200km Brevet Well - what a day out this was !
I have just loaded the GPS data and here it is :
A total of 212km, with a total climb of 1915m, in a total ride time of 8hrs 26 mins yielding an average speed of 25.2km/h. Total elapsed time, which is what counts in audax, was 10hrs and 58 mins. We set off at 07:26 and arrived home at 18:27.
Other stats were a max gradient of 18.4%, max speed of 70.4 km/h. My average rate of climb was 227m/hr.
The stats do tell the story to some extent but that is not the whole picture of course.
First and foremost - many thanks to Arai-san for posting this event in the first place and then to Phil for further research and logisitics. Gentlemen - this was a wonderful day, tough and exacting but thoroughly enjoyable ! Many congratulations to Arai-san on what we hope was a successful finish over 300kms. Phil and I met Arai-san when he had about 60kms to run and he was looking good. An overnight ride on those roads would be a very different experience and one that I really hope to try someday.
For now, 200km will do nicely - thank you !
The event began for me with an early start around 4am and a flawless train ride out to Chiba, actually Sodegaura. There I met three other competitiors and managed to tag along to the start where Phil was waiting. A little bit of form filling ensued (in romaji too just to keep that international flavour) and then the shaken. Lights, bell (looks naff but there you go...), and some form of reflective vest or similar. Phil and I opted for the minimalist approach, sort of the Brazilian thong of audax, with a nice little over the shoulder number. We passed !!
The speech that preceded the shaken explained the process for the route checks. Basically all three stops were at combini and the receipts should be kept along with the brevet card we had been given after the form filling paraphenalia. These would provide the proof that we had been to the right places at the right time. Clever huh !
In addition, we were solemnly warned, there would be a secret checkpoint at some point and we also had to stop there and have our brevet cards signed.
With the admin done it was time to leave. Phil and I were idly thinking that 9 hours might be a good time to aim for.
At this point and right on cue, it began to rain
We were the last group to depart, there being three groups at 6:30 , 7:00 and 7:30.
As I said to Phil I was not in great condition having had a terrible weekend last week, however, I also felt confident about the distance having tackled Sado earlier in the year, so lets give it a real go
The age range of the entrants was interesting. A lot older, wiry looking guys, a few younger women, and a mixture of keen types in club jerseys. Phil and I initially found the pace to be very slow and we soon found ourselves pushing on and then we picked up a fairly fast group who pulled us well for the first 20km or so. At 25km the first tough climb of the day. Those of you who have ridden Boso know how these climbs work. Long and slowly curving, winding ever upwards with the summit always tantalisingly out of reach.
After this we knew the route would be typically Boso until the 100km mark. Up and down, never quite letting you off the hook. We reached both of the checkpoints without too much trouble. I had loaded the route to the GPS. Once I got used to the idiosyncrasies of the route following needle then I was able to anticipate the turns reasonably well. Later generation GPS with full map display are probably better in this regard, however my eyes are too poor to read without reading glasses !!
Without doubt the cue sheets are definitely necessary and next time I will rely on the GPS for distance travelled and then run off the cue sheets. Next challenge would be to find a little clipboard or similar to mount them. My jury-rigged effort with velcro around the brake cables was not robust enough. So they had to be stuffed in a pocket which made it difficult.
The kms slipped by as Phil and I were able to hammer along at nearly 40km/h along the seaside. There was no headwind at all and in fact the wind did not become a factor all day long which was welcome. We were often passing groups and noticed that the hare and tortoise rule definitely applies. We were stopping a little more often than the official stops and the tortoise groups would grind by only for us to catch them up again on the next section.
Soon we were back climbing again as we headed inland around the 140km mark. Again, typically Boso profiles and once passed the 150km then this becomes more and more exacting. However we continued to go well. I was pleased that there had been no repeat of the serious cramps of the week below.
Then we made one of two slight navi errors for the day. Actually we were doubting our own map reading abilities as well as not quite believing the GPS. It all turned out OK though and we found ourselves on a really obscure little road which climbed relentlessly until - the secret checkpoint !! The organisers were there with their van and awning ready to wave us down. At the stop the brevete card is marked and we knew that, barring real problems, we were going to make it.
Except that these guys had slipped in some really evil short stuff at the 190km mark. They really know how to make you suffer ! This was where we hit the 18% climb - out of the saddle and hanging on for dear life. But we made it.....
Light was now fading and we made our second error. Again these guys had made it challenging until the last. A really hard to find turn over a rindo was easily missed - and we did ! Backtracking and trying hard to reconcile the distance we had travelled according to UPS compared with what we should have run on the map was confusing enough, plus tiredness and the gloom drawing in made it really challenging. Eventually we found the turn - another tough rindo and then another obscure turn that we missed the first time round.
Finally we made the descent, hit the coast and began to hammer. It was really pleasing to have the energy left to do this and soon we were catching little groups as we sped towards the finish.
After a final stop where we told that lights must be in steady mode and not flashing ! Then we drifted to the finish.
I don`t think I could have turned the cranks another turn !!
Checked in and given our times and then the card is finally signed and retained, along with the 1000 yen that we opt to pay to have the medal for the event.
Honestly this was a tough day out and it certainly is harder than it might seem at first sight. Definitely harder than Sado for me at least. The secret to shorter elapsed times has to be less stops. Phil and I stopped for a total of 2 and a half hours which does seem amazing. Not sure I believe but the stats don`t lie I guess. Nine hours over this course would be quite some achievement. It will be interesting to see the times when they are posted on the J-Audax site.
Thoroughly recommended....
chazzer
