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Giro de Hotaka 2012

AlanW

Maximum Pace
Jan 30, 2007
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Back again to Hotaka for my fourth go at this race, which has become something of a tradition amongst TCC. For 2012, the usual format was changed. The hillclimb was moved to another weekend earlier in the season, and the Giro was held on Saturday instead of Sunday. I think this is a bit of a shame, especially for people coming from far away. It was nice to be able to do both events in prior years, and the hillclimb was so short and sharp, it really didn't cause any big fatigue the next day. Hopefully next year the organisers will return to the two day event.
As last year, Naomi-san and I drove up on Friday to register and to have a look at the course (by car). Earlier in the week, the weather forecast was showing great weather and I was looking forward to doing the race in decent weather, after last years rain-fest and the bone-numbing cold of the year before. But it was not to be, and by Friday afternoon a snow storm had settled on Hotaka (all the surrounding areas were fine :eek:). As we drove the course, towards Konroku-toge, snow was building up on the road surface, and the top 5 or 6 km were completely covered in snow.

It was tricky to negotiate even in a 4wd car; I didn't see any 2wd cars up there and certainly would have been impassable by road bike.
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We carefully picked our way over the pass and continued on the rest of the course, then headed to registration. As we opened the door, we were met by Aaron (Pucci), wearing an expression of utter disgust at the horrible weather the second year in a row.
So we all go registered and headed to the onsen for some pre-race relaxation. Doug and Gunnar arrived just as we were leaving, and we all met up in time for dinner in the pension.


We were all up before dawn on race day. Aaron and his friend Tanaka-san had decided to go and enjoy some sunshine around Harunako, while the rest of us decided to race. The snow had slackened overnight and the temperature was above freezing, although not by much. The organisers had shortened the course from 120 km to 83 km, climbing about halfway up Konruku-toge, then turning round, doing the course in reverse over Semine tunnel, then turning again and going the usual direction to the finish.
Do_I_Really_Have_to_Race_in_This.JPG


The race started bang on time at 7am. As per last year, a motorbike led us down the first hill, but he didn't control the race speed, which was a surprise to me as the road was covered in slippery fallen leaves. Gunnar quickly came to the front and accelerated away, followed by Doug. I took up station in 3rd position. We all safely negotiated Deej's Corner and the speed began to build as we decended the first hill. Gunnar and Doug pulled away, and I rode fast but not fast enough to stay with them, as they are both awesomely skilled and fast decenders. By the time we arrived at the bottom of the hill, both Gunner and Doug were out of sight. I was with two other riders and we got a nice rotation going on the gentle climb along the bottom of the valley, and I felt confident we would catch them both. As the road steepened after the junction onto route 64, I cought sight of Doug. At just the same time, Murayama-san, a multiple hillclimb champion, came past me looking super strong. Another rider (Yellow Intermax) followed, so I jumped on his wheel. He wasn't interested in working together at all. Whenever I came to the front to give him a break, he would sprint past me again! Ah well, I though, your loss mate, and continued to sit on his wheel. We were caught by another rider who passed both of us. So I was now 5th on the road.
As we climbed, I decided to put a bit of pressure on Mr. Yellow Intermax. I would gradually pull past him, making him sprint and wearing him down. By the first turnaround, we had caught up with the 3rd position rider, and as we turned, I managed to pass both of them. So I was 3rd behind Gunnar and Murayama-san.
The descent was long and slippery, and riders were coming up so I had to be careful. I was very happy to see Naomi-san well up the field and pushing hard on the climb. Although I built up a bit of a cushion over the 4th place rider, I slackened off the pace and allowed him to catch me, because a strong headwind was blowing. We pushed hard all the way back down the hill and just after the bottom, we caught another rider. I initially thought it was Gunnar, but he was still well out in front. It was Murayama-san. As the road climbed again towards the tunnel on route 64 to Semine tunnel I turned up the pressure on both my companions and saw them start to struggle. Murayama-san clung on a few metres behind me.
I reached the tunnel and started the descent. I saw Gunnar climbing back up the hill, and continued, looking for the turnaround point. But unbelievably, there was NO MARSHALL and NO FLAGS there!!!! So riders 2 (me), 3, 4, and 5 all continued down the hill, doing an extra 4.5 km and over 100m of extra climbing to get back up the hill. I'm not going to harp on about this, but WHY THE BLOODY HELL WAS THIS TURN NOT MANNED? The first turn-around and all the key junctions had a marshall and bright flags, so that's what I and the other racers were looking for.
....Anyway....
It became clear that we had gone too far, so we turned back. Murayama-san had caught me again and we climbed back towards the tunnel. We saw some other riders and yelled at them to turn back. We saw the marshall arrive at the turn as we climbed back up the hill, and Murayama-san had some choice words for him.
I was feeling a bit fatigued but pushed on hard to get to the tunnel. I saw Naomi-san again, looking strong and smooth as she decended to the turn-around point.
All the way up to the tunnel, back down to the low point, and up the final climb, Murayama-san was sitting about 5m behind me and I was certain he was just waiting to make a move. Meanwhile, I was really on my limits, getting warning twinges from my quads and hamstrings as they threatened to cramp up. A couple of time I had to back off the power quite seriously to avoid cramping, but standing up for a few strokes stretched my tired muscles enough to keep pushing a little longer. As we approached the last two km, I didn't enen look back any more, just kept going at my limit. Then as we crossed the bridge just before the finish, the last 300m, I got out of the saddle one last time and gave it everything I had left (which was not much). But it was enough to stay ahead and I rolled over the finish in second place.


So overall not a bad performance this year by me I think. Gunnar rode a heroic race, the whole thing solo out front with no help. Doug held a high position, ending up 12th. And Naomi-san rode absolutely amazingly, destroying the ladies' field (almost an hour ahead of 2nd place) and beating 120 men to finish 21st overall.


 
Congratulations to all of you! The weather conditions seemed to have been as challenging as always. Sorry to hear that road marshall issue has resurfaced. Last year the route was well manned.

Great report, Alan!
 
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