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Today - March 2013

Today - recovering from yesterday's leg-shredding ride with Clay, Jules, Simon, Deej, Chikako, Aron and Naomi-san.
Only 100km but with the golf course, Kobou tunnel and Tomin no Mori climbs included and at the pace we rode, it was a killer :warau:
Uenohara valley was warm but Hinohara valley was chilly. 4 degrees C at the Kazahari rindo junction combined with the windchill of the descent felt like it would strip the flesh from my bones!

It was for me the first ride in over two months during which my bike was injured and the Shimano-medicine just didn't arrive. Happy to be back! And my form wasn't too bad either. After coming weekend I should be back in full swing for regular weekend outings. Hope to ride with many of you soon.
 
Started ramping up my training this week. This morning we did 10 short sprints up to 170BPM then a couple of longer runs. The legs are starting to work again, and it was nice to be out in the spring kit (Lighter gloves, one less layer and only toe covers)

In other news I ordered a power2max power meter yesterday, find out how long delivery will be today, but looking forward to getting some more numbers to examine! ha ha ha! I got longer cranks and am still considering what chain rings to get whether to stay at 53/39 or get a compact. I think I might stay 53 but try and find a 38 tooth lower ring. At the moment I am not quite strong enough to get up the steep grades with a 39/27 with a decent cadence I find myself grinding away, but I am close enough that a 38 may be just enough...
 
feckin power2max will not arrive until golden week. WTF? Think I'll cancel and get the quarq.
 
First ride in bib shorts as opposed to the winter tights or long trousers this year. Yeah! :D

I visited Tim and bought GS Astuto LS jerseys and some bib shorts because my winter gear will be too warm already for the 200 km brevet in Izu on Saturday.

I've been taking it really easy all week as I want to be well rested for the 3159 m of climbing - more than last year's 300 km brevet around Mt Fuji, if AJ NishiTokyo's official route data for both rides is to be trusted. Trying to hydrate and get enough sleep.
 
Knee pain from two weeks ago wont go away.

The first 50km of 60 today wasn't any bother but the pain came in the last 10 and I can still feel it. Strange as I haven't changed my set up in months. I dropped the saddle 0.5cm or so when I got home and will try it out tomorrow.

On the ride today I watched some tool run the red at the Matsudo bridge then attempted to cross only to stop just in time as another smoker buzzed on through a good 5 seconds after the first.
I decided to "pull an Owen" and chase him down with my phone camera out. He graciously stopped at the other end of the bridge behind a lorry and I proceeded to snap away at his number plate while watching him brick himself and flap apologies at me. He was in a company car with the Tostem logo all over it. I told him he worked for a good company and I would be in touch with them.
I am sure he then had a well deserved sh1tty day. Little does he know my dilapidated iPhone no longer boots up the camera quick enough to do jobs like that:eek:.
 
Great ride in to a 23km/h southerly head wind today. Was able to maintain 360watt average without running out of road.

Thats one of the things I love about training with a power meter is that when dealing with things like a head wind you don't over do it and blow up.

Feeling mega strong at the momement and didn't get hit by any of the bugs that were doing the roaunds this winter - sensations are good for March 24th.
 
On the ride today I watched some tool run the red at the Matsudo bridge then attempted to cross only to stop just in time as another smoker buzzed on through a good 5 seconds after the first.
I decided to "pull an Owen" and chase him down with my phone camera out. He graciously stopped at the other end of the bridge behind a lorry and I proceeded to snap away at his number plate while watching him brick himself and flap apologies at me. He was in a company car with the Tostem logo all over it. I told him he worked for a good company and I would be in touch with them.
I am sure he then had a well deserved sh1tty day. Little does he know my dilapidated iPhone no longer boots up the camera quick enough to do jobs like that:eek:.

Utter quality. Everyone needs to do this all the time. People not calling eachother out on sh1t like this is what lead to an entire nation behaving the way they do in their cars. Your camera phone is the greatest weapon you possess, even if you don't actually take any photos with it, and just pretend like you are doing so; I do the same! It works every time. Nice work, my friend.
 
90 min on a bike, an hour or so out with the dog, 40 laps in the pool, and three visits to the sauna.

Beer now in hand...!
 
A healthy 60km today, seems like spring is upon us!

A friend of mine had a rear wheel flat, but what was funny about it was that the wheel tape and the inner tube had merged, and both were pretty well attached to the clincher tire, all because he was using his trainer over the winter! :eek:

If your trainer produces heat like this, do check your rear tire before going out! Cheers!
 
A healthy 60km today, seems like spring is upon us!

A friend of mine had a rear wheel flat, but what was funny about it was that the wheel tape and the inner tube had merged, and both were pretty well attached to the clincher tire, all because he was using his trainer over the winter! :eek:

If your trainer produces heat like this, do check your rear tire before going out! Cheers!

Marios,

I'm not feeling very strong, but over the next week or few, PM me or call if you're going to be riding. Down to 美川 and back, or up river would also be okay.
 
Yesterday I rode 200 km across the mountains of west Izu. I had resolved do at least one century ride (160+ km) every calendar month of this year, some of them organised events, but most personal rides. BRM309 200 km by AJ NishiTokyo was my first official brevet of the year. I completed it in an official time of 12:58, i.e. just over half an hour under the 13 1/2 hour time limit.

The scenery was beautiful and the weather perfect but the course tough. With a highest point of 450 m, I first found it hard to believe that this course should really have more climbing (3159 m) than the 300 km Fuji brevet I did last May (2800 m), but except for the first and last 10% and some short stretches through the towns on the coast, this was a pedal-powered roller coaster! On the smaller roads grades of 8-11 percent were not uncommon.

I loaded the Bike Friday into the Prius the night before (no need to fold the bike or take off the wheels), went to bed at midnight and got up at 4. A little after 6 I got off Tomei expressway at Numazu and drove near Mishima station, where I found a 1000 yen a day car park. One couple dressed like randonneurs was already setting up their bikes in there.

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An hour from home on the expressway it suddenly struck me I had left my reflective vest at home. No vest, no brevet! But it was already too late to turn back. Fortunately the organisers had some stock and sold me one for 1600 yen (I no longer look like a traffic guard at a construction site). To start with I was wearing new bib shorts and new jerseys (two layers for the morning and evening chill). GS Astuto's HauteRoute shorts proved exceptionally comfortable, like wearing your best pair of pajamas at home. I sweated a lot, in fact my cheeks were white with salt afterwards, but the shorts and jersey kept me comfortable. The deep pockets safely stored wallet, camera, keys and some food.

There were 60 riders in two blocks of 30, starting at 7:30 and 8:00. They started us in smaller groups. I was wearing my heart rate belt and wanted to aim for a consistent workout throughout the day, but I worked much harder during the first 50 km than I had intended and less hard later on. When you have some other fast guys to follow (which would save you having to navigate) it is tempting to hang on at whatever cost. We headed through town and along a river to the south. After 20 km the route started climbing, peaking at a tunnel about 450 m above sea level, then down to the coast. We made the first 50 km in 2 1/2 hours, putting me more than half an hour ahead of the pace needed for completing in time, and that is what I also finished with.

I glimpsed Mt Fuji across the bay from near Toi.

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The coastal road went to Matsuzaki through many tunnels and a couple of climbs. After Matsuzaki we climbed the second highest pass on a small mountain road and it was very pretty. Plum trees (ume) were in bloom everywhere.

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PC1 (point de contrôle 1) was at 95 km, almost at the half way point, but there had also been a safety check at the first tunnel (lights!). We were given pastries baked in the shape of bicycle cranks.

From the control point we headed west to the coast, which we mostly stayed on. As mentioned before, the coastal road goes mostly up and down. It only becomes level again at the north west corner of Izu. The top third of the west coast was the hardest part. There were few villages, no shops and it was gradually getting dark. I had somehow expected the second half of the ride to be easier than the first because the maximum elevations were much lower, but it was actually harder. Between Toi and the north coast there were no flat portions in towns between descents and climbs, because there were no towns (or more appropriately, there were no towns there because there was no flat land).

The following was a sign we had to spot and then write down the Kanji characters, as part of a quiz question. As a Kanji-challenged foreigner, I got dispensation to bring back a picture instead:

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Izu used to have a lot of terraced rice fields built into the hills because there wasn't much flat land. Much of these fields now lie fallow or have been turned into sugi tree plantations contributing to the hay fever epidemic in Tokyo.

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Mt Fuji at dusk:

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I completed!

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Having my brevet card checked at the finish:

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Joe--congrats on the ride, and the new vest! Great pics, too.
 
Excellent report and pictures Joe! Well done on finishing another Brevet :)
 
One thing I'd like to know...

You finished the ride, took the 500 back home and plugged it in...

...so for 13 hours on the road, how much charge was left?

(I'm guessing, but 40%?)
 
Nice work, Joe, and great report!

I opted out of a 100km 'recovery' ride today, and instead got my haircut.

I also went into a trance in front of my computer. When I came round, Photoshop was open, with the following blurred image in it. The file was saved as 'Team Kit 2013/2014'. No idea what that could mean, so I will let you know what it is all about when I clean it up...

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My legs were feeling sore this morning. I was lacking sleep and feeling dehydrated even though I drank lots yesterday.

One thing I'd like to know...

You finished the ride, took the 500 back home and plugged it in...

...so for 13 hours on the road, how much charge was left?

(I'm guessing, but 40%?)

I was curious about that too. 21% it was. I had fully charged the Garmin the day before and only started the recording when lined up for the official start. So if that number is to be trusted, I had about another three hours left.

With a quoted battery life of "up to 18" hours, up to 28% should have been left (13/18 = 0.72). However, I used the Garmin not only for GPS logging but also heart rate monitoring and following a course (TCX track from RWGPS). I figure, polling ANT+ devices and tracking a course will draw some extra power.

Some time after we got to the coast I cancelled the course when I saw how low the charge state had already fallen. I resumed the course again somewhere around 20 km to the goal.

As an aside, the Garmin did much better at tracking the course and giving directions than Google Maps on the Android. Yes, the Garmin would often tell me I was off course, only to then immediately correct itself again. But on this course the Android's GPS was just terrible: It jumped by kilometres across the map. I could never rely on where I was relative to a turn off coming up. Not sure why that was. Maybe it was the large number of tunnels that repeatedly caused loss of satellite reception, maybe the amount of time spent out of radio tower range (Softbank!) or a combination thereof. I had the same problem in Nichitsu, where there we also many mountains and tunnels but few radio towers. Whatever it was, the Garmin 500 much more reliably advised me were to turn left or right, though often a few seconds too late. I think in future I will use the Garmin more for following routes and that makes ensuring sufficient battery power an even higher priority.
 
Great ride, Joe! I am attracted to the idea of randonneuring - if only there weren't so many damn rules.
I was curious about that too. 21% it was. I had fully charged the Garmin the day before and only started the recording when lined up for the official start. So if that number is to be trusted, I had about another three hours left.

With a quoted battery life of "up to 18" hours, up to 28% should have been left (13/18 = 0.72).

I think 21% qualifies as "up to 28%". Therefore it's performing exactly as advertised. Nichts?
 
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