Multi-use Garmin

"...As soon as I got home, I turned off the Garmin. THE GARMIN!!! It was right in front of me the whole time. I quickly ran upstairs and plugged it in to my computer. “Please download! Please download!” I said over and over. Sure enough, it downloaded and the full telemetry of my ride came up, including a map and running time stamp of my ride. Clear as day, you could see where I stopped at the stop sign, where I got hit by the car, and where my bike came to rest. On the corresponding time stamp, you could see the speeds, the stops, and even where my heart rate spiked as she hit me. Then you could see when my bike was moved out of the street, then when I picked it up and fixed it and got it back home. All of it was on there. I called the police department to say I had this but they were reluctant to do anything. They said it was a matter for the insurance companies and refused to add it to the file. That left me a bit disheartened.

Nevertheless, I called the driver’s insurance company in the morning. Not surprisingly, the driver had already made a claim and insisted it was my fault. They wanted me to give my statement, which I did. During my statement, I mentioned the GPS telemetry. Instantly, the agent perked up and asked if I could send it to her. I told her that I was happy to send it to her in any format she wanted: a screen shot, several screen shots,  the whole file, even the Garmin itself, anything she wanted. Anyway, I sent it to her and she was able to see exactly what happened, how it happened, and when it happened.

Within a day, the driver’s insurance took responsibility for the accident and I was able to get my bike fixed and once I was able to train properly again, I was back at it. Without my Garmin, I don’t know if this would have happened. It certainly would not have happened as quickly as it did. The insurance company was absolutely top notch. Once they realized what had happened, they acted swiftly and professionally. What proof would I have had without the Garmin? What would the outcome have been?

So, to our fans and followers out there who are thinking about using GPS, here is another important reason to use one. I am very grateful that I had it on that day, and grateful to the insurance company for knowing what they were looking at. I will carry my Garmin with me for much of the foreseeable future. Be careful out there."

Why Every Cyclist Should Ride With GPS - Black Dog Procycling.com

Great story.

Altitude Dropping

Two weeks ago Jerome and I rode up to 1475 meters elevation.

Last week I made it to 1000 meters elevation.

... And today we settled for 650 meters and 730 meters -- Kobu Tunnel and then Wada Pass from the west (Ura Wada) approach -- including an extra climb to around 730 meters elevation, as we left the top of Wada by the forest road (rindo) alternative.

Jerome and David triumphant at Wada, December 18, 2010

Tuesday evening (Dec 21) is the winter solstice, shortest day of the year, and there was frost on the ground in the shade as we rode up the lower part of the Akigawa climb.  Definite signs of the upcoming winter ... though nothing to compare to, say, snowy Northern Germany, and hopefully the Kanto vicinity will be still rideable at lower elevations until mid-January, and straight through until Spring on dry days.

Jerome and I were joined by his friend Didier, who lived many years in Japan, was responsible for introducing the "Look" bicycle brand to Japan in the 1980s, rode with Laurent Fignon in his youth (according to Jerome -- I did not remember to confirm with Didier), and who has returned to Asia this year after 6 years in Nice, France.  Didier is living in Hong Kong, but his family moved back to Japan and his employer/company is based here, so he makes very regular trips to Tokyo.  Amazing that he is able to keep in shape in crowded, bicycle-unfriendly Hong Kong, and could make it up Ura Wada ... a hill that has our, and now his, respect.

Near the top of the Uenohara "golf course hills". Short, but painful as always.

Mt. Fuji was visible from Uenohara and Ura Wada, against a cloudless but slightly hazy winter sky.

It was a very nice, recreational ride, with the hard work being the short climb to Kobu, the longer and much more difficult Ura Wada, and the "golf course hills" of Uenohara in between the two.  A winter version of the "reverse Paul Jason" ride -- a ride I did twice in 2009 (solo in winter and with Jerome in August), but had not managed yet this year.  The descent down the "rindo" instead of the usual route down Jimba Kaido, was great.  The first time I have taken this route, favored by many P.E. members.  No traffic, no dodging buses on the narrow approach road at the bottom.  And yet another picturesque narrow valley on the lower section.

35.000 HITS

I just checked that we have almost achieved 35.000 hits on the Clustrmap counter. Which is much, much less than the reported hits on site traffic, but as an engineer one has to stay on the safe side of the equation. I am really happy to note that the blog is doing so well and there is so much interest in the now very diversified posts.
0 - 5.000 hits from 14.11.07, the start of the site to 26.09.2008, 316 days,

- 10.000 hits to 21.05.2009, 228 days
- 15.000 hits to 18.11.2009, 181 days
- 20.000 hits to 21.03.2010, 123 days
- 25.000 hits to 14.06.2010, 85 days.
- 30.000 hits to 24.09.2010, 102 days
- 35.000 hits to 17.12.2010, 84 days


With all the snow in Bremen I thought it nice to start the workday with reading the appropriate blog. Which in this case is "Up in Alaska".
I haven't accessed the site for quite a while, the thought to do so naturally occurs in winter only. So I was shocked to read that Jill, the blogger, has moved on to Montana.

Winter Goals

The morning after another day with heavy snowfall in the Bremen flatlands.

On Monday the sky was blue and the roads were dry so I took my Cervelo out of the garage for a 80 km standard spin. I made it just up to Worpswede, about one hour, when it started to snow again. There must have been some very well blue-camouflaged snow clouds somewhere up there. I had to ride about 25 km back to Bremen against the snow and the roads were slowly becoming white. The snow was rather dry and while there wasn't sufficient quantity accumulated on the surface, it formed in small hurricane patterns. When I came home it was snowing heavily and when I left for work an hour later on the Gazelle, I was hardly able to steer through the snow.

I rode to work early in the morning the next day on the Gazelle through the snow. It is a little bit tricky to ride on a racing bike with 700 x 23C tires as every little bump below the snow forces a sudden and unexpected change of direction. I thought it as a good exercise to learn how to control a slippery bike. I was probably just thinking that and how great I was handling the steering already and how fast I could go, when I came to a crossing where I had to brake a little bit harder. I did it too hard, so that the rear wheel went to the right and me down hard on the road.

After that I thought what a bloody stupid prick I am. I am not 26 any more when I rode home in the rain on my Motebecane on a bicycle lane than was separated from the pedestrian walk by a line of randomly spaced bollards and I crashed directly with my right knee into one without seeing it. That hurted very much but I survived, nothing was broken and there were no consequences at all. Now I am 48 and every time I fall it takes weeks until all of the pain is gone and I really should consider this when making cycling decisions.

So after spending a day in the office, trying not to move at all and after another night at home, trying not to move as well, I went into the garage and refitted the Bad Boy with the winter Schwalbe tires (700 x 30C). I was reluctant to use Bad Boy in the winter, first it is very messy to clean the bike, second the paint is very sensible to scratches (strange spec for a MTB or urban hybrid) and third it has no mud guards. And forth, the last time I crashed really hard was riding down from Yabistu Toge to Hadano on Bad Boy with winter tires.

But winter in Bremen leaves me no other choices than to ride on fat tires:  The Bad Boy was placed just behind the Cervelo and the Gazelle and the electric shopping bike of my wife and the new green Giant of my son and the Peugeot Galibier frame I am working on. Which stands in front of the old Pinarello frame which I am polishing and the beautiful Peugeot I have bought recently for fun and just leaves enough space for this super cheap Pesacarola racing bike I incidentally bought and the beautiful Gianni Motta I could not resist to buy. If performance really depends on the number of newly acquired bikes, I should be ready for Paris - Roubaix.

In other words, I took me some time to get the bike out, mount a saddle, pedals, tires, saddle bag, speedmeterand lights, which took another half an hour. All of this for 15 minutes of riding to work.

After having done the commute now three times I have to say that it is actually much more fun than on a racing bike. It is also stimulating not to been overtaken by grandmothers on their sturdy Holland-bikes while trying to stay upright on the Gazelle.

On the weekend I will utilize my newly rediscovered cycling courage to ride through the white planes on the Bad Boy.

And after coming home an having enjoyed a cup of hot instant coffee, I will go to work on the Peugeot Galibier frame. I am still waiting for parts to arrive at my home and I am excited how some of the purchases, like the charge saddle, the Maillard 700 high flange hubs will look like. Although I have to admit that assembly of a bike is a tricky business, even if one has most of the tools. I wasn't able to remove the crankset covers from the Pinarello frame and had to ask for assistance at a bike shop. I am also not able to mount the Shimano 600 rear tube shifters properly. And it was an absolute nightmare to fiddle white handle bar tape around a bullhorn handle bar. Well, this must be the fate of the Euro-cyclist, I guess.

I will post some pictures once the wheels have been mounted.
Meanwhile have fun in the snow, if you have snow.

Ekiden Ride - January 2 - A Positivo Espresso Tradition (since 2008)

Save the Date.

January 2 is probably the only day of the year that any cyclist in his (or her) right mind would ride down National Route 1 from Kawasaki to Odawara then up to Hakone.  Usually a miserable road, full of speeding trucks and unhappy salarymen trying to get back to base after losing yet another sale, on January 2 the outbound lanes are shutdown for part of the morning, just a long enough window for the outbound leg of the 87th running of the Hakone Ekiden (collegiate running relay), watched live by millions of spectators and nationally televised as well.

The runners start at 8AM in Otemachi, and get to Hakone - Ashinoko around 1:00-1:30PM. 

Last year, reports indicate that a significant portion of the crowd was there just to see MOB and Manfred ride by in their JCRC "D" Class Champion jerseys. 

Two years ago we met in Kawasaki at 8:15 or so, and that worked out okay.  This year, we will trade cellphone numbers ahead of the day, so we will not get into trouble if separated (as happened last year to some riders).  The key is to stay far enough ahead of the runners so you don't get asked to get off the road by one of the 20,000 police and 25,000 volunteers, but not so far ahead that you are riding in traffic.  This is most difficult in the Kawasaki-Yokohama stretch, where there are frequent, long red lights (which must be respected, given the crowds, cross traffic and ever-present police).  ... I would not mind meeting somewhere beyond Yokohama Station this time, to skip the least pleasant part of the ride.  Or start a little earlier and plan a decent rest stop after we get through Yokohama and out past Totsuka and onto Shonan coast/Sagami bay.

In any event, the main event is the climb from, effectively, sea level, at Odawara up to 875 meters elevation above Ashinoko.  After Ashinoko, we leave the race and adoring crowds behind, head up to Hakone Pass, then take local Rte 20 (MOB's "favorite road in Japan") to Atami Pass, then burn up our brakepads on the descent to Atami Station, and hop the Shinkansen home (25 minutes to ShinYokohama, more like 40 to Shinagawa).  Bring your bike bag (or let me know if you need one -- I have a spare).

The 2010 report is here, or is it here, or here?  Okay, there were at least 3 reports.  Not to mention MOB's more detailed explanation of the event and concept than I just wrote above, here.

And the very entertaining report from the Jan 2009 version is here. 

There is no 2008 report.  I did the 2008 version alone, and bailed at Odawara due to New Year's lethargy and equipment issues (later revealed to be a small but growing crack in my titanium frame's bottom bracket -- now rewelded and serving as a winter bike for the PE London chapter. 

For anyone who wants to bring less-serious or fit riders, the Odawara bail out is a very relaxed and easy option.  For anyone who wants to ride further than Atami, there are plenty of other options, of course.

Details about meeting time and place to follow.

I will also post a link on the TCC site in case there is interest.

Shed. Tool. Sharpest. Not. The. In.

I get the up part. The down part. Not so much. Makes my knees ache just watching. Nicely made piece though. via gh

Rapha Rendezvous group

Rapha Rendezvous Group ''Positivo Espresso'' *CHANGED*

Download the Rapha Rendezvous iPhone App here http://www.rapha.cc/rendezvous

Economic Emergency

A new economic crisis struck this weekend.  No, not the possible collapse of the Euro, or the prolonged high unemployment and sloppy home mortgage foreclosures in the U.S. -- swimming in a vast ocean of debt -- but something even worse:  The end of 30 years of seemingly endless growth of the Japanese convenience stores, one of few bright spots (until now) in Japanese retailing.

The CEO of Seven & i Holdings, Toshifumi Suzuki, summoned his counterparts at Family Mart, Lawson and Daily Yamazaki to an emergency meeting for Sunday evening to discuss countermeasures against these developments.


What triggered the sudden sense of crisis?  On Sunday afternoon, Suzuki received reports from the automated monitoring systems of franchisees in western Tokyo of a cyclist who rode about 150 kilometers without a single stop at one of their stores.  No ham and cheese burritos, no crappy sports drinks, not even yogurt products or a Snickers Bar.  Numerous stores recorded the cyclist passing (first picked up by the RFID chip in his train pass, and confirmed by automated camera footage of him passing nearby, on the same route he had taken only 8 weeks earlier (Tamagawa, Akigawa, Tomin-no-Mori and back).  A quick check of the POS databases of the other chains confirmed he had not stopped there either.  How was it possible?  What to do?  Perhaps another new flavor of Kit Kat was needed to lure him into the store (Jalapeno and cheese Kit Kat)?  Or maybe it had been a mistake to double the ham in the ham and cheese burrito -- making it sit heavily in the stomach of a cyclist well onto the next climb?

Apparently, the cyclist survived on High5 products, a combination of energy bars, two gels on the last stages of the climb to Tomin no Mori.  He filled one water bottle with a 4:1 carbohydrate/protein mix drink, the other, larger bottle with water.  "Bootleg imports", as Suzuki referred to the High5 products.  "How can Japan meet its food security goals if people can order this stuff with free shipping from Wiggle and get it at their doorstep the next week?"  And the cyclist was able to refill his water bottles at public faucets, avoiding even the need for a 2 liter water refill from Seven Eleven. He did stop for a bowl of mountain vegetable (sansai) udon at Tomin no Mori, but no economy ever got wealthy off of mountain roots and tubers!

Anyway, it was a beautiful day for a ride, warm for mid-December as I basked in the sun at Tomin no Mori.  I made the round trip as quickly as I have ever done, and improved my former "toge baka" time by about 2 minutes -- 1:08:43, down from 1:10:38 in April 2008, just before Itoigawa Fast Run, and almost 6 minutes faster than when I did this climb on October 17 this year (1:14:36).  This time I used the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels with tubeless tires -- a bit slower on the descent and a bit more work to maintain speed on the flats, especially into headwinds, but also 200 or 300 grams lighter than the HED Jet 6's, so noticeably more spin-worthy on the climb.

Shimano Golden Arrow

There was a time not so long ago, when the rank order was not Dura Ace, Ultegra and 105, followed by names serious cyclists spell with the same intonation as "leg cramps" or "Daily Yamazaki". Yes, that was the time of Dura Ace, 600 and Golden Arrow. Golden Arrow was the lowest (serious) road racing group set produced by Shimano between 1983 and 1986. 


Still I believe it is one of the most beautiful designs done by Shimano ever. An arty touch, but not too much, so much nicer than the apparently pure functional parts of today. Although, while writing this I think of these ugly Hollowtec crank sets of Shimano from today.


Of course, if you really love to have pieces of art on your bike, the Shimano Arabesque series is even better. Unfortunately it is politically incorrect to use them these days. If you are more interested in such details, there is no better place to look than Velo Base , but be careful, if you like that stuff the site is highly addictive.


I was looking for some old parts to built up the Peugeot bike under the working title "The Galibier Project". I have spend thousands of Yen for bike mechanical services, mainly with Nagai-San from Positivo and given the long winters in Bremen I thought I could learn to do this as well. I think this is a habit of people lively in harsh environments and  I am just happy that I don't have to polish and paint wooden nutcrackers.


For very little money (less than 700 Yen, to be precise) I bought a pair of shifters, a front derailleur and a rear derailleur for the Galibier. The parts were anyway in good shape, but nevertheless I spend some time to de-assemble them, clean each of them thoroughly, greased and oiled them and assembled them back into shape. They still looked used, but for me they are fine enough.


The wonder word in vintage cycling is: "N.O.S", meaning New, old stock: spare parts that were never used before but produced in the seventies or eighties and kept in stock somewhere when inventory level was not equal cash flow equal financial performanace equal quarterly report for the share holders. I just bought another set of Shimano 600 AX shifters in NOS conditions. Not sure what I will do with them but they were too cheap (550 Yen) and too beautiful to be ignored.


These are racing components from the first aerodynamic-crazed wave, long before Cervelo jumped on the train and compared aerodynamic adavantages against weight advantages. 35 seconds overall on one of the hardest stages of the Tour de France for an average rider. Thank you very, convincing. Already in the eighties components were constructed in such way as to produce minimum drag. My Golden Arrow shifters, for example are located on a clamp above the lower tube instead of left and right on the lover tube for precisely that reason. 

An even better example to eighties aerodynamic design are the Dura Ace AX brake calipers which sell today in the range of 20.000 to 60.000 Yen a pair.


So I will continue for a while to buy stuff here and there and hope that I will be able to learn to fit all pieces of the puzzle together in the garage later.

I also bought a nice piece of tableware from the Edo-period while visiting the Maeda mansion in Komabatodaimae with Juliane some time ago. On the left we see a cyclist engaged in stretching exercises for the forthcoming stage of the Transalp, while his wife to the right is urging him to stay home and play with the kids. Heartwarming. 

Yomiuri V Dori

The slope from the Tamagawa up to my house offers at best 20-25 meters elevation change, and only one short stretch that requires a low gear ... never even bothered to measure it precisely.  The "hospital hill" at Sakura-ga-oka and Tama Hills, is over 15 kms away and not very steep, as the grade gradually shifts from 2-3% up to 5-6% near the top.  Most of the hills in central Tokyo offer only short stretches, mostly no more than 100-200 meters long, so you barely get going before you stop.
James M. last year mentioned the climb to Yomiuri Land as a good training spot.  I tried it once but somehow it had fallen off my radar screen during my off time last summer.  I've stopped by twice in the past month, each time doing the climb 4-5 times as part of a short ride.  From the train station roundabout at the bottom to the top of the main climb is a little over 700 meters distance, and a little over 60 meters of elevation change.  There is a 9-10% grade, with a bit less at the very bottom and top sections.  Little or no traffic.  Other cyclists are there doing the same thing.  There are what seem to be Yomiuri Giants baseball fans hanging out at the back entrance to the ballpark/training facility near the top  ... they acknowledge your effort on your 3rd and subsequent climbs.  And a big plus for the Giants fan (not me), the roadside is lined with flags, one marking each Giants victory this past season.  Maybe even better motivation for any Hanshin fans. 
Highly recommended for training.

The hill to Yomiuri Land.  Does not look like much viewed from Tamagawahara-bashi

This view from the bottom of the climb.  It continues around a curve to the right.

Directions:  Cross the Tamagawa from Tokyo at Tamagawahara-bashi (the road to One-Kansen, Tsurugawa Kaido - Rte 19).  Continue across Kawasaki Kaido (Rte 9 - the major crossing just after going under the train tracks within 500 meters of the river), then turn left at the next signal onto Rte 124.  Proceed until you go under the Keio tracks and turn left into the roundabout on the South entrance of Keio Yomiuri Land Station.  In the photo above, you can see the station platform on the left edge of the photo.  Climb and descend.  Climb and descend.  Repeat until you wilt.

The Y's Have It

Jerome and I did a "scouting" ride on Saturday, checking out the road conditions to Yanagisawa Pass as he contemplates his idea of a 2-day year-end ride from Tokyo to Kyoto (to the extent practicable, via an interior route).  Whether this is do-able will depend on the weather conditions, to say the least.
We have gotten in a very nice series of late-year rides, the weather being far more cooperative in Kanto than it has been for our colleagues in the Positivo Espresso European chapters.  Two weeks ago there was Yamanakako (via Yamabushi Pass), then last weekend Yabitsu 2X, and now Yanagisawa.  Oh Yeah!
On December 4 mid-day, as the sun cleared the hilltops and shown down warmly on the Michi-no-Eki (rest stop) at Tabayama-Mura, Jerome's idea of an interior ride to Kyoto seemed not such a crazy idea.

It might not seem quite as smart when trying to change a flat tire at 10 or 11PM Dec 30 on National Rte 19, somewhere along the Kisogawa in Nagano/Gifu, in sub-freezing temperatures.
In any event, on Saturday I was suffering some after-effects of a Friday evening feast, did not feel at my strongest, so we just went up to Yanagisawa, stopped for Curried Udon, turned around and I hopped the train from Oume, instead of crazier ideas such as a side trip to Kamihikawa, or maybe coming home via Imagawa Pass and a soak in the hot spring in Kosuge that we missed on Halloween morning.  Still, 170+ km and over 2000 meters of climbing for me, and home by 6PM.  Jerome, of course, rode all the way home, putting his day at 230 km or so.
The climb up Route 411 beyond Okutama-ko was ... peaceful, with very little traffic, as nice as I have ever seen it.  The view from Yanagisawa toward Mt. Fuji was breathtaking.

Even more so without obstructions:

On the way up the hill, the thermometer at 1400 meters elevation reported 11 degrees C.  On the way back down, after 2PM, the sun had slipped below the edge of the Southern ridge and the valley was entirely in the shade.  The thermometer at 1400 meters showed 4 degrees.
We stopped briefly at Okutama-ko, hoping to catch a ray of sunlight ... but were 15 minutes late, the sun slipping across the waters and still lighting the dam and opposite hillside.

As with last weekend, this was a nice, recreational pace.
I'll embed the Garmin data ... but one complaint.  Garmin has switched from Google Maps to an MS/Bing version.  I hope they are saving money and will pass the savings on to the consumer, since it seems to provide a noticeably inferior view on screen.

Full Gas

Belleville Rendez-Vous

Transalp 2011

Done. David and me succesfully registered as team Positivo Espresso 1 for the Transalp 2011 race. A confirmation e-mail from the organizers came in just seven minutes ago. We are still awaiting confirmation for our (second) team Positivo Espresso Europe, consisting of Juliane and David J.

Details about the race can be find here. In brief: 7 stages. 936 km. 20.000 meter elevation difference. More difficult than the Yamanote challenge. Jerome and Juliane in 200?. David and Jerome, Juliane and David in 2009. David and mob, Juliane and David in 2011.

De facto the European home race of the club.

Ups, I should start to train but it is already dark and minus eight degrees outside.

Peugeot Galibier

Steelframe, Reynolds 501 tubing. About 20 years old but still in mint conditions. This will be my winter project and I will try to built up a complete bike with used parts. As temperatures are down to minus nine today that sounds like more fun than riding. And perhaps a more meaningful activity than traveling to London to see Peter Pan.

Peter Pan

"New Wimbledon Theatre is thrilled to announce the biggest pantomime cast to date to celebrate the theatre's 100th birthday. 

Global mega-star David Hasselhoff will be playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan alongside star of Pineapple Studios Louie Spence who plays the cabin boy, Roger.

David Hasselhoff, best known for the iconic roles of Michael Knight in Knight Rider and Mitch Buchanan in the most watched TV show in history, Baywatch will be making his pantomime debut in the swashbuckling family show Peter Pan."

Buy Tickets

I hope our European members are able to get tickets for this sure to be sold out performance.

Winter Ride

I was leaving the house at noon after spending the morning checking the complete flickr photo account of Tom for pictures of fur coats. To my excuse I have to say that there is very little else one can do in Bremen in November when temperatures had dropped down to zero degrees.


Nevertheless I prepared myself for a short winter ride. The words "preparation" and "short ride" and their relation to each other change completely over the seasons. In summer the duration of a preparation is about 15 minutes and consists of putting on socks, heartbeat monitor, bib shorts, jersey shoes, gloves and helmet (in that order. I try to avoid looking into a mirror when having only socks and heart beat monitor on) then running back to the house to collect the water bottle, running back again because one has left the camera, then cursing and climbing back up the stairs to look for the map, thus filling the required 15 minutes interval. This is then followed by rides of eight hours plus, as long as the sun is visible in the sky and in Germany during the summer than can be a damn long time. There is much more enjoyable riding time compared to less enjoyable preparation time.


In winter, on the other hand, the preparation time is endless. It starts with the pounding about the right choice of attire. Lately I have been reading something about how PE members laughed about overdressed, sweaty winter riders they encountered on their trips and that left me now as a nervous, neurotic wreck shortly before every ride. Am I overdressed? Will somebody laugh at me?  Shall I sell my yellow Assos Fugu Jacket? As if there were not enough issues already, I have always cold feet. So I started to use two layers of shoe covers. One neopren type just over the Shimano MTB shoes and another wind stopper like material on top. The neopren type shoe cover was cheap and I bought it at Rose, the favorite shop of Ludwig and myself. I shouldn't really complain about them and it is certainly not in my interest to vituperate about Rose. But today I needed close to 40 minutes of preparation time and a large chunk out of that time was consumed by trying to close the zipper on the backside of the shoecovers. As this can only be done when the shoe covers are on, my neighbors saw me winding on the road in all kind of poses, commonly known from 12 year old Romanian girls engaging in rhythm sport gymnastics.
After I have finally managed to zip up both shoe covers I was seriously considering to keep them on until the next ride. Sleep with them, shower with them, walk around in holy academia .... everything is better than to put them on one more time.


And after endless 40 minutes of preparation, how long did I ride? 3 and a half hours. This relationship is sadly distorted. Coming home, I needed time to shower, redress, eat, drink some coffee, again valuable time spend. 5 hours bike related activities, not much riding thereof.

I choose a longer standard route today, along the river Wuemme (the Tamagawa equivalent) as usual but then further on to Lessum. There weren't much bicycles on the road but quite a few people have opted to take a walk. I hit a cobblestone section of the road that was lying in the shadow of some trees and immediately the ride got wobbly and I almost fell down on the slippery surface. From then onwards I rode very carefully, checking the surface for spots of black ice and keeping speeds down. Now all the leaves are gone and it is more fun to ride on the bike paths as they are cleared of all obstacles. I rode on to Ritterhude, one of the few places that provides something like "hills" and I climbed about 50 meter elevation difference as a preparation of the Transalp. The further on to Osterholz-Scharmbek where I took the obigatory SOS landscape photo, and further on the Worpswede on the standard loop. My average speed was down to 25 km/hr and I am not exactly sure why. Sure, there was some headwind but overall it was just difficult despite keeping the heartrate in the 145 - 155 bracket. 


The road from Worpswede to Quelkorn was just boring as usual, I really don't know why I am riding there. Fischerhude to Borgfeld in contrast is quite nice but I was quickly running out of steam. I had no food with me and when I tried to drink from the water bottle I noticed that the nozzle was frozen solid.  My Ciclo device showned now minus degrees and my feets and my hands were iceblocks. Just four days ago I visited in a university excursion I huge German fish monger called "Deutsche See" and we were shown arround the cold storage facilities, minus 24 degrees.... that was really cold. But today on the bike didn't felt much better. My thoughts were running around.....a tune popped up in my head, first "Walk Hard" by Dewey Cox and I could imagine this conversation from the trailer going on between my body and my mind:

"So maybe you don't believe in me after all?"

"I do believe in you, I just know you're gonna fail!" 

Gazelle, leaning against a gate. Variation of an old theme.

Then I was again on the river Wuemme and after crossing the railroad line and after making a turn a Riensberg graveyard I was back at the house. 82 km only, time outside the house almost equal riding time. Too cold to make a break. By the way, to opt for the lighter Assos air jacket 851 with some uniqlo heatec trikot below was perfect. I need another pair of shoe covers, some overgloves and an hour more time for preparation though.

Wanted -- Bicycle Patent Counsel?

Editorial Comment

I am a bit worried that I need to prepare in case I receive a letter threating legal action from a certain Colonel Manfred von Holstein, something about my Cervelo R3-SL infringing a patent of a great German bicycle manufacturer, Canyon.  Seriously, Dominic mentioned to me yesterday that Cervelo had lost some kind of lawsuit to Canyon recently ... so I had to look for it.

Can't we just get along?

Reading both the Canyon and Cervelo press releases (you can find them on their websites, or check HERE where both are printed one after the other), you would think these were two entirely different courts.  Canyon gets excited about the fact that the EPO -- that's the "European Patent Office", not the illegal performance enhancing substance -- found that its "patent was fully patentable".  Nice to hear, but does not mean anything.  But Cervelo points out that in fact the EPO ruled the relevant claim of Canyon invalid, and sent it back to the local court for Canyon to try to prove a narrower claim, and Cervelo mentions 4 frames that already used the narrower concept before Canyon filed for its patent ...

My quick assessment is that Canyon is using this for publicity purposes -- pushing out misleading "victory" statements when it has achieved no such thing -- and trying to stain the reputation of Cervelo.  It declared victory on November 18, before the EPO hearing was even held on November 24, a pre-emptive strike.  And I can see lots of articles have been removed from sites -- no doubt after Cervelo or its fans complained.  A low blow by Canyon.  By the time this is over, there will be lots of interim decisions, lots of mistaken releases and parroting news stories that "Cervelo frames found to infringe Canyon patent" (a Google search finds this one on Cyclingnews.com, now removed but available in a cached version on Google -- totally misleading headline, even though the story quotes from both parties' press releases). The actual court case will fade away without any final judgment that Cervelo did anything wrong, on a frame design that it will have long since stopped making.

Both companies are wrong about the one thing they agree on.  The Canyon CEO says:  "I would like to emphasise once again that this judgement will have no effect on private persons."  Cervelo:  "We agree with Canyon on one thing, which is that this case will have no effect on consumers."

In fact, if these companies spend their time and effort fighting over patents that one of them filed over minor tweaks in bicycle frame design, then they will not spend their time or money making better bicycles. The companies will be distracted.  The lawyers will make a little money off it.  Consumers (and riders -- those who got booted when Garmin and Cervelo teams merged) will pay the bill.


My vote -- let's take this EPO out of cycling. There is no Canyon frame in my future.


P.S. The EPO decision is not yet on their website, but should be within the next few weeks.

A Fast Trip Home in Your Future?

Who would want to get from Kofu to Sagamihara in 15 minutes?  Is Japan really in a fiscal position to pay trillions of yen for this convenience?  The few times I have been on a train from Kofu back toward Tokyo (Chuo-sen, via Hachioji toward Shinjuku), the passengers have been mostly groups of older people on excursions, couples with children going to/from a visit to relatives, and hikers and cyclists.  Three weeks ago when I hopped a train back from Kofu on the return from the races at Saiko, I secured my bike bag and took my seat, then a group of 5-6 Japanese touring cyclists boarded a few stops later, at Enzan, and looked enviously at my prime bike bag location.  They needed to walk through to the next car to find a place they could store their bags.

In any event, for any of us who happen to be still in Japan, and still cycling to Yamanashi, in 2020, the trip half way home may get a LOT faster.  These trains have already clocked 581 kph on the test track (even my Garmin 705 does not say I am going THAT fast on my Cervelo).  And after a further eight years of construction, by 2028, the service should go all the way to Tokyo!  Let's hope they manage to include enough space in the Maglev for bike bags!

Yabitsu 2X

Some hurried emails Friday evening ended up with a suggested 7:20AM start at/near my house.  Dominic arrived a few minutes early, Rapha clad and riding the Cervelo he bought from Knotty.  Dominic explained, as per his email, that he could not ride out with us because of duty with his daughters, but he wanted to stretch his legs early and so went for a spin.  It was good to at least have a few minutes to talk ... actually more than a few, as I waited for Jerome, who missed his alarm and called to say he would be at my place in 20 minutes or so.

In any event, Jerome and I decided to go out Onekan, and the North Shore of Tsukuiko, then decide on a destination.   The weather was clear and brisk the leaves spectacular.  And this was a true "recreational ride", without a pre-determined destination and at a reasonable pace.

The brisk weather and foliage ("koyou") made for a spectacular day ... though that meant lots of people were out.

Looking South over Tsukui-ko toward Yabitsu, on the horizon.

We made the obligatory stop at Casa Pablo Escobar on the North shore of Tsukui.

The guard dog was indeed a bad dog -- neither seen nor heard.

One of the henchmen did make an appearance, and he looked a bit threatening when I snapped his photo.
(I wish I could remember to suck in my gut like that for photos.) 

Miyagase-ko, getting ready for the Christmas festival.

Hillside at Miyagaseko, with blue sky and puffy, wintry clouds.

Japanese cloning technology at work -- a sheep dog?  a dog-sheep?

Onto the road to Yabitsu.  Usually deserted, it was as crowded as I have ever seen it.
We took it easy, snapped photos, and still made it up to the pass in less than an hour.

The glowing Mavic jersey made me visible to drivers in the mirrors rounding corners on the narrow, twisting Rte 70. 
The red momiji were beautiful... did not think to stop for a picture until this one, not a great specimen.

During the usual quick descent on the South side, Jerome suggested we stop for food at a "donut shop" near the convenience store above 246 that marks the "official" start of the Yabitsu climb.  I smelled the donuts as I passed, then saw the flags, but could not see any shop.  Where was it?  Here:

There are two ladies making donuts inside the shed. 
Mostly the donuts get shipped out by truck on large trays ... not consumed on site.

The flags mark the spot.

We turned around at the Daily Yamazaki and implemented our plan to climb back over Yabitsu -- the first time I have done the South side climb.  It was not bad, some steep sections, and 600 meters elevation gain in 10 km.  On the way back, we swung a bit South of Tsukui-ko, and stopped for some food.  I should have passed on the donuts and eaten a real lunch earlier, but the donut "shop" was one of those amusing interludes about living in Japan. ...

The traffic was heavy, here and on every major road -- this line is heading toward Atsugi.

Busted!  A non-PE approved Family Mart.

We took Rte 513, then looped back over to the North shore of Tsukuiko, then via Hashimoto, the tank road and Onekan, and we were back home by 5:30, having ridden 175+ km and climbed about 2450 meters.  Very satisfying.  Now after turkey soup, turkey leftovers, and a hot bath, I should sleep very soundly.