What's new

JBCF Minami Uonoma Road Race

andywood

Maximum Pace
Apr 8, 2008
3,462
3,734
Great pre report, I will share it with the team if you don't mind. I will see you there but I won't be riding, only wrenching this time. Will be my first time in Niigata though so I may come early and do some camping and riding on the coast. Can you recommend a good spot to camp near the race?
 
Chuck, I would expect you would come to Gunma via the new highway from Nagano. And then take the highway through the tunnel into Niigata.

Minami Uonoma is quite a way from the coast.

There is a camp ground right at the start area. Looks nice. A couple of bungalows. Lots of room for camping. A grass football pitch for your son too!

There is a 7-11 at the bottom of the valley to get your supplies before reaching the race course / camp site. There is also a nice onsen hotel which has a big open air rotenburo which is "konyoku" which means you can go in with the wife and kids.

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Nice Andy. I will be see you up there on Sunday. Not racing but going to support some riders.
 
Doug, I was screaming to Tazaki san for a push on the top of that last climb! I love those summit finishes when you fall off your bike (derrailleur up!) and all you can see are the stars...

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Well done. Given your coughing and spluttering, I think you did as well as you could given the circumstances. I liked your race tactics as well.
Was great to meet @Doug3 - albeit too briefly - coach me onto the podium next year!

Onto the podium...you should be aiming for the win with Doug`s help!
***
Party pooper time...I read your previous blog entry, and the condition you mentioned is sinus bradycardia. Like you, I never used to worry about it until I read this. There have been quite a few cyclists with heart problems this year, and I think Merckx himself recently had a pacemaker fitter. This is one of the reasons why I switched to polarized training - I did 10 1/2 hours on the bike this week, but only 2 sessions (45-50 mins of actual work) pushed the HR (ad pushed it hard). Everything else, didn`t trouble it.

"Many amateur athletes wear their reduced heart rates as a competitive badge of honor, proof that they are really fit. Unfortunately, sinus bradycardia is not always an effect worth boasting about. Lifelong athletes with low heart rates need pacemakers later in life much more often than the general population. D'Souza and Boyett became interested in how sinus bradycardia occurs.

The results, published May 13 in Nature Communications, show that endurance training remodels the heart and reduces resting heart rate by altering the number of.... "funny channels" in the sinoatrial node, the pacemaker for the heart. The slower heart rate isn't as funny — it has fewer funny channels to transmit current that controls the activity of the heart cells. The results suggest a mechanism for sinus bradycardia in athletes, and also might help scientists understand why athletes can have heart problems later in life."
 
Sikochi, the condition of a "sports heart" is common in endurance athletes such as runners, swimmers, rowers and cyclists. In Japan, Naoko Takahashi,Sydney gold medalist, is a good example.

A low heart rate can be a sign of bradycardi as you say. This is a heart disease, so it is important to have further analysis and not just asssume it is a "sports heart".

Luckily bradycardi produces abnormal hormone levels which can be tested for with blood analysis. Ultrasound analysis of the arteries in the neck and heart itself can support this analysis.

I'm lucky to have excellent support from the sports doctors at Niigata National Hospital. I'm told everything is fine and dandy. No reason to doubt them!

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Back
Top Bottom