Tour of Okinawa

Stage 1,2 and 4 were cancelled because of bad weather. Stage 3 result : 86 km, in 3:07:10 hrs. Holidays can be that cruel.Attacked by killer butterflies [making up new stories for the kids)\]

Map my ride track

Saiko Race TV Review

Just watched the Asahi TV program about the Saiko race this afternoon. As expected the program focuses on the adventures of the two attending "talentos", Yoshizawa/Morning Musume in the W class and "forgot his name" in C1. The performance of both is also something to be forgotten soon; both of them were dropped within the first lap, both of them finished in the forties out of less than 50 riders.

Basically I disliked the program as it was promoting bicycle riding in a strange way. Sure, it is nice to have a lot more people riding bikes than to see them in cars and trains, but I am not sure if I want to meet them in races when, among other things, my health is at stake.

I also found it somehow unfair that both of them had a (non-competing) helper at their side to support them throughout their races.

OK, perhaps I am to strict with them.

No shots from our races. But we could see James in full profile with Tiger and a little bit in the back Tsukino and Henri at one point. I recorded the program on our HDD and I hope I can manage some DVD copies if somebody is interested.

A different Sport

The Positivo Espresso Team KILLER KRAEHEN KABUSHIKI KAISHA KKKK (killer crows) attending the table soccer tournament of the German Embassy Cup.
2 wins, 2 losses, out during the first group stage but still a lot of fun.

Sensational New Cycling Road Found in Tokyo

Sometimes we are missing out on the opportunities that are waiting right in front of us; instead we are pursuing others that take much more effort. So why are we riding out into the mountains of Chichibu and Yamanashi, when the almost perfect cycling road is just here in Tokyo?

So in the picture we can see an inviting 10% slope somewhere in the Tokyo Metropolitan area which until now has been virtually undiscovered by road bike riders. The slope is part of a 17 km round trip which include plenty of nice climbs, a total of roughly 400 elevation meters to be conquered and splendid views over a part of the city covered in lush greens and extended to the emerald blue colors of the sea.
One can start the trip at sea level close to a beautiful beach. Actually I did this just one week ago on my sophisticated Cervelo bike while my son Henri who joined me had to borrow a not so sophisticated blue mama chari and was suffering going up the slopes. Actually he did not only suffer, but also complained a lot. All of this was of course ignored for the higher ideals of education. Finally one has come up all the way to the NASDA research center on top of the mountain. And there is also reward: beautiful slopped roads leading all the way down to the the sea again.
In the middle a 200 meter long unlit tunnel leading downwards after a long and straight 10% slope. So one enters the tunnel already at a speed of more than 60 km/hr. Then suddenly the light is turned out; one cannot see any longer what is right in front of the bike [especially when wearing sun glasses], the vision is limited to the light that comes in through the end of the tunnel some hundred meters ahead. It is really frightening, especially after realising that one has not bothered to put his helmet on.

So, where is this well kept secret located? Is it on a newly reclaimed island in Tokyo bay called "Togeshima / 峠島" which is constructed in preparation for the 2016 Tokyo Oympics as part of the official cycling venue? No. All of this is within the borders of Tokyo. But
unfortunately there is one big drawback:

Although from an administrative viewpoint Chichijima belongs to Tokyo Metropolitan, the island itself is located precisely 1.007 km to the South of the emperors palace. More famous than Chichijima is another island of the same Bonin island groups located 250 km to the South. But it is not only less famous, but also much more less fun, in particular in March 1945.

Moreover, there is no airport on the island; one has to embark on the Ogasawamaru passenger ship at Takeshiba Pier, leaving once a week, and travel for more than 25 hours until the shores of Chichijima come finally into sight.But the time is well spend. Much to my surprise there are many people travelling to Chichijima not for cycling but for some kind of auxiliary activities such as whale watching, swimming with dolphins in the sea, chasing giant bats with more than one meter wing span or just fishing and chilling out on the sandy beaches, lying below the green papaya trees.Well, I will never understand the pleasures involved in these activities. Why getting seasick in a small boat while occasionally seeing whales (which is actually not only a country located only 200 miles away from Britain but also a big fish in the ocean) when one can puke his lungs out while sneaking up 20% monster slopes?

Nevertheless after a lot of pleading by my son we did exactly that (I don't mean the thing with the lungs) and we could see blue whales cruising to the West of Chichijima.I learned that there are two type of whales in the ocean at Chichijima: Blue whales, which migrate to the South to give birth to small blue whales before moving back to Iceland where they own there deposits and green whales, which are illuminated from within and glowing after they have passed in front of the atomic reactor at Sadogashima. They are also much bigger.
After only three short days we boarded the boat again and took all the letters with us, that were collected in the meanwhile on the island. Sorry, but there will be no collection of the mail, until the boat departs again in one week time and somebody else comes back.

It was sad to leave THIS part of Tokyo and coming back into THAT part of Tokyo which was grey, combined with pouring rain and unfriendly faces.

Anybody in for a ride at Chichijima?

Let's open up a new wrong channel of thoughts.

Saiko Race : Kraehe Family

Apart from the less than average performance of my twin-brother Jan, the weekend in Saiko proved to be very pleasurable. I had a lot of difficulties to register both of us : Jan and me with the organizer Nikkan Sports. Finally I got a call and the supervisor asked me, to confirm that he got two registrations, one for a Michael Kraehe and one for a Jan-Ulrich Kraehe. This I confirmed. Then he said: "Yes we noted that also for both riders the birth day is the same [note: pretty stupid of me in the first place], so are you twins?" "Yes, of course, my brother Jan and me are twins": In confirmed. "Ok fine, then the matter is settled, you re registered.

Henri and our Aupair Anna took the BMW and headed in the morning for Saiko. Because of the stupid BMW navigation system we missed the right exit from the Chuo Highway. Bad enough. But it turned out to be a very good mistake as we entered the Saiko area from the West side by a beautiful road through the mountain area we have never taken before. Thank you BMW. Then, we met at the Cafe M which is our favourite hang out in the Saiko area and had huge bowls of spaghetti with mushrooms and excellent curry.

After a good lunch it was time for some training laps. The road surface was still a little bit wet but it was not raining as when we left Tokyo. So I took a lap first on my own which felt good. Then I rode together with Henri who was registered for the 10 km race for the first time. He had no problems to complete one 10 km within 30 minutes or so which made me confident that he would finish the race on the next day - this year it was anyway the idea to set a benchmark time against which he can measure himself in the years to come.

After that we all went to the Onsen next to the ex Kuwarubi Hotel on the shore of the lake and enjoyed the outside pool. Still Stephen and Ryoko haven't arrived so we settled again for a nice dinner at the Cafe M and went to bed early.

Next morning I started to do some training rides in the area and then I went to attend the D class race. I felt very confident. When racing in Saiko I always have some worries despite the fact that I really love the race: In 2005 I got dropped by the peloton after being too optimistic in my strategy to run out the peloton together with David Litt [also I was under the influence of drugs which were given to me because of a stiff back on the day before the race]. Then I am worried that I am surrounded by riders on the left side of the peloton and have no room to sprint. And then I am afraid of crashes, so I stay in the first third of the peloton, also because I am not a technical very good rider and I always loose some meters in tight curves.

Ok, consequently I tried to stay in the front group. After the first lap I was in the third position - this was not really necessary but a good show for my family that was waiting for me at the finish line. Then after relaxing the next 5 km and falling back, I attacked the front again and from 15 to 19 km I was almost all the time in the front doing a lot of drafting work for the rest. But I still felt strong. And suddenly I was also in front at the 19 km mark, so there was only 1 km to go until the finish. So I accelerated even more, but then I ran out of steam. About 400 meters before the finish is a slight uphill stretch and I couldn't keep up with the other riders. Just as every year, good run but then wrong strategy at the end. A lot of riders overtook me on the last stretch and also Stephen managed to pass by. The race was rather slow as the road surface was still wet (31 minutes winning time), so the peloton stayed together until the end, not many riders were dropped.

So in the end a result like every year, a 29th place (out of 41 riders), but only 4.4 seconds behind the winner. in 2006 I was 25th in the D Class out of 42 riders 8 seconds behind the winner. 2005 was a disaster. 2004 I was 28th out of 62 riders 5 seconds behind the winner.

Ok, I thought it would be better to have two chances ... so later my twin brother Jan started in the E class race.

Ok, the next event was the Milky Way race for my daughter Karen. This is only a 500 meter race from the parking space at the bat cave to the finish. The two years before Karen went on her bike with supporting wheels, but this year she tried without for the first time. I waited with her at the start area with my bike somewhere parked 10 meters behind. So suddenly there was the start sign and the race started. I ran back to my bike as I wanted to ride together with Karen. But she was so fast! I caught her only close to the goal.

There are no results for the Milky Way race, as this should be non-competitive, but she was really strong. Ok, her future fate is already decided as her mother set her career course in figure skating ... but with some subtle manipulation there might be still a chance to convert her to bicycle riding.
In the years before all Milky Way kids got medals from Mr. Nakano presented, however this year there were a lot of riders in this class so unfortunately Nikkan Sports decided to abolish this ceremony. But all the kids got some toys and Karen was happy with that one too. Of course, nothing can be beaten by a medal handed over by P-cup idol Fuko. Alas, only Flat-cup idols Lady Marmelade, partly dressed in fashionable Scottish pampers,made it to the race and Dennis collected his 5th place MTB certificate.

Then it was time for Henri to start the Primary School higher grades 10 km race. He hates loud noises so when the start pistol was shot he covered his ears and he couldn't pick up speed fast. Hm, he is special anyway but that is ok. He also made a good race and he ended up in 28th place, so one place better than his father [ok : 5.50 min gap to the winner]. But I was very impressed that he managed to finish the race in a good time of 22:56 minutes and an average speed of more than 26 km/hr. Last year when he rode the 3.2 km race with the same bike he was at 20 km/hr average speed. So, as every father should be, I was very proud of my son.

We then went home quickly has we wanted to avoid the traffic jam on the Chuo. The weather was now beautiful and we could see mount Fuji with the summit in the clouds on the right side of the road home. Jan was driving. His body started to hurt and it was painful to make it to Tokyo - but surprisingly fast. There was still some time to visit the fantastic WORKMAN shop on the Nakahara Kaido, introduce Anna to cheap construction worker T-shirts, Pump trousers and tabi socks and to buy a nice orange handkerchief for my daughter as a bonus.

A very nice weekend for me and my family. Not so nice for Jan although.

Jan-Ulrich's disastrous comeback

dpa / After being inactive for over a year in Germany, Jan-Ulrich decided to attend the E-class race at this year's Saiko event of the Tour de Japon. When the race started, the sky was a full blue and the road surface had almost completely dried up, perfect conditions for fast two laps at this 10 km round course around the lake of Saiko. Against strong contenders from Japan as well as from the French NFCC team, Jan-Ulrich controlled the peloton from behind and managed to stay with the field until the sharp corner at the 15 km mark. When he start to accelerate hard out of the saddle after the curve, his rear wheel blocked and he flew right over his bike on the road. Three other riders were also caught in the crash, but all of them managed to continue the race after a short break.

It later turned out that the rear wheel has not been fixed securely in place as the tension device of the TUNE spanner has dropped over time. The rear wheel then jumped against the seatstay and blocked. Accelerating Jan-Ulrich virtually catapulted over his bike when he couldn't stop his feet movements.

He then proceed to the next first aid station, where he got some band aid and bandages - his orange jersey has been ripped to pieces. "I was lucky not to broke my two wrists when I tried to dampen the impact to fall on the road." he said later. Also he was lucky that none other rider rode over him.

He then completed the race, stopped on the way to chat with some supporters from Ireland and finished last in dismayal 44 minutes.

Three days later he seems to be on the road to recovery, although every move still hurts. "First I didn't felt any pain as I was still under shock and I could even enjoy the Milky Way Race. But driving home was already very painful and I still can't move properly. I guess my comeback is over."