Tokyo - Itoigawa 2011

I awoke in a dark, cramped hotel room in Hachioji and stumbled to turn off my alarm. I felt terrible, only 2 1/2 hours' sleep, still dehydrated from too much beer and not enough food despite some glasses of water before sleeping, still tired from way too late a train ride out to Hachioji -- on the 11:45PM train from Shinjuku, arriving around 12:30AM, then wandering in the dark through a "gauntlet" of questionable entertainment joints to find my business hotel. Guys in suits standing in the street wearing sun glasses at midnight, pairs of girls in the shadows.

Anyway, at 3:40AM I needed to scramble, try to consume and keep down some convenience store sandwiches, two small yogurts, plus a cold Seattle's Best Double Espresso I had bought on the way into the hotel a few hours earlier, dress, shave, pack my bags, assemble my bike in the hallway (not enough room in the room!) and hit the road. It took longer than it should have, and was after 4:10AM by the time I left the hotel, 10+ minutes behind schedule and not a moment to lose. Our start was 4:40AM, and I first needed to get to Takaosan-guchi, check-in, deliver my rucksack and drop-bag, find my teammates, and get ready to actually, well, race a bicycle.

About 15 minutes later, passing the Positivo Espresso recommended 7-11 on Rte 20 in front of Takao station, after riding much too hard for a warm up, I heard a woman's voice say "Litt-san!" It was the-nice-woman-whose-name-I-did-not-get from the staff at the May 7 Saitama Brevet. She was riding with a man in "Pedal Far" bib shorts (her husband, perhaps?) up toward the start. She asked "do you remember me, from the Saitama Brevet?" "Yes of course," I said. "What time is your start." She responded "I did not ride I was on the staff." My Japanese must have been as garbled as my mind. "I said, "no, not the Brevet, your start today". She said "I'm not riding, I'm "o-en-dan" (support for a participant -- support, fan club or cheerleader, maybe). I just mumbled "excuse me, I'm late, I've got a 4:40AM start" and pushed ahead. So I still did not get her name, or learn any more about her (or the man riding with her, who looked like a strong rider). I guess if I keep up these endurance rides, I'll probably see them again.

I arrived at the start area at 4:33AM, just as Travis was trying to call my mobile phone and he, Gunnar, Steve and Yair were talking about a revised 4-man team race strategy. I checked in, dropped off my bags, tried (not very successfully) to catch my breath, and had the foresight to pull out my camera and ask someone to take our team photo.

Yair, David, Gunnar, Steve and Travis -- P.E. 2011 TOITO team, in TCC jerseys (except for Yair "Sufferfest" Bauer)

Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to clean the fog off of the lens, or to hand the camera to someone with a steady hand -- so the photo gives a remarkably accurate idea of how I was perceiving the world at this time.

And then we were off! We started with 4 of the riders from Team Cuore -- a Japanese group of very enthusiastic riders based around a shop in Taito-ku, Tokyo -- and several others.

As feared, I lost the back of our group on the first climb, to Otarumi, and cleared the pass in just over 16 minutes -- 90-100 seconds slower than a week earlier despite my best efforts to stay with the team. Was it really a smart idea for me to ride (race) with these guys, whose average age is 12 years' younger?

But on the descent, I passed several of the Cuore riders and Yair (who really needs to add some weight if he wants to "drop like a rock" on the descents. He is looking slimmer than Alberto Contador and with just as spindly arms). I caught the rest of the team just as they were starting up at the traffic light in front of Sagami-ko station. I felt semi-human again.

On the 60-70 meter elevation climb up to Uenohara, I again lost the back, but on the next downhill, I timed (luck) the light at the bottom perfectly and, going 60 kph, passed my 4 teammates plus another 5-6 riders onto the next climb, then rode generally with (or within hailing distance of) the team to Otsuki. I lagged again on the climb to Sasago, but passed various groups of other riders and arrived only 5 minutes back of the team, with an average speed of 26.74 kph for the leg. Not that bad a start after all -- 75th fastest time on that leg out of 359 finishers (and also an unstated number of "DNFs" -- we saw some riders struggling and other resting who surely did not make it all the way by the cut off time).

Anyway, a 292 km ride is too long for a "blow by blow" account, ... and I've got some work and then want to catch a bit of the Giro, so let me give a few highlights.

First the results:

1. Andy Wood won for the Nth straight year, with a time of 8:44:43. He passed me near Chino and shouted out a greeting, recognizing my TCC jersey. I was about to say something back ... but he was gone. I think I did see TT bar extensions, but I did not get a chance to measure whether they exceeded the permitted limits under the TOITO rules.

2. Tom S. put in another very strong performance, with a time of 9:43:09 for 11th place overall, 5th in the 40-49 age group. Chapeau!

3. In 3rd place at 9:12:43 was Kondo-san, the fabled Brevet rider (see my 600 km May 7 Brevet report), riding for Nalshima.

4. Our team had some excellent results.

Travis finished 52nd in 10:57:45. Double Chapeau!

Gunnar outsprinted Steve to the line for 71st place, in 11:19:18. Steve took 72nd in 11:19:21. They rode very well together as a pair -- really ought to aim for Transalp at some point.

Yair, still recovering from an injury this winter and only 2 months back on the (beautiful new) bike, suffered through the middle/late segments but still managed to equal last year's P.E. group time, at 12:28:59, for 165th. With this ride under his belt, Yair is back.

5. The wind shifted throughout the day -- we had a headwind coming down into Kofu, tailwind between Shiojiri and Matsumoto, and then a cross wind, then a headwind from just before the lakes South of Hakuba until the finish. The last was at times a very stiff headwind, offsetting the speed of the descent. We all suffered in the heat during the 78 km stage between Shiojiri and Hakuba ... many of us taking an unscheduled convenience store break early in the long climb, and me deciding I was in danger of serious consequences if I pushed too hard, and so taking it easy for awhile.

When it came, the headwind was cool and, thus, a real relief. I kept repeating to myself, "the wind is keeping me cool, be thankful for the breeze, ... and tuck low enough so it runs over along your back, inside and down your jersey". Overheated, I was happy to sacrifice a bit of speed for the longer term relief from the cooling effect. As I emerged from the last of the tunnels on Route 148, into a noticeably cooler area, I welcomed the cloud cover, threatening skies and wind, the heat a distant memory.

6. I did not ride any of the "no bicycles allowed" overpasses in Kofu. I went with the Japanese riders along the side street, and waited, and waited, and waited, at the lights. At one of these, there were about 15 riders and a truck and few cars ahead of me. The light finally turned green, the truck, cars and maybe 3 riders went through before it turned red again, 10 riders ahead and so no chance to sprint the light on yellow-changing-to-red ... another 4-5 minutes wait, it seemed, during which all the lights I could see at the intersection were red, cars just sitting and nothing moving in any direction. Aaaaargh! Also, this time, I did much less running of red signals than in 2008 with Juliane, DJ and MOB. Hard to argue that I don't know better this time. ... but I did get alone for a good part of the Shiojiri-Matsumoto stretch, and was able to time the lights very well, move to the front of waiting traffic, pass through when no cars were approaching and the light had changed to a "right turn only" arrow -- the usual tricks, without doing anything dangerous or attention-getting. How much of the difference among the top riders is really just a question of how many rules they break?

Later, I was able to persuade a Japanese rider to join me in going through some "T" intersections (along the top side of the "T"), and to make a left turn on red (remember, this is Japan - riding on the left, slinking around the corner, and continuing along the left), against some useless red lights. He eventually went ahead of me and I could see him, at the next "T" intersection, go up onto the sidewalk, around the intersection, and back into the street again, avoiding the red light -- all perfectly safe. He learned quickly.

I had very bad luck with road construction on the Hakuba-Itoigawa stretch, with several lengthy waits for one-way traffic the other way.

7. Travis, Gunnar and Steve did try at least one Kofu overpass, but one of the other riders yelled at them from the side street, causing Steve to look over to see who was yelling, and why, ... and he ran straight onto the dividers/chevrons between the overpass and side road, flatting both front and rear tires, with some rim damage and a big jolt and big scare ... but not enough of a scare to keep him from continuing on. I was a few minutes back and missed the excitement, and just passed a smiling Steve who was walking his bike back ... I thought looking for something he had dropped. Anyway, Travis and Gunnar went back to help, I went on slowly, and we regrouped at Nirasaki ... only for them to go on ahead of me up the hill.

8. The route was noticeably better than I had remembered. No big trucks coming down the tunnels this Saturday afternoon ... though I did see a few going the other way. And there was an improved road surface and wider shoulder, I think for a good part of the stretch around Matsumoto. And reverted from a 2008 detour to the "usual" route again North of Matsumoto. Also, the checkpoints were far better stocked with bananas, rice balls and drinks -- water, mugi-cha and pokari sweat -- when riding with a 4:40 AM start than with our 2008 6:25 AM start.

And we saw many more team cars and supporters on the side of the road, cheering us on up the climb after Nirasaki and again later on. There were two young, attractive ladies dressed up in "maid" costumes, standing by their car on several of the climbs cheering us on, jumping up and down.

I blew them a kiss as I passed the second time, but meanwhile I could only think ... of this past week's news of Arnold the Governator and his child by a former housekeeper leading to his separation from Maria Shriver, that news from California following just a few days after Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest for his alleged brutal attack on a chambermaid at the Hotel Sofitel in Manhattan ... what is it with these guys and the maid costumes?

9. With my long explanation of the Kofu red lights, the road construction, miserable afternoon heat and the headwinds, I've just about run out of excuses.

Anyway, my time was 12:06:42, which placed me 137 out of 359 finishers. This was 20 minutes better than in 2008, though I was really hoping to get somewhere comfortably under 12 hours. Still, not bad, all things considered.

And when I reached the hotel driveway entrance, I was surprised -- done so soon? I thought I still had a few more kilometers to go. Why did I leave so much in the tank at the end? Sunday morning, but for the rain and the press of work, I would definitely have headed up the coast on my bike. The only aches or pains during the ride were some numbness in my feet -- I need to check my right cleat alignment. So even if my time was not so much better than 2008, the Brevets have definitely helped my endurance. Now, over the next 3 weeks, I just need to try to do more climbing practice, then I'll be ready for Transalp.

By the time I finished, Travis was gone, headed to the station then back to Tokyo. Tom was waiting and offered his congratulations before heading into Itoigawa with his Vlaams teammates. We unwound, soaked in the onsen, enjoyed our bento boxes out front of the hotel, with some extras (tonjiru udon, cucumbers w/ salt, beer), added 2 pizzas later -- ordered and delivered to our hotel room -- chatted with Saito-san, a neighbor from the Cuore team in the room next door, who offered me a taste of a nice Burgundy Pinot Noir. We all slept early and very soundly.

After breakfast, we braved the pounding rain on Sunday morning to the station and hopped the train back to Tokyo.

Another successful event. Will we go back next year? Too soon to say.

Our team at the start -- second try at a photo, after cleaning the camera lens.
Look at those faces-- is that a unified expression of determination to ride to victory, or what?

Gunnar models the hotel yukata -- and seems to be having some trouble straightening his back and unclasping his hands after the new experience of riding 300 km in a day. One of the older, male riders complimented Gunnar on his yukata ("ni-aimasu") and no one reproached him for wearing the hotel slippers outside. ... the guy who yelled at Steve in Kofu must have been DNF, or maybe still on the road at this point.

Tom S. prepares to ride into Itoigawa to his lodgings.

The Sea of Japan and wet roads, from our train.

Travis' report: http://www.tokyocycle.com/bbs/blog.php?b=91

Tom's report: http://vlaamsewielrenner.blogspot.com/2011/05/40th-classic-300km-endurance-race.html

Andy's report: http://www.jyonnobitime.com/time/2011/05/tokyo-itoigawa-2011-race-repor.html

January 2 Ekiden Ride Report

After lunch at the Hakone Touge Michi No Eki -- nearly all the hard work done for today

The Positivo Espresso/TCC Ekiden Ride went off without a hitch yesterday, as no one got lost, and nearly all the riders reached the top of the climb and the finish along Ashi-no-ko 30 minutes ahead of the runners -- enjoying a welcome from cheering crowds (even cheerleaders), marching bands and everyone making noise to try and stay warm.  We were blessed with glorious, clear weather, dry roads and not-too-strong winds (that were at our backs on much of the ride along the Sagami Bay).

We received plenty of encouragement on the climb, with "gambatte" calls from some pairs of attractive, younger women (waiting for their real heroes) -- inspiring us to even greater than our usual efforts -- and the occasional "Fai-toh!" (fight!) from an oddly dressed Japanese guy.  The muscle-suited cyclist who had dismounted near the top of the climb took the prize.

The group suffered a serious schism in cycling doctrine at the Hakone Pass Michi No Eki.

One group, led by Ludwig, insisted that it would show disrespect to MOB Kraehe if we were to take Route 20 toward Atami Toge (MOB's "favorite road in Japan") in his absence.  They argued that Route 20 must never be ridden by P.E. in his absence, and opted to explore Route 75, the "Tsubaki Line".  Another group, referred to by some as "the renegades" (and by Ludwig as "the re-negates"), led by Dave and Dave, argued that we must ride Route 20, out of respect for MOB -- that he would have "wanted it that way" and would not want to deny us the pleasure of this spectacular stretch along the spine of the mountains of Izu, just because he is stuck in North Germany working on an antique road bike in the dark of winter.  No one thought it was worth calling MOB at 5AM local time to figure it out. Just about the only thing that anyone could agree upon was that the descent into Atami from Route 20 was "a b****", could cause excessive wear on brake pads, and was to be avoided if practical.

So we split into two.  Ludwig's group went back down the bumper-to-bumper, extremely tedious (their words, not mine) road the short way back to Ashi-no-ko, then onto the Tsubaki-Line.  They report that Tsubaki Line was worth this minor inconvenience, is a GREAT cycling road, and some of the photos bear this out.  The TCC reports and links can all be found here.

I joined the renegades, who I had been riding with most of the way since I was slow getting my gloves on and cleat covers off while leaving the Family Mart at Fujisawa, missed a red light and did not see the lead group again until Odawara.  The four of us headed up to the pass, then cruised down Route 20 -- spectacular views as always.  After the traditional brief stop at the entrance to the Izu Skyline, we headed West down Route 11.  This was a really, really, really nice descent -- lots of curves, not too steep, emerging from forest to see a spectacular vista to the West or a valley to our side, and only a couple of cars coming up the hill for the first 5 km or so.  We realized that anyone going from Atami to Numazu takes the OTHER Route 11, which skips Atami Touge, goes through a tunnel and only rejoins our deserted road near the bottom of the hill.  Hard to imagine that any other route could have equaled this one!

Then we enjoyed our own short slog through traffic jams on the flat area, up to Mishima Station, where we acquired the necessary provisions (beer, unagi-flavored "Pretz") to enjoy a quick shinkansen trip back to Tokyo.  My Garmin data/map is here.  Some photos, mostly from Ludwig, a few from me (click on them to see in full size):

The start -- Otemachi/Marunouchi Area of Tokyo early

Too many traffic lights early on.

The Fujisawa Stop -- where I fumbled my cleats and gloves and lost the lead group.

Lots and lots of Japanese cyclists this year ... mostly slower than us, and apparently a huge group that rides slowly AFTER the runners.  I got the pleasure of driving several to complete exhaustion who tried to hang with me on the flat.

Beautiful weather, as usual!

The road turns gradually up.

Andy W, Travis, James M and Mike (photo by Ludwig), waiting for the rest of us at the finish.

Mysterious broadcast-related equipment at the Michi no Eki.  Might have something to do with all those live TV shots from trucks and motorcycles during the Ekiden.

Dave & Dave at lunch -- are those potato chips?

Mr. Rindo and others who did not grab one of the chairs at the table, and so whose legs were maybe a bit numb by the end of lunch.  I thank you for your sacrifice.

Andy and Shane (a/k/a "new Dave").

A motley crew.

The view from our lunch spot.

The traditional stop at Atami Touge.  "We have conquered Izu!  Already 1/20 of the way down the peninsula."

Looking back from Atami Touge.

On the climb of the Tsubaki Line.

I think they went up there -- ahead.

Yes, definitely climbed another hill for a better view, and proof that James M. (a/k/a "MacGyver") topped 1000 meters.

The usual heavy traffic on East Izu roads ...

More high-altitude conquests

Day 1: back over the highest pass in Japan - Norikura, at 2,700m

Day 2: over Utsukushigahara Kogen at 2,100m

Day 3: over the highest national highway pass in Japan - Yamada Toge, at 2,172m

More here.

Norikura

One more step along the road to global domination: PE has conquered the highest mountain pass in Japan (2,700m).

More here.

Impressions from my Sayonara Ride

It is very strange to write in detail about one's own Sayonara ride while one is still in Japan. So I would like to make a few comments here and there only, post some pics and thank everybody who came along and send me off to the far shores of Germany. Still it is hard to write something which hasn't been written already a thousand times before. But you have given very much to me and I am very thankful for that.
So, we had a good time.

It started as a nice day in spring with the carp streamers high up in the sky. I met some of the PE guys at the Tamagawahara bridge and we rode off to Takao. On the way we passed a cyclist with an exchange frame on the back. Perhaps, I thought, we should re-start the TCC-thread about the proper content of a saddle bag and include "Exchange carbon frame" I thought before we realized that the bicycle free flea market was hold at Sekidobashi along the way. Just like cycling, the flea market has come a long way, from a hardly noticeable event to more than 100 people attending last Saturday - not bad at all.
We said goodbye to Dominic who was asked to attend a ballet recital of his daughter before she will be send to Borneo where she will live in the jungle with the Aborigines for two years; hence the need for ballet education which will come handy.And by chance I also saw Zenbiker along the way at the Asakawa. Or perhaps I understood something wrongly. My English is not very good, sometimes I mix up easy words such as "fencing" and "fanzine".

The ride was not really leisurely so far, but we took the peaks out most of the time. Suddenly I was alone with Fumiki and (Ko)shu, but we all arrived more or less arrived at the Takao 7-Eleven. Can you see where this picture was "photoshopped" to get rid of some unpleasant detail?

A huge crowd has arrived already and I was very much impressed by the turnout. Doing my round of shopping at the 7-Eleven, I noticed a small detail at the Weider Jelly Stand. It seems that nobody so far was interested in Vitamins, Proteins or Beauty, but everybody was preparing himself for a "leisurely" ride. More energy was much in demand.

We then rode on through Takao, the Showa cemetery (where I once almost met the emperor with the zipper of my trousers open) and along the Jimbakaido to the bus stop at the base of Wada Toge where we assembled the group for the first ever organized time trial of TCC and PE. There was some reluctance first and some riders choose to disappear before we could get started, but overall we manged this quite well and we had a lot of competitive results. James time was very impressive and so were those of James and Tim on their fixies.

Here are some photos which I took at the start of each rider and which documents the various pro starting techniques which are acceptable in Japan as per Japanese Cycling Rulebook paragraph 248 b):

The "Handle is piping hot" style. It is not allowed to touch the handle before the command to start and Tim also never did afterwards until reaching the top.The "Ground is piping hot "style: It is not allowed to touch the ground ever unless a flat tyre needs to be repaired. Which happens every 20 km.
Zen-like concentration paired with minimum wind resistance in standing position. Headtowel soaks up sweat from extreme concentration.The "I am gone already, cannot possibly wait for your finger to push the shutter" style executed by Yair.
The Scottish copy of the previously described Hiroshi-Zen starting style. The rucksack is filled with real look stone made out of polyester to increase the awe-factor. Note: More efficient when rucksack is open.
The "When speed is more important than direction" style.
This style is appropriate for rides from Tokyo to Nagoya or further as proven by Travis.
This is Kim starting - easy to mix up with Fumiki as both belong to the blue men group.
The bike starts to move at 40 km/hr immediately after releasing the brakes. The "American dragster race" style.
Sorry to say, Steve, but this style is not yet described in the rulebook.
Please note that as usual Mike lines up behind Sergey at the start so that his motivation to overtake him is amplified by a factor similar to the amount of Japanese government debts.
.... as we can see here.

Sorry, there are no photos of Thomas, Graham, Tom, James, Kim and me. Our huge group was then assembled at Wada pass when I finally made it up and much to my surprise everybody was sitting in front of the witch's tea house. The witch was nowhere to be seen. Really, I never have seen such a sight in my life at Wada. We then continued with a fast downhill and the cumbersome climb through the golf hills of Uenohara. Tom had selected this course to execute his final punishment on me and also in memory of Paul Jason who rode this precise course once.

Nobody was really in the mood to start another time trial up to Kobu Tunnel (OK, I was not in a mood to do so) but nevertheless once David gave the "Go!Go!Go!" sign everybody started to move up quickly. I was staying with Yair almost all of the time. Already a bunch of guys were waiting at the top when I arrived and the others came in one by one. Steve almost crashed while trying to raise his arms in victory salute. He barely could stay on the road and in order to calm down he went for a pee with fellow Englishman Michael. Which lasted for only a few seconds as the warning shout "Naomi is coming up!". Steve managed to zip-up and to play the innocent bystander while Michael couldn't manage to stop.Naomi nevertheless didn't noticed anything and showed Steve how to cross the finish line not only in style but also straight and paralell to the road. Also I would like to mention that she was also so kind to finish behind me, I guess some form of Sayonara-present. She overtook me once when riding up to Tomin-no-mori and that was when I set my personal best time. Amazingly after a while also the Fixies were arriving. They had the huge respect of everybody that they could do that extensive climbing on their bikes. Still I guess that everybody else thought that theyr were happy to posses 20 speed geared bikes. I like this photo of James with enchanced colors. The bike itself is rather not enhanced. Cool helmet color, by the way.

And then we went superfast down to Itsukiachi in nice duells giving no rest to the wicked. This also continued on the Mutsumibashi road to the Tamagawa, where Ludwig, James, Travis, Yair and me speeded along at 40 km/hr plus. And what did I get for all of this effort? One lousy T-shirt from Israel!No, I was joking, I think it was the perfect present for the day, Thanks Yair.
As this was my Sayonara ride I rode out the next day with Ludwig to Chichibu, but this is another story to be told another time.

L'hitraot.