Renovo Bikes -- Beautiful hardwood performance frames made in PDX. Exhibition in Tokyo, April 22 to 24

Renovo's John Day -- Longer wheel base and more relaxed geometry.
Appropriate for gravel, chip seal and long rides.  Really long rides.

Renovo Bikes, leading maker of hardwood frame bicycles, will be participating in the "Pop-up Portland in Tokyo 2015" exhibition later this month.  Viewing for the general public is April 22 to 24, 11AM to 7PM (6PM on Friday).  Information including details and location (in Japanese) can be found here:

http://pop-uppdx.com/

The exhibition is at the "Maach eCute Kanda Manseibashi" building, just a few minutes SW from Akihabara Station.  English description of this oddly named but historically interesting event space is here:  http://www.maach-ecute.jp.e.of.hp.transer.com/  (see the "about" tab for a brief history of the site).

(Pop up PDX includes, among others, a cycling accessory vendor -- Portland Design Works.  And Portland-based Keen footwear, whose line of course includes cycling sandals and shoes -- compatible with SPD cleats.)

When I hear about a bicycle made of wood, my first reaction is "novelty bike"!  Something like this:

No.

Renovo bikes are real performance machines, with traditional bike geometries and generally standard components.  A Renovo time trial machine has been ridden at the last few Ironman triathlon world championships.

Wood just happens to be an ideal material for a bike frame.  As the Renovo website notes:

• Wood is not susceptible to crack propagation from dents like the metals, nor is it notch-sensitive or damage-concealing like carbon.
• The Renovo wood frame has much greater tolerance than other frame materials.
• Although tough, if damaged, Renovo frames are usually easily and inexpensively repaired
• Wood is as stiff pound for pound as the metals, even as it excels at absorbing vibration.
• The fatigue life of wood exceeds steel or aluminum, and approaches carbon.
• Wood is sustainable, while the metals and carbon are not. Worse, the production processes of the metals (especially titanium) and carbon are heavily polluting. 

Renovo has a serious factory/showroom which you can see on this video: https://vimeo.com/50382904 .  See more on the Renovo site:  renovobikes.com .

(Renovo's factory is located less than a mile from my mom's house in Southeast Portland ... almost as close as that other world-famous workshop -- Vanilla Cycles/Speedwagen)  Chris King/Cielo remain a bit further away (only a short bicycle ride) in Northwest Portland.)

And wood, of course, can be beautiful, and can last for hundreds of years.

Some photos of the bikes:

Renovo Pursuit - the main road bike model.  And Rolf Prima wheels -- another Oregon product.

Riding into the Mist and up Kazahari Rindo with the Tominator

At Kazahari Pass, Elev 1137 meters.  Via the nasty rindo approach.
Jerome was on a 200k brevet today, so missed the mountaintop ceremony this time.

Today I rode with Positivo Espresso member Tom S.  I do not ride with Tom very often.  Why? He is too strong!

There was that time in 2008 when we were on the Positivo Espresso inaugural team for Tokyo-Itoigawa.  We started together in a nice paceline.  My adrenaline was pumping so I pulled the team the first kilometer or two -- starting up the hill from Takao on Route 20, Koshu Kaido, toward Otarumi Pass.  Then Tom went past and zoomed ahead up the hill.  MOB, Juliane, David J. and I could not follow.  The four of us continued to work together the next 12+ hours.  The next time we saw Tom was when we arrived at Itoigawa.  We were exhausted.  He had arrived hours earlier, showered/bathed, changed, and was well into a meal and enjoying a beer looking rather relaxed.

When I do ride with Tom, I like to do it on Sunday, since he will have ridden 250 kms on Saturday and is softened up a bit so I can try to keep up during his Sunday warmdown.  Maybe his Saturday trip will have involved multiple passes in Chichibu and Gunma, like this.  Or maybe it was a one day (daylight) trip out Doshi Michi to Yamanakako, a quick trip AROUND Mt. Fuji, then home again for dinner.  A fast 275 kms, like this, a week ago.  He is in a different league. Naomi W., herself holder of most of QOM (Queen of the Mountain) badges on Strava in the hills around Tokyo, recently called him the "Tominator".  Perfect.

And of course, Tom is Belgian.  Like Eddie Merckx, greatest cyclist of his era, and likely of all time.  Eddy the Cannibal.  To race against him was to feel yourself pounded into submission, near death, like being eaten alive.  (Today Tom was even wearing a "Molteni" wool jersey, from Merckx's team.  Tom the Tominator.)

Liege-Bastogne-Liege 1980 -- snow!

The Belgians excel at cycling in tough conditions -- cold and rain, mud.  This time of year, it is Spring Classic season.  Lots of cold, rain and mud.  And grueling cycle races.  The Tour of Flanders.  Liege-Bastogne-Liege.  Gent Wevelgem, Paris Roubaix ... and on.  All those, except Paris Roubaix, in Belgium. And Roubaix is just over the border -- Northeast of Lille, France, in an area where France bulges into Belgium.  If the border with Belgium were straight, Roubaix would be in Belgium, not France!

So I was a bit worried this morning.  Not only was it Saturday (well-rested Tom), but we were going to climb the Kazahari Rindo past the Kinoko Center and to Kazahari Pass.  The climb takes you from 500 to 1137 meters, and many sections are 15-20 degrees or even steeper.
Is there any other bigger, badder hill so close to Tokyo? Not that I know of. If you can do this hill twice, you have done the Passo di Mortirolo, considered by many the toughest climb in road cycling in Italy, in Europe .. in the world even. Kazahari Rindo really should be included in the road cycling stage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics .. it is, after all, in Tokyo.  DO NOT try this road without your climbing gear.

Last Monday I had ridden up to the base of the climb.  A few cyclist friends commented on the blog or Facebook "so you went to the Kinoko Center?" ....  A harmless question, but it stung me.  Ouch.   Errr, actually no, I did not climb to the Kinoko Center.  I turned around before the steep climb.  My ears were turning red as I saw the comments on my computer screen.  Tom offered to ride the "Full Monty" (in this case meaning "the full mountain") with me, and I leaped at the chance to recover my honor.

Today was Spring Classic weather -- dry in the city, but no longer once we neared the mountains and started to climb along the Akigawa; the mist started and the road surface was wet.  The mist continued all through the mountain segment of our ride, and at Kazahari Pass, Elevation 1137, it was about 5 degrees and very damp.  My bike was a mess by the end of the ride.

Spring classic road grit

More gunk

My rear Gokiso hub -- maybe time to clean the inside and put my maintenance training to use ...

Anyway, we met at Koremasa Bridge around 715AM. Tom had brought a Fizik Arione saddle he does not use and had offered to give me following my recent diatribe about the decline of the Arione in its newer, fancier iterations.

Tom was riding one of his steel Panasonic bikes (via C Speed) -- this one with 700x28 tires and lots of mud clearance.

Thanks for the saddle, Tom!  One of the good, old Ariones, and like new condition.

I arrive after Tom at the end of the Akigawa climb ... bottom of the Kazahari Rindo section!

Where we came from and where we are going -- does not look so steep does it?
We just climbed a 10% grade.  The steep section starts just around the next few bends.
The road turns up gradually to around 20%, even steeper in places.

Only 1.5kms to the Kinoko Center.  But over 200 meters up.

We were passed by one little local "kei" truck as we took these photos before the big climb, ... but did not see any cars otherwise the entire way to the top. We quickly entered the clouds.  ... I was tempted to stop and take a photo of the dramatic plunging hillside and clouds below.  But did not.  The #1 rule for this climb is NO FOOT TOUCHES THE GROUND.  It is very hard to start again, and motivation goes entirely if one touches the earth.

Of course, Tom went ahead, and waited at the top.  It was only around 5-6 degrees C, and misting, at the top.  We put on our warm gear, posed for a victory photo and started the long descent down the main road past Tomin No Mori and back to Itsukaichi.

I arrive at the top!

Accurately conveys how I felt!

Tom forgot to switch on his Garmin recording, so I am not sure how much faster he was than me. When I uploaded my GPS data to Strava, I learned that Strava shows me as the "King of the Mountain" for 2015 so far on Kazahari Rindo, despite our rest before the climb.  Great ... but ridiculous. ... This is why they really need to change the feature so that instead of just rides since January 1 (only 2 or 3 showing who have done this entire Strava segment) it shows the past 12 months.

This is the kind of ride I need to do to be ready for another attempt at an SR600 in late May or June, and for Europe in late July.  Thank you, Tom!  Let's ride again soon.  Next time if the weather is better let's add a second, or third pass.

Equilibrium Cycle Works -- A Latvian Framebuilder in Tokyo

I always thought if I were ever to get a custom built frame in Japan, it would be a Cherubim from Konno-san out in Machida.  After all, he carries on the 3rensho tradition of his father.  He wins all those prizes at NAHBS.  And he makes beautiful bikes, including ones I actually see being ridden on brevets, especially the Nishi Tokyo brevets that start in his shop's side yard.

Or maybe I would try to get a Nagasawa track bike, the quintessential Japanese experience.  If Uma Thurman needed to get a "Hattori Hanzo" sword in Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, then wouldn't the equivalent be a foreigner getting a Japanese keirin track frame straight from a great master craftsman?  I imagined needing to beg Nagasawa-san to make me a frame, conducting painful training rituals in order to demonstrate that I was worthy ... or at least needing to keep my good humor through a full night of drinking, repeatedly filling his glass as he chain smoked away.

But then I started hearing about another framebuilder in town.  Awhile back, I saw Gunnar riding up the hill on Komazawa Dori on a beautiful new modern steel bike.  He mentioned that his friend, Vlad, had made it for him.  And that he was getting another, cyclocross bike from the same builder.  Then Hiroshi also started to talk about this builder.  An Equilibrium Cycles frame showed up in Hiroshi's display wall at C Speed, and I would hear of Vlad stopping by for some events, including bike fitting sessions.

I found Equilibrium Cycle Works' website and its copious Flickr photo collection.  A feast for the eyes.  Beautiful metal, beautiful paint, obviously built (and photographed) by someone who appreciates clean, crisp lines, simplicity and, dare I say it, traditional Japanese aesthetic values. Beautiful lugs. Beautiful fillet brazing. Beautiful shiny metal.  Beautiful paint.

So I was pleasantly surprised to actually meet Vlad when I stopped by C Speed earlier in the week.

Maybe to get to just the right equilibrium in cycling, or in life, it takes a high-end, light-weight, lively steel frame?  Maybe there is one in your future?  Or in mine?

You can read a bit of Vlad's story here on the Velocipede Salon forum.  At least he had a true "sensei", a mentor and teacher.

More here.  And you can find reports online -- good reviews from the most recent Tokyo handmade bike show.

Too Nice A Day Not to Ride -- Kita Akigawa Spin

Today was a beautiful Monday, perfect riding weather and the sakura blossoming all around the Tokyo area.  So I headed out of the house and turned left, heading toward then upriver.

Just after passing the first traffic signal, Kanpachi Dori, I saw Tominaga-san, heading in to work. I said his name and he did a double take, recognizing me for the first time and looking a bit surprised that I was heading west, then was gone.



I stopped just past the Odakyu Line to take some photos of the sakura.  And again just after crossing the Tamagawa on Route 16.

I had to remind myself repeatedly not to stop more times -- already plenty of photos of sakura on the internet.

I was thinking of climbing to Tomin no Mori, but in the end opted for a shorter, easier trip up the North Akigawa.  A beautiful river valley, almost no traffic.  Around 130 kms for the day, so a decent workout, though not very scientific training.

Bike leaning -- Canyon Shark and Gokisos!

I went as far as the bottom of the climb to the mushroom research center (キノコセンター).

"Only" 3.9 kms to the Kinoko Center -- straight up!

At my turn around.

Disposable Bikes -- Being Disposed of

A recent post started a brief conversation about the disposable nature of the bikes most people are riding in Tokyo.  These "mamachari" and kids equivalents, cost only 10-20,000 yen, so if they get old or rusty, much easier to replace them than to repair or maintain them.

Mamachari pricing

Today, as I passed through Tachikawa, I went by a Cycle Base Asahi store just as a truck was loading up junky traded-in bicycles.  I asked the driver ... dragging bike carcasses out from behind the shop, how many weeks worth of bikes is this?  Answer:  One week.  Typically 50 bikes a week disposed of, at this one shop.

Truck hauling away the trade-ins.

Disposable bikes, stacked high

No More マムシ注意 (Viper Warning) On the Tamagawa

Regular riders up and down the Tamagawa cycling path will remember a small wild area, just south of Route 16 in Akishima-shi.

You can see it here on Google Street View (until Google's next update), looking south from the Route 16 bridge over the Tamagawa.  We usually go around this narrow, twisting and rough (unpaved) section of the path, instead taking the the street a bit farther from the river, here.  But every so often we would take the path.

The most memorable features were the wooden signs, about knee high, at the edge of the path a few places saying マムシ注意 or "watch out for vipers".  The mamushi is a small but highly poisonous Japanese viper.

I have never seen one in the wild, and do not particularly want to!  The warning was doubtless enough to keep most disaffected youth from wandering through the tall grasses toward the river. 

Well, no longer.  The entire area has now been "beautified" and made easily passable!  The path no longer curves.  No longer any high grass for mamushi ... or any other animals of note.  And a much fortified dike to prevent flooding the adjacent areas, whether necessary or not.  Public works!

"Beautifully" straight and barren. No worries about mamushi.

Bicycle for Yoshihara-san

One of my friends recently mentioned he would be interested in getting a road bicycle.  He is on a limited budget, given family and other hobby commitments ... so after a few false starts we ended up deciding to try to find something used that would still be a good starting point.  I happened to find a frame in his size via the TCC classified ... which was offered by the owner in a full-bike alternative.  A great deal, in my view -- a Pinarello Marvel frame, around 10 years old but without much apparent wear, and built up with a mix of Campy 10-speed components, including many new or nearly new components.  Also Rolf Prima Elan wheelset.  55,000 yen (around US$450).

It came in two boxes from west Japan, so I got to do the assembly.  I was very glad to have the workstand I got for Christmas!

Before

After

One problem -- the seat tube is a bit long for him, so I lowered the seatpost further down.  The post was a very long (35cm? longer?) carbon model, and hit the inside of the bottle cage boss before going as far as I wanted to set it into the tube.  I tried to swap it for one of my spare posts ... but different diameters.  What to do?  I quickly got out my hacksaw and fork steerer cutting block, and cut 2-3 cms off the post.  Problem solved.

I also added some of the new Shimano Click'R clipless pedals -- which take much less force than traditional SPD in order to disengage.  Good for someone to learn how to use clipless.  Then it was off to a nearby shop to help him choose cycling wear and accessories, to use up of some of the money saved from getting a used bike ... and he is good to go.

Happy bike leaning in front of blossoming Sakura tree.

Bicycle Abuse and Abandonment

Yes, a serious social problem.  It happens even in the "nicest" of middle class neighborhoods.

I passed this awful scene last week when taking our dog for a walk in a perfectly nice area of Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.  

Yes, kids need guidance from parents to properly care for bicycles (just like pets).  Or else you end up with a scene like this, out of some horror flick.

This kid's bike was left abandoned, the chain rusted enough so it could probably be pulled apart with one's arms.  Not even a decent burial.  Now just a hunk of exposed metal, plastic and rubber polluting the environment. What did the bicycle do to deserve this? 

Attack Nikko! Attack Beef Line (feebly, not beefly)! Saitama BRM321 400km. And 2015 Race for the HAM'R

As planned, Jerome and I rode the 400 km Saitama Audax "Attack Nikko and Beef" event this Saturday (into Sunday early morning).

The Ti Travel bike with Doppelganger cover.
Not designed as a "rinko" but for storing a bike inside a house/apartment without getting grease on other items.
But great to take the bike on an uncrowded train without removing the wheels.  Do not try in rush hour.

Yes, 400 kilometers is a long ride.   Depending on the terrain and the conditions, it is a distance that lies, for most of us, near the outer edge of the "just gut it out" and "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" range and ahead of the range where "you really need to think this through and plan a bit if you want to finish in a decent time and avoid injury."  So the perfect distance for me to ride together with Jerome.

Indeed, 400kms is longer than Steve Abraham (UK) or Kurt Searvogel (US) rides in a day, as they both this year try to break the 1939 Tommy Godwin Highest Annual Mileage Record (the "HAM'R"). Of course, they ride between 300 and 400 kms EACH DAY, EVERY DAY, and will need to keep it up the entire year if either hopes to take the HAM'R.  You can track them here at the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association's HAMR page or the related Strava Club.  

At first, I was hoping Steve Abraham would win, as he was riding in the cold and wet of the English winter, while Kurt Searvogel was clocking 20-30 kms more each day riding in Florida.  Yes, flat and warm Florida.  Do those miles even count?  And then again there was Kurt's photo on his Strava page -- sleeveless jersey reeks of triathlon and time trial.  Perhaps he is using aero bars?  No, even worse, he is using (at least some of the time) a recumbent.  Does that even count?  Did Tommy Godwin get to use aero bars or rest his back riding a recumbent back in 1939?

But then I noticed that Searvogel has shifted his rides to Louisiana, Alabama, his home Arkansas and elsewhere.  These are the most dangerous roads in the U.S. for a cyclist -- most cyclist traffic deaths per mile.  And he will be giving anyone who pays attention a show, as he shifts around a good part of rural America.  And I read a bit more about him, and saw that yes, Kurt is a real endurance cyclist, doing RAAM and other events before a minor dalliance with triathlon.  Recumbent -- perfectly legal for ultra marathon events and extremely clever for this kind of effort -- rest your back and use different muscles on your recumbent days, switch back to the road bike for days with more climbing. And I noticed the age of the two riders -- Kurt (52) and Steve (41).  Advantage Kurt.  Steve can always try again in 11 years, when he is 52, to get a "fair" match.  Then one day Kurt lost his ride data because of a technical glitch.  Ouch.  Been there, and feel his pain.

Also, Kurt started his ride 9 days after Steve, so Kurt will always know exactly how far he needs to ride to beat Steve for the record.  Clever.  Yankee clever.  Kurt obviously thought this one through and intends to win, absent health issues. And after seeing crazy Slovenians, Austrians and other Europeans take RAAM too many years in a row, and the Brits win a truck full of track cycling medals at recent Olympics, it is great to see an American competing at this level in an ultra endurance cycling event.  So I am declaring in favor of Kurt.

Of course Steve's fans are upset.  Lots of trash talk on the web.  It is never fun to get steamrolled by a super-power.  Not fun, not amusing, no sense of humor (except maybe an attempt at an over-bearing one).  I get it.  But Kurt is not some rich hedge fund manager who buys the best equipment, coaching and medical assistance and wins the race with money prevailing over grit.  No.  He is an everyman.  If he can do it, you or I could do it.  He has an offer to let people ride with him for a day.  If you can hang with him, the ride is free.  If you cannot keep up, you pay $200 for the privilege, and he gets a nicer motel room and gets to order the steak for dinner.
[UPDATE:  Within a week after writing this, Steve Abraham suffered a crash after a moped collided with his bicycle.  He suffered a broken ankle that will require surgery and pins/plates for full recovery.  Sadly, Steve's 2015 effort has ended, and what could have become a great duel ends prematurely.  And Kurt's trek gets a bit lonelier.]

Where was I.  Yes, the 400 km Brevet.  My colleague T. Aiko and his son live near the start and so stopped by to wish us off.  As some of the riders started out, I narrated for Aiko-san "there goes Kondo-san ... he often wins the Tokyo-Itoigawa Fast-Run and gets the fastest brevet times in Japan."  I asked Kondo-san if he was going to win Tokyo-Itoigawa this year.  He said, "what are you talking about, no way this "ji-ji" (grandpa) can do it!"  Anyway, he can still finish a 600km Brevet in 24-30 hours, to my 36.  

And there goes Tominaga-san. I told Aiko-san:  "He commutes every day passing by my house on his 50 km daily round trip from Koganei to Marunouchi and back).  He must ride 20,000 km or more each year.  I know those are two riders with whom I cannot keep up!"

Jerome and I pose at the start.  

One of the woman Audax riders we regularly see-who arrived on the same train today- has some fun with our photo.

Pre-start briefing

Jerome and I mounted up and headed out.  A few minutes later, we came to a red light and waited ... catching some riders in front of us. ... Kondo-san, Tominaga-san and one other Saitama veteran with a chiseled face and a fast bike were there, and O-Hori-san.  We managed to stay with them the first 16 kms, the red lights giving us a chance to catch up and catch our breath.  Then I lost them on one light, and Jerome waited for me at the next.  Eventually, we formed a group of three with O-Hori-san and rode together until Jerome and I took a break at around the 78km mark.

The last Brevet for Jerome's Positivo Espresso special "shingo mushi kyoka" bib shorts.  Time for new club kit!
Fortunately, I had some safety pins that patched the growing hole, as I really did not want to ride behind this view for 400 kms.

I will not give a blow-by-blow on this semi-epic ride.  Just a few points to mention:

1.  The route out through North Saitama and central Tochigi, around the west side of Kanuma/Utsunomiya, is a masterpiece.  This could be a very ugly stretch, but somehow Saitama Audax has found back roads that make it tolerable, even pleasant.  The one monotonous stretch -- 20 kms or more straight on an agricultural road -- seemed much shorter than when I did it back in 2010. Kudos to Saitama Audax.  I do remember seeing a number of Mihara Junko posters on this stretch, a popular LDP upper house member who wants to revive use of one of the few political phrases banned from discourse by the US occupation in post-war Japan -- either does not know her history, or more likely does not care about offending the neighboring countries.

Typical South Tochigi scenery, from 7-11 parking lot

2.  Tochigi Route 14 south of Nikko - the Kobugahara Kaido - is a very nice road, highly recommended for cycling.  The course follows a river (the Oashigawa 大芦川) up a very gradual valley.  The road has almost no traffic, and the river water is clear and deep blue.  I wanted to stop for a picnic.  But no time to lose.  Eventually, the road leaves the river and climbs through woods over a ridge to the north, and descends to the area around Okorogawa (小来川) and Enkoji (円光寺).  This is where I remember hearing the dull ringing of temple bells on a misty morning in 2010, and thinking it must be a sacred place.

On Tochigi Route 14 -- Kobugahara Kaido 

More Route 14. Light through clouds.

And more Route 14

3. I had checked the weather forecast very carefully before this ride, mostly in fear of cold rain.  Cold is fine.  Rain is fine.  The combination can be very tough to beat during one of these events.  Once the body and your gear get both cold AND wet, you will not warm up easily.  So I was happy to see the night before the ride that we would very likely have no rain.  And even the temperatures looked perfect -- in the 10-15 degree C range in daytime, and dipping into the 0-5 degree range a night.  But the coldest night temperatures (~0 C) were in Nikko and Nasushiobara, which we would pass in late afternoon or early evening.  Then we would go through Otawara, on into Ibaraki and through hilly but more coastal areas.  Kasuma and Tsuchiura low temps looked a bit warmer, and if we rode according to plan we would be into the flat area around Tsukuba, warmer yet, then Noda and Kasukabe, in the coldest period around 4-6AM.  Wrong.

At Nikko Western Village--a "public private third sector" project that quickly closed its doors.  Unfortunately, from this angle the Presidents' faces are not visible on the replica of Mt. Rushmore (made of asbestos!) in the distance. 

Starting the gradual climb to Nasu Shiobara checkpoint ... nearing dusk.
No hint of red/pink color in the sky ... made me wish for the pale pink skies of Yatsugatake at dusk.

I remember seeing these flags 2 1/2 years ago in Shioya and Yaita, Tochigi.  Basically "don't turn our city into a nuclear waste dump!"  "Firmly opposed!"  Jerome confirmed that the flag is firmly planted and will not easily be removed.  The flags are still there. And now there are lots of wooden nicely painted, semi-permanent signs as well to the same effect.

We emerged from a quick, cheap dinner at a Nasu Shiobara "Gusto" restaurant around 7PM. One other rider had eaten there as well and left the restaurant 15 minutes ahead.  I was surprised to see him outside still.  He was now covered head to toe, thick shoe covers, face mask, jacket etc. and was talking about how cold it was, and would be.  I shrugged it off -- this is Nasu, once we get down in the valley we will be fine.  No, it stayed cold.  Really cold.  And got colder.  I put on all the gear I had brought, and was still cold.  Then my stomach started to act up.  And I got really really tired. Never do one of these rides without getting LOTS of sleep, EXTRA sleep the 2-3 previous nights. Do not try to skimp on sleep.

Enjoying my dinner at Gusto!

We did get a second wind after dinner and passed many riders who had lapped us as we dined.  But then it was a long hard, dark, cold slog over the hills of north Ibaraki to Hitachi Omiya.

4. My stomach was churning, I was sleepy, cold, and no power.  I think I should have avoided the Orangina at Nikko, and/or the orange juice at Gusto.  Jerome patiently waited for me ... many times. At the rest stops he said my face seemed to have lost all its color.  If this had not been a brevet, I would have just found someplace warm, anyplace warm, and pulled off to sleep ... even hopped a train home.  But this was a brevet, and a PBP qualifier, and we had lots of time before we would risk a DNF ... so instead I went on.

The hills on the last half are not high, but they add up.

I must have set a record slow pace along the "Beef Line", an agricultural road of constant ups and downs through the COLD hills of western Ibaraki. Why is it the "beef line"?  Well, at the northern entrance an odor of animal manure suggests that there really are cattle nearby.  Many riders passed me on the Beef Line.  Jerome could have easily done this course in 20 hours without me.  He is (again? as usual?) much stronger than I am.  Perhaps I could have done it in 20-21 if I had not suffered from this particular combination of stomach, sleep and cold issues?

At the Tsuchiura check point, after the coldest section had ended and we were back at the flatlands, I finally broke down and bought a 300 yen pair of gloves at the convenience store, to squeeze as a liner inside my real gloves.  All of a sudden my hands were warm.  Why didn't I do this 5 hours and 2 PC's earlier?  My brain must not have been functioning at 100%.  Indeed.

Anyway, my stomach and body recovered some by first light, and the last 75 kms at least were covered at a reasonable pace, to get to the finish in just under 24 hours.  A group of four, including Kondo-san and Tominaga-san, finished in under 17 hours.  Based on his Strava page, Tominaga-san also rode to and from his home, making the entire effort almost 500 kms.  Of course, since he finished in the middle of the night, he did not have an option to ride the train--one of the downsides of riding these courses too fast!

On the Hibiya Line -- we took it from Shin Koshigaya to the terminus at Nakameguro.
No worries about sleeping through our stop.

Home, a hot bath, then sleep.  Sleep all Sunday afternoon.  An hour or two up and about.  Then sleep Sunday evening and Sunday night through to Monday morning.  Actually, sleep on the Hibiya Line even before getting home.  Over 12 hours total, deep sleep.  And I feel great.  Yes, my muscles ache a bit.  But my body is relaxed and mind is clear.  The muscle aches are temporary, and just evidence the breaking down of muscle tissue that leads to regrowth.  In a week or two I will end up stronger.  On the road to PBP.

[UPDATE:  The results are out from Saitama Audax.  Approximately 90 riders, only 5 of whom failed to finish.  56 faster than me (not counting Jerome ... who could have done this many hours faster had he not waited).  29 slower than me.  The fact that only 5 out of 90 riders DNF'ed confirms this is not at all a hard 400 km ride, and it was only my errors in preparation and food/drink that pushed us toward the back of the pack.]