Saitama Audax 300km -- October 16, postponed from March 20.

After a 9-day trip to the USA for family events and visits that included two empty international long-haul and three domestic spam-in-a-full-can shorter flights, plus a 14 day quarantine at home upon my return, I was feeling very much overweight, undertrained, and in serious need of a bicycle ride.

So I was delighted that upon my return to Tokyo, I had an envelope from Saitama Audax with a brevet card, return envelope, and a note that the March 20 300km event I had planned to do to prepare for the Okayama 1200 had been rescheduled for October 17 -- the first weekend after my quarantine end date. Even better, the event would be a held as an "N2" brevet, which means that no staff are at the start or finish, and the rider can select their own start date and time within 2 weeks before or after the official event date. The weather forecast for October 17 looked very wet and nasty, so I submitted an October 16 7AM start date and time.

After 2 x 200km easy events in January, my 2 x 300km preparatory rides in March and early April had both been cancelled/postponed, I rode only the first full day of the Okayama 1200, and a partial second day, a very short 3rd day back to Onomichi, nowhere near the stamina or speed needed to complete that event. And I have been riding relatively little since, much of it with the recumbent rather than on a road bike. My physical exam in September showed me near my "peak" weight of recent years, not at all where I should be at the end of summer. And so I had a lot invested emotionally in just managing to get through a 300km event, in avoiding another DNF after PBP and Okayama. (I did not care about an official completion, so long as I did the full ride. The brevet card in the mailbox was just the perfect excuse to try now).

A worthy course, but with pretty heavy traffic on a Saturday, except for
sections ridden early morning or late evening.

Jerome came along for the exercise and to offer moral support. 

From the start next to the Irumagawa in Saitama, I felt sluggish and went slowly. The course wound through SW Saitama, then Okutama, then Sagamihara, to reach the foot of Doshi Michi and climb to Yamanakako.  

At the start - Irumagawa

Ready to ride.

An early forced stop -- there goes the 300km record attempt!

We had already climbed over 600 meters by the time we got onto Doshi Michi, if memory serves. Jerome went way ahead the entire first half of the event, waiting for me each our or so. I did not realize Jerome had stopped to wait at the 7-11 on lower Doshi, and ended up passing him. He caught me at the spring where I was refilling my bottles and went ahead to the Michi-no-eki, where we both rested a bit. He waited again at the tunnel at the top.

On Doshi Michi -- the Olympic RR course, lest we forget

At the Doshi Michi Michi-no-Eki

It had rained a bit at the start, but the road was dry and the rain stopped, until Yamanakako. There the rain restarted in earnest. On the descent from Kagozaka Pass to Subashiri was the only part of the event that was actually cold, heavy rain, our own wind from descending, and the elevation all contributing.  We stopped at an eat-in convenience store in Gotemba, refueled and warmed up a bit before continuing onto the next significant climb, around 375m elevation gain up to the entrance to Fuji Safari Park.

The rain stopped on the LONG descent from 875m elevation down to sea level, and by the time we got to Suruga Bay area we were riding on dry pavement and even got a bit of late afternoon sunlight. 

Jerome struggles with zip ties and a failing light bracket.

Looking from Numazu toward Izu.

Finally some lovely late afternoon weather around Numazu. Fuji visible, barely.

We slogged through heavy traffic around Mishima and onto the gradual climb up to Gotemba. This takes more than 25kms to climb up to 460m elevation, much of the climb at a 2-3% grade. The middle part of the climb was on a quiet road, and as we switched back to a main highway further up, the traffic had died down. We rode in fog and mist for awhile, but that cleared away near the top and for the descent down the East side of the hill toward Matsuda and Hadano.

Late night in Sagamihara after 270 kms or so.

After a somewhat unpleasant stretch on Route 246 alongside trucks still running on Saturday evening, I got to the last PC quiz point in Isehara and turned north onto local roads. Another 60kms of riding in the dark, quiet night, and it was back to the finish. The last 10+ kms from Oume/Hanno area back to Iruma seemed remarkably easy. Indeed, it was mostly a gradual downhill. Perhaps that helps explain my slow start, in the opposite direction?

Done just before 2AM.  ... I would be happier if we had finished around Midnight,
but was glad to at least finish, within the time limit.

Instead of the usual convenience store receipts, Saitama Audax used "quiz points" based upon mostly postboxes along the route. 

Quiz at Yamanakako - what time are weekday mail pickups? 

I reached the Yamanakako quiz point only 30 minutes before the cut off, thanks to my creeping start and climb up Doshi.  The subsequent checkpoints were only a little better, and eventually I finished with 1 hr and 7 minutes to the cutoff. This was the slowest I have ever done a 300km brevet. True, the course was not easy with plenty of climbing, and the rain slowed the pace a bit. 

Elevation profile. Lots of climbing in the first half especially. 3700m total logged
(vs 4800m elevation gain predicted via RidewithGPS)

But in truth, it was mostly not too hot nor too cold, and I did not suffer any serious mechanical issues. Not a single flat tire/tube. Once I re-lubed my dry chain after the rain stopped, I had no drivetrain issues. My brake pads were worn from the long, wet descents, but lasted to the finish. My lights worked. And I am sure that alone Jerome could have done the entire ride at least 3 hours faster than I managed. 

The Okayama 1200 and this, my only subsequent Audax event yet this year, prove that I have a long way to go to get back into ultra-endurance riding condition, to have any reasonable hope of again completing 1200km events. But it was a start. At least I could get through a 300km with no "significant" issues. Nothing hurt, not back nor neck nor butt nor feet nor hands. My only physical complaint was indigestion and some accompanying lower back (kidney?) pain, until a toilet break well into the ride (Gotemba?).

PBP is my goal for 2023, and I now need to set some interim goals for 2022, and plan enough brevets to help me get back some of the speed I had doing these only a few years ago. There is hope.