Japanese Builders do well at NAHBS ...

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is a late-February event, but I did not manage to check out the winners until seeing an article yesterday in one of the English language newspapers in Tokyo, highlighting some awards won by Tokyo-based Matsuda Cycle.

[JULY 2013 UPDATE ...  unfortunately, the linked article has expired ... I guess the "Japan News by Yomiuri Shimbun" has no aspirations to be the "newspaper of record" for Japan ..., if that was not already clear from their publishing 3-month old items as news.]

To read the article you might not realize that there were other awards given out ... or that the event happened three months ago.

Konno-san of Cherubim won Best City Bike, and there is plenty of other eye candy here: NABHS 2013 winners.

Since there cannot be more than a few Japanese builders who go to NAHBS, one would need to say that they are punching above their weight ... or perhaps more appropriately that they have a very high power-to-weight ratio.

Tomin No Mori -- in 30x12 gearing

Jerome and I went for a Sunday morning ride yesterday.  No photos, and just a trip to Tomin no Mori and back.  No personal records.  The weather was a bit humid, we both felt tired (even before the hill), and the traffic reminded me of why I do not take this road often.  But it was a good ride, and I noted about 30 road bikes nicely sitting on the racks at Tomin no Mori, evidencing the huge numbers of cyclists who do this road on any day with decent weather.

Jerome's bicycle has been complaining of late.  His Mavix Aksium rear wheel died on him recently, after much maintenance deferral.  He has broken 2 spokes now with the Rolf Prima wheel that I sold to him ... and he is using an older Mavic Ksyrium from off his old bike, but the freewheel has a problem and will require some new parts to make that workable.  I am going to build him a new rear wheel ... parts on order.  Meanwhile, on the way to Itsukaichi, he managed to break his rear derailleur cable.

I would have turned around and headed for home at that point, but not Jerome, who usually climbs in a bigger gear, out of the saddle.  He went all the way up the hill in 30x12, stopping once for a good rest about half way up the hill.  This may be the only time I beat him up the hill (riding 39x28 gears).

After returning home, I replaced Jerome's cable and the broken spoke on the Rolf Prima ... and we are ready for next weekend's 600km Brevet.

Positivo Espresso Riding Week August 3-10, Costa del Sol

Looking at the summer's cycling calendar, after the Tour de France and London-Edinburgh-London, the next major event will be Positivo Espresso's week in southern Spain.  Representatives from the London, Bremen and Tokyo branches will head to Malaga/Costa del Sol for a mixed agenda of recovery, recreation and training.  

The trip will definitely include rides in the Sierra Nevada, so remember to set your bike up with some climbing gears.

These climbs start at sea level?

Ignoring the GIro

I had been ignoring this year's Giro d'Italia through its first 12 stages.  I have nothing particular against the Giro.  Indeed, I like it.  It is always seems bigger, sexier, wilder, more fun.  And pink.  Very pink.

But I have done my very best to take an extended vacation from anything to do with professional road cycling.

To me, ignoring the entire sport seemed like the only possible response to the Lance Armstrong brouhaha -- the final year or two of denials, followed by the weak confession on Oprah, the inevitable renewed lawsuits, accusations against the UCI, etc., etc.  It made me want to just ride my own bike and not pay any attention to professionals racing.

My office is across the street and down the block from the Trek Bicycles concept store at the back of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, and every time I walk by it, my blood pressure rises.  I look at Trek as one of Lance's major enablers.  Maybe they were duped?  Who knows.  In any event, I am glad I never bought a Trek bicycle.  Maybe Trek will bring back the LeMond brand, which they allegedly shut down bowing to pressure from Lance after Greg LeMond dared speak the truth about Lance and his friend Dr. Ferrari?  LeMond now again seems to be the face of U.S. cycling, and if he were again associated with Trek, then I might feel like setting foot inside the shop, at least to take a look.

Anyway, even with Lance gone, too much doubt remains.  What about Wiggins' remarkable 2012? Can we trust the results, knowing what we now know?  Sure, the sport seems to be much cleaner than it was ... but the same could have been said 5 years ago.  There are still deeply suspect (to me) riders like Contador and, until his retirement after winning at last year's Olympic Road Race, Vinokourov.

Then, I happened to turn on my PC last night and watch a little bit of streaming broadcast via steephill.tv -- there was a 9 person breakaway trying to hold off the peleton, only 10 or 20 seconds back as the race entered its last 10 kilometers.  I watched all the way through to the sprint finish, in which Mark Cavendish held off all comers (including Elia Viviani) to take a 4th stage victory.

I happened to check cyclingnews.com -- still in my browser's bookmarks, despite my extended vacation -- and peak at the upcoming stages.  Wow.  They will go over the 2000+ meter elevation Sestriere on Stage 14.  Then Stage 15 takes them into France, along part of the route I rode in the 2011 Etape -- from Modane down a valley, then up onto the climb over Col du Telegraphe, through Valloire and then to the 2600+ meter Col du Galibier, a real monster of a climb.

And then there is Stage 19, on Wednesday.  They start at Pont di Legno, the South Tyrolian ski resort where we enjoyed a tribute to Marco Pantani after climbing the Mortirolo during Transalp 2011.  They climb the Gavia (2600+ elev), then the Stelvio (2750+ meters elev), then a third 22km climb to Val Martello (2050+ meter elev).  Over 4300 meters of climbing in a 138km stage, after nearly 3 weeks of racing.  Ouch.

No matter how much I know that I should ... I cannot stay away any longer.  At least until the next doping scandal.

-------------------------

Postscript:  A few hours after writing the note above, the weather caused a major route change.

No Sestriere today.  And very likely no Galibier tomorrow.

That is another feature of the Giro -- by racing in May and trying to go over the highest passes in the Alps, inevitably the race's reach exceeds its grasp!

Second Postscript:  They made it onto the Galibier ... moved the finish down 4 kilometers.  But the Gavia and Stelvio are now removed from Stage 19 ...  Still, the last 2 stages look very good, even without the highest passes.  I might even watch a bit.

Fujikawa At Dawn

I continued preparation for London-Edinburgh-London by joining the Kanagawa Audax's 400 km brevet this weekend. This view of the Fujikawa at dawn is one of the things I would like to remember about the ride.

Looking back up the Fujikawa from the hill south of Minobu. The river is full from yesterday/last night's rain.

The route went from Okitsu on the Shizuoka coastline to Hotaka in Nagano (north of Matsumoto) and back again, via the Fujikawa, then Route 52/Route 12 around the western edge of the Kofu metropolitcan area, Route 20 past Hokuto, Fujimi, Chino, Suwa, Shiojiri, then skirting around the west of Matsumoto through the countryside, to Hotaka in Azumino City ... and back.

All in all it was not so difficult a route for a Japanese 400km Brevet, with the highest passes Fujimi and Shiojiri, over 100kms from the start in order to rise from sea-level up to 1020 meters elevation.  ... but it rained, heavily at times, the first 14 hours.  It was a relatively warm rain, so not a big problem in terms of exposure.  I looked at the bright side and considered it part of the training -- a chance to try out my rain gear and bike setup.

The Ti travel bike and fenders I recently added worked just fine, the fenders significantly reducing the road grime and gunk on my bicycle and myself when riding through standing water.  And the Continental Grand Prix All Season tires also worked well -- nice grip, and made it through 400 kms without a flat.  A combination including rain pants, gore tex shoe liners and plastic bags kept my feet dry ... for the first hour or so.  A loose lockring on my rear cassette caused me all kinds of difficulties shifting the rear derailleur.  At first I thought it was just road grime, and did my best to clean the chain and derailleur pulleys then added some lube.  But the shifting continued to deteriorate until I needed to pull over and spend enough time to actually figure it out.  I could tighten the lockring just enough with my fingers to regain a bit of function and make it to the finish, 6th in out of 29 riders.

Lower Fujikawa, on Saturday.

With this ride, I have now more distance logged in the first 12 days of May -- 950 kms -- than I managed in all of April.

More Golden Week(end)!

After a Saturday rest day, Jerome and I went on another Golden Week ride on Sunday.  Given anticipated heavy traffic and the spectacular weather, it was time, again, to ride the rindos (forest roads), climbing hills on asphalt behind closed gates.

First ride on the Canyon in a couple weeks.  ... It is nice to be on a carbon framed racer with deep rim wheels once in awhile!

View to NE from Iriyama Pass -- between Wada and Itsukaichi

We made good time out to Itsukaichi, and chatted at the 7-11 there with 2 riders we had passed on the last leg (primarily by being a bit more aggressive at traffic signals, not because of any real difference in speed).  Once we mentioned that we ride Brevets, they immediately volunteered that they were preparing for Tokyo-Itoigawa, one proudly mentioned that he ride with Nalshima whose Kondo-san is Japan's fastest brevet rider and toppled Andy W. last year as Tokyo-Itoigawa champion.  They each had done Toito at least 15 times.

The Koinobori on west side of Wada -- listless in the breeze on Children's Day.

We stop to admire the koinobori.

Ready to continue the descent.

We rode Bonbori Rindo over Iriyama Pass, then Daigo Rindo up Wada Pass, down the back of Wada on Jimba Kaido, then up and over Hime Valley - Bijo Valley on its closed rindo, then back over Otarumi Pass on Route 20.  The rindos were wonderful -- only one car and one motorcycle during the entire time on Bonbori Rindo and Daigo Rindo.   We did not push the pace much until the last part of the ride -- but still got in excellent exercise with our four climbs.  Bijo Valley's road was strewn with rocks on the Southern descent, and each of Jerome and I experienced one flat tube.

On the last rindo, signs to Hime-tani, Fujino Station (via Jimba hotsprings), etc.

Golden Week traffic ... on the closed roads

We stopped for lunch of ramen and gyoza at the top of Otarumi Pass ... on what must be their busiest day of the year.  It was a long wait, but well worth it.

Another spectacular ride -- 4 passes and nearly 2000 meters of climbing, mostly on closed roads, and back home by 4PM, despite delays due to the flat tires and lunch.

Oku Nikko - May 3

This week's "Golden Week" holidays have really been two "Golden Weekends" -- the first a 3-day weekend (which included this year's Fleche), and the second a 4-day weekend.

On Tuesday through Thursday, I and many others worked as usual, except that on Thursday morning I needed to go to Tochigi for meetings.  I brought my bike on the shinkansen, and Jerome rode up the 135 km from Tokyo in the morning.  We visited a few potential sites for solar projects in the afternoon by bicycle, and made it to Nikko City (actually Imaichi, down the valley from the Nikko train station most tourists know).  For Jerome the day was more than 200kms, including much ugly sprawl, while even including my ride to Tokyo Station in the early morning, I logged less than 100kms -- enoug, as my body still felt the after-effects of the Fleche, and we had a big day planned for Friday.

We found a reasonably priced business hotel, ate a filling dinner at a local tonkatsu/yakuniku restaurant, and zonked out.

Ready for dinner

Up for 630AM breakfast and on our bikes by 730AM, we started out just below 400 meters elevation, heading west through Nikko and onto the climb up Iroha-zaka to Lake Chuzenji and beyond.

On the Iroha Zaka

We were early enough to beat most of the GW tourist traffic.  We were already nearly 700 meters elevation as we entered the one-way uphill segment of the Iroha-zaka, with the top somewhere around 1250~1275 meters.

Buuurrr -- a cold wind on Chuzenjiko

It was very cold and windy at Lake Chuzenji.  Very brisk -- I was glad to have brought some late-winter gear.  The only convenience store we could find was a Daily Yamazaki bread shop attached to a cafe, the shelves almost bare.  At around 1275 meters elevation, I asked if the pass ahead was over 2000 meters elevation, and how far it was.  The shopkeeper responded that it was only 10-12 kms to the "entrance" to the pass, and the top was only 1600 meters or so.

After a rest, we continued on Route 120, headed up the lakeside and into Oku Nikko.  The scenery was spectacular, and we were now beyond most of the tourist traffic.

Oku Nikko

We could see the road ahead as it climbed toward Kousei Toge (pass) -- NOT 1600 meters, but more like 1900.  After another climb, and an uphill tunnel, we started a great descent along the snow-lined highway.  The entire segment was just over 40 kms and took us from 400 to 1900 meters elevation.  Just as if we had done the first part of a Transalp day, a climb of truly Alpine duration and scenery.

Early on the climb to Kousei Toge -- looking back

The same view .. without panorama

The climb to Kousei Toge

On the descent, at one point we passed a ski area, open and with lots of snowboarders enjoying GW sunshine as they slid!  (No photos -- I did not want to stop).  After enjoying the first half (or more) of the descent, we stopped, drawn by signs advertising a free foot bath ... then buying udon as well.

We continued on, heading down, down, down into Gunma, eventually leaving Route 120 for quieter Gunma Route 62 and a climb back over 1000 meters elevation and down again to Mizunuma and Kiryu, where we hopped the train back to Tokyo.

At Sonohara Dam in Gunma

Spectacular weather and scenery, and a couple of roads and passes not previously traversed! 

Flèche #1

Japanese translation follows English.

Tea fields of Shizuoka -- at our first checkpoint.

This weekend I participated in my first ever "Flèche" (French for "arrow").  This kind of ride is a team variant in the usual Audax-sponsored Brevet or Grand Randonee and a Spring tradition since 1947, which has spread from France to other countries' Audax chapters.

Photo by Kawase-san as we climb in eastern Aichi Prefecture.

Initially I committed to join a team with several riders I know well, two of whom did the Rocky Mountain 1200 last year, and one of whom I see often on Kanto-area brevets.  But as the detailed schedule became clear during the application process, our team fell apart when 2 of 4 members dropped out due to schedule conflicts with the Kyushu rides going on this week.

In the end, I was lucky to be picked up by another team that had a spot left.  The leader, Tanaka-san, christened us "AR Chubu and Friends", or maybe "Friends of AR Chubu".  In any event, the other members -- Messrs. Tanaka, Kawase, Matsumoto and Kozakai -- are all from the Chubu area (near Nagoya) and members of AR Chubu, so I was delighted to join as their friend.  I have ridden a few very memorable AR Chubu events, my first 600km ride, and a very damp 500+ kms of a 1000km ride.  I was signed up and ready to depart for a third Chubu event on March 12, 2011.  But of course that was cancelled, due to the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disasters of March 11, 2011 in Northeast Japan.  (If you happen to look at my blog entry about the 600km ride, please note that the rider with the sandwich protruding from his rear jersey is Tanaka-san).

There were 38 teams in all.  The Flèche essentially is a 24-hour ride that must be completed by teams of not less than 3 nor more than 5 persons.  The team must be together at the start and a few other key points (including the finish).  The team must ride at least 360 kms (223.694 miles) along their chosen route, and in order to ensure that it is really done as a 24-hour event, the team must ride at least 25 kms during the last two hours.  The organizers designate a "nice place" at which the team must submit its Brevet cards and for a post-event celebration, so teams plan a route to finish near the "nice place".  Also, the team must choose a route that follows the shortest distance between each checkpoint (presumably so as to prevent any cheating/shortcuts).  Other than that, a team may select its own course and its own start time, within a window of 24~36 hours.  This year, the Japan sponsor was Audax Kinki, and the "nice place" near the finish was Hanazono Kaikan next to Myoushinji temple in NW Kyoto City.  Below were the routes chosen by the 38 teams in this year's event.

As you may be able to see, teams headed toward Kyoto from as far east as Tokyo, as far west as Higashi Hiroshima, as far North as Jyoetsu in Niigata, and from Shikoku and Wakayama in the South.  Many did looping routes as well.

Tanaka-san (I really should call him "sensei" as it turns out he is a pediatric surgeon, but I would probably not recognize him if he were dressed in medical garb instead of spandex with a bike helmet.) planned our route from Shizuoka Station, past the Shizuoka regional airport and Fukuroi City, then north of Hamamatsu to Tengu, into the mountains and over several passes (the highest at approximately 680 meters), down from the hills into Inuyama City, then a fish-hook route along the Kisogawa around the North and West sides of Nagoya, through a long tunnel and down toward Lake Biwa, across a long bridge, then eventually with a last climb before a triumphant arrival into Kyoto.  The route was 408 kms, with plenty of flat stretches, plenty of hills, some seacoast, river valleys, parks, Japanese urban sprawl and deserted countryside.  It even passed the regular starting points used by the Shizuoka and Chubu Audax groups.  The route looked as if it had just about everything one might wish for, and this was home territory for the other members, so I had confidence that the roads would be well-chosen.

One of several lovely river valleys we climbed, I believe on Route 257/420 somewhere near the border of Shizuoka and Aichi Prefectures.

I have done less riding than usual this past 6 to 8 weeks.  Friends visiting, work, and even some international business travel (a trip to Europe and back last week), have not helped.  One week in mid-April, I drove a car further than at any time in recent memory (500+ kms on Monday alone, more driving on Wednesday and Thursday).   And I ate huge amounts on my trip last week and other recent events.  I have added 3-4 kgs of weight since last year.  The best thing about the added weight is that I can again descend much faster than others.  I just get into a tuck position and ZOOM, I go flying past.  This is especially so compared to Matsumoto-san, who cannot be over 65 kgs, and who rides a mountain bike with thick, semi-knobby tires.  The weight also helps in a stiff headwind or cross wind.  Unfortunately, just about everything else about the extra weight is bad.  I fell behind on the climbs, in particular.  I need to lose it before London-Edinburgh-London (as politely suggested by one of the riders at the post-Fleche party who will join that event).

Worse, I was jet-lagged from the European trip, with my head a bit fuzzy.  This impaired my language skills, making it harder to communicate with my Japanese team members.  Tanaka-san's Japanese was extremely precise and clear, but I could barely understand a word that Matsumoto and Kawase were saying.  Maybe my ears had yet to clear from Friday's return flight?  When I tried to ask Tanaka if we were to continue on the same road "michi-nari", the words came out a meaningless "michi-nami" instead.  Still, I figured, even with jet lag, the ride was only 400 kms.  And if I dropped off, the rest of the team could still finish with the required minimum of 3 members.

A week before the event, we got a note from Kozakai-san that his bicycle had been pretty badly smashed up in an accident and, while he was generally okay, there was no way his bicycle would be ready for the Flèche.   He was clipped by a side view mirror as a car passed him, sending him flying.  Ouch.  So it was only four of us who started out on a beautiful, sunny morning from Shizuoka Station.  Kawase-san had arranged for a "support car" driven by his friend.  Under the Audax rules, a support car cannot offer any assistance outside of the checkpoints.  On the other hand, our route had checkpoints every 40~65 kms, so we had plenty of chances to meet up along the way.  This proved extremely helpful -- especially at the end.

Messrs Kawase, Tanaka and Matsumoto of AR中部の仲間たち

We headed toward the seacoast and turned west, into the WIND.  And what a wind it was.  This was a stiff, Shizuoka west wind like I remember from January 2011 and again in early April 2011.

The "koi nobori" were flying in the wind all day!

The wind slowed our pace dramatically.  We got to the first checkpoint about 15 minutes later than planned.  We worked really, really hard, but were another 15 minutes behind at the second checkpoint, and would fall a further 30 minutes behind our plan when we stopped there for lunch.  And we rode oddly for a team -- I fell behind on the hills, went ahead on the descents (unless I applied my brakes!), and on the flats we could sometimes ride together, but often got separated -- in the wind, I would take a turn in front and sometimes look back to see that a gap had opened.  Or vice versa.

As we approached the second checkpoint, Kawase-san seemed to be suffering, and he decided that he would go ahead directly from the checkpoint so as to get a bit ahead of us, instead of joining Tanaka, Matsumoto and myself for a lunch of ramen and then risk falling behind us.  Matsumoto-san set us into a panic when he seemed to have misplaced his Brevet card -- only to find it a few minutes later.  (No Brevet card, no finish).  And we gave up on the idea of completing the entire 408 km route, remembering that we could complete a Flèche just by getting through the first 360 kms.

At the third checkpoint, around 130 kms, Kawase-san greeted us, emerging from the support car in street clothes.  He had had enough, suffering from ailments described in Japanese I could not quite understand.

Now I was no longer just an "extra" on the team, but was actually needed for the team to complete the event.  Each of the remaining 3 team members needed to finish, within the rules, in order for any of us to complete the Flèche.  We had no margin for mislaid brevet cards, forgotten checkpoint receipts, mechanical problems, stomach upset, or crashes!  At least we managed to make it through the entire event without major mechanical problems or crashes, and managed to recover in time from the forgotten receipts, stomach upset and minor mechanicals.  And Kawase-san appeared from time to time at the side of the road to cheer us on and take photos, so there should be a good photographic record of the daylight portions of the event.

By the time we left the mountainous segments and rolled into Inuyama ("dog mountain") City, Northeast of Nagoya, it was well after midnight.  After an inadequate meal and some brief "head down on table" time at Denny's, we left around 2:30AM.  From Inuyama, we finally made decent time, riding together in a line (mostly) along a bike path and/or access road next to the Kisogawa around the edge of Nagoya.  The Denny's meal got the best of me, and my stomach started to act up.  On the western edge of Nagoya, we tried to rest horizontally on benches in a park -- though I at least started to shiver in the 4AM cold, and none of us managed to sleep.  We were back on the bikes in 15 minutes or so and continued to make decent progress, into Mie Prefecture and to our checkpoint at Inabe City.

310 kms done.  2.5 hours behind schedule, but 360 kms well within reach.

Photo by Kawase-san, in Mie Prefecture early morning

The dawn brought a beautiful morning and then another climb along Route 421, past flowering trees and forests to the mouth of a tunnel.  One member noted before the climb that the tunnel mouth was just under 400 meters elevation.  This was true.  As usual, Tanaka and Matsumoto waited for me at the tunnel entrance.  I tried to lead the group through the tunnel and set a decent pace, but something was not right.  After 21 hours on the bicycle, with jet lag, riding in a tunnel, I felt disoriented.  I knew it should not be that difficult to ride at 22~24 kph through a flat tunnel.  Was my brake shoe rubbing?  Or were my tires getting flat?  No, and no.  ... so it was a relief to finally notice that the altitude indicator on my Garmin device ticking up, meter-by-meter.  Yes, indeed, we were still going up hill!  By the time we emerged at the other end of the 4 km long tunnel (Matsumoto and Tanaka first, me following well behind), we had climbed another 100 meters -- a steady 2.5% inclined plane.

We descended the hill at high speed (me first, then Tanaka and Matsumoto well behind), stopped at exactly 7AM for our 22 hour checkpoint, recording our location at the post office in Mandokoro and obtaining the signature of a local gentleman who had stopped his car to enjoy a morning cigarette.  We continued to roll down the hill until, a little after 8:30 AM, we all confirmed that we had exceeded 360 kms and pulled over for one last rest.  As we rested, we saw another Fleche team of five cyclists go zooming by, and I recognized Tominaga-san as he yelled out a greeting.  At 9AM we entered the nearest convenience store, got one last receipt as proof of passage, and headed for Omi Hachiman Station on the Tokaido Line.  There we were met by the support car with Kawase-san and Kei-san, who managed to take all of our bikes and luggage to Kyoto and the location of the post-ride party.  The 3 riders hopped the train, changed lines at Kyoto Station, walked the short distance from Hanazono Station to the banquet hall, checked in at reception with our cards and receipts, enjoyed a hot spring bath, and went upstairs to the banquet hall for the big party.

At the banquet we were regaled with stories of tailwinds for those arriving from the West, rain and cold for those who came from the North, more suffering in the headwinds for others who, like us, came from the East.  We met the visiting riders from Taiwan, and I was glad to learn that Tominaga-san and Tachikawa-san both will join London-Edinburgh-London.  I certainly closed my eyes for a few minutes during the party, and when mine were open, I noted that Tanaka-san also dozed off.  The other team at our table looked remarkably well-rested.  ...  having started and finished almost a day earlier than us and then enjoyed a good night's sleep.  An interesting idea for next year.  Maybe we should plan a midnight-to-midnight ride, then a good sleep before attending a Noon party?

We made an odd team -- a mountain biker, two "normal" experienced Japanese road cyclists who are 15 years apart in age, and an overweight foreigner who climbs slowly and descents like a rocket (or at least a rock) -- but we made it through the event in good spirits.  And even though we did not train together, we did achieve the goals of the event as promoted by the Audax Club Parisien: "building a strong spirit of camaraderie, striving during 24 hours to achieve a common challenge and finally meeting and socializing with fellow randonneurs from across your country, region or province."

The headwind starts to take its toll.

Seems like it would make a nice annual tradition.

---------------------------------------

Japanese translation kindly prepared by Tanaka-san:

今週末、私は初めてのフレッシュに参加してきました。このライドは通常のAudaxが主催するブルベから派生した、チームで行われるもので、1947年以来春の伝統となっており、フランスから諸外国の支部に広がっています。

当初私はよく知った自転車乗りたち数人のチームに加わる約束をしました。そのうちの二人は昨年のRocky Mountain 1200を走り、一人は関東地区のブルベでよくお会いする方でした。しかし申し込み期間中、詳細なスケジュールが明らかになるにつれ、今週行われる九州ブルベと日程が被るために四人中二人が抜けてわれわれのチームは崩壊してしまいました。

最終的に私はラッキーなことに欠員のある他のチームに拾われました。リーダーの田中さんは、「AR中部と友だち」またはおそらく「AR中部の友だち」と名付けました。いずれにせよ、他のメンバーの田中、川瀬、松本、小酒井さんはいずれも名古屋近郊の中部地区の人でAR中部のメンバーであり、私は彼らの友人として喜んで加えられたのです。私は少しですが非常に記憶に残るAR中部のブルベを走ったことがあります。私の最初の600kmブルベや、1000kmブルベでの失意の500kmです。私は2011年3月12日の3回目の中部ブルベにエントリーし出かけようとしていました。しかしもちろんそれは中止になりました。3月11日に起こった東北での地震／津波／原発の大惨事のためです。

全部で38チームが参加しました。フレッシュの本質は24時間ライドで、チームで走破しなければならず、3人より少なくても5人より多くてもダメです。チームはスタート地点、途中のキーポイント（ゴールを含む）で一緒でなければなりません。チームは最低360km(223.694マイル)を自ら選んだルートに沿って走らなければならず、正に24時間のイベントであることを確かにするために、チームは最後の2時間で最低25km走らなければなりません。主催者は「ナイスプレイス」を設定し、チームはそこでブルベカードを提出し、イベント後のお祝いが行われます。そこで、チームはルートのゴールを「ナイスプレイス」の近くに設定します。またチームはおのおののチェックポイント間を最短距離になるようにルートを設定しなければなりません(おそらくズルや近道を防止するためです)。それ以外にチームは自らのコースと出発時間を24〜36時間の幅をもって選びます。今年の日本の主催者はAudax近畿で、「ナイスプレイス」は京都市の北西の妙心寺（Myoushin-ji）横の花園会館でした。下に今年38チームが取ったルートをお示しします。

見て取れるように、東は東京、西は東広島、北は新潟の上越、南からは四国や和歌山から京都に向かっています。多くのチームがまた円周状のルートを取っています。

田中さん（本当は彼を「先生」と呼ぶべきかもしれません。なぜなら彼が小児科医と分かったから。しかし、彼がバイクヘルメットとスパンデックスの代わりに医者の格好をしていたら、多分彼とは分からないでしょう）は、静岡駅から、静岡空港、袋井市を越え、浜松北部から北上しTengu（?）へ、山岳地帯に入っていくつかの峠（最高で約680m）を越え、下って犬山市に入り、名古屋の北と西を回るように木曽川に沿って釣り針の様に走り、長いトンネルをくぐって琵琶湖に向かって下り、長い橋（琵琶湖大橋）をわたって最後の上りを終えて京都に入るルートを計画しました。ルートの総距離は408kmで、多くの平坦区間、ふんだんな丘区間、少しの海岸線、川沿いの谷間、公園、日本の周辺都市、田舎を含みます。静岡ブルベ・中部ブルベのいつものスタート地点も通ります。このルートは望まれるすべてを揃えたように見えました。そして他のメンバーのホームグラウンドであり、道路はよく練られていると確信していました。

この6〜8週間はいつもより自転車に乗っていませんでした。友人たちが尋ねてきたこと、仕事、海外出張（ヨーロッパから先週帰ってきました）は何の助けにもなっていません。4月の中旬の一週間、これまでの記憶にないぐらい自動車の運転をしました（月曜日は一人で500km以上、水曜日と木曜日にそれ以上）。そして先週の旅行と最近の他のイベントで大量に食事をして、去年から3〜4kg体重が増えました。体重増加で得られた最もいいこととは他の人よりより早く下れるということです。

身をかがめてバキューンと飛ぶように下りていく

。

これは特に松本さんと対照的で、彼はきっと65kgないでしょうし、太いセミブロックのマウンテンバイクに乗っていたので。体重はまた、強烈な向かい風や横風にも有利でした。不幸なことに重量過多は他のことには悪条件でした。特に上りでは私は後塵を拝し（こうじんをはいし）ました。（フレッシュ後の懇親会でLEL参加者の一人から親切にも忠告を受けたように）ロンドン-エジンバラ-ロンドンの前に減量しておく必要があります。

さらに悪いことに、ヨーロッパ出張後で時差ボケで頭が少々ボーッとしていました。そのため私の言葉の能力に支障をきたし、他の日本人とのやり取りをより難しいものとしました。田中さんの日本語は非常に確かで明瞭でしたが、松本さんと川瀬さんがしゃべっている言葉はほとんど理解できませんでした。おそらく金曜日の帰りのフライトの耳の詰まりが取れていなかったのでしょうか?田中さんに同じ道を行けばいいものか「道なりですか」と聞こうとしましたが、口から出たのは「道なみ」という訳のわからない言葉でした。それでも、たとえ時差ボケでも走行距離はたった400kmだ、と考えました。そして例え自分がリタイアしても残りのチームメンバーは必要とされる3人でフィニッシュできるだろうと考えました。

イベントの一週間前、小酒井さんから事故でバイクが大破したという連絡を受けました。体は大丈夫だが、フレッシュまでにバイクを準備する術がないとのことでした。脇を通った車のサイドミラーに当てられ飛ばされました。イテテ。そういうわけで、美しい陽気な朝に静岡駅を出発したのはわれわれのうちのたった4人となりました。川瀬さんが「サポートカー」を友人に運転を頼んで手配してくれていました。オダックスのルールではサポートカーはチェックポイント以外ではいかなる援助も出来ません。一方、われわれのルートには40〜65km毎にチェックポイントが配してありましたので、道中出会う機会は幾多（いくた）となくありました。これにはいかに助けられたか、特に最後に証明されました。

海岸に向かって出発し右折しました。風の中に。何たる風。強風で、2011年1月と再び2011年4月を彷彿とさせる静岡の西風でした。

風はわれわれのペースを劇的に落としました。われわれは最初のチェックポイントに予定より15分遅れて到着しました。本当に本当に一生懸命漕ぎましたが、2つ目のチェックポイントではもうさらに15分の遅れを取っており、 昼食をとるのにそこにとどまればさらに30分予定より遅れることになるでしょう。そして私たちはチームとしておかしな乗り方をしていました。私は上りでは後ろに下がり､下りでは（ブレーキを使わない限り）前に出ます。平坦路では時にはいっしょになって走ることが出来ましたが、しばしば風によって離されました。私が先頭になって振り返ると時として間隔が広がっていました。また､逆も然りでした。

二つ目のチェックポイントに近づきつつあるとき、川瀬さんは調子が悪そうで、田中・松本・私がラーメン屋に昼食をとりに行くのには加わらず、チェックポイントからすぐに出発して少しでも距離をかせぐ決断をしました。そうしてリスクがわれわれに迫っていました。松本さんはわれわれをパニックに陥れました。ブルべカードをなくしたようだと言うのです。ただ数分後には見つかりましたが。（ブルべカードなし＝完走できず。）そして、われわれは408kmの全ルートを完走するという考えを捨てて､360kmを走りさえすればフレッシュを完走できるということを思い出しました。

約130kmの3つめのチェックポイントでは、川瀬さんがサポートカーから私服で現れ私たちを出迎えました。日本語で説明されたのでよくは分かりませんが想像はできる持病に苦しんでおり、彼はいっぱいいっぱいだったのです。私もそうでした。

今や私はもはやチームの「おまけ」ではなくなり、このイベントを成し遂げるためにチームに本当に必要とされる人になりました。ルールで、フレッシュを完走するためにはチームのメンバー3名おのおのが走りきる必要があります。ブルべカードの置き忘れ、チェックポイントでのレシートのもらい損ね、機器の問題、胃のムカムカ、事故は許されなくなったのです。川瀬さんは、あちこちで道路脇から声援を送り写真を撮ってくれました。イベントの昼間区間でのいい映像記録となるでしょう。

山区間をあとにして名古屋の北東に位置する犬山市にわれわれが転がり込んだ頃には完全に真夜中になっていました。デニーズで十分とは言えない食事と束の間の「テーブルに突っ伏した」少しの間を終え午前2時30分頃に出発しました。犬山を出てから、自転車道や木曽川沿いの道路を名古屋の縁を巻くように大体はお互い一列をなして、結局かなり急いで走りました。デニーズの食事は私を打ちのめし、私の胃袋は気持ち悪くなり始めました。名古屋の西の端にきたところで、私たちは公園のベンチで横になって休もうとしました。しかし、少なくとも私は午前4時の寒さに震えだし、誰も睡眠を取れませんでした。私たちは15分かそこらで再びバイクにまたがり前進を続け、三重県に入りいなべ市のチェックポイントにつきました。310km走って2.5時間の遅れですが、360kmは十分手の届くところにきました。

夜が明け、美しい朝となり、それから国道421号を、花咲く木々や森を縫ってトンネルの入り口までもう一上りしました。メンバーの一人が上りだす前にトンネルの入り口は丁度400mちょっと下だと言っていました。これは本当でした。いつものように田中さんと松本さんがトンネルの入り口で待っていました。私はグループを率いてトンネルを通過しペースを作ろうとしましたが、何かうまく行きませんでした。21時間自転車に乗って、時差ボケで、トンネルの走行、私は方向感覚の麻痺を感じました。平らなトンネルを22〜24km/hで行くことはそう難しいことではないはずと思いました。バイクのブレーキシューが擦っているのか?はたまたタイヤがパンクしかかっているのか?いや、いや。結局、わたしのGarminの高度計が1m-1m刻々と増えていっているのに気づいて安心しました。そうです。私たちはまだ登り続けていたのです!4kmの長いトンネルの出口から、松本さんと田中さんが先頭、私が遅れて出るまでに私たちはもう100m、2.5%一定勾配で登っていました。

私が先頭、それから田中さんと松本さんが遅れて山をすごいスピードで下りていき、丁度午前7時に22時間のチェックポイントで停止し、政所の郵便局でわれわれの場所を記載し、早朝のタバコを自動車を停めて楽しんでいた地元の男性にサインをもらいました。わたしたちは午前8時半を少し過ぎたころまで山を下り、私たちは全員360kmを越え自転車を寄せて最後の休憩を取りました。休憩中、他のフレッシュチームの5人が通り去るのが見え、叫んで声をかけてくれた冨永さんを認識しました。午前9時、私たちは近くのコンビニエンスストアに立ち寄り通過の証明となる最後のレシートを取って、東海道線の近江八幡駅に向かいました。そこでサポートカーの川瀬さんと恵（けい）さんに合流し、バイクと荷物を京都の懇親会会場へ運んでもらうようにしました。ライダー3名は電車に乗り込み、京都駅で乗り換えて花園駅から宴会会場まで少し歩き、ブルベカードとレシートを渡して受付でチェックインし、お風呂を楽しんだ後、盛大なパーティーが行われた上の階の宴会場へ行きました。

宴会では、西からのチームは追い風、北からのチームは雨と寒さ、より向かい風で苦しんだのはわれわれのように東からのチームだったと言う話しで盛り上がりました。台湾からのライダーに会い、冨永さんと立川さんがLELに出られることを知ってうれしくなりました。私は確かにパーティー中に数分間目を閉じていましたが、私が目を開けたとき田中さんも眠っていることに気づきました。私たちのテーブルの他のチームは明らかによく休んでいました。スタートとゴールが私たちのほぼ一日前で夜はぐっすり眠れたのです。来年に向けて面白い考えです。恐らくわれわれは真夜中から真夜中の走行を計画すべきです。そして真っ昼間のパーティ参加の前にしっかり寝ておくというのはどうでしょう？

私たちは変わったチームでした。マウンテンバイク乗り、二人の「普通の」経験のある15才歳の離れた日本人ロード乗り、そして体重過多の上りは遅いが下りはロケット（もしくは少なくとも岩）のように下る外人からなるチームです。しかし私たちはすばらしい精神でこのイベントを乗り越えました。そしてたとえわれわれがトレインを組めなかったにせよ、Audax Club Parisienが以下のように発起した通りわれわれはこのイベントにゴールしたのです: 「強い友情の精神を築き、共通の目的を達するために24時間がんばり抜き、最後に国・地域中からの仲間のランドヌールたちとおち会って交流する」

Tanaka-san's blog report on the event can be found here.

Yamabushi/Shomaru ... Half-Fast?

Jerome has been very busy at work, and my work also has spilled into a number of weekends so it was for the first time in many weeks that we headed out together for a ride.  A major rain storm was forecast to start mid/late Saturday afternoon and go into Sunday, so we departed from recent tradition and rode on Saturday.

As we approached the Tamagawa, passing by the massive Tamagawa Rise condominiums south of Futako Tamagawa Station, we saw Ira Stevens and two women, Jan and Fumi, ready to start a ride.  I know Ira from the pool at Kinuta Park, where we met last year when I was training there and swerved into the wrong side of a lane, running directly into him and inspiring some mild invective.  He lives nearby and leads some of the "Half Fast Cycling" rides.  We were joined by two more riders (Chris and Barbara) up the river, and continued with them at a relaxed half-fast pace until they crossed the river to head out the Asagawa toward Hachioji area.

After a farewell photo, Jerome and I picked up the pace, a tailwind helping speed us toward Oume.  We were behind schedule a bit and the weather was threatening, so we bypassed Oume Station/Aurore Bakery and headed straight onto Nariki Kaido from Higashi Oume Station.  The area looked spectacular, with some sakura left and many other flowering trees and plants, the babbling brook at the base of the Tokyo Hill Climb course, and dry pavement, still.

We made better time than expected, and were up to the top of Yamabushi Pass, through the dip and up the short climb to Shomaru Pass.

We stopped at the Pass at "Okumura Chaya" for lunch.  We were the only customers in the place, and so were able to persuade the nice ladies there to step outside for a photo.  The older of the two said "obaasan de moushiwake nai, mo sugu 80 sai", roughly translates as "I apologize for being an old lady, I am nearly 80."  No apologies needed ... but the Japanese language lends itself to these sorts of statements.  Whenever you do not know what to say, best to apologize.

This view, of course, looks out to the East toward Saitama and northern Tokyo.  And that haze in the distance is ... not dust from China, but a line of rain clouds. Of course, it is the same view as once observed by the Showa Emperor and Empress Michiko, on an inspection tour of the realm.

We made it back down the hill and half way through Naguri before the line of showers hit.  Fortunately, the drenching rain lasted only 15-20 minutes, and had ceased when we emerged from the tunnel at Ozawa Pass and headed down the hill to Nariki.  The pavement was dry when we got back to Higashi Oume, but the real storm hit later on, and we slogged the last 80-90 minutes back in the wet.  The main storm brought a warm, humid rain, like the rainy season storms that come from the South in May, so we were not cold.  But the rain kicked up a lot of grime from the road, which seemed to end up all over me.

It was great to return to Chichibu and Yamabushi/Shomaru after far too long an absence, to get in a 150 km ride despite the rain, and to meet some of the Half Fast folks.

March Showers Bring April Flowers

If last weekend's ride was full of positive surprises, this week was the opposite.  Saturday morning  looked like perfect riding weather as I left home -- cloudy, cool and with a tiny hint of precipitation in the air -- just enough to keep one cool, but definitely dry pavement.

It was, however, one of those days when the weather gets worse near the hills west of town.  As I headed west out along the rolling hills of One-kansen-doro, it got damper and damper, the pavement wet.  I wore arm warmers, a decent cap, and even (very thin) full finger gloves.  I slipped on my rain shell, ... but was still chilled and with damp feet by the time I made it out near Machida Kaido west of Aihara.

The roads were very slippery.  Perhaps it is the pollen dust, cherry blossoms or maybe just oil slicks after a few dry days.  In any event, my rear tire was well worn and lacked any tread, even on the sides, and the rear wheel seemed to slip as I braked.  Extreme care was required near any metal surfaces.

I made the short climb up to Shiroyama reservoir/dam area, my rear tire slipping on the steeper parts of the ascent, forcing me to spin lightly, remain in the saddle, and pick a line on parts of the road that looked as if they were the most free of moss, sakura blossoms and other slimy organic material in order to avoid falling.  At the top it looked like this:

My original plan of "riding the rindos" did not seem workable, so I turned around and headed for home.  It was only a 83 km trip, but together with another 25 km round trip into Tokyo for an early evening event, pushed me well over 1000 kms for the month of March, and over 3000 so far for 2013.

Sunday Ride: Happiness is ...

Happiness is ...

... setting out on a morning when the weather forecast is "cloudy" with an increasing chance of rain, and enjoying perfect riding weather, with blue sky in the afternoon.

... heading up Tomin no Mori and Kazahari Pass for the first time after my 50th birthday, having not gotten in decent rides the last few weekends and eaten a huge piece of cheesecake at lunch yesterday, without pushing the pace, and still getting within five minutes of my personal best.

... enjoying piping hot "oyako donburi" at Yakyu-tei cafeteria at the far end of Okutama-ko.

... Yamanashi Route 18 over Tsuru Pass back to Uenohara, with the Steve T. side route around Tawa Pass.

... hopping a train back from Hachioji thereby avoiding the sakura crowds.

It was a great day for a ride, and I was happy to get in one of the Positivo Expresso classic routes.  There were almost no motorcycles on Kazahari and surprisingly few cyclists.  Route 18 over Tsuru was deserted as usual.  The first ride I have done with over 2000 meters climbing in many months.  I would like to put together a string of these in coming weeks.

Sakura out the window on Saturday evening.

Sunday's steed - the Ti Travel Bike, with dynamo hub/light, 32/36 spoke wheels, 2 x 1-liter bottles of water, underseat bag and fastback DLX fenders ... which on this bike work fine with 700x23mm tires but rub with 700x25mm.

Not Weather for Riding

On Saturday the pollen was incredible in Tokyo.  On Sunday the wind kicked up and raised dust clouds throughout Kanto.  I rode to and from Tokyo station for a Sunday morning trip out of town ... but had no desire to go further in these conditions.  Some photos from the train in S. Tochigi/Saitama area are below.

Sunday ride and stop by local bike shop (Cherubim)

Jerome and I took a morning ride today, heading out past Takao over Otarumi and to the area around Lake Tsukui, then back.

Early March -- almost Spring.  The brown looking trees toward the left on the hillside are fir trees heavy with pollen.  The pollen level is VERY high this year, so thick you can taste it.

Jerome had a slow leak in his front tire tube -- he can be seen in the distance where he stopped to pump up the tube.

On our way back into town, we stopped by a local bike shop and Jerome borrowed a tire floor pump.

It just happened to be the Cherubim store in Machida.  Of course, Cherubim is home to the most decorated framebuilder in the world in recent years, Konno-san.  So the bikes on display are all custom, and spectacular.  I think I will need to order a randonneur frame here while I am living in Japan.

I think I saw this one at Cyclemode 4 or 5 years ago.

Classic Cherubim road frame and colors

NAHBS award winner

Old school

Standing on the shoulders of giants

Detail -- NAHBS award winner

wooden rims, retro design, nice high flange hubs

All decked out in chome and leather bags

Ouch