What's new

Today February 2021

Today four of us did


(with additional, painful tweaks around 14 to 16 km).

Plus getting to Takao (which I lazily did by train) and getting back from Itsukaichi (which I did by bike). No biggie: one bloke rode his bike from Yokohama, and at the end rode it back to Yokohama.

Well, despite my relatively lazy arrival, I was soon knackered and I stayed knackered.

This is a ride I did numerous times perhaps three or four years ago. Back then I had a full-time job; and, as you may recall, many working stiffs (I was one) had to "go to work". Two to four times a week I'd do this by bike; and my method involved returning as quickly as safety and my feeble muscles allowed. By contrast, now I hardly ride during the week.

Today it was more obvious than ever that these days I need way more practice.
 
Last edited:
Anyone know what the long tunnel on 299 up by Chichibu is like? Does it have a place for bikes, or is it one of those tunnels with heavy traffic and no shoulder?
Screen Shot 2021-02-22 at 14.39.28.png
 
Has a raised foot path that looked quite rideable, but would not be much fun due to traffic. I took note whilst driving through last year since their were a few cyclists on the road and not the path. Didn't look like fun.
 
Has a raised foot path that looked quite rideable, but would not be much fun due to traffic. I took note whilst driving through last year since their were a few cyclists on the road and not the path. Didn't look like fun.
Thanks. (I hate tunnels.)
 
that whole route 299 is horrendous, especially if you're going up the incline (toward Chichibu). just two narrow lanes with little to no shoulder, and tons and tons of large trucks
 
that whole route 299 is horrendous, especially if you're going up the incline (toward Chichibu). just two narrow lanes with little to no shoulder, and tons and tons of large trucks
Agreed. I couldn't understand why so many people were choosing to ride it. Reminded me of all the riders on Route 1 of a weekend...
 
@luka great post on the posterior tilt. Can confirm from years of doing the hot yoga daily that this is exactly what my best teacher(s) would teach in terms of correct ab & hip flexor tension in order to increase stability and control. Contracting your hip muscles and pushing them forward in a thrusting motion. Its essential for doing higher intensity activities like toe stand: https://sites.google.com/site/hotyogacleveland/standing-postures/tiptoe, and its certainly help me transition into more endurance with a stronger core for cycling, despite the beer I love.
 
Laced up my running shoes for the first time in several years.
I went for a jog around the neighborhood. I didn't have a goal in mind except 'don't over do it' and I met that goal.
I was about 5:40/km pace for 3km. My calves are a little sore this mornig, but my knee feels similar to yesterday - so overall the knee handled the run fine.
Since I am not giving full effort on the bike - I needed something different to keep the boredom at bay.
I am pretty sure this will be it. If I can get a base that allows me to run between and 10km comfortably, I will start hitting the local trails.
 
Last edited:
Laced up my running shoes for the first time in several years.
I went for a jog around the neighborhood. I didn't have a goal in mind except 'don't over do it' and I met that goal.
I was about 5:40/km pace for 3km. My calves are a little sore this mornig, but my knee feels similar to yesterday - so overall the knee handled the run fine.
Since I am not giving full effort on the bike - I needed something different to keep the boredom at bay.
I am pretty sure this will be it. If I can get a base that allows me to run between and 10km comofrtably, I will start hitting the local trails.
Are you saying you jog 10 km ?
 
I did not yesterday (only 3km yesterday), but it is the goal for trail running to be worth it.

10 should only be an hour or running at worst - so that is more or less the fitness goal. 1 hour of running.
I think about 4 years ago I was able to jog with a jogging friend for about an hour, but now... I 'm in the process to just jog and stop and jog and stop, these are very short distance jogs too. We sure age fast when we get over 65. It takes time to build up the strength and air power I think.
 
I am 8 years removed from running marathons.
So while it has been some time since I was doing endurance running, it is recent enough to remember how to pace myself and keep things from hurting too much. Thanks to cycling, my lungs are still there, I just need my legs to remember what to do.
 
@luka great post on the posterior tilt. Can confirm from years of doing the hot yoga daily that this is exactly what my best teacher(s) would teach in terms of correct ab & hip flexor tension in order to increase stability and control. Contracting your hip muscles and pushing them forward in a thrusting motion. Its essential for doing higher intensity activities like toe stand: https://sites.google.com/site/hotyogacleveland/standing-postures/tiptoe, and its certainly help me transition into more endurance with a stronger core for cycling, despite the beer I love.
Christ, I tore an ACL just looking at that photo.
Speaking of which, very glad to hear @bloaker's knee held up on a run. I look longingly at runners and wish I could do it, but there's no way I could.
 
Christ, I tore an ACL just looking at that photo.
Speaking of which, very glad to hear @bloaker's knee held up on a run. I look longingly at runners and wish I could do it, but there's no way I could.
My L4 & L5 are crushed from a car wreck in 1997. I was pretty sure any running was ruled out of my life.
I did run track in high school and was a heel striker. Any heel strike today would immediately destroy my back.
I actually ended up with a running coach in late 2000s. I spent tons of time changing my gait and learning to become a midfoot striker.
Once it got that part down... I built up to an 8k slowly to ensure no injury. Once that was done, I ran a marathon on the 1 year anniversary of my first 8k back. Amazingly (to me at least) I was able to get back into the swing of things after almost 10 years of not running.


Of all the things I remember about 're-learning' to run - the one thing that made the most impact - keep your shoulders back. This keeps your center of balance back and you are far less likely to heel strike - and your keep your lungs nice and open to take deeper breaths.
 
Of all the things I remember about 're-learning' to run - the one thing that made the most impact - keep your shoulders back. This keeps your center of balance back and you are far less likely to heel strike - and your keep your lungs nice and open to take deeper breaths.
Good advice.
 
Time to get in shape for my Fleche ride on April 3/4 (assuming the State of Emergency is no longer in force by then as otherwise the ride would get cancelled). As there are no brevets at the moment, our only chance to train for this randonneuring event as a team was a private ride. Our team leader, Mr D. drew up a training ride route and then two shorter versions (small and medium) of 120 and 200 km respectively. Yesterday our 5 person team rode the small route (on Strava):


Here are three of us at the start:

s800.jpg

I left home at 06:30 to be at the start half an hour early. I wasn't sure what to wear, long fleece pants or shorts with long underwear as leg warmers and got changed three times before I left home in the former. About 8 km from the official team ride start I met my team mate Mrs E outside a public toilet in a park. The number of chance meetings on bike rides is amazing :) I was getting changed into shorts as I decided that at 10 C it was mild enough to ride in shorts. I reckoned I would overheat in the warm trousers later in the day.

Everybody arrived by 08:00 and we set off together on time. The route on Onekan and out to Miyagase-ko largely matched the one I had been riding 3 weeks earlier with @microcord and other friends (you can't beat experience). Most of the climbing on the 120 km route was in the first quarter on Onekan, around Aikawa and Miyagase. This is where I had to work hardest to keep up, while the last 3/4 of the route were much easier (I guess drafting doesn't help much on climbs).

We got some nice Fuji views but didn't stop for me to take decent pictures. Near the halfway point we stopped for lunch at a family restaurant. The route back stayed away from big busy roads and didn't have much climbing.

We had one incident where I slowed down because I noticed a car ahead of me was signalling a left turn and this took a team mate two bikes behind me by surprise. He went down after emergency braking and ended up with bruises. He decided to retire from the training ride.

We had been using hand signals to indicate slowdowns or stopping, but that doesn't work well for unexpected stops where you need your hands on the bars. Calling out "Slow!" or "Stopping!" would have worked much better.

When I got close to home I was around 150 km, so I decided to add a quick visit to Shimokitazawa, which brought the total to 162 km and made this another Century ride. By then the temperature had dropped as low as 6 deg C, but I didn't get changed back into trousers.

I feel my legs today, which suggests I worked hard enough for this to be good training. The medium length training ride will be two weeks from now (200 km plus 30 km extra to and from the start). Then it will depend on if the SoE will be extended beyond March 7. If not, I will probably ride a brevet in West Izu on the last March weekend, which will otherwise be cancelled.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom