nov 3rd / 5th Tokyo Sanda (Kobe)

2011-10-18T08:27:00.003+09:00

Due to a new business trip I have decided to modify the itinerary. Will start either from Tokyo or Katsunuma to reach Hiroshima via Japan sea 3 day later...
Tokyo / Kofu / Matsumoto / Nakasendo / Gifu / Fukui ken / Ishikawa ken / Shimane Ken Matsumoto / Takayama en route towards Fukui ken according to potential participants wishes.

Jerome

I am planning a revenge trip (Yutaka & I had to give up in Kyoto due to ice) from Tokyo to Sanda (Kobe) on Nov 3rd to 5th. The plan is to leave at around 3 in the morning on Nov 3rd, rest in Gifu in the evening for few hours before heading to Biwako / Kyoto (or try the north shore road which seems nice also)
Anybody interested? (need to take Nov 4th off however).

Jerome

東京 / 三田　・11月３日から

2011-10-18T08:13:00.003+09:00

今年も一同東京から三田までＴｒｙをしたいとおもいます。東京からは3日の朝3時ぐらいに出る予定で岐阜あたりに2・3時間休んでから琵琶湖/京都・三田。
誰かがいしょうに行きたければ手お上げてください。

ＮＢ；　よしまささｎに靴下有難うございました

ジェロム

Positivista Reunion; Beeren Anniversary Ride

2011-10-17T07:52:00.000+09:00

A glorious October Sunday, a founding member Positivista visiting from Europe, and the 25th anniversary of the Beeren club team from Kobe, with two of its members now residing in Central/Western Tokyo, all created the perfect excuse for us to enjoy one of the classic Positivo Espresso routes -- the "reverse full Paul Jason" ride.

This involves riding up the Tamagawa and out of town via Itsukaichi, up the beautiful Akigawa, climbing to and then through the Kobu Tunnel, down the South side into Uenohara City, through the nasty, brutish but beautiful "Uenohara golf course hills", up the steep west side approach to Wada Pass, then down the front of Wada and home via Jimba Kaido, the Asagawa and lower Tamagawa. 135+ km and 1500-2000 meters of climbing. Not time to blog much now, .. but enjoy these photos.

Classic victory pose on top of Wada Pass, with the rock at rear to prove the location.

Jerome edges out Juliane and Nishibe-san for the "Emperor's Cup" prize -- first hill out of Itsukaichi.
Juliane's borrowed "aero retro" helmet does little good on the climbs, as she strains with the
wide, 44cm handlebars of her borrowed steed, the Giant TCR

We tried for another group photo before the climb up the Akigawa, but the 7-11 employee had trouble finding the button on top of the camera that actually snapped the photo ... at least with my camera. ....

Three years

2011-10-15T17:34:00.014+09:00

On Thursday, it was three years to the day that I completed my first road bike day ride: http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2008/10/izu-west-coast-cruising.html. A month earlier I had gone to the headquarter outlet of Canyon in Koblenz, Germany, and picked up my first road bike. On 13 October 2008, MOB finally found the time in his busy racing and training schedule to take me onto a weekday ride to Izu.

Little did I know back then that I would end up cycling at least once a week, become addicted of climbing mountains rather than staying in the flat, win a racing championship (more here:

http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2010/01/championship-memoirs.html) and end up doing dusk to dawn rides, sometimes two to three days in a row.

In these three years, I cycled 37,275km: 11,800km in the first twelve months, 12,500 in the following 12 months, and 13,000km in the last twelve months. I did not keep a total tally of the altitude meters climbed, but it must be somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000 metres.

When I was deciding on what bike to buy, I was wondering whether a carbon bike would last more than 6,000km and then disintegrate. I took the risk - very naively. My Canyon carbon bike has clocked 27,300km by now, without anything more than normal wear and tear. I'm about to replace the break pads and wheels, as the breaking down the mountains has worn the rims a little thinner. Nonetheless the wheels are still perfectly usable and will move to my cheaper aluminium Canyon kept in Germany (which so far has seen a modest 3,800km).

The remaining 6,200km have been on my Red Bull cyclocross which has enabled me to expand my "discovery" of rindos (forest/mountain roads) to unpaved ones, and winter conditions.

I should celebrate the fact that I have been accident free throughout these three years. The worst that has happened to me is road rash when my cyclocross went sliding, twice, ironically both times on paved roads, once over moss, the second time over oil.

All this riding has also kept me fit and healthy. My cholesterol measurements have never been better, for example.

If only my back had not suffered. My first half a year on the bike was entirely trouble free. Since then, however, on every ride I would develop pain in my lower back. Depending on how long I was riding without break and how hard I was pushing, this pain would come earlier or later in the ride, and develop sometimes such intensity that I could not continue riding without a few minutes off the bike. On most rides, the pain from my back would far outdo any kind of exhaustion. What kept me still going was the wonderful scenery in the mountains, and the ambition to complete a big ride.

Since August of this year, things started to deterioate, steadily. My back would not only hurt on rides any more, but permanently. In early October, the pain became worse day by day, and it is now so bad my walking is impeded. MRIs show that two disks are squeezing the central nerve.

I must stay off the bike to avoid advancing things even more than they already do by themselves. Even if my back gets better again at some point, it is unlikely I will ever be trouble free. Passing a three-year anniversary in this state is not filling me with much joy. It is difficult enough to miss the best cycling weather in Japan, the mild and long autumn.

As my present state and a look into the future is filling me with pain, it perhaps wiser to look back and think of all the great moments I have had on the bike.

First of all there is all the great countryside I have had the chance to discover. Three years ago I largely ignorant of the geography surrounding Tokyo. When I landed in Japan 16 years ago, I would occasionally go on hikes in the Okutama, Jinba and Tanzawa mountains, but in later years hardly venture outside Tokyo on weekends.

Today I can proudly claim that there is basically no mountain road or pass in rural Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Saitama I do not know. I have also covered most of Gunma, Nagano and eastern Shizuoka. This includes the highest mountain pass in Japan - Norikura at 2,700m - which I have climbed three times.

It also includes unpaved roads, many officially closed roads and rindos, some hiking paths, a forbidden tunnel, and even an entire forbidden (but really stunning) valley somewhere in the Japanese Alps (I had to promise not to reveal more when I got caught).

I also have made occasional excursions beyond the Kanto-Joshinetsu area: Hokkaido, Kansai, Yamaguchi and Kyushu. There is still so much more to see of course.

In Europe, I have had a good time in southern Germany, England and the Tyrolian Alps in Austria. The "real" Alps are simply stunning, and also quite challenging, more for the variable weather than the slopes - though doing 1,200m up the Kitzbueheler Horn at an average of 13% (!!) is always a killer.

In these three years, I have on basically every ride "discovered" something new - never just repeated a previous route. The only exceptions have been group rides where I held back my urge to discover something new.

Apart from the mountains, there are idylic rural villages (almost anywhere), historic towns (notably Tsumago, Magome, Narai, Takayama), and great onsens.

The highlight has been ten days this year at the Kusatsu Music Academy where I was able to combine cycling (albeit far too little because of the bad weather) and music.

Then there is the great camaderie with other fellow cyclists. I owe to MOB a ride on his older bike in July 2008 which would get me all excited about buying my own bike and giving it a try. He then took me on many rides, teaching me all the basics about getting in and out of Tokyo, also about how to compete in the JCRC championships. We were a good match in me taking photos and him publishing entertaining ride reports.

After MOB left for Germany in Spring 2010, I felt somewhat on my own, and started expanding the length of my rides, often venturing beyond 200km and 3,000m of climbing a day. This is also when I completed my longest ride to date - 340km leaving home at 4am and arriving to just catch the setting sun across the Sea of Japan in Naoetsu 15 hours later (and this being Japan I was still back home three hours later).
I used the newly found endurance to do three-day rides with Mike, discovering the highest mountains in Nagano, which are all quite stunning. The mountain landscape changes above 2,000m - and so does the temperature, which is nice in summer.
Then Tom helped me to stretch myself not only in terms of distance but also pace. Tom rarely needs a break, and he takes all climbs at speed. By now we have done quite a few two-day rides together, where discovering a new (well, often, very old) minshuku to stay is part of the fun of the weekend out.

Finally it is always fun to join a larger group ride and meet new people or see old faces. And these rides almost always end differently as planned.

This is why I like cycling so much: there is always something new and unknown, and yet things always end well (at least so far).

I hope I can return some time in the not to distant future.

In the meantime, I will be as stiff as this monkey in Tama Zoo.

Another Reason NOT to ride a Mountain Bike on Single Track

2011-10-12T07:41:00.002+09:00

The first few times I rode single track, when I was just getting into cycling 10-12 years back, a friend took me twice to a forested park in Montgomery County Maryland that had some very nice trails -- plenty of small logs and other obstacles to cross over, slopes to go up and down, branches to dodge, good clean mud. It was a great course and a lot of fun. But on each short ride, we passed an ambulance that would come into an evacuation point at the edge of the forest to take out someone who had broken a bone. I decided that I would rather stick to road cycling than risk injury on a mountain bike. To those who do ride offroad -- chapeau.

You have probably seen this video already (it was on CNN yesterday), but if not, maybe it can compensate some for the lack of photos, video or humor in the most recent posts by myself and Froggy ...

フランスピレネ山岳

2011-10-11T23:16:00.002+09:00

皆様
Beerenの２５年記念パーテイの時ちょっとを話しましたが覚えてますか？
来年８月の１５日ぐらいから　（１０日間）フランスのツールを企画したいと思います
それはピレネの有名山岳。。。走りたいでしょか？
参加したい方はこのブログに答えてもらえますか？
これからはお値段調べないといけないですが、３０－４０万ではないですかね　（飛行機込）？何人行くかに関係しても少し細かいコストが出ます
ジェロム

Tour des Pyrennees 2012 at a 1st glance

2011-10-11T16:34:00.002+09:00

10 days route over 28 cols / 16 000 m to climb
Altitude (m)
Col Saint Ignace /169
Col Pinodeita / 176
Col Budincurutcheta / 1135
Col Bagargui / 1319
Col de Marie-Blanque / 1035
Col d’Aubisque / 1709
Col du Soulor / 1464
Col des Borderes / 1156
Col du Tourmalet / 2115
Col d’Aspin / 1489
Col de Peyresourde / 1569
Col du Portillon /1293
Col de Mente /1349
Col de Portet d’Aspet / 1069
Col de la Core /1369
Col de la Trappe / 1111
Col d’Agnes /1570
Port de Lers / 1517
Col de Marmares / 1361
Col de Chioula / 1431
Col de Pailheres / 2001
Col de Moulis / 1099
Col de Garabel /1267
Col de Jau / 1513
Col de Palomere / 1036
Col Xatard / 752
Col Fourtou / 646
Col Llauro / 380

Journey subject to change according to participants wishes... Might be a good idea to visit Spain to get cheap booze

Gifu / Ashiya / Nagoya: the revenge

2011-10-11T09:36:00.002+09:00

I finally could avenge Yutaka & myself aborted attempt to reach Ashiya (had to stop before Otsu due to icy conditions) from Tokyo.
The only difference is that I started from Gifu & cycled back to Nagoya
I left Kawabe san house (my home stay family when I arrived in Japan) on saturday morning & litterally flew towards Biwako on route 21 (no interest at all) & stopped for a quick lunch + naked - forgot my underwear this time - bath in Biwako (you will probably remember Noto Hanto picture of myself coming out of the sea - as Ursula Andress did a few years ago in James Bond doctor No.-). The ride along Biwako was much longer than expected & traffic conditions were horrific. I started to enjoy (& suffer) when I rode on route 477 (north of Kyoto) towards Sanda. Had a brief dinner before climbing to Royu & reaching Ashiya.
Sunday was dedicated to resting & celebrating Beeren 25th anniversary (I will try to post some pictures as soon as available) with nearly all members (48 riders). After a couple of drinks, we talked about a Positivo Espresso / Beeren joint Tour des Pyrenees next year: Nishibe san, the honorable boss of Beeren, named me as general race director for this trip & asked me to plan this event after O Bon so that he can join it.
Since it was far too late to consider going back to Tomoko family home, I decided to stop at Yazaki san place (another Beeren member / 68 years old) for some more food & drinks.
I hit the road again (towards Nagoya) on Monday morning but wanted to try another road. Route 37 across Sasayama, 732 towards Kyoto & route 1 till Omi green road an alternative road which brought me to the other Suzuka Pass.
Cycled down to Yotsukaichi & Nagoya at an incredibly dangerous speed along 477 & route 1 (it took me an hour & 20 mn for 40 kms between Yotsukaichi & Nagoya in a congested traffic). As a whole it took me around 12 hours for 250 kms. Very nice journey but need to find a way between Nagoya & Biwako to skip route 1 which is a nightmare. As Davil L. suggested, I should have tried to head up toward the Japan sea...

Will keep you updated about Tour des Pyrenees but you could have a good hint about the route checking velopeloton home page.

Next week end
The good news is that Juliane is stuck in Tokyo. I would suggest organizing "a souvenir journey". Since Juliane did not bring any bicycle, it could be a good opportunity to use the tandem...

Last Brevet of 2011

2011-10-11T09:12:00.001+09:00

Sunday (into Monday), I joined the last Brevet of 2011 held by any of the Audax Japan chapters, the 400km Saitama Audax "Attack Miho". It was just 2 years ago, in October 2009 that I tried my first Brevet ... hard to believe there have been more than a dozen since, and a fitting end to the year's Brevets.

I was able to circumnavigate Mt. Fuji, just as on that first Brevet in October 2009. Also, the turn-around point, at Miho on the coast in Shizuoka Prefecture (home to a famous coastal pine grove, from which you get a spectacular view of Fuji, was just off of the East end of the "Strawberry Line" and the route of my first Brevet of this year, back in early January. The weather was ideal, other than some wet pavement on the return, from rain that had missed us (but caught the fastest riders).

The 400 kilometers was probably 75% roads that I had traveled before, and about 25% new territory -- a good mix of the familiar and the new, with the comfort of knowing the climbs and not worrying much about if they would overwhelm me. And the route we took around Mt Fuji included many roads I had ridden in August -- after comparison, I much prefer Route 469 along the South slope of Fuji in the dark of night in October to the same trip in the August noonday sun. As usual, instead of taking the straightest distance between two points, a number of extra hills were added (e.g. Kobu Tunnel). By the time I reached the top of Doshimichi, just over 100 km into the outbound leg, I had already logged over 2000m of climbing, and elevation gain for the full ride was in the 5000m (16,000 feet) range.

I recognize many of the Saitama staff and participants now, after 3 Saitama Brevets in the past two years, and also seeing and sometimes riding with their big contingent at PBP. I am definitely in the lower 50% of these events in terms of my finishing times, whereas at the Kanagawa, Aoba or Shizuoka events, I'm in the upper 50%. As usual, I started (too) fast and quickly got 3 hours "savings" over the time limit, and then was able to barely hold that margin until the finish. I suffered a lot on the climbing portion of the return leg -- a mix of stomach problems and the usual fatigue, the former clearing up so that I could eat at least convenience store spaghetti or cup noodles at the last two checkpoints and get enough energy to complete and yes, enjoy, the ride.

And as usual, after a short nap in my car and drive home, I bathed and slept most of the day, awoke to clean up my gear and enjoy dinner with family, then slept again through the night, very soundly, and now feel that great post-Brevet sense of relaxation and serenity!

Jerome could not join, as he went to Kobe for the 25th anniversary ride and party of the Beeren cycling club there. As usual participants asked me about his absence -- I think his shoeless 600km won him many fans.

We will be back next year for more fun!

Super HC Up Toyo Tires Turnpike -- A Tradition Since 2010

2011-10-03T08:43:00.002+09:00

On Sunday I joined the second annual "Super Hill Climb" event as one of six participants from TCC (Tokyo Cycling Club). After a nice early warm-up ride to Shin-Yokohama Station, the Kodama shinkansen deposited me at Odawara after a trip of only 15 minutes. Outside Odawara Station there were at least 10 Japanese riders taking road bicycles out of their rinko-bukuro. It was only a few kilometers' ride to the start, and offered a great close-up view of Odawara Castle.

4 out of the 6 TCC riders finished in under one hour.

I was the slowest of the 6, finishing at 1:05:50, 296 out of 507 in the 40-49 group ("Road D" group). But for me this was a very good time, within 9 minutes of Thomas and Travis, whereas on the similar climb last week of O-Toge, I finished within 20 minutes of Thomas and 18 of Travis. And the 507 riders in the 40-49 group all looked like typical Japanese "climbers" -- very low body fat, pencil thin types, some tough as nails.

The route, up the "Toyo Tires Turnpike", a toll road usually normally closed to bicycles, involved a climb over 10 km from just above sea level (25m elev) to around 1000m elev., then 3.3 km of riding up and down hills along the top of a ridge, until one last uphill sprint to the finish. There is plenty of 13% grade, and several kilometers where the average grade is higher than 10%. I tried to keep a 10-11 kph speed even on the steepest stretches, and was pleasantly surprised that I could do so. Including the up and down sections along the ridge, the aggregate ascent is close to 1100 meters, much more than the Ekiden climb up Route 1 in Hakone.

After a brief rest at the top, my real ride began. Down to the lake -- Ashinoko -- and up and down small hills along its Southern shore, in heavy weekend tourist car traffic. It took longer than I expected to get to Sengokuhara, the flat-ish area at the East end of the lake, where the tourists were parking and hiking among the tall grasses.

Hakone, Sengokuhara, looking toward Otome-toge

Then a short climb up Route 138 toward Otome Pass, through a tunnel, then down, down to Gotemba, and on the first plausible road I turned off of 138 and struck off to the N/NE through the valley toward the base of the next climb, Mikuni Pass, stopping at a convenience store for spaghetti and to check a map and make sure I could get to the climb without too many detours.

Mikuni was relentless, starting at below 500m elev and peaking at over 1150m elev, and much of the way 13-16% grade. At least it was reasonably cool. I got off the bike once for photos and some water when the "circular" pavement pattern appeared.

The dreaded circular pavement pattern. The grade was already crazy below here.
Unlike most roads, it did not change noticeably when the circles appeared.

I dismounted a second time higher up ... and needed to walk 100 meters or so up the hill and around a bend to find a place where I could actually manage to re-mount the bike and clip into my pedals safely.

The clouds got darker and darker, but we had dry roads all the way back to town.

The Mikuni climb flattens out a bit the last 2 kilometers or so to less than a 10% grade. At least now I've climbed it once, and can go back another time to try it fresh from bottom to top without a foot down.
I met Jerome, who had ridden out to Yamanakako, and we enjoyed a fast trip down Doshi Michi and back into town in the failing light.

Around 175km and around 2500-3000m of climbing. At last I think I am fully recovered from PBP.

New Arrival

2011-09-27T00:35:00.003+09:00

7:30PM Monday night, side profile

7:30PM Monday night, front

11:15PM Monday night

The frameset arrived at my home while I was at work today. I got home, ate a quick bite, and literally could not wait to build it up ... and definitely could not wait to have it built up by the LBS.

She will never be this clean, or white, again.

Autumn in Germany

2011-09-26T21:07:00.000+09:00

It is already getting cold in Bremen. And much to my surprise, there is even the occasional scrub of Kosmos blooming on the sides of the streets.

I took the Canyon out for a fast ride on Friday evening. Very fast indeed, only 2:07 hr for the usual 70 km loop along the Wuemme to Worpswede and Fischerhude and back. My shape was "ma ma" but I could draft behind several tractors bringing in the hay and finally I was behind a scooter (small numberplate, speed limited to 40 km-hr theoretically) for almost 8 km.

On Saturday I was too busy building up the new bikes. Yes, the plural is correct as I am working on the Union Single Speed as well as on a new Kotter frame that I am going to built up for a friend of mine, currently working in Saudi-Arabia.

The steel frame was made by Kotter, a company from the South of Germany for their own racing team. The frame was chromed first and then painted with a thin layer of lilac paint, so that the chrome is shining through the paintlayer from underneath. It is hard to see the real beauty of the frame on a photo - one has to see the frame on a nice autumn day outside in the sun. This called "Chromovelato" in Italian.

I also decided to sell my Gazelle winter bike. The new blue Olmo works very well with removable mud guards and I really don/t need two winter bikes. In case you are interested:

It is a Gazelle Champion Mondial A Frame model from 1979 with serial number 3237 359. Framesize is 60 cm, made of Reynolds 530 tubing. - Sorry Hiroshi, Sorry Tom you are out. You can see the frame in the original Gazelle catalog from 1982 on Page 13 on the top. I upgraded the components, now there is a super-light Suntour Cyclone Mk. II rear derailleur attached, plus new bar tape, new wiring and and and. Should be ready to run and be misused in the winter. 320 Euro plus shipping if you like.

On Sunday I felt the first onslaught of German virus on my body and since today I am finally confined to the house. The good thing about being sick is, that it takes away the pressure of all operational issues in normal life (clean up the garden, help daughter with her homework, fight about money wisely spend on bike components with the wife, scold wife about money uselessly spend on figure skating dresses - same wife by the way). Instead one can lean back and think about the strategic things in life, provided that the headache are not to big and the nose is not running faster than the supply of tissues will last:

So, this will be one of my last post on the Positivo Espresso blog. In the last weeks I have set up a new blog in German which will be much more handy when communicating with the other cycling guys in Bremen. Once it is completely ready for launch a will let you know.

As a kind of farewell gift David and me have published some excerpts from the "Great Kanto Cycling Book" I was writing with the help of Phil and Thomas from TCC in 2009. The original idea was to publish it as a book, but nobody was interested to pick up the threads in Japan and I was too busy organiszing my new life in Germany.

So instead of leaving it in the drawer to rot, David and me decided to make the content public. Perhaps somebody else would like to add or comment on some of the pages - plaese feel free to do so.

To see the Positivo Espresso blog growing from 0 to almost 60.000 hits has been a great pleasure. However, most of these hits had been made when I was already in Germany. So I believe it is would be better to set up something similar in Germany again before hanging on too long with the original site.

While blogging on a separate site, I still feel as a member of the Positivo Espresso Original Core Team (PEOCP) and I will continue to stay in contact and ride together with all of you. Actually most likely I will ride together with Stephen on Mallorca in two weeks time.
Read all about it ... later and elsewhere.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Cervelo Farewell Rides

2011-09-25T12:23:00.000+09:00

My new Canyon frameset left Koblenz, Germany on Friday the 16th. It made it to Narita (via Shenzhen and United Parcel Service) on Thursday the 22nd, just before this 3-day weekend. I hope it will actually get delivered early this coming week.

_______________________________

Last weekend, on Sunday the 18th, Didier and I rode in muggy weather up Wada Pass via the Rindo approach. On the climb, my first trip to Wada since before summer, I somehow got into my head that Wada Pass had an elevation of 600 meters, 210 meters higher than Otarumi ... but eventually as the road kept headed up, was forced to acknowledge that the top is 700 meters. Of course, the Rindo approach we took goes another 40 meters or so higher to 740 meters elevation, before you approach the Pass descending along the spine of the ridge.

We returned via the "main" road down from the Pass - Jimba Kaido - and saw many Japanese riders suffering in the heat, struggling to turn over their cranks, or resting by the roadside having abandoned part way up the climb -- five years ago that would have been me! And at one point, a car I had been stuck behind met 3 cars coming up the road on a narrow stretch -- instant gridlock that allowed me to pass and continue the climb without any traffic. ... No photos though. Thanks Didier for a nice ride.
_______________________________________________

Saturday September 24. The Cervelo enjoys a well-deserved rest in dappled shade and a cool breeze, outside a courtyard restaurant on the hillside above the South shore of Sagami-ko.

Yesterday, Saturday the 24th, I rode with Fumiki, Tim, Thomas and Travis of TCC on their O-Toge time trial. It was nice to enjoy a true Cat 1 climb and beautiful weather in the countryside on the 2007 Cervelo R3 SL. I suspect I can count on one hand the remaining rides on this frame, which has served me so well these past 4 years.

A question for Positivistas everywhere: if by obscure tradition some Japanese cycling clubs insist upon burying a punctured tire tube at the end of its useful life, what does one do with an older, slightly scratched up carbon frame? Maybe touch up the scratches with paint and hang it on a wall? Maybe sell it on Yahoo auctions ("rare XL (61cm virtual) size not sold at Japanese retailers, only crashed a few times, rarely raced, AS IS condition")?

Maybe apply the Transalp elevation profile decals again? Add some other custom markings with my name such as:

"Paris-Brest-Fresnay sur Sarthe, 2011 Metric Millenium",
"Schwalbe TOUR Transalp Finisher, 2009 and 2011",
"Tokyo Itoigawa Fast Run, 2008 and 2011"
"Etape Acte 2, 2011, 1390th place",

or even the undeserved

"JCRC Class C Racer"?

Does it need some personalized high points to accompany the manufacturer's small "Paris Roubaix 2006, Fabian Cancellara" decal and the Positivo decal on the seat stays, or would that just clutter up an attractive design?

Rear Disc wheel for ... less than 7000 yen?

2011-09-25T11:06:00.002+09:00

Inspired by MOB's reminder of the TT world championships, I decided on Saturday to try a product that I got recently from wheelbuilder.com along with my new Velocity A23 rim/White Industry hub wheels. It is an "aero jacket" cover for my HED Jet 6 rear wheel, converting the already-aerodynamic wheel into a super slick disk for TT and triathlon use. The product is cut and drilled specifically to fit my wheel, including an inquiry as to whether I had 24 or 28 rear spokes, to make sure that the fasteners don't hit any spokes. And the cost, only $89, or about 6700 yen.

Shipping charges would increase that substantially ... so best to order as an accessory that can fit in the same package as a wheel set. Maybe this is something one of our favorite LBS's would want to offer in Japan?

There is an adhesive cover to place over the cutout for the valve stem -- not yet attached.

This photo showing right/cassette-facing side.

Do I ride TT's or triathlons? No. But someday. ...

It took quite awhile to tighten the plastic fasteners so that the cover is firmly attached against the spokes. And the fasteners look pretty flimsy -- I cannot imagine I can take them on and off very many times without damaging them (but a spare set costs only $7.50 ... 600 yen). The plastic aero jacket itself looks reasonably durable and should hold its shape nicely, though it comes with a warning that it is not intended for regular training use -- save it for race day.

I rode these wheels up and down the Tamagawa on the Friday holiday afternoon. I really noticed a difference, especially coming back down the road along the Kawasaki side. Yes, I rode this stretch awhile back with Steve T., holding a high average speed as I gave it my all. But this time, I was not pushing it into the "red zone", and could still hold the speed at 41-42 kph for long stretches without much wind. Nice.

UCI World Championship Copenhagen

2011-09-22T20:19:00.000+09:00

Yesterday

Tuesday

Looking forward to the men race on Sunday.

Olmo Evolution One

2011-09-17T00:54:00.000+09:00

Well, today is my birthday. Thank you David & Ludwig for your good wishes. I took half a day off from work and my new white Olmo out on a longer ride in splendid autumn weather as a kind of birthday present to myself.

After fiddling and tweaking for weeks on the white Olmo I feel now very good with the (almost) final result. The original idea was to built up a Eighties aerodynamic craze bike (a good example is here) with "aero dynamic brakes", slim seat post, shifters on top of the down tube, internal cable routing, Recessed spoke holes on the hub and a complete Shimano 600 AX group.

Although I am now the owner of a complete 600 AX group set, I encountered some problems: First, the Olmo frame doesn't provide for shift cable routing on top of the chain stays. This used to be the standard for older frames, but this Olmo frame is just too new.

And second, the Shimano 600 AX crank set with 1'' pedal connectors isn' really a thing of great beauty. I gave up on this idea and as I had already bought Campagnolo Super Record brake levers with Olmo pantographs I thought it would be nice to buy some Campa parts for the drive train as well.

The Olmo is now equipped with a Super Record front derailleur and a Gran Sport rear derailleur as well as a Gran Sport crank set. Gears are shifted by Shimano 600EX Arabesque frame shifters, friction type which I believe are the most beautiful baroque shifters ever made.

One problem I always encounter with friction shifters is, that the threads in the braze-on adaptors are worn out so that the screws to connect the shifters to cannot be tighten hard enough. Friction shifters work with ... friction .... so the tighter they are screwed on, the more friction can be provided. If there isn't enough friction available, they tend to slip and this results in unintended gear shifting. The original M5 screws from Shimano are not long enough so that they interact only with a few convolutions. I bought some cheaper screws which do not look as fancy but do the job. But I wonder if there is any better solution?

There are a few things left to be done: I will give up on the aerodynamic idea in terms of bottle holder and buy a nice, old looking bottle holder for standard bottles. I also need to think about the cable routing for the rear derailleur again. And finally I would like to have rubber hoods for the Super Record brake levers. But as vintage spare parts they sell at 40$ a piece if at all.

The Olmo rides beautiful. It is fast and accelerates well. I had no problems to keep up with modern racing bikes on the Wümme trail. I had to get used to ride on the lower part of the handle bar only. With the track style handle bar it's almost impossible to have the hands on the upper part. It is certainly not possible to brake with the hands on the upper part. At first I had some pain in my back but now I got used to it. It is also new again to get used to clip pedals but now I can fairly quickly get in and out of the clip pedals. The braking performance isn't good at all but it is enough for standard situations.

This is a nice bike to ride distances of 50 - 100 km. More than that will be painful. I can also use It for commuting to work.

Having spend all this words of praise or my new white Olmo I need to add that I am currently working on two new bikes:

This is the basis for the first Fixie bicycle I am going to built:

And a good friend from Japan-days asked my to built up an old Cinelli bike for him. This will keep me busy during the long winter months in Bremen.

Bavarian Adventure

2011-09-15T02:50:00.000+09:00

During a business trip in late August I had the chance to visit Munich with my bike and take two days off to explore the Bavarian countryside.

I stayed at a cheap hotel (Best Western) in the vicinity of the main station in Munich. This part of the town is mainly populated by Turks and so it is no wonder that some of the restaurants, shops and hotels are named after famous figures form the Turkish history such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

On the first day I took my bike on a train out to Starnberg lake which is about 30 minutes away from Munich. Bikes don't need to be packed in bags so it is rather easy and fast to start. The weather was just perfect and I started to ride along the lake. Some of the estates grouped along the shores of the lakes are just spectacular. They look like villas silent movie stars from the Twenties use to live in.

I just rode aimlessly but fast around. After Starnberg lake I rode on to Tegern lake and then further on to the Schlier lake. In one of the villages I noted a good bicycle shop and I spend some time with the mechanic there to fix my cassette. I had tried to combine some of my Ultegra 6700 and Dura Ace 7900 cassette parts and construct the ultimate 11-28 Durultra cassette but that didn't worked out at all. So I could ride only in 8 gears with the fastest one being the 14 tooth cog on the rear.
But nevertheless it was a beautiful day and I just rode and rode without any plan or any goal. If a road looked nice or a village hat a nice and interesting name I just went there. For work I have to be so much organized and plan carefully the things ahead but in my private life I prefer a more chaotic approach from time to time. When the sun went down I took a train home to Munich main station. Everything was so easy.

I wondered if I should travel to Sonthofen the second day for a repeat of the first day of the Transalp 2011 race and conquer Oberjoch and Hahntenjoch for a second time. Actually the Hahntenjoch was the first climb in many years that forced me to walk up. But the weather didn't looked to good and since a long time I wanted to visit one of the most famous sights of Germany : the Neuschwanstein Castle.

So I took a train to Garmisch Partenkirchen, home of the famous winter sport idols Rosi Mittermaier and Christian Neureuther. That day it was cloudy and it threaten to rain. Nevertheless I started to ride in direction of the Austrian border. It was so nice to be back in the mountains and I wholeheartedly enjoyed the climb. But then it started to rain and I was forced to take a break at a bus stop in order to wait until most of the water was released from the clouds before I could continue to ride. An ugly and busy road brought me back to the German border and the town of Füssen. From there it was only a few kilometers to the castle of Neuschwanstein. The site was extremely busy with many, many tourists from all over the world. Actually from the main road up to the castle gate is a very nice climb, lasting for about 2 km and 180 m elevation difference. One has to navigate one way around the tourists which must be similar to the feeling that TdF or Giro rider have when they ride up the last stretches of the Tourmalet, the Galibier, to Alpe d'Huez or the Mortirolo.

The castle itself looks surprisingly new. Which is probably due to the fact that it is pretty new, only erected during the reign of Ludwig II in the late 19th century. Just like Tom collects new bikes and I collect old ones, the hobby of Ludwig II was to built new castles. The money for that expensive hobby was provided courtesy of Prussia or the German Empire which was paid in return for the consent of the Bavarian King to agree to the formation of the German empire under Prussian leadership. Probably people found it rather extravagant and lavish to spend that much money on a singular purpose. The same thing could have been said about the pyramids in Egypt, but history proved the investment of the king right: Today the magic castles of Ludwig II are one of the main tourist attractions of the Bavarian Federal state.

Next to Neuschwanstein castle is another castle built by Ludwig II, the Hohenschwangau castle. Not many tourists go there but It provided the opportunity for another shorter climb so I rode up to the castle gate as well.

Clearly one can see the point up to which cycles are allowed. The most funny thing I saw was, that there is street number sign mounted on the castle gate (Alp Street 30) which speaks for the German sense of organisation. Were letters to the king addressed like this?

Mr. Ludwig Wittelsbach

Alp Street 30

Hohenschwangau

After so much sightseeing I was eager to do a little bit more of cycling. I entered the main road in direction North and suddenly I realized that I was on this very famous road that every Japanese with some interest in Germany knows: The famous ROMANTIC KAIDO!

Please note that the name is also written in Japanese on the road sign. Wow, I heard so much about this road but I had never been there and I even had doubts that it would exist in reality. But here I was with my bike and two nice white Swiss DT rims and looked at the beautiful, romantic road and the even more beautiful, not romantic mountains.

After that I road through the countryside of Bavaria and the weather was continuously improving. There were many rolling hills and I really enjoyed this part of the trip. It was so enjoyable that I even forgot to take pictures. The villages along the road had such nice names as "Einöd", "Lauerbach" and "Sndgraben" and not such ugly names as they are common in the North of Germany: "Sauensiek", "Okel" or even "Fickmühlen". This was one of the best rides I had in the last month. As in Japan I ignored a road barrier and rode through a construction site. At one point I realized that I was riding on almost liquid asphalt that has just been poured some hours ago.

After more than 150km riding I arrived back at Starnberg lake and took a train home for the last 30 km through the Munich suburbs. I really should live in the South of Germany.

Lots of Rain ... to the West; Plans for Sept 17-18

2011-09-04T21:12:00.002+09:00

Well, despite predictions, Tokyo proper was mostly dry this weekend. The storm dumped over 1800mm (almost 6 feet) of rain in parts of Wakayama Prefecture and Nara, between Osaka and Nagoya. Lots of flooding, landslides and many people killed or missing. Many other areas also received record rainfall.

Jerome and I had planned to ride today. There was a sudden, brief downpour just as he got to my house, so we went inside for coffee. We are thinking about a Sat/Sun ride the weekend of the 17-19, maybe going out to Nagano and trying one or more of (1) Odarumi, (2) Crystal Line, (3) the 299 "mountains of madness", (4) Akiba Kaido with some variations, (5) Norikura, (6) Utsukushigahara, or (7) Kurumazaka Toge. If anyone is interested in riding those days (I need to be back in Tokyo no later than Sunday evening, although Monday is a holiday), and has thoughts about the route, just let us know.

The weather radar this morning showed a North-South line of hard rain at the edge of the hills west of Tokyo, so we just went to Ome, did one smaller hill in Chichibu, and returned again along the Tamagawa, hitting rain at several points near the westernmost part of our ride. This 115km was plenty for me, as I am still recovering from PBP, still a bit of numbness in my 2 outside fingers on my right hand.

The Tamagawa was completely full of muddy, fast moving water, roaring like I have never heard it. This was the only photo I took ... does not really do it justice.

Nagai-san and Nakayama-san at Positivo had restored the front end of my Cervelo, building it up with my old FSA "wing" style carbon bars and some nice white (for now) bar tape.

Also, I got yet another pair of traditional aluminum clincher wheels -- built up in the U.S. at a reasonable price and shipped to Tokyo. These are Velocity A23 rims, 23mm instead of 19mm wide, just like the HED Ardennes or newest Zipps. I had them built with 36 spokes in the rear, 28 in front, and White Industries hubs (which seem to have many fans). I am hoping that they will be significantly lighter and more comfortable than my "bombproof" 36/32 spoke Mavic Open Pros with Ultegra hubs. So far, so good. I am trying Vittoria Open Pave 700x24 tires, and with the wider rims and Open Pave tires, I could barely feel the speed bumps on the Tamagawa path today. If all goes well, these will be my Brevet wheels.

When I picked up the bike yesterday, I did get a warning that the top tube ... is not going to last forever given the deep scratches it suffered in May. So even though it made it through the summer and shows no sign of imminent collapse, a new frame (or bike) is definitely still on the agenda.

Paris - Brest - Paris 2011 by Velonews

2011-09-01T03:48:00.000+09:00

An incredibly well written article about this years edition of PBP 2011 published by Velonews. Too good to put only in the "shared" box on the right.

Look at the eyes of these guys and tell me how people look like after 1.200 km on the bike:

"This is my first and last Paris-Brest-Paris,” Edwards said. “My wife, who is a great endurance athlete, did it in 2007 so I had to do it also. I race Ironmans but this was something else. There was nothing which could have prepared me for this. Physically I trained hard, my equipment was perfect … but mentally this was the hardest thing I have ever done, and I have been to war.”

The Germans that attended were also naturally being associated with war:

"To know that I am not going to have to ride through another night is such a relief. I wanted to ride through without sleep but had to stop for three hours in the end. I could not keep up with the large group in front (a large group of German riders had just finished, all riding for the same team) they were riding like a military unit."
Meanwhile I am back in Munich and have two days off before I will frolick around with a larger group of students in the "Teutoburger Forrest", the site of the greatest German military victory ever. Quite some while ago, though.

Staying at Davids Bester Western Hotel in the Turkish quarter close to the main station, I used the first day to ride around some of the lakes in the Southof Munich: Starnberg Lake, Tergern Lake und Schlier Lake. The weather was just wonderful and I easily did 120 km and more than 1.000 elevation meter. Climbin felt so wonderful, I am missing that. The later being the average tally for a month of cycling in Bremen. I also went to a bike shop to get my gear fixed. Now I know what is wrong: I tried to built a all purpose cassette from my Dura Ace 11/25 and my Ultegra 12/29: The Durultra 11/29. Doesn't work. Hm, it would be nice to live in the South of Germany, I thought.

I am still torn if tomorrow I should take a train to Sonthofen and repeat Oberjoch and perhaps Hahntenjoch climbs of the first day of the Transalp, or.... I heard that quite close by is a pretty good copy of Cinderellas castle from Tokyo Disneyland. It was built in the 19th century by the Bavarian king Manfred II. Am I mixing things here? Perhaps I have been on the bike too long - look at my eyes.....

Scene of the Crime

2011-08-30T18:05:00.001+09:00

Over the past few days, if I've wished it once, I've wished a hundred times that I had gone back and taken a photo of the site where I went off the bike last Thursday morning in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe.

Did I just get distracted and tired, fall asleep at the switch for a minute, or was it really a treacherous site?

Today, I thought I would try to pinpoint the spot using Google Maps and, surprise, surprise, there is actually a "street view" photo of the very site.

The obstacle that I hit felt like a "low curb" stretching out directly into the street for some unknown reason ... and it was.

You can see it just to the right of the blue car. There really is no warning, a sudden end to a lane (which is really a series of parking spaces -- marked only by the yellow line that was not visible at night), an odd sharp protrusion that is difficult to see even in daylight. I really did go over it, blow out both tires, go sliding onto the lighter stone area past the crosswalk that marked the right edge of the street ... and beyond that, to come to rest at one of the set of marble gravestones.

View Larger Map

Of course, fatigue and darkness had a role in this, but at least I can stop wondering if I imagined it.

Bremen Challenge 2012

2011-08-29T02:02:00.001+09:00

Der Eingang zum Überseehafen in Bremen.

Today I attended the Bremen Challenge Race in ...surprise, surprise, Bremen. For the benefit of the other participants I know I am writing this post in German. All other readers please enjoy the pics.

Bremen, oder, "Das kleine Hamburg an der Weser", wie es die Einheimischen liebevoll nennen, zeigte sich heute wieder einmal von seiner eratischen Seite. Dunkle Wolken, kurze Schauer, Sonnenschein und vor allem viel Wind. Der Wind wehte teilweise so stark, dass man beim Pinkeln in freier Wildbahn schon gut überlegen musste in welche Richtung man loslegt, um sich nicht selbst zu besudeln und beim Start als unfähiger Idiot aufzutauchen. Ausserdem war es kalt, oder in Anlehnung an Nick Nolte in "48 Stunden": "Der kälteste Winter, den ich je erlebte war der Sommer 2011 in Bremen."

Landschaftsgestaltung im Hafengebiet. Charmantes Nichts.

Ich kam, registrierte mich und bekam einen Beutel mit dem üblichen Schickschnack. Ich finde das ja unpraktisch, da ich, wie es sich gehört mit dem Rad gekommen bin und meine Familie, wie es sich gehört, zuhause geblieben ist, so dass ich keinen Platz für Schnickschnack habe. Es ist auch immer derselbe Schnickschnack. Wasserflaschen, T-Shirts und Papier. Die T-Shirts geben immerhin noch gute Lappen beim Radputzen ab, aber die Wasserflaschen nehmen nur Platz im Küchenschrank weg und schimmeln vor sich hin. Warum werden nicht einmal Sachen verteilt, von denen ich nicht bereits zwanzig im Schrank habe, wie z.B. Küchenscheren, Rasentrimmer oder 5 Zoll Diskettenlaufwerke? Egal, ich versuchte dann das T-Shirt in die Wasserflasche zu stopfen, damit ich es mitnehmen konnte aber es wollte mir nicht zur Gänze gelingen. Also kam das ganze in einen Hohlraum unter den Absperrungen, wo ich es dann am Ende des Rennens abholen konnte.

Ich drehte ein paar Runden auf dem 1,5 km Pro Kurs und sah Muckel und Campa. Vor dem Start hingen Tafeln mit Duchschnittsgeschwindigkeiten und man sollte sich nun in realistischer Selbsteinschätzung am Start aufstellen. Ich suchte vergeblich die Tafel für 36,72 km/hr (realistische Selbsteinschätzung) und stellte dann fest, das eine realistische Selbsteinschätzung durch die Massen von Radfahrern vor mir massiv behindert wurde. Also starteten Enrico und ich von irgendwo aus der unrealistischen Mitte.

Und schon ging es los und auch gleich gut ab. Ist ja immer so, die ersten 300 Meter fährt man noch normal da die Straße einfach zu voll ist, aber danach wird brutal Tempo gemacht und man muß gucken, daß man nach vorne kommt. Die lange Gerade runter wollte ich gerade an einer Gruppe vorbeizischen, als mir siedend heiß einfiel, was ich die ganze Woche einmal abends nach der Arbeit machen wollte: Mein Schaltwerk einstellen. Die beiden höchsten Gänge rasteten überhaupt nicht mehr ein. Also eigentlich fiel mir das zunächst auf und dann wieder ein. So war ich dann gezwungen (Kompaktkurbel für die Berge, nicht Bremen tauglich) irrsinnig schnell zu treten. Jeder Trainer, der hochfrequentes Treten propagiert, weil das ja so viel effektiver und gesünder ist und die Pros das machen wäre von mir begeistert gewesen. Ich bin aber ein Brutalo-Kraft-Treter, so dass meine Maximalgeschwindigkeit nun auf ca. 45 km/hr begrenzt war.

Die erste von 6 x 10km Runden lief gut. Highlight war das kaputte Strassenbahnwartehäuschen mit entgegenkommendem Krankenwagen auf der Strecke. So etwas wünscht man keinem. In der 2. Runde glaubte ich dann, ich könnte in realistischer Selbsteinschätzung alleine die Distanz zur vordereren Gruppe überbrücken. Ich biss die Zähne zusammen und hatte auch einen Mitstreiter auf einem wunderschönen roten Olmo, aber wir hätten skeptisch werden sollen als die Distanz nicht weniger wurde. Danach war ich so ausgepumpt und schwindelig vom hochfrequenten Treten, dass mich die ursprüngliche Gruppe komplett nach hinten durchreichte und ich den Anschluß verlor. Schlecht, vor allem dann das Fahren mit drei, vier anderen Loosern wie mir.
Aber am Ende der zweiten Runden kam das Team der senatorischen Behörden mit einer recht großen Gruppe und dort konnte ich mich wieder gut einreihen. Die senatorischen Behörden haben ja wegen einer absolut stressfreien beruflichen Tätigkeit viel Zeit zur Ausübungen ihrer sportlichen Hobbies und sind daher auch recht flott dabei.

Danach wurde es geradezu langweilig. Das Tempo war nicht übermäassig schnell, also etwa 34 - 38 km/hr und es war auch keine schnellere Gruppe da, zu der ich hätte aufschliessen können. Also blieb ich, wo ich war und fuhr schön mit. Bloss nicht in den Wind fahren. Es war so langweilig, dass ich für einen Moment überlegte, ob ich nicht einmal ausprobieren sollte wie die Pros auf der Tour vom Rad aus zu pinkeln, ich verwarf diesen Plan aber wegen den völlig unkalkulierbarren Windböen. Dann fing es auch mal an zu nieseln, aber zum Glück hörte DAS auch wieder auf.

Und so ging es dann bis in die letzte Runde. Jetzt wurde das Tempo auch wieder ein wenig schneller und der allgemeine Adrenalinspiegel stieg. Taktisch fuhr ich ganz gut nach vorne. Das sollte sich auch wenige Minuten später auszahlen, denn da hörte ich links hinter mir nur einige kurze Flüche und dann die typischen Geräusche von Carbon und rasierten Unterschenkeln auf Asphalt. Das nach vorne arbeiten klappte ganz gut und in der letzten Doppelkurve war ich innen positioniert. Innen ist besser, denn nach aussen fliegt man.

Auf der Zielgraden fingen dann viele an direkt nach der Kurve bei der 250m Marke den Spurt anzuziehen. Das kann man aber nicht durchhalten, ist einfach zu lange, so dass ich mich schön an ein Hinterrad klemmte, Miss Poco stehen liess, einen orangen Stadtkurier noch abfing und mich freute heil und lebendig ins Ziel gekommen zu sein.

Die Gewinnerinnen in der Frauenwertung. Miss Poco hält die gelben Blumen. Die beiden im kleinen Schwarzen sind leider nicht mitgefahren.

Wiegtrittler nach dem Rennen.

Das Rad des Gewinners in der Jedermann Klasse. Das Pflaster ist eine hübsche Idee, hatte ich aber schon mal gesehen, wo war das nur ....?

Genau hier: "Das verwundete Klavier" von Joseph Beuys im Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Ich traf dann noch ein paar andere Bremer, wie die rote S. , Muckel und Enrico wieder, trank einen Kaffee und schaute mir die Siegerehrung an. Es gibt übrigens Weltmeister für Disziplinen die nicht unbedingt jedem bekannt sind. Weltmeister der Radkuriere kannte ich aus eigener schmerzhafter Erfahrung in Tokyo 2009, als ich nicht mitfahren durfte, da ich Bremsen an meinem Rad hatte. How uncourier-like! Aber was bitte ist denn die beliebteste Hobbysportlerin Deutschlands bitte? Oder sollte das die beleibteste Hobbysportlerin Deutschlands gewesen sein, das wäre wenigstens quantifiziertbar gewesen.

Und siehe da, Miss Poco war zweite bei den Frauen geworden. Das entspricht in etwa meiner Erfahrung in Japan, wo ich mich auch zeitlich in etwa bei den guten Frauen wiederfand. Die Siegerehrung dauerte etwas lang, mir wurde kalt und ausserdem hatte ich ja noch weitaus interesantere Dinge für den Tag geplant: Den Schimmel von den Wänden im Zimmer meines pubertierenden Sohnes zu entfernen! Eine echte Alternative zum Pro-Rennen schauen.

Nach dem Rennen, Silke und Andreas

Dieses Erfinden von neuen Sportarten geht mir ohnehin etwas auf den Keks. "Früher" gab es gutaussehende deutsche Sportler wie Liesel"Diskus" Westermann, Klaus "Speer" Wolfermann oder Dieter "Zahnpasta" Baumann die in Sportarten Siege einfuhren die es seit tausenden von Jahren gibt: Etwas in die Gegend werfen und dann schnell wegrennen. Heute gewinnen Sportler aus Löndern, die weitaus jünger sind als diese Sportarten, oder schnell auftauchen und wieder verschwinden werden (sogenannte Atlantisländer wie Süd-Mikronesien) und die deutschen Sportler gewinnen in diesen uninteressanten Randsportarten wie Biathlon, die dann auch noch in epischer Breite im TV übertragen werden. Da werden diese nun auch verdrängt, so dass wir bald im Fernsehn Übertragungen der WM im "Wassersieden auf dem Sessellift" oder "Nordic Biathlon" (Biathlon im Sommer mit Schiesstöcken) ertragen werden müssen. Gähn.

Also ging ich erst einmal zum Speicher 108 an der HfK und trank einen Kaffee, wo ich von einer schnöseligen Kunststudentin, die in Antizipierung ihres zukünftigen Erfolges es nicht nötig hatte mich zu bedienen, nicht bedient wurde und fuhr dann zurück und schaute mir noch etwas die Pros an. Also, zwischen dem Jedermann Rennen und den Pro Rennen gibt es einige signifikante Unterschiede, die vielleicht nicht jedem bewusst sind. Deshalb sind sie hier noch einmal explizit und in allen Details aufgeführt:

So fahren die Pros! Unglaublich!

1. Die Pros sind dünner als die Jedermänner.
2. Die Pros sind weniger als die Jedermänner und vor allem
3. Die Pros haben weniger Zuschauer als die Jedermänner.

Ein rundum schöner Tag in der Überseestadt. Danke an Alle. Das Entwerfen von Schimmel rundete den Tag ab.

Mein Rad. Carbon. Plastik vor Plastikmüll. Sieht aber jetzt endlich mit zwei weissen Felgen bestückt richtig gut aus.

Optmimierte Lenkerposition nach Windtunneltests.

Paris to Brest to Fresnay-sur-Sarthe -- Lessons from the "Metric Millenium" Ride

2011-08-29T01:59:00.006+09:00

As reported earlier, I did not quite make it back to Paris and so DNF'ed from Paris Brest Paris 2011, as I tried to ride over a curb in the darkness of night and then smash my handlebars into some marble stone at the roadside in the town of Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, almost 1040 km into the event. But I did get to take in almost all of the PBP experience, and wanted to pass along a few thoughts for anyone who might want to try it with me in 2015. I don't have time to do a proper attempt at an MOB-esque blog post, and I did not take many photos, but at least this should give some ideas.

Actually, I'm not sure many photos are necessary, if you use your imagination. The landscape looked pretty much like this:

To this "basic template" photograph of a French field you can add (1) corn, (2) cows, (3) sheep, (4) horses or (5) various grains. Imagine well-fed, healthy looking farm animals, constantly eating the grasses. Also, there were some forested areas -- just expand the trees in the distance. To the sky, you can modify the clouds, either make them much darker, lower and more ominous (most of the time), or add more blue and make the clouds small, white and puffy (for a few hours on Wednesday). Also, you can add some huge wind power generators at a few places, the ones closest to the route after Carhaix, looming out of the mist on the outbound leg and with flashing red warning lights visible even in the near complete darkness on the return trip.

Sometimes, even often, it felt as if the landscape was more like this (riding from right side to left side of the picture):

There were some completely flat sections, but for the most part it was up or down, 1, 2 or 3%. And there were lots and lots and lots of little 4-5% rollers that went on for less than a kilometer, and also some shorter 6-8% hills. The section between Villaines-la-Juhel (221km) and Fougeres (310km) seemed elevated a bit -- always up on a ridge with the fields slipping away to both sides, which made it a bit scary during the intense lightning storm that I experienced there on the outbound leg -- though not as scary as the even-more-intense lightning storm later that evening between Fougeres and Tinteniac (364 km). The section between Loudeac (449 km) and Saint-Nicolas-du-Pelem (493 km) also had lots of hills and elevated sections on back country roads with poorer surfaces. And there was one "mountain" of 350m elevation between Carhaix-Plouguer (525 km) and Brest (618 km), which felt like a long, long climb and was pretty impressive in the storms and mist on the outbound leg, less imposing or impressive in the dry dark on the return leg.

The last night I saw incredible stars -- the milky way, the big and little dipper, cassiopeia, etc. -- though I could not rest for long to enjoy them.

The locals along the route were great in many places -- with tables set up in front of their houses offering water or other drinks, or even food. At first I thought they might be selling these items, like the restaurants I saw in some of the first control towns, but in fact they were just trying to help out. Some kids had strips of paper they were handing out -- I did not stop, but later learned that they were handing out their name/address and wanted riders to send them postcards from foreign lands. In some places, such a commitment was the price of water or coffee. Some people had mattresses where riders could rest. But there were long stretches, in the rain and at night, where there were no locals along the road. And being in the last start group also doubtless meant fewer people along the roadside on the outbound leg.

Kojima-san, of the Japan team, who I rode with at various times.

There were lots of choices for start times -- 5PM Sunday mass start with 80 hour time limit, 6PM Sunday mass start with 90 hour time limit (though the last group from this start time did not actually cross the line until closer to 8PM, I heard, and so spent hours waiting), a 9PM-10PM "free" start with 90 hour time limit, and a 5AM Monday start with 84 hour limit (the "quatre-vingt-quatre heure" group). I chose the 5AM Monday start on the theory that I could use another night of sleep to get over jet lag, and based on the organizer's promotional materials which suggested much less crowded experience at the control points, and noted that this group had the highest percentage of finishers in 2007.

The 84ers waiting for the 5AM Monday start.

The line grows longer -- but Monday 5AM was still the smallest of the single road bike start groups.

The point about fewer crowds in the controls for riders with my start time was definitely true. But I am pretty sure what happened in 2007 is that there was awful weather for the earlier starters, and the weather got better before the 84 hour riders passed through. This time, the 84 hour group had awful weather for the first 36 hours, while I talked with someone who did the 80 hour start at 5PM Sunday and who made it through the entire event (in under 70 hours) without any rain at all. And I think I would have done better if I could have ridden Sunday night and all day Monday, then rested at Carhaix-Plouguer (525 km). Even though I was always on track for a sub-80 hour time, I felt really pressed by the intermediate time cut-offs, which required me to get to the Brest control (618 km) in 38 hrs 51 minutes, but left 45 hrs and 9 mins for the (612 km) return trip.

The Loudeac sleeping accommodations.

The temperature was almost perfect for cycling -- cool enough so as not to sap your energy or require massive extra liquid intake, but not so cold as to cause you to get chilled, at least when it was dry. The rain became a big problem. I always assume that I will just put on a light rain jacket, but that the rest of my body will get wet, and that has worked fine for me on most rides, including plenty of Brevets and this summer's Etape stage from Issoire to St. Flour. But it is not easy to ride wet for several days. Even with a change of bib shorts at Loudeac, my spare pair got wet within an hour or two of riding. Even with enough chamois cream for 3 days+ of riding, I was chafing badly and needed to "ration" the application of cream on the return route so as not to run out. And my palms were getting raw from riding with wet gloves for far too long, though I alternated among 3 pairs, two of which were soaking wet by the end of the first day.

Both ankles and my left knee started to ache within the first 200 km. I raised my seat a little at the next control stop and that helped for awhile, but then both ankles and both knees started to ache. I really should not have climbed Mt. Fuji one week before this event.

My palms, chafed groin and an aching lower back also gave me various minor problems along the way. ... but everything felt better by the time I had passed Tinteniac (867 km) and Fougeres (921 km) on the return trip, and I realized that yes, I could make it. My leg muscles never let me down.

If I were to do it again (and I very well may) in 2015:

I would put in a lot more thought in planning the ride, thinking about where and when to sleep, setting time goals, etc. If I could I would try to ride to Carhaix (525 km) before sleeping, so as to get a large "savings" balance and be well ahead of the clock even when starting off on the next leg. I would think hard about how to get in and out of the controls more quickly, since these can take a lot of time to get the food, etc.
I would arrive on site 2 days earlier, to really resolve jet lag before the start.
I would choose one of the 90-hour start time, probably the "free" start from 9 to 10 PM. Even though this would mean more crowds in the controls, and even though I should be able to ride this easily in under 80 hours (and goodness knows, it does not get easier by spending more time on the bike), I think it would be worth it to get the extra leeway in my schedule for sleep. And I think it is probably more consistent with getting to Carhaix before sleeping -- though it would require getting a long nap the day of the start.
I would carry larger water bottles. I no longer have my 1 liter bottle, and need a replacement, or to use a hydration pack. During the longer, daylight, dry sections, I ran low or out of water, or needed to ration it.
Likewise, I would bring more energy bars for my saddle bag and drop bag. It is nice that they have "real food" in cafeterias at the controls, but the lack of convenience stores means you are otherwise stuck, especially at night. I really could have used those bars that we brought, and did not need, on Transalp.
I would use a larger saddle/rear bag. I tried to put all my heavy items in my rear bag, to keep my small pack light. But let's face it, it would be better to ride with no pack. And you really do want to take more gear on this ride than a shorter Brevet, even with the ability to access re-supplies via a drop bag at Loudeac (449 km and 782 km), and even with summer weather (or something that approximates it).
I would either get a dynamo front light (built into my hub) to avoid the need to change batteries, or just stock up on lithium AAA instead of alkaline AAA batteries, since those apparently last several times longer than alkaline batteries or Ni-Mh rechargeables and sustain their full output much longer. I was rationing batteries and so did not have both my front lights on at times, and was limiting my headlamp to checking directions, etc.
On the other hand, the small lithium polymer "brick" battery/charger I brought for use with my Garmin GPS worked very well. I did not keep the Garmin on for the full ride, but I could use it when alone and at night with no problem, and replenished the charge twice from the "brick" and once from the wall outlet in the Tinteniac dorrmitory where I slept.
I would bring at least a two-week supply of chamois cream, so there is no need to ration this either.
I would do it with some friends instead of alone, or at least try to do some Brevets in the U.S. between now and 2015 so that if I stay with the U.S. randonneurs, I will know more of the participants from before the event. Yes, I met a few somewhat oddball randonneur types at PBP -- people who have done PBP many times, never use a car, look as if they got a bit too much sun while on the bicycle over the years and have difficulty thinking or putting together a sentence in a conversation with a human being, ride incredibly retro equipment just to make things difficult (but who am I to call others eccentric?) -- but most of the participants were very normal, friendly types and would make good cycling buddies.
The vibration from the road surface was painful at a few points, including one of the last stretches that I rode. I went with my bombproof wheels (32/36 spokes, open pro rims) and regular 700/23 Schwalbe tires. These did fine, but I think I would try a set up with slightly fatter tires, and lower tire pressures (at least when riding these sections) if I did it again, to try to make these stretches less painful. The Schwalbe Ultremo ZX are great, but they do not quite give the "cadillac ride" that I get from these wheels with Vittoria Open Pro CX's. (My two outside fingers on the right hand still have some numbness 4 days after the event ... not atypical for this kind of really long event).

All in all, PBP is well worth doing, and it is a part of cycling history that I wanted to join -- and I may very well want to join again. But I think they are right to hold it only once in 4 years.

A Positivo trip to the Pyrenees

2011-08-27T23:05:00.003+09:00

Day 1
I met Stephen at Lyon Airport on August 14th in the evening after he finally decided to join me for several victory Tour de France stages even though he was suffering from kidney stone. Stephen secretly knew about my ability to find efficient cure for him although I have no medical capacities nor could be trusted as a good nutritional specialist. However he decided not listen to his mother (white angel) & follow my Jerome (the red devil)‘ & mountain appeal.
We arrived in Pau after 6h30 long drive (750 km), being obliged to stop several times in emergency & food replenishments. We finally made it @ 1 am

Day 2
After a long night sleep, we woke up early afternoon & share our first meal with our hosts (Nicole who would become our Medical & Massage Director & her daughter Claire – a dentist student-). Stephen complained about kidney stone suffering while finishing the succulent apple tart (I would discover later an Irish typical (?) but strange habit, Stephen had to mix apples with every meal)
We then assembled our bicycles & decided to go for warm up ride around Pau. We cycled over numerous hills & descent to reach next main village on time for another meal. Stephen could confirm French waiters famous politeness when he was told that at 4pm no sane customer would pretend to order food (everybody should know that all kitchens close after 2pm) not respecting the sacro saint compulsory 35 hours work regulation. We finally found an agreeable solution by ordering some food which would not request using an oven. Once again Stephen asked for a calvados (apple alcohol drinks commonly drank in Normandy) crepe – with no calvados nor whipped cream but only Apple, Once again our nice waiter did not seem to be happy about having to modify the menu. Unfortunate customers from Spain / England also faced the same situation,
After this nice encounter with French customs, we headed back to Pau through the main road. I tried to provoke Stephen on many occasion but vanquished by kidney stones suffering he would not threaten my determination to win all fights,

Day 3 – A miracle trip –
After another late wakening, Stephen & I decided to revisit 2010 killing Etape du Tour (Mourenx / Cold du Tourmalet). We headed towards Col de Marie Blanque at a very record speed & crossed triumphally the pass attacking the descent toward Col de l’Aubisque & Soulor. The ascension to col du Soulor went very smooth while we were well in front of the peloton. However the descent towards the base of Tourmalet was very slow due to Stephen vertigo & heavy traffic. Only when we arrived at the base of Tourmalet we got off (the car) to get a well deserved Panini / salad meal. After this tiring trip we unfortunately decided to give up climbing Tourmalet due to our late start. Instead we decided to pay a visit to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, a city famous for its miracle. To be frank, as an old previous religious man, I had my own idea & though it would be worth trying to challenge Lourdes & its miracle => A visit to the famous cavern would surely cure Stephen if he sat on the special chairs for disabled people. We braved the hot sun & heavy crowd of visitors (so many Indians…) paid respect to Bernardette, but also drank the miracle water. At 8 pm we headed back to Pau full of hope.

Day 3 Marie Blanque / Col du Soudet

Our basic plan was to challenge the famous Marie Blanque Pass as well as Soudet & the deadly Bagargi passes. In the first laces of Col du Soudet (a 18 km climb), Stephen overtook the whole peloton (me) for the final win. It seemed that the miracle had happened (although for Nicole it was more the effect of efficient medicine she gave Stephen from the very first day), As he promised, Stephen will therefore have to visit Lourdes again to pay tribute to his revival. After several rest on route to the pass we finally reached it & decided to ride up to St Martin ski station before sharing a well deserved power lunch under a nice sun. God were with us: even though it was around 4pm & the kitchen supposed to be closed as everybody is supposed to know, we were welcomed by a nice waitress who was ready to cook anything for the 2 heroes of the day. After a couple of drinks & dishes we gave up the idea to challenge the next pass but I just made it a point to climb to the Spanish border while Stephen headed back to the base of the Soudet where we had parked the car.

Day 4 rest day with a visit to Pau festival

Day 5
I successfully flew back to Paris while Stephen miraculously & freshly recovered from his disease decided to head toward Alpes d’Huez – 500 km away – by car for a last challenge. I would heard later however that he decided to drive back direct to Zurich, In fact he had planned a coffee date with a nice young Swiss lady named Beatrice that he dreamt about for the whole stay in Pau.

Before bidding farewell, we planned to organize a bicycle trip next year across the Pyrenees: Stephen had found a nice itinerary over the net www velo peloton.com which we could probably organize ourselves – avoiding being charged 850 euro per participant if we joined the official tour - with the help of our newly appointed Medical / Massage director who also agreed to serve as the broom car driver as well as the re appointed Team Manager (my brother Matthieu – see David L report regarding our Etape du tour journey)

We will keep you informed about this project but would like to know who could be interested by this new Positivo Espresso challenge

The Blue Olmo

2011-08-25T23:58:00.000+09:00

Some photos of the new blue Olmo which will replace the blue Gazelle as my new commuting bike. Come summer, come winter.

In honor of David Litts epic Paris-Brest-Paris adventure that just ended unfortunately, it will get a small sticker reading "Frenay-Sur-Sarthe - 1.039km" on the toptube, overlapping the "San Remo" mark.

This was a tricky built-up. Uwe from Studio Brisant did some repair of the paint work and I had to ask for assistance with Velosport for the headset and the bottom bracket. I am still not happy with the pedals.

The origin of most of the parts is the Peugeot Galibier that I built-up in winter this year. Most of the parts are Shimano Golden Arrow (105 level of the Eighties) but I decided to exchange the brake calipers with Shimano 600 6200type which are much, much better in terms of brake performance. The Peugeot frame is now sold and I know it in good hands.

This bike has a lot of stuff attache to it, like speed meter, bottle cage, saddle bag, pump and some is going to be added additionally: lights and mud guards. This may not be looking good on a classic bike, however this is a commuting bike and I will be in need of all this stuff.

If anyone is interested to buy the Gazelle "en bloc", please let me know.

PBP - next time need stronger handlebars

2011-08-25T19:11:00.001+09:00

PBP - next time need stronger handlebars
Well, after a dry start I got to the 140km checkpoint with a 30kph average moving speed (including some ups and downs), ... the pace then slowed a lot. From late morning we had rain and some incredible thunderstorms, complete with drenching downpours and lightning strikes too close for comfort, the remainder of the first day and overnight into the second morning. The storms and lingering jet lag set me way back, so I took a first sleep break at Tinteniac for 3 hours instead of going to Loudeac or beyond ... I somehow went from having 5 hours already "in the bank" and the prospect of more, to a constant game of catch-up to meet the deadlines at each control point.

There were lots of high and low points (figuratively and literally) along the way, but for now, here is the result: I made it through the 1009 km control point at Villaines-la-Juhel but not to Mortagne-au-Perche at 1090 km.
About 30 km into the leg, at 2am in the dark, zipping through the town of Frenay-Sur-Sarthe, I hit a low curb (that looked like another lane of the street, not a curb, to me) and went down on my right side, hearing the hiss of exploding tires and then the hard clatter and a bang as my bars slammed into some kind of marble, solid memorial stone. The carbon handlebars gave way to marble.

Anyway, just some minor road rash and bruises, I think, but no way to continue on.

Duell Bikes

2011-08-25T01:44:00.000+09:00

Last weekend I had the chance to travel to Den Haag/Netherlands and to visit the bike shop of John van Herwerden, the maker of Duell bikes.

Since last year Hiroshi from C Speed is importing Duell bikes. Duell bikes have quite some racing history in the Netherlands and are made out of steel. Not any steel, but high tensile strength Dedacciai 14.4 and 16.5 steel profiles, TIG welded. We are not speaking about pure retro steel frames but about modern applications. The frame builder Jan van Daale has a good feeling for the design and for the painting design. Almost all frames that Hiroshi has sold so far are customized.

It has been a while since I had been in the Netherlands and I enjoyed the local food such as french fries in buckets with heaps of Mayonnaise, Ketchup and onions on top - Frites special.

John has a nice shop with along tradition not to far away from the city centre of Den Haag. TJ Bruder lived in the area and found about it first before anybody else. The shop is rather big, in particular if compared with the typical Japanese shop. The focus is on modern racing bikes, such as Specialized. The highlight is nevertheless the display of the Duell bikes (for the normal customer) and two old bikes equipped with the most exquisite Campagnolo groupsets (50th years anniversary edition).

I got John to wear the Positivo Espresso jersey and took some photos in his shop. We talked about cycling. Of course, what else? It is nice to meet nice people through a common hobby.

PS There is even a Seven Eleven in Den Haag.

Paris-Brest-Paris 2011 Day -1 and Day 0

2011-08-22T04:27:00.001+09:00

Jerome -- old school, as he visits the Relais de Voisins, my temporary base.

I arrived Friday evening at St. Quentin-en-Yvelines, the “start suburb” for Paris-Brest-Paris. I’m staying in a hotel about 3 km South of the start/finish area in Voisins-le-Bretonneux, another similar town. This is a very nice, prosperous looking and highly “planned” area of the Paris region, with lots of greenways, bike lanes, well-marked cross walks, and a mix of low rise multifamily and detached single family housing. The gardens are neatly kept. There are flower pots hanging from the street lamp poles. It is the kind of place that wants so badly to stay clean that they give away the plastic bags for dog walkers to gather their dog’s shit from little dispensers on the street corners.

Voisins-le-Bretonneux

Doggy bags

So far, I’m very happy with the hotel I reserved through the American travel agent (Des Peres Travel) that has dominant market share among the U.S. randonneurs, and also happens to arrange hotels for a large group of the Audax Kanagawa riders.

The hotel is on a quiet tree-lined street, has nice grounds, basic rooms and is reasonably priced. There are maybe 50 U.S. riders staying here and a few others (a Taiwanese group was here yesterday, but most seem to have just been stopping by). At least 3 others here selected the 5AM Monday start, as did I, instead of the more popular Sunday afternoon and evening start times.

Jerome was stopping by his father’s house Friday night/Saturday on the way back from his week in Pau and the Pyrenees (with Stephen Coady). On Saturday morning, he borrowed an ancient bike with a lugged steel frame (maybe MOB is familiar with the manufacturer – France-Loire Cycles, of St. Etienne?) from his father’s neighbor and came over to my hotel from Gif-sur-Yvettes, his home town. We took a nice spin, saw where my son stayed with the family of a friend of Jerome in 2009 in Chevreuse, and I now have visited the house where Jerome grew up and his father still lives. It is a nice area, lots of green, plenty of up and down for cyclists – including a short but steep hill at Chateaufort – and easy access to Paris by RER train.

The street in front of my hotel.

Today, I took another morning spin, riding around and then through Versailles, just to the East of here.

North Entrance of Versailles gardens

Photo op in front of Marie Antoinette's play-peasant village

This afternoon, after a big plate of pasta, I and others who start tomorrow morning cheered the riders who had starts between 4 and 6 PM. I wore my Audax Japan jersey and waved the Tohoku charity fundraising bandanna that I got yesterday at registration. Many waved back. Now I get one more night of sleep, get up very early for a 5AM start, and ride 1230 km.

Pescarolo sold

2011-08-18T19:12:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I sold the Pescarolo bike. No, not to the guy on the photo. This was the first sale of a bike I built up new completely as opposed to single frames and components I have sold before. The Pescarolo isn't a top of the line bike, neither does it fit my size (55 cm), but still I was a little bit sad. This could become a repeated process in the months to come. I am currently building up a blue Olmo bike that will become the replacement for the blue Gazelle I bought last year. And then we will see.

More Trouble where the Rubber Hits the Road

2011-08-16T17:12:00.003+09:00

On Sunday night/Monday morning, I climbed Mt Fuji with my younger son Henry, who is in good hiking shape after a 30 day NOLS trip in the Pacific Northwest. They say everyone who lives in Japan should climb Mt Fuji once, if only for the experience of being high on a volcano with thousands of others.

Sunrise, from around 3200 meters' elevation on the Subashiri route.

We climbed the "Subashiri guchi" route, much less crowded than the traditional trip up from Fuji Yoshida just as the hill climb cycling event to its base, the 5th stage at the top of the Azamino Line, is much less crowded than the hill climb up the 5th stage on the Subaru Line, at the base of the Fuji Yoshida route. Of course, the hill climb up the Azamino Line is nearly twice the grade of the climb up the Subaru Line, so that might have something to do with the relative lack of crowds. Likewise, the Subashiri-guchi route starts climbing from around 1900 meters elevation, whereas the Fuji Yoshida route starts much higher, from around 2350 meters.

Henry and I watch the sunrise.

I highly recommend the Subashiri alternative, since it means that you only join the real mob scene at the very top of the mountain, for the last 400-500 meters elevation of climbing. Otherwise, best to do the climb in early September, after the end of the "official" season but before all of the mountainside huts close. Also, the Subashiri route has a sand field for much of the descending route -- you can wade through it in big rolling downward steps, as long as you are careful to avoid the larger rocks.

The collection of huts, souvenir shops, and pay toilets on top of Mt Fuji, at the end of the Fuji Yoshida route

Sand running (suna bashiri) in the clouds, almost sand skiing. Fun, but tough on the boot soles.

Unfortunately, I had mechanical problems with my "wheels" even though not riding a bicycle. The Vibram rubber soles on my 14 year-old hiking boots started to de-laminate (i.e. come off) during the climb. With repeated tapings, they did not come off completely until we were over half way down. Fortunately, the inner soles were tough enough to make it back to the trailhead. It reminded me of riding half a Brevet with a broken spoke ... or maybe in non-cycling shoes! Maybe I should not have left the boots in the back of our car, parked in the mid-day sun, for the entire week before the climb?

In any event, I highly recommend climbing Mt. Fuji, once, to any expat living in Japan.

Around Mt Fuji

2011-08-10T17:55:00.005+09:00

I went around Mt. Fuji today on the P-cranks bike -- 110km and plenty of up and down. The heat was oppressive on the lower stretches of the South side above Fujinomiya and near Gotemba, so I took a brief roadside rest here along Rte 469, at the EPO farm and garden. Really did the trick!

The nutrition at the EPO farm was much better than the home made crap we had when we visited the dog park tourist trap later in the trip.

Images of cycling in Belgium

2011-08-09T20:49:00.000+09:00

through fyxomatosis from Tommy P. Reconnaissance of the Rhonde.

Leather on the bike

2011-08-09T20:10:00.002+09:00

Apart from leather grips as on the Olmo handle bar, there are also various other places where leather can be used to upgrade the functionality of a bike.

This application is in particular handy for people living in the "Viertel" ("The quarter") of Bremen. Sure, it should include Becks (Greenies) bottles instead of Pilsener Urquell. The Viertel is the part of the town where it is considered uncool to walk around without carrying a bottle of beer.

Before leaving one's home, one need to check: Key in the pocket? Spare change? Mobile phone? Bottle of beer? I used to live there in the summer of 2010 close to a supermarket that is opened until midnight. Quite rare in Germany still. But basically not necessary as well: Some crates of Becks placed in front of the cashier would have created the same turnover after 8 PM.

Shut up, legs!

2011-08-09T20:01:00.001+09:00

No, not of Jens Voigt. But who is the cyclist in question?

Ok, another one, From left to right please.

Riding Powercranks at Mt Fuji

2011-08-08T18:31:00.006+09:00

I am at Mt. Fuji since the weekend, staying at a rental house above
the North shore of Kawaguchiko, in the same compound that was our base
for the Saiko JCRC race last November. Since this trip is with my
wife and our dog and so cycling should be limited to a 1- or 2-hour
rides in the morning, I left the Cervelo at home (along with our
younger son, whose part-time job kept him in town). Instead, I am
riding the Powercranks.

On Transalp, I felt a real difference from 2009 in my strength -- both
on the flats and when I wanted to power-up the last half kilometer of
any climb -- and I think it might have been due to commuting on the
p-cranks several weeks in May/early June, building up new muscles. So
I really wanted to try riding them some more -- the more I ride them
the easier it gets! They are still not as much fun as a bicycle with
a normal crank, but with them I get a work out for my leg muscles
quickly.

Return to the site of one of the Novembe 2010 "bike leaning" photo shots.

The momiji (Japanese maple) leaves were red in November.

I've decided to drop the nickname "paincranks" as it no longer quite fits.

Olmo from the Ice

2011-08-08T07:13:00.000+09:00

Despite the fact that I was raised in the sixties and seventies, my parents didn't own a television set for quite a while. I was forced to go to my grandparents who were living next door when I liked to watch TV.

From this angle the bike almost looks like a stealth fighter plane.

My favourite programs as a kid were "Krempoli", ""Stanley Beamish, "Mini-Max" and the Augsburger Puppenkiste, a marionette theater that would make any kid of today asleep within 10 seconds. Michael Ende, Ottfried Preussler and Max Kruse all wrote famous pieces for the programm and one I remember in particular were the stories about Urmel. And the charcter I liked most was the sea elephant. One day, when I retire, I want to become like the sea elephant from Urmel.

So this is perhaps why the name OLMO, which is or was one of the famous Italian steel frame builders of the sixties, seventies and eighties, is high in my personal list. When I started to become interested in old steel bikes a long time ago (autumn 2010, to be precise), the first bike I fell in love with was the Moser Leader AX evolution This is a nice frame but it very hard to get them in large sizes and . now it is somewhat too modern for me with TIG welded joints and unifork. The second bike I fell in love with was an Olmo. I now own too Olmo frames (I have sold the Faggin and the Peugeot in the meantime to finance them). and the blue one from the Nineties will become my commuting bike and the white "Olmo from the Ice" will become the showpiece.

Still a lot of choices to be made, but here are some photos showing the actual status after working on the bike today. The frame was rusty and in poor conditions when I got it first from Vienna. It was grit-blasted and painted and I bought a set of new decals. Almost every component has a special story. Note the leather grips on the track handle bar, the Shimano 600 AX aero brakes and the Arabesque shifters.

There's so much to write - but another time when the bike is ready. Enjoy the photos.

Campagnolo Super Record Brake Lever with Olmo Pantographs plus leather grips.

Shimano 600AX front brake - Eighties arero craze porn

The cockpit: Olmo stem with Italian flag

Pantographed fork and Arabesque shifters

Gran Compe Saddle

Front view on pave

Rear view on pave

Bremen Elevation Profile Part II

2011-08-04T17:30:00.000+09:00

My recently posted examples concerning the difference in elevation profiles between a typical tour day in the Alps and in Bremen missed an important detail: weather conditions.

I hope I got it right this time.

I rode to the meeting point HaW aka "little hut at the edge of the forest" shortly before seven but nobody was there. Checking the forum again it seems that most of the members wanted to ride the following day. Looking out of the office window that doesn't seem to be a good choice but the weather forecast indicates otherwise. Let's see.

So I started on my own in direction Dammsiel. With a nice tailwind I made good progress in direction Kuhsiel and I thought I give it a try to ride 2 hours with 30 km/hr plus average. After Kuhsiel I made a right turn and rode down the other side of the Wümme, a road Muckel has shown me some weeks ago. Riding there for 5 km, then making a left turn brings one back to "SOS Landscape" and the road to Worpswede. I sprinted over the huge hill in Worpswede, completely exhausting myself for approximately 34 seconds, then rode on in direction Worpshausen. Then it started to rain.

Of course I had no rain gear with me but it wasn't that cold outside so I just went on, but taking a shortcut to Lilienthal and further on to Borgfeld. The road was very wet, it was getting dark and the traffic was rather heavy, so I decided to take the cycling road between Lilienthal and Borgfeld. I had never taken it before; it was OK, but frequent stops at major roads are preventing one from going at a good speed. Then somehow I made a mistake and I found myself on the road leading along the right side of the Wümme. Doesn't matter I thought, eventually it will hit the road between Lilienthal and Boregfeld and I can cross the river and ride home straight. Unfortunately I was already to the North of that bridge so I continued to ride in the rain back to Melkhus /Dammsiel which was a huge detour. The road was completely deserted, some fishermen and some SUV, but otherwise I could only see people in the framer pubs that are placed at convenient intervals along the road. Long stretches of the roads are plastered with black clay bricks and were looking very slippery. I took extra care not to crash.

Arriving at Dammsiel I took a left turn and continued back along the other side of the Wümme again - the road I had originally taken when riding out in the first place. It almost stopped raining but now it was too late anyway. I was soaked and the known feeling of wet socks in wet shoes was already there and in full bloom. But again, it wasn't that bad.

Shortly before arriving at the Kuhsiel my rear tire blew up. This was my first puncture ever with a tubular tire. I had experienced one in Mallorca and I can tell you that this is not a pleasant experience. Even if you are alone and you have no repair kit, no spare tire, no rain gear and no light.

So I continued to ride the last 10 km home on the flat tire with my super-expensive Toppolino carbon wheels. I ride them because my Ultegra wheels are still only temporarily fixed by Christain Sambi of Ravenna fame and the DT Swiss rear wheel is still with Campa for new spokes after the Berlin Velothon accident. For one reason or the other I have ridden home many bikes and many times with flat tires and it is better if a) the rear tire is flat than the front one and b) since today I know that you can go faster on a flat tubular than on a flat clincher. Perhaps this is just because the carbon wheels are lighter.

Which brings me to another important point: It seems that riding on flat tires for longer distances might damage the wheels. So I took the appropriate precautions which are: Riding home, pretending not to care about the wheels, not to look at them, leave the bike in the garage for a week or so and hope that everything will be all right afterwards.

Yesterdays summary: 80 km on the bike, 45 km thereof in the rain, 10 km thereof with a flat rear tire. Average Speed dropped from 31.1 km/hr to something which is too embarrassing to mention. However, if the weather continues as it is, this might have been a good preparation for the Bremen Challenge race on August 28th.

Trainingscamp Diemitz

2011-08-03T18:54:00.000+09:00

For cyclist Diemitz isn't as popular as Mallorca, the Alps or Southern France when it comes to the selection of training grounds. Nevertheless it has its charm.

First of all, where the hell is Diemitz? As cyclists tend to prefer the mountains as opposed to the sea, Diemitz isn't necessarily on the radar screen of the cycling world. It isn't located at the sea either, but in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (aka Meck-Vorpom) and just in the middle of a huge region of lakes and swamps, connected by canals, know as the Mecklenburger Seenplate (Mecklenburg lake district). The Müritz lake is the biggest one in Germany after the Bodensee in the South, created by the river Rhein. But the lake district is more than the Müritz lake, there is water everywhere. In fact one can travel from Berlin in the South through the lake district to the Baltic Sea by boat through a system of interlocked canals and sluices.

Our friends, having made a fortune in Tokyo, Moscow, Munich and recently in Riyad, bought their summer estate about 9 years ago in the small village of Diemitz. Every August they invite their friends and relatives to stay with them for the weekend or perhaps longer. Our family was there the first time last year and last weekend we drove to Dimietz for the second time - by that it has become something of a regular event in the short history of our family in Germany.

Also, in case you haven't found out that by yourself or didn't thought too much about the importance of this, Diemitz is located with the former German Democratic Republic. Having spend most of the last 20 years since the German reunification in Asia, I still have difficulties to cope with the fact that there is only one Germany left. Not that I am against it, but still for me it has been a surprising development and when riding by car to Diemitz I tend to say "We are crossing the border now" or "Better not to have a car breakdown after Helmstedt (the former border town on the federal highway)." If you would ask me what came first, German unification or introduction of the Euro, I would know that the former is a precondition for the later, but I would tend to place them at more or less the same point of time. Completely wrong.

The region has the charm of the former regime. Some villages are rundown, many streets have cobblestone roads and the roads between the small villages are nice looking alleys. The most amazing fact about the lake district is, that nobody is living there. It is, so to say, the exact opposite of Shibuya. There are vast amounts of land dedicated to foresting or to large scale agricultural operations. This is only natural for mountainous areas, but the landscape her is rather flat with rolling hills.

What would be better to ride along in style with a bike that fits the area? So I took my blue Gazelle with me and set off one afternoon to explore the area around Diemitz. I had to wait some days as the weather was terrible. Rain all day long, some of the largest recorded rainfalls in history. Even some roads were closed the the fire fighters were busy pumping water back into the lakes.

With the sun coming out for the first time the roads dried fast and I zoomed through up and down the hills. There are alleys, fields, swamps, lakes and dense Forrest of pine trees. There is a lot of variety and a lot to see. To ride over the cobblestoned sections of the road, mainly within the limits of the villages is a rather painful but authentic experience. Perhaps a modern carbon frame would be more comfortable, but an old steel bike is so much more charming. A good training for the L'eroica next year?

ePerformance Camp October 15th and 16th!

2011-08-02T12:04:00.000+09:00

Dear all,

After receiving many emails from participants of the March camp wanting to know if we would hold any more professional training camps in Japan, we are proud to announce that we will hold an ePerformance Technical Training Camp in Japan on October 15th and 16th 2011.

The cost of the camp is ¥30,000 but members of the original camp in March will receive a ¥5,000 yen discount. If you have not received the email with the rebate information please drop me a line here.

Right now we are looking at several locations for the camp and to help us get a better understanding of the amount of people wishing to attend. If you are interested in joining this camp please let us know as we are limited to the number of athletes that can attend to between 17 and 25 depending on location, so please reserve your spot by emailing me here.

If you are interested in learning more about this camp then please email me here.

We look forward to riding with you soon!

Sunday social ride

2011-07-29T17:40:00.002+09:00

UPDATE: The Sunday ride started according to plan. Tristan, Graham and I headed out on dry pavement, Jerome caught up, and we met Tom and Ludwig at Tamagawahara-bashi. 6 people -- not bad for a group of expats on an early Sunday morning in mid-summer, with a questionable weather forecast. We decided to head for Takao and then, if all went well, over into the low hills around Sagamiko. The sky was very dark.

As we headed out the river to the WNW, we could see rain and very low clouds, and soon we entered the precip -- real tsuyu (rainy season) or September typhoon season weather, with tiny drenching droplets of warm rain.

Ludwig quickly said he wanted to head back, not favoring a ride in the wet. But he kept with us to the bridge over the Tamagawa, where he and Tom decided to head out Yaen-kaido toward Onekansen, rather than Takao (an easier "u turn" if the rain did not let up). Somehow I was expecting that even if Ludwig and Tom showed up, they would probably head off in a different direction, since they like to ride solo and have finally become a good fit for trips together. Graham, Tristan, Jerome and I pushed on toward Takao, starting up the Asagawa.

The rain got heavier and heavier, the closer we were to the hills surrounding Hachioji. We were still a few kilometers short of Hachioji Station, at a place where the route along the Asagawa involves multiple turns and road crossings, when Tristan slipped and went down -- I heard a "bam" of someone hitting a guardrail behind me. He banged his thigh hard, but fortunately nothing broken, just what looked like it will be a nasty, painful bruise.

We continued on into Hachioji, found a Denny's and sought shelter and breakfast, to see if the weather would improve. It did not, so we headed back. (Except for Jerome who, having had at least 3 cups of coffee and 4 of cola, decided it would be a shame not to at least go up to Otarumi Pass and back, having made it this far).

By the time we got back across the river the rain had almost ceased and we were on dry pavement again. We did a short detour, one trip up the Yomiuri-V-Dori to show Tristan and Graham the location, then Tristan and I did a semi-team time trial along the road on the Kawasaki side back to Futakotamagawa, Graham not far behind.

When I got home, my wife and son reported that it it had not rained at all in Tokyo while we were getting soaked just a bit closer to the western hills.

__________________________

ORIGINAL POST: It has been awhile ... but is anyone else in town (Tokyo, that is -- not Bremen, London, Grenoble or one of the other branches) and interested in a social ride on Sunday, heading out relatively early Sunday morning? I think Jerome is also in.

Maybe a 7:30AM start from Kaminoge (my house), or 7:10AM Ebisu, or 8:00AM from Tamagawaharabashi (the bridge that crosses the Tamagawa just after the Keio-kaku keirin stadium and leads to Onekansen)?

No detailed route plan -- depends on the weather and the group.

The forecast is for cooler, cloudy weather, with a chance of rain showers -- could be worse.

Leave a reply in the comments or drop me an email if you are interested.

You're wondering now what to do......

2011-07-24T06:11:00.000+09:00

...now you know this is the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqtfl0gt5fM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14264245
Not related to cycling at all but still so sad.

Bookends

2011-07-23T23:25:00.000+09:00

I started my trip with a day alone in a largish European city (Munich) with no plans except to relax, recover from jet lag and look around, before MOB would join me and we would head for Sonthofen and the start of Transalp.

I finished the trip with a day alone in another largish European city (Lyon) with no plans except to relax, recover from Sunday's event and look around a bit -- time to kill before a flight out to Frankfurt the next morning and on to Tokyo.

I would be on the same flight, but 24 hours later than those other remarkable athletes returning back to Tokyo -- the "nadeshiko" Japan national women's football (soccer) team, fresh from their World Championship victory in Frankfurt. Okay, okay, the use of "other" in that last sentence was a bit over the top. Still, I had a great trip, and I cannot wait for Paris-Brest-Paris!