Championship Reflections

Someday in December, when JCRC will send me the champion jersey for 2008 and I will be the official recognized winner of the "2008 Road serise", I will definitely invite for a party, possibly at the Positivo shop and then close by. Until then, some reflections on the 2008 JCRC racing season:
For sure I had a lot of luck. Also persistence and power, but most of all luck. Out of the 14 JCRC races I have attended this year (counting the actual races, not the events), 10 have been hill climbs or similar elevation intensive races. And I am not a fast hill climber at all. But luckily some of the strongest contenders this year have given up in the midst of the season, or where promoted to C class. Like fourteen year old Nishimura - who continues to beat me at every single race.
And I was also lucky that the JCRC rules were in my favour. 60 points for attendance of a race and arriving at the goal without getting lapped. And in addition a maximum of 30 points depending on the race result. One could virtually secure championship by just attending. At one point I was at risk to be relegated to E class. That happens if one finishes three times in a row with a time 10% slower than the 10th place rider in a race. But miraculously after finishing 10% lower in the races at Gunma and Shuzenji, the next race (hill climb at Shiobara) was exempted from this rule and the race afterwards (again Gunma) as well. Finally I made the cut in Yokkaichi. But the most luck I had with the weather and that I didn't encountered any crash or mechanical problems. Weather conditions were good at almost all races, except for Hitachi-Naka and somewhat for Yokkaichi. My competitor and later friend Ishii crashed at Hitachi-Naka almost in front of me and I had to ride over the grass in order to get out of the danger zone. At the Tokyo race (not part of the JCRC series) also in the rain, a guy riding next to me on the inner side of a curve slipped and started to slide in my direction. Instead of cornering I rode straight and straight into the guiderails, barely managing to escape the crash as well as the rails. Is Saiko, at the last race, a rider crashed 30 meters in front of me during the finish sprint and again I was lucky that he felt on the left side and I could pass on the right. At the hill climb in Shiobara, I rode over a chestnut which punctured my back wheel tire. Luckily that happened only 200 meters away from the finish, so I was able to walk to the goal.

And I was lucky that I had no injuries, no colds, nothing. If anything, the JCRC series has told me something about the meaning of luck and that a tiny mishap can ruin the hard work of a complete season. This is not a single race where one can have a good result or not and then again try next year. This was my once in a lifetime chance to achieve something extraordinary in the field of sport and if I would make only one small mistake, I would have wasted my chance and never get a new one.

And this is actually the dark flip side of riding for championship series: I was very worried all the time. Worried that I will crash, get a cold, don't know the JCRC rules or simply do not race very well and that killed a lot of the fun associated with racing. At Saiko I thought that it might be too risky to ride along with the main group, and just cruise behind them at 30 km/hr in order just to finish and not to get lapped. Because this would have been enough to clinch the title. Just because I was worried, I would have given up to enjoy the race and sprint for victory. I did not in the end, but again I was lucky that I did not crash.

It is less fun to race when one has to race, in the rain or in races where one finished in last place, just because one needs to gather the points. This has been what I have learned this year and I have now much more respect for sportsmen and women who achieve their goals over a long season, be it bicycle riders, soccer teams or figure skaters. I will not try to repeat this again, one season of worries have been enough.
From a point of performance I am a miserable champion I guess. How where my results over the season?

1. Kawagoe : 30th place out of 38 riders in the goal. Got dropped in a flat course race. Early in the season I was in miserable shape.
   
   
2. Shuzenji : 25/25 Last place, of course at Shuzenji. Couldn't even keep the pace of the pacemaking motorcycle at the start.
   
   
3. Gunma : 37/37 Last place again. Was lucky that I didn't got lapped and disqualified.
   
   
4. NATS: 15/22 That was OK, however I also got dropped by the main group in this flat course race.
   
   
5. Miyakejima : 8/9 A lot of points for me because there were only 9 riders in D class. The 9th place was Stephen who I forced into this race. So basically last place again. The solo race the next day was cancelled due to a high poisonous gas concentrations.
   
   
6. Hitachi - Naka : 32/53. A little bit unlucky. First I needed to avoid a crash and temporarily lost contact with the main field, than I choose the wrong wheel to hang on (Alain), although that wheel normally finishes strong.
   
   
7. Gunma : 28/28 Last place again. But I was getting stronger; would have been lapped with my earlier Gunma performance.
   
   
8. Shuzenji : 47/48 Second last place. First indication of performance improvement!
   
   
9. Shiobara : 32/33 on the first day hill climb, 36/37 on the second day hill climb. Apart from the result, this was one of the best races this year.
   
   
10. Gunma : Disqualified. Got lapped shortly before the end of the 8th lap, despite being pulled by Tom.
    
    
11. Yokkaichi : 15/20. Could stay with the main field one lap on this hilly course, but not a second one. Was happy not to end in last place.
    
    
12. Saiko : 14/34. Best performance this year.

In summary, out of 13 races, I finished 8 times in last or second last place or got disqualified.I am not sure how others would judge this, but I think this is not a very champion like performance. My best finish was an 8th place in Miyakejima. Counting from the front, because I left only one ride behind me. Counting from the back, I was good in Saiko (20 riders behind me) and Hitachi Naka (21).
On the other hand I felt that I became stronger and stronger through the season, thanks to a lot of racing and long training rides. In Saiko I felt at the peak and I still had much power let at the finish.

I am really happy, relieved and whatever that everything is over. I am so tired as well. So what is in for next year?

If time allows, I would like to attend some of the races which are either fun to do or where I have at least a chance to make the podium:

• JCRC / ToJ Kawagoe in March, a 15 km point race
  
• Tokyo Tomin race in Oi Futo, a 21 km solo race
• JCRC / ToJ Hitachi Naka in June, a 30 km solo race
• JCRC / ToJ Saiko in November, a 20 km solo race

Then I would like to so some of the really challenging races in terms or elevation or distance:

• Fuji Hill Climb - 1.200 meters up with 5.000 riders
  
• Itoigawa Fast Run - 290 km, if we are allowed to start.
• Tour de Okinawa - 200 km solo race
  

I also enjoyed the endurance races, such as Tsukuba, Motegi, Fuji Speedway, Yokohama and Tokyo. Preferable in a team. And finally I would like to try some track racing. I hope that a lot of PE guys will join me next year as well.Much of the fun this season and much of the next season as well depends on the good composition and mutual support within the Positivo Espresso team. I am very proud that we have built up a team with very few constraints and rules on the one hand, but a lot of support from and to all riders. I always hated clubs, because one has to go drinking with club mates after the training and there is always this "Are you a member?" feeling which distinguish the good riders (team members) from the rest (not team members). There is so much time spend on club-activities and less time on the real purpose, the sport itself.

But Positivo Espresso is different, we have of course some hard core riders, some hard core bloggers and maybe some hard core drinkers, but in general we are open and inviting to new team members and try to integrate them. Sometimes I feel that this and that could improve and some things disappoint me, but all in all this is probably the best set-up I have ever been in. We recognize that all our members have their weak points: Juliane? Always late, or not there at all. David: Starts at 210% of his performance level when riding out, finishes at 21%. Tom? Demands too much from us non-hill climbers. Me? always too competitive, cannot loose. Jerome? Sleeps too long. And so on. But again, as a group compared with other groups we are doing very well.
This year was hard in particular, because many good riders left us. david went back to England; Marek moved on, first to Southeast Asia, later to Australia. Juliane will leave in December. Alain from NFCC who was a fabulous sportsman moved back to France. James and Ian from the Irish rovers went to Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. To loose such good riders and friends was hard. On the other hand, some new guys were joining us as well. James did a good job to encourage his friends to make even smaller trips out with us together, so did David. Laurent and Stephen joined us again. Jacques was another funny addition. Ludwig succumbed to the bike bug within record time. And Tom's daughter should be ready every day after conquering Wada.

So, in a way I guess we are all champions on our own and Positivo Espresso is therefore the team of the champs. I hope that I could make myself somehow understandable without being too melodramatic. I also do not want to write funny posts all the time.

Team Time Trial Performance at Saiko

D as in "Done"

We attended the JCRC Saiko race today, first the team time trial where we had good discipline and stayed almost the complete race in a four rider line and later the solo races.

I finished in 14th place in the D class race, thereby securing JCRC D Class championship 2008 plus finishing in second place in the Nikkan Sports Tour du Japon 2008 D classification.

Victory

Finally, after 46 years not winning a single sports event (not counting those held at Club Med).
Thanks for all the support from the Positivo Espresso Team Members through a long season which became even longer in October and November.

Wishing

the POSITIVO ESPRESSO Time Trial Team a hell of a strong finish at Saiko!

Good luck Michael, Jerome, Ludwig and Jacques (and David too?) !!

...will be supporting the team from Hotaka, Gunma...

Michael...total victory is within your reach !

Yokohama King of Enduro Race Statistics

Yokohama Stadium Race

Jacques Daumont from NFCC and me started on Saturday at the Bike Navi Nissan Stadium Race in Yokohama. The category we have chosen consisted of a three hours solo endurance race in the morning, followed by a two hours solo endurance race in the afternoon, followed by a week in the intensive care unit of a Japanese hospital of your own choice. Only 62 riders choose this "King of Enduro" category, otherwise they opted for either 3 or 2 hours, or riding as a team. Wise guys and girls.

The race course starts on the field track inside the stadium and follows a mostly flat lay-out in the park area around the stadium with a length of 3.2km. The course was peppered with "virages en épingles", this is at least how Jacques described it in French. There is also one brutal ramp leading from park level to stadium level. Although it is only 40 meters long and has an inclination of perhaps 15%, this proved to be the location where riders fell off their bikes later during the race in a state of complete exhaustion.

Of course it started to rain when I was on the way to the stadium and that was the running theme for the whole afternoon. Not a hard rain, but steadily small drops. I met Jacques at the parking lot and he was in good mood nevertheless. He is always in good mood and he is one of the funniest guys that I know. Of course I do not include all the funny guys working in the company in this comparison. Perhaps he is also so funny because he speaks French (which I do hardly), almost no English (can) and almost no Japanese (can too), so our conversation is a mix of three languages. He also speaks some German, or one sentence to be precise: "Warum bist du nicht meine Mama?"

So we had long conversations about the state of the world, pro biking and the new French embassy in Tokyo which is equipped according to Jacques with "vegetable lighting". I am not sure what this is, perhaps "les legumes lumieres" in French?

Anyway, then we did a test lap and found out that there are a lot of metal gratings and one cannot be careful enough to maneuver them well. The course is not easy because it is very hard to find a rhythm. There is constant acceleration and deceleration and that makes one very tired over the course of five hours. So an average of 30 km/hr doesn't seem much but even good riders don't do more than 34 or 35 km/hr.

We proceeded to the start area and watched the cheerleaders, who were not half as good as the ones in Tsukuba. If you look carefully, you can see them in the picture of Jacques on the monitor in the upper right corner. I asked the guy in front of us to take some pictures and he turned out to be a JCRC A class rider who knows Goro-san. Being one of the very few foreigners in JCRC races and the only one who attended every single race this year, everybody seems to know me but I don't know anybody. Shinji was very kind and he actually finished in third place of the morning race.During the start countdown Jacques made many, many noises like the horn of a big truck, or a bicycle bell which brought all around us to laugh and gave us the chance to overtake our immediate surrounding even before the countdown was finished. The course was then full of riders, following the pace making motorcycle. I maneuvered myself to the front, not as skillful as Alain but nevertheless I was able to ride the first 4 laps with the fast group. My problem was that I lost too much time on the ramp and then it was hard for me to close the gap again on the straight parts.

After half an hour I wanted to give up as usual. But then I found some rhythm, jumped from group to group and drafted and felt the strong sensation that I was leading the race. This was of course completely untrue and some faster riders constantly overtook me, but somehow I felt like the king of the road and that motivated me to continue to go fast. After two hours I overtook Jacques. He was having fun with the other riders next to him and enjoying himself. I almost slipped two times on the metal gratings and rode the corners extremely carefully, loosing perhaps some time. But there were some crashes, one even inside the stadium and the riders involved didn't look good at all. In particular the ramp was a place where the suffering of mankind was displayed on small scale.

After 2 and a half hours I felt better as I knew that the race would come to an end. I was riding very constantly lap times of 6 minutes and it would be possible to cross the finish line after a little bit less than three hours with 30 laps and add one more lap (this year the rule who finished the most laps with the last lap starting before the three hours deadline, last year it was within three hours time).
So I gave even more but in the end I didn't made it and the result was

• mob 30 laps 3:00:26 hours 31.92 km/hr 34th place
• Jacques 29 laps 3:05:41 hours 29.98 km/hr 76th place
  
• out of 209 riders in the morning 3 hours race.
  

As we rode in the rain for almost the whole race my bike and me were unbelievable dirty. Jacques was laughing and said that I looked with my dirty face like a coal miner, but I didn't took it too serious.

We retired, had some noodle soup and I slept in Jacques car. The weather was now much better and it seemed possible the road would be dry for the start of the afternoon race. I tried not to think about the fact that I had to add another two hours.

We came to late to the start so we needed to start from the very end of the better group. Jacques faked a start in the opposite direction before the countdown was over, bringing our neighbors to tears. Yes, Jacques, he can make you laugh and he can make you dead [Secret note: Jacques is employed as chief assassin of the French embassy in Tokyo. His road to cycling is littered with dead bodies. He never talks about work. Ever. Only about vegetable lighting.].

So I never had the chance to move up to the fast group from the start. But there were a lot of fresh riders who skipped the morning race and concentrated on the two hours only, so I felt that the general speed was a little bit higher compared to the morning. And I was also definitely slower, I thought.

After half an hour I wanted to give up as usual. But then I found some rhythm, jumped from group to group and drafted and felt the strong sensation that I was leading the race. This was of course completely untrue and some faster riders constantly overtook me, but somehow I felt like the king of the road and that motivated me to continue to go fast [I copied this part from the description of the morning race - but it was exactly the same].

After a while I started to stop thinking and everything went automatically. But what I like about endurance races is, that you one is constantly motivated to close the gap to riders in front and that there are constantly some good riders in front. This is very much different, from, say hill climbs, where I am in last position almost immediately after the start, only the motorcycle of the organizer behind me and the gap to the rider in front of me is ever increasing.

Anyway, I was riding 6 minutes lap times plus a little bit more and after 90 minutes it was pretty much clear that I would finish with 20 laps. I didn't overtook Jacques this time, as he secretly sneaked out of the race to pee somewhere.

Then the final countdown, one more effort and the race was over. The result of the afternoon race was

• mob 20 laps 2:00:55 hours 31.75 km/hr 59th place
• Jacques 19 laps 2:04:27 hours 29.31 km/hr 129th place
  
• out of 238 riders in the afternoon 2 hours race.
  

I was surprised that I could keep my average speed in the afternoon, I thought I would have been slower. And here is the end result for the the KING OF ENDURO:

• mob 50 laps 5:01:21 hours 31.85 km/hr 14th place
• Jacques 48 laps 5:10:09 hours 29.71 km/hr 27th place
  
• out of 62 riders that finished the race.
  

I think we did a pretty good job, riding solo faster than many of the teams attending. And we were competing against S and A class cracks and anyway only the hardcore riders start in the King of Enduro class. Actually last year I did only the three hours race in the morning and I was slightly faster, but the weather was much better than. So we were tired, but also proud of us.

And now comes the funny part. On the same day the Octoberfest of the German school was conducted and I promised my family to go there. As I was looking like a swine and I thought it would be a nice idea to take a shower at the nearby Nissan waterpark pool before turning up at the school yard and leaving behind me a trail of crying and disturbed children. Actually I looked like this:So, here is a quiz; when I showed up at the ticket counter of the pool, which question was I asked :

• A : Could you please wash yourself [you pig] before jumping in the pool ?
• B : Do you have any tattoos ?
• C : Do you have a bathing cap with you ?
  

Obviously, and as anybody knows who has lived a while in Japan, the right answer is C. Even if you are dirty as a coal miner and stink like a sewer, the rules must be respected. And the rule is that you need a bathing cap.

So, what was my answer to this question?

• A : Yes, I have a bathing cap, but no swimming shorts.
  
• B : Actually I only wanted to take a shower
  
• C : Yes, but my bath cap has a tattoo.
  

Obviously the right answer is B, as I am not such a reaction-quick wisecrack, but more some kind of Milquetoast.

Summary : A good race, but very hard. I rode at walking speed to the Octoberfest where I found out that my wife didn't come by car so I had to ride back home on the bike as well. I was completely done. The next day I could hardly move. So most likely I will do it next year again.