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Chiba Brevets 2011

Phil

Maximum Pace
Sep 1, 2007
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Chiba Audax schedule is up for those who are interested:

http://aj-chiba.org/

Looks similar to last year. Signed up for the south Boso 200km run (BRM123千葉200km(南房総)). Mostly familiar roads but nice to have an excuse to go to the far south of the peninsula.

Main one I want to do is the BRM723千葉300km(つくば), which looks similar to the 300km last year that I had to skip after the accident. Mostly brand new roads to me.

Audax Japan membership has shot up to 8000 yen this year for some reason (maybe increasing insurance costs?).
 
Thanks for posting this. One of my 2011 goals is to do a brevet (or more than one)
Is is 8000 yen plus registering for each race? How hard is it to beat the broom truck? ;)
I'm not really in as good shape as I would like to start doing brevets, but I think it would be a good experience just as is. I need to confirm my work schedule but will probably see you on the start line at least once this year ( before you sail off into the distance :rolleyes:)
 
Koribeyer:

The 8000 yen is for Audax Japan membership and deadline was December 15, I think. You do not need to be an Audax member to enter the events, but you will find that instead of a very small entry fee (say 1000 yen), you pay slightly more (say 2000 or 2500 yen), and I think you will only get the benefit of the insurance for the specific event.

Sportsentry has one page for Jan-Mar events: http://www.sportsentry.ne.jp/event.php?tid=24543

And a second page for Apr-June: http://www.sportsentry.ne.jp/event.php?tid=24544

You can see the different prices there based on whether or not you are an Audax member.

Some of the Brevets now fill up very quickly -- the more popular January ones are long gone. Watch the Sportsentry info on the date when sign up opens, especially for Chiba or Saitama -- now holding lots of their events on the same days, I'm guessing to accommodate more riders and maybe stop people from signing up for both "just in case" their schedules don't permit them to ride one weekend.

Hope to see you at one of these in the Spring. I'm signed up for the Jan 9, 200km event in Shizuoka -- want to get it out of the way so I can try to add 300, 400 and 600 km rides later this Spring. I like the longer events, since the routes tend to include much more spectacular places, and in my experience the camaraderie with Japanese riders usually builds AFTER the first 200 km.
 
The Utsunomiya group seems well-organized and active, like Saitama and Chiba. I did one of their early season 200km rides last year. David T. of TCC also rode it.

I will try to sign up for either the Chiba or one of the two Saitama 300km rides on Feb 26.

If anyone else is interested, my first choice is the
BRM226千葉300km(九十九里)ナイト -- start at 10PM Saturday night and ride through to Sunday afternoon. Chiba is likely to be a bit warmer than N. Saitama/Tochigi in late February, I have never ridden one of their events, and the night start may limit the numbers a bit, though not much. Plus it gives me a better chance to sleep in Saturday morning and start well rested even if work is busy that week, and I can get there by car reasonably quickly, across the Aqua Line.

Sign up opens on January 7. Why do I think it will fill up immediately?

Then on to the 400km rides ...

http://www.audax-japan.org/BRM-calendar.html
 
If anyone else is interested, my first choice is the
BRM226千葉300km(九十九里)ナイト -- start at 10PM Saturday night and ride through to Sunday afternoon.

I tried and failed to complete this last year when my knee had one of it's periodic failures about 150km in. Absolutely torrential rain the whole night too, but when I staggered back to the start point at 7AM is was beautiful weather... Really wish I could have finished it.

David T. of TCC also rode it.

Have you heard from him recently? Last time I spoke to him he had lined up about a gazillion kms of brevets (including multiple 1000km/1200km rides) in about a 6 month period. Since then, nothing...
 
If anyone else is interested, my first choice is the
BRM226千葉300km(九十九里)ナイト -- start at 10PM Saturday night and ride through to Sunday afternoon.

I'd be very interested in joining this, David. I don't think I've ever started a bike ride at 10PM before so I'm sure this will be good practice for some of the more gruelling 400km/600km events, which I hope to manage eventually later in the year. From what I can fathom with these brevets (it will be my first time) there are a quite a few rules, especially at night (reflective jackets / ankle bands, non-blinking lights, getting stamps, etc, etc) so any advice you can offer would be appreciated. For me, Chiba is a long way to travel to be DNS due to a technicality !

BRM313 Utsunomiya 200 looks interesting and isn't full yet.

Hi Kori, I was thinking this would be a perfect introduction to brevets... and then I see that the entry has been closed out :( It seems the nearest 200km now is the BRM206静岡200km on 6th Feb. Pretty inconvenient and doesn't look to be the most exciting of routes. So I'm wondering if there is any point in doing this one, especially when I can do a great 200km route in Okutama & Yamanashi whenever I want to ! Over to the expert:

David - do you see any merit to doing a 200km brevet ? I'm thinking it might be a (relatively) easy way to do my first brevet, get used to the rules & organisation etc before commiting to a nighttime 300km one. I also read somewhere that you need to complete 200,300,400,600 sequentially to earn the esteemed title of "Super Randonneur" or something. Is it worth it ..?

Thanks!
 
Chiba Brevet

I'd be very interested in joining this, David. I don't think I've ever started a bike ride at 10PM before so I'm sure this will be good practice for some of the more gruelling 400km/600km events, which I hope to manage eventually later in the year. From what I can fathom with these brevets (it will be my first time) there are a quite a few rules, especially at night (reflective jackets / ankle bands, non-blinking lights, getting stamps, etc, etc) so any advice you can offer would be appreciated. For me, Chiba is a long way to travel to be DNS due to a technicality !

Hi Kori, I was thinking this would be a perfect introduction to brevets... and then I see that the entry has been closed out :( It seems the nearest 200km now is the BRM206静岡200km on 6th Feb. Pretty inconvenient and doesn't look to be the most exciting of routes. So I'm wondering if there is any point in doing this one, especially when I can do a great 200km route in Okutama & Yamanashi whenever I want to ! Over to the expert:

David - do you see any merit to doing a 200km brevet ? I'm thinking it might be a (relatively) easy way to do my first brevet, get used to the rules & organisation etc before commiting to a nighttime 300km one. I also read somewhere that you need to complete 200,300,400,600 sequentially to earn the esteemed title of "Super Randonneur" or something. Is it worth it ..?

Thanks!

Steve:
The Audax folks like to have lots of rules, but they don't seem to get in the way too much (other than the "must obey the traffic rules" rule, if you start an event in an urban area with a large group and lots of red lights). If I remember correctly, the requirements are:

(1) reflective vest or similar reflective item visible to both front and rear (can be a sash, or vest, or even my Mavix jersey with the reflective tape built in),
(2) bell,
(3) helmet (of course, but you need to say it, in Japan), and
(4) lights. The light requirement is for both a front and a back light. Also, some of the local Audax groups require a small red rear light on the back of your helmet in addition to a back light on your bike (which is supposed to be on steady, not flashing ... but I have not seen this rule strictly enforced). And for the longer events (400km or more, but also maybe for the 300 km that starts at 10PM, and a very good idea in any event) you need two front-facing lights.
I plan to sign up for the Chiba 300 "Night" ride when entry opens up (I think on Jan 7, via Sportsentry?) and will plan to drive to the start that evening (should be reasonably fast to get there from my house in Kaminoge/Setagaya across Aqua Line) and am happy to give a lift if you are in this part of town and it saves you some time or effort.

I read that the Chubu group had a requirement that you carry spare brake pads on their 1000 km ride -- probably a result of some problem in the past -- but they were certainly not checking this at the start of that ride in October. They did, however, add a quiz in addition to the many checkpoints, with 4 special questions in Japanese, of course -- the first was something like, "as you exit XXXX tunnel at XX.X kilometers what is the large animal painted on the tunnel outer wall?" They said that the quiz questions all involved objects at locations which would prevent a rider from taking a significant short cut between two checkpoints. I think they would have assisted with the Japanese for anyone who was having real difficulties -- maybe accepted a photo instead of a written answer, etc. But that is the only time I came across anything like this. As for the checkpoints, you usually just need to get a receipt at the convenience store that shows you stopped at the right place during the right time window.

As for doing a 200 km Brevet ... not worth the trouble in my view, unless you want to try to qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris 2011, which requires that you ride the series of 200, 300, 400 and 600 km events between January and [May] of 2011 ... but Audax Japan awards spots for PBP based also upon 2010 Brevet mileage, so unless they have slots that go begging, that is not an option. The only reason I did the "super randonneur" series was because I was trying to rack up the 2010 Brevet mileage so I might get a PBP slot.
 
This is not really relevant, but I met a taxi driver at the height of the bounenkai season who had a titanium Litespeed and did Paris-Brest-Paris last time it was on. He seemed like an interesting chap, but unfortunately I didn't really start to talk to him until my journey was virtually over.
 
Steve:
The Audax folks like to have lots of rules, but they don't seem to get in the way too much (other than the "must obey the traffic rules" rule, if you start an event in an urban area with a large group and lots of red lights). If I remember correctly, the requirements are:

(1) reflective vest or similar reflective item visible to both front and rear (can be a sash, or vest, or even my Mavix jersey with the reflective tape built in),
(2) bell,
(3) helmet (of course, but you need to say it, in Japan), and
(4) lights. The light requirement is for both a front and a back light. Also, some of the local Audax groups require a small red rear light on the back of your helmet in addition to a back light on your bike (which is supposed to be on steady, not flashing ... but I have not seen this rule strictly enforced). And for the longer events (400km or more, but also maybe for the 300 km that starts at 10PM, and a very good idea in any event) you need two front-facing lights.
I plan to sign up for the Chiba 300 "Night" ride when entry opens up (I think on Jan 7, via Sportsentry?) and will plan to drive to the start that evening (should be reasonably fast to get there from my house in Kaminoge/Setagaya across Aqua Line) and am happy to give a lift if you are in this part of town and it saves you some time or effort.

Thanks for the tips David. I'd been getting my information from the Randonneurs USA "Rules for Riders" as a basic reference: I guess the bell is a very Japanese local addition.
I think I'll probably give the 200km brevet a miss then, and instead work up to my own 200km+ training rides to get back into shape: and also toughen the "extremities" a bit. My longest single day ride up till now has been the 290km Tokyo-Itoigawa and my rear-end survived surprisingly well. However, that was quite a fast ride (and in the LIGHT!) so I expect I'll be a few more hours in the saddle for the brevet. I wonder, what do you do to make it a bit more bearable ? Do you run standard 23mm tyres or use wider for the these events (and/or lower pressure) ? Looking at some of the photos from the European events I also see a proliferation of Brookes saddles ...

Thanks for the offer of a lift: I live in Asagaya, less than 15km from Kaminoge, but I can also take the Sobu-sen + Uchibo-sen pretty easily to get me to Sodegaura, the start of the event, in less than 2 hours door-to-door. Anyway,in the meantime I have to make sure I apply on Sportsentry first thing Friday morning !

-- Steve
 
Registered for 226Chiba 300km.

This could be a brilliant idea. This could also not...

I mean, I've done 300+km once last summer. And I did two 200+km rides in the middle of touring --as in I was sore and tired from the start;)... so I'm not so worried about the distance as much as getting it done in a reasonable time.:angel:

Who else is in?

Fingers crossed for good weather!
:bike3:
 
Final count?

I think that means

Steve T,
Jerome B/Froggy of Positivo Espresso,
Koribeyer and
dgl2

are the four who signed up for the 2/26 Chiba 300 km event. If anyone else signed up please let us know -- the website indicated Monday morning that sign up is now full, so if you hesitated ... it is now too late.

Koribeyer -- As you say, it might be a very good idea ... or might not, if it is raining hard and cold all night long!

Steve -- I don't run these events with significant differences in my equipment or tire pressure, etc. than a normal weekend ride, except that for the longer ones I bought a large hard clamshell style Topeak underseat bag, and I have now started wearing a very small (Deuter Race) rucksack in the colder weather rather than weighing down bulging rear jersey/jacket pockets, but I still trying to travel light, and I could probably use only the rucksack or the Topeak bag -- no real need for both. These are "unassisted" rides, so you need to carry basic tools/spare tubes, etc.

There are some Brevet riders who carry very heavy (or at least very bulky) packs, full touring panniers, big lamps on their helmets, a cow bell hanging off the rear of their bike, etc., and others who look like they are heading out for a short spin on their stripped down road bike, with only minimal gear for a morning in the sun. The latter are faster.

For a 300 km ride in February, of course, the key will be the weather forecast as the day approaches.
 
Steve -- I don't run these events with significant differences in my equipment or tire pressure, etc. than a normal weekend ride, except that for the longer ones I bought a large hard clamshell style Topeak underseat bag, and I have now started wearing a very small (Deuter Race) rucksack in the colder weather rather than weighing down bulging rear jersey/jacket pockets, but I still trying to travel light, and I could probably use only the rucksack or the Topeak bag -- no real need for both. These are "unassisted" rides, so you need to carry basic tools/spare tubes, etc.

There are some Brevet riders who carry very heavy (or at least very bulky) packs, full touring panniers, big lamps on their helmets, a cow bell hanging off the rear of their bike, etc., and others who look like they are heading out for a short spin on their stripped down road bike, with only minimal gear for a morning in the sun. The latter are faster.

For a 300 km ride in February, of course, the key will be the weather forecast as the day approaches.

Thanks - I can probably get by with my top-peak saddle bag and a small handlebar bag then. I do have a Carradice saddle bag ... but I think I'll save that for the 400k ...

-- Steve
 
I tried and failed to complete this last year when my
knee had one of it's periodic failures about 150km in. Absolutely torrential
rain the whole night too, but when I staggered back to the start point at
7AM is was beautiful weather... Really wish I could have finished it.



Have you heard from him [David aka TrufflesEater] recently? Last time I
spoke to him he had lined up about a gazillion kms of brevets (including
multiple 1000km/1200km rides) in about a 6 month period. Since then,
nothing...


Yo Phil --
How have you been? Huge debt of gratitude owed to you for introducing
me to Boso.

Turning the Cranks Dept.: I came back from 7 weeks in Oregon and
Washington in early July, just after the Cascade 1200 (and a bunch of
other brevets/riding); then a week later headed north to the Hokkaido
1200. (Did Hokkaido mostly to repay others of those pesky debts of
gratitude, not because any insatiable lust for the saddle of a bicycle.)

Now waiting for the desire to ride a brevet to return. Probably want to
ride the next Cascade 1200 in 2012, and the next 1001 Miglia Italia in
2014 [if still alive] and perhaps Sicily Non Stop [an annual 1000km brevet].

Just not yet. To fill the void, I bought a PlayStation 3.

Anytime you want to organize another ride in Boso, however, I'll unpack
my bike and give Madden a rest.

David aka TrufflesEater
 
Hey David! Thanks for checking in, was wondering how all those rides last year went for you. Glad you survived them :D:eek:

Am hoping to do a couple of Boso rides this winter/spring, will let you know when I get myself organized. Be good to see you out here again.
 
Newbie to randonneuring

I am looking to do some brevets. I used to do 160km rides... but fatherhood has taken some of the edge off. I won't be signing up for any 200km until the spring, if I can find some then, as I am not in the shape I used to be. I'd love to join your easier training rides.

These days I am doing about 50km at 25-30km/h, but hey, you can drop me if you need to. I also admit minimal experience with riding in formation.

Hope to hear from you.
 
Sign up for 3/26 Chiba and Saitama 400km Brevets opens 2/1

... just a heads up to anyone who is looking further out and wants to ride the 3/26 Chiba or Saitama 400 km events. Sign up opens on February 1 and these seem to fill up very quickly. There are plenty of other 400 km events to choose from, but these are the first two anywhere near Tokyo.

Looking forward the 2/26 300km night ride. Sorry I cannot join Koribeyer's test run this coming weekend.
 
Chiba 400 km 3/26

I signed up for the Chiba 400 km Brevet on March 26.
Looks like a much easier 400 km (at least much less climbing!) then the Kanagawa ones I have done. Some of it will cover the same roads as the Feb 26 300 km ride, but probably easier (and warmer) than the Saitama one the same day, and my main goal is just good endurance training and the PBP 2011 qualification. Plus a Noon Saturday start (as compared with Saitama's 8AM) means actually a decent sleep Friday night.

There are lots of other, potentially more interesting but more difficult, 400 km choices in April. ...
 
If the route goes through the middle of Boso Hanto, I wouldn't underestimate the climbing involved. Mapmyride doesn't accurately capture all the small ups and downs which add up to quite something.
 
If the route goes through the middle of Boso Hanto, I wouldn't underestimate the climbing involved.

It does, too; I just looked at the map more carefully and it is very hard route. Almost no coast roads at all. First up and over Mt. Kano, then the 88 has two decent climbs. The road inland from the coast at Kamogawa is a steepish 4-5km climb, and is followed by the 465 and 81 that are very up-and-downy, and there's a good bit of climbing on the Uguisu Line just before you reach PC4. Then you have to turn around and do them all again :). Wouldn't be surprised if that route gets well over 3000 m total elevation. We've done Boso rides of 2000 m+ gain at a third of the distance.
 
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