What's new

Race niigata prefectural road race championships

andywood

Maximum Pace
Apr 8, 2008
3,463
3,735
Niigata road race on Sunday.

First time to hurt my legs like that since the 2017 edition.

Race report pasted in below.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

FB_IMG_1527416776791.jpg

niigata prefectural championships race report

sunday was the niigata road race

a race to decide the county champion

<<the course>>

15 laps
a climb at each end
a windy flat section in the middle
105 km

<<the plan>>

last year I attacked repeatedly
earning the last spot on the podium

this year I plan to use my form from the TTs
・hold back
・keep good position
・move to the front before the climb
・conserve energy
・before TTing off the front to finish!

on the handlebars:

"follow wheels / don't pull"
"move up before the climb"
"2 km to go, TT position & full gas!"

<<the opposition>>

Ft Racing dominate the startlist

real strength in numbers

Tazaki san, Oono san, Bandai san, Honda san, Fuchita san & Andrew

other strong riders are:
Team Innocent
Team Fins
Nara san
and JPT young rider Iwase san

<<3,2,1 Go!>>

neutral start
good position behind the moto

the flag drops

a few attacks

one sticks

Ft's strong man Fuchita san and Hayasaka's Tateoka san

in the group
Oono san (Ft) and Yanagisawa san (Hayasaka)
control the pace on the front

the laps tick by
the gap increases
30s
40s
50s
60s
80s

no interest in the group

frustrated
I decide to give it a go

FB_IMG_1527416813385.jpg

<<trying to bridge>>

after the right hand turn
into the narrow road
with the wind on my back
I open a gap

look round
nobody seems interested

push on solo
full gas

the moto tells me
to the 2 man escape
60s
50s

pulling it back slowly
but it's a hard effort

before bridging
I'm caught from behind

at least the bunch seem active now
a faster tempo

the moto tells us
40s

and then the group's pace drops again

so close
we can see them up the road

if I bridge to Fuchita san
I'm sure we can work together

<<one more effort>>

I find myself attacking again

TTing on the long flat
joined by another rider
bingo!

we work together
slowly closing the gap
again it's a big effort

after a lap?
we are joined by Bandai san and two others

2 become 5
maybe we can do this
but alas we are caught from behind again

<<time splits>>

the moto lets you know the time splits

but on this out and back course you can see where you are

as the chasers climb the steep climb

the escapees are coming back down it

the 2 escapees are being reeled in slowly and surely

<<the move>>

as we go up the climb

coming down the other side
Ft's Fuchita san has been dropped from the front two

the race will kick off soon

before the climb on the next lap

Ft's Oono san tells me just as much

a big surge up the climb

I don't have that short power to go with them

a lack of road racing and specific training

positioned at the front at the bottom of the climb

I'm swarmed from behind

and out the back before the top

<<the chase group>>

the front group is around 10 riders

I'm in a similar sized chase group behind

Kenta san and Yoshida san are here too

at first we think we are chasing to get back on

I get criticized for pulling too fast

but averaging 36kph won't close a gap

sure enough
the gap opens
1 min
2 mins

soon enough
we realize we are racing to make the 4 min time cut

the glamour of bike racing!

at least it's not raining!

cramps on the climb with 3 laps remaining

「no more drinks allowed!」

like when the bell goes for last orders and your stuck in the toilets!

<<girigiri safe>>

we just about enter the last lap before the cut

now we just have to ride to the finish

I do my last 2km TT just for kicks

as we hit the climb
the cramps kick in
pedaling squares?
pedaling triangles!

Yoshida san and another rider pass me before the line

I cross the line
swing the bike round
unclip
and role back down the hill in agony!

got it all out in the end!

<<result>>

a deserved win for Tazaki san

Ft made the race

my result was 15th

not much to say really

if I want to be more competitive in road races
I need to train more specifically for them

as DS Miida san said at the end

"best to stick to TTs and long rides!"

<<thank yous>>

thank you to everyone cheering me up the climb

another carnival atmosphere!

I think I even heard the wife offering encouragement!

the boys did a great job too

the look of delight on mark's face when I taught him how to "snake climb" the tough ascent!

luke's screams of joy as I tried to bridge!

and Miidan san!
cold bottles!
nice photos!
words of encouragement!
arrigatou!

<<next up>>

next event is the gururin 210km

a chance for some long training rides

I'm aiming for win no.3 and another course record!

here we go!

Andy

https://www.facebook.com/biketrainingandracinginjapan/
 
Last edited:
That photo up the hill is a magnificent pic! Wonderful story even without a podium finish.
(At first glance, the top photo makes you look a little like Cipo!)
 
Great photos.
Is this race often won by an early break?

Only the second time on this course.

Yesterday was split in half around the middle of the race.

You would need 5 or 6 strong guys to hold off the group from further out.

Yesterday 5 of the strongest guys were on the same team and worked very well together.

Hard for small teams or individuals to have an impact.

I think sprint points or KOM points would make for more dynamic racing so I just emailed the organizer to tell him.

We'll see...

Andy

https://www.facebook.com/biketrainingandracinginjapan/
 
Last edited:
Well done Andy and top report as always. What were your max Heart Rate and wattage on Sunday? Are you local guys racing as a team or is it everyone for themselves? Always seems like you are off on your own a lot. Is that a team tactic?
 
Well done Andy and top report as always. What were your max Heart Rate and wattage on Sunday? Are you local guys racing as a team or is it everyone for themselves? Always seems like you are off on your own a lot. Is that a team tactic?

No power data, but the HR was 160/182.

The HR curve:

Screenshot_20180530-081821.png

My LTHR is 174 so I kept it below this for the majority of the ride. Flirting with LTHR on each of the 15 climbs. First in, last out is the order of the day!

The big push at 182 is when I was trying to bridge to two guys up the road.

In terms of zones:

Screenshot_20180530-082022.png

So basically an hour tempo and an hour and a half at threshold.

These are the zones you want to be in for TTs and hillclimbs. 10 minutes to an hour at threshold if you can.

But for a RR, you perhaps need to spend many short efforts at VO2 max.

As I mentioned, I haven't done any of that kind of training this year, which is why I couldn't follow the move (I also had two hard efforts in the legs).

So without that top end, my best chance of winning is to be in a break and ride my pace, or attack from distance at the end.

The plan was to do the latter (and I did some specific training for that) but I was nervous as the break's gap got bigger and thought I had to go.

Perhaps a mistake in hindsight, but I would have been more disappointed if I'd have been dropped after only following the wheels...

The race was controlled by Ft Racing. I have ridden with them in the JBCF. But I tend to just ride for the local bike shop these days. Certainly if I'd ridden for them, I would have been riding for winner Tazaki san (Niseko, Fuji champion). Bandai san, who is strong enough to contest the race on his own terms, sacrificed his chances for the team.

But, yeah just for fun really. Probably won't do another road race this year, so I can continue to focus on TTs.

Cheers!

Andy

https://www.facebook.com/biketrainingandracinginjapan/
 
I really need to figure out my LTHR... since I'm too much of a weenie to try to find my Max HR. It would be nice to know for pacing purposes.

That seems like a really long time to be in Z3/Z4. My numbers keep going up, but it doesn't make it any easier to hold Z3-Z5 for any sort of extended period. Ouch.
 
I really need to figure out my LTHR... since I'm too much of a weenie to try to find my Max HR. It would be nice to know for pacing purposes.

That seems like a really long time to be in Z3/Z4. My numbers keep going up, but it doesn't make it any easier to hold Z3-Z5 for any sort of extended period. Ouch.

Max HR is of little value compared to LTHR.

I'd definitely recommend testing it.

Easy to do. A 30 minute all in effort. Press the lap after 10 mins. LTHR is the average of the last 20.

LTHR doesn't change much, so you don't have to test often.

If your numbers are going up, I guess you're referring to power?

If you know your heart rate zones, the speed or power you can put out in each HR zone will improve as you get fitter.

That's one of the benefits of heart rate. It doesn't change so much over time.

Rather than zones per se, I just look at a ballpark number.

So for me,

Below 120 for recovery rides.
120 to 130 for zone 2.
140 to 150 for zone 3.
160 plus for threshold.
175 plus for anaerobic.

Not perfectly accurate. But easy to remember.

And once you get used to it you can feel what a certain zone feels like. So if the garmin HR is much lower for example, you know you are fatigued. (If it's higher, you're probably dehydrated, drunk, or a combination of both!)

In terms of pacing, a good understanding of HR really helps.

For example, this is a 8h 50min ride for Tokyo-Itoigawa:

_20180530_204226.JPG

Lots of zone 2, a chunk of zone 3, and trying as much as possible to stay out of the "damage zones" 4 and 5.

Compare this to a 12 min time trial:

_20180530_204136.JPG

Fire through the first 3 zones in 20 or so seconds. Then it's threshold into anaerobic to finish.

In terms of damage. It took much longer to recover from the 12 minute effort.

Again, this is where good understanding of you HR is useful for optimizing your training.

Within the first few minutes of clipping in, by watching the HR, you can decide whether you need another easy ride or whether you are ready to push hard again.

Andy

https://www.facebook.com/biketrainingandracinginjapan/
 

Attachments

  • _20180530_204136.JPG
    _20180530_204136.JPG
    88.6 KB · Views: 1
Yeah, Z3/Z4 watts are higher now, but I still find extended periods above Z2 to be hard. Well, you just go faster....

Max HR is basically useless but I would like to know it anyway.
 
Back
Top Bottom