What's new

Today July 2021

But I am not watching the Olympics this year.
Ditto. For Olympic Road Race Saturday I may be heading to the Greenline or to Chichibu, far enough from both the TV and Doshi michi :)
 
I just can't wrap my head around a race in these conditions.
well, these are relatively young people, highly paid to develop over a number of years adaptations to such demands and conditions.

after all, we all came out of africa, where our most competitive early evolutionary characteristic was shedding the fur and highly efficient heat dissipation, with ultra endurance as the end goal. we've essentially survived and developed in large part by outrunning gazelles and similar small game, which can get away in quick bursts of effort, but cannot cope with long and persistent pursuit under the hot sun in the savannas etc

so I'm not so impressed by these highly paid and taken care of professionals spending 4-6 hours racing, in between cooled hotels and cars. think of people of africa, south america or south asia etc who basically have to live all their lives in such heat, without any respite or remedies civilization showers upon the more fortunate
 
I just can't wrap my head around a race in these conditions.
One condition I can't wrap my head around is uncovered drains at one side or other of Dōshi-michi. Our evolution, in Africa or elsewhere, hasn't prepared us well for avoiding these while swerving, or for protecting our torsos or arms if our front wheels fall in. And remember that the occasional concrete slab lies on top: if somebody manages to land inside on both wheels without destroying wheels, fork or self, then hitting one of these slabs a very few metres later at 40 km/h should be a ticket to a hospital or morgue.

I remember worrying about this the first time I heard of the stupid Olympics, and thinking no, it will be OK; 安全第一 can't be merely a slogan when the world's TV cameras will be watching; the drains are sure to be covered by July '20. But when I was last there, a month or so ago, they still weren't covered.
 
he died at 29? FFS, he looks at least 59 haha

must be the old photo quality of the day
 
I hope that all the pawns in the spectator sports industry enjoy themselves and come out of the olympics intact; that's about the extent of my interest.

A bit quiet here; are we estivating? As for me, this morning I ran out of excuses not to remove myself from my computer and take some much-needed exercise on my chari. So off I went: Home to Tama (it's close), upstream to Koremasa bridge, U-turn and back; 42 km, 99 minutes. No big deal for any of you, but strenuous and sweaty for me. I've already decided not to try beating that time: it's too dangerous. Instead, I'll slow down more when near other people (along Tama, they love nothing better than sudden, unannounced U-turns). This will provide more opportunities for accelerating away. My current 0 - 30 (km/h) acceleration times . . . let's say, if I were a car, I'd be an A30.

640px-Austin_%2826287138126%29.jpg
 
It's also hot in Italy, southern France and Spain of course, but the humidity here is something else. I just can't wrap my head around a race in these conditions.
Humid heat is a different animal. We saw two young guys in their early 20s having a heat stroke yesterday after a crit race. And they are Japanese who are to a degree used to this weather. And on my way back I could tell I was suffering, too. My heart rate was 130-140 at 50-65 % of my FTP. Not normal. Usually, I'd be at around 120 bpm.
 
More corn.

20210719_061726.jpg

Early morning rides have me starting out feeling a little chilly. Once i warm up, it is perfect here. Too bad I only have the gravel bike. It is tons of fun and I have put 900km on it in the past 4 weeks. The roads here are horrible and my road bikes would hate it, but some sections of the greenway are ideal for speed! My 700x45s are just not speed demons - but they are comfy!

20210719_070232.jpg
20210719_062804.jpg
 
he died at 29? FFS, he looks at least 59 haha

must be the old photo quality of the day
I think people generally looked older then. Maybe because most smoked? Don't know. But I think people generally tend to look younger now than they used to.
 
ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now

aed5c9a1dc38c567f076441cedb65494
 
Indiana early morning. Corn everywhere (and soy bean). But early there is a fog over the fields.

Pretty sure my wife wishes I would want to move here, but the midwest isn't for me.

But I have friends here. Wifey is still meeting folks from my last life on motorcycles.

Faaack I am getting old! I met this guy when I was 25. Our friendship is old enough to drink!

FB_IMG_1626728821594.jpg
 
Last edited:
More corn.


Early morning rides have me starting out feeling a little chilly. Once i warm up, it is perfect here. Too bad I only have the gravel bike. It is tons of fun and I have put 900km on it in the past 4 weeks. The roads here are horrible and my road bikes would hate it, but some sections of the greenway are ideal for speed! My 700x45s are just not speed demons - but they are comfy!

Corn and soy beans. I know that area well. Usually, the dogs that chase you break the monotony and add to the speed work.
 
Corn and soy beans. I know that area well. Usually, the dogs that chase you break the monotony and add to the speed work.
That's one reason one carries a bicycle pump, I am told ;)

Never had to use one in earnest though (been chased by dogs twice in Germany but they couldn't kept up)
 
from 2012:

I've never worried about the ankle-biters here, but back in central Illinois, farm dogs were an evil menace.

You had to keep an eye on every farmhouse. Adding a little speed on approach was good, and don't talk, or coast and let your cassette tip off the dogs.

Most times you could get past and stay ahead, but if not, a silca frame pump was nice to have on board. A lezyne just wouldn't work.
 
Humid heat is a different animal. We saw two young guys in their early 20s having a heat stroke yesterday after a crit race. And they are Japanese who are to a degree used to this weather. And on my way back I could tell I was suffering, too. My heart rate was 130-140 at 50-65 % of my FTP. Not normal. Usually, I'd be at around 120 bpm.
This! x 1000.

I've resigned myself to the fact that unless the humidity drops over the next month or so, I am not doing any long distance cycling. Already had one scare with heat stroke this summer, in spite of drinking almost 3 or 4L of water on a regular day. If I am going to be cycling, then I would need a lot more than that, which would mean loading up along the way or a massive backpack of ice water.
 
So, I planned a bikepacking trip for two days, packed carefully, loaded up, and carried probably 10kg of gear. Started relatively late so cycled through the heat of the day. Just tried to survive. Very slow pace, avoiding stress. Sun went down and temps finally became reasonable, needed to get some km behind me, so kept riding. Reached the coast and thought maybe I'd cycle on for a bit until I reached the beaches a bit farther north, then camp. With the lower temps, my speed was picking up. Treated to a beautiful sight of a redish moon rising on the ocean.

Cycled past the Olympic surfing competition site. It was lit up so bright with lights, it was bright as day. Security tighter than most military bases. Once past the surfing site, the road I chose paralleled the beach. I could hear the ocean waves but every time I tried to check it out, the trail stopped and it was gated off. So, screw it. I kept cycling, partly because I couldn't find a suitable place, but mostly because it was so cool.

The sun came up and by now I figured, "Why not ride on and set an endurance record?" I knew that I'd have cycling road for much of the last 80km so it seemed like a good idea at the time. What I didn't know was that this cycling road was totally treeless and shadeless. The heat was back early. By 7:00 it seemed just as hot as mid-afternoon. Finished the ride, more like 'limped along' cursing the treeless cycling road. (It is otherwise a nice road, nicely paved and maintained, and little used.)

So, I scored my first (and last) over 300km cycling trip. I can't imagine doing this for fun...(looking at you @joewein )
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1933.jpeg
    IMG_1933.jpeg
    407.9 KB · Views: 12
  • IMG_1936.jpeg
    IMG_1936.jpeg
    385.3 KB · Views: 12
  • IMG_1937.jpeg
    IMG_1937.jpeg
    404.2 KB · Views: 10
  • IMG_1940.jpeg
    IMG_1940.jpeg
    313.9 KB · Views: 10
  • IMG_1944.jpeg
    IMG_1944.jpeg
    185.2 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_1949.jpeg
    IMG_1949.jpeg
    246.3 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_1952.jpeg
    IMG_1952.jpeg
    163.9 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_1955.jpeg
    IMG_1955.jpeg
    130.9 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_1960.jpeg
    IMG_1960.jpeg
    255.4 KB · Views: 10
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom