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Race nobeyama gravel race

Just in case you didn't see it, the technical guide has been published for Sunday.
Twitter acount said they will email entrants when the course is finalized.

Yes, I saw it thanks. The course will be emailed tomorrow apparently.

Initially the talk was of two 10km segments in each stage.

But maybe it's the net time of two stages?

Looks like it will be a cold one!

Andy
 
Hi Andy,
The technical guide says one segment in each stage, and seems to say the top three riders in terms of total time (of the two segments) will get on the podium.
The two segments are named SS1 (in stage 1) and SS2 (in stage 2).
Btw, the guide also mentions that the farm is at 1,365 metres, but the course itself will go over 1,900 metres.
Assuming the course starts in or near the farm that's a decent bit of climbing and negative temps for sure.
Good luck!
 
Hi Andy,
The technical guide says one segment in each stage, and seems to say the top three riders in terms of total time (of the two segments) will get on the podium.
The two segments are named SS1 (in stage 1) and SS2 (in stage 2).
Btw, the guide also mentions that the farm is at 1,365 metres, but the course itself will go over 1,900 metres.
Assuming the course starts in or near the farm that's a decent bit of climbing and negative temps for sure.
Good luck!

My hands were cold at zero metres this morning!

Yes, I saw the elevation gain. Can't climb for toffee these days. Even less so on that bike! Guess I'll just wrap up warm and enjoy it!

Are you not riding then?

Andy
 
My hands were cold at zero metres this morning!

Yes, I saw the elevation gain. Can't climb for toffee these days. Even less so on that bike! Guess I'll just wrap up warm and enjoy it!

Are you not riding then?

Andy

Re: weather, Sunday looks a bit unusually warm at this stage

IMG_20191121_134724.jpg

Best to prepare for everything!

Andy
 
Have to miss out on the fun this year. Already too many CX races on the calendar.
I'd probably only get a couple of laps in before they flag me off the course though. Some fast guys are in town.
 
I guess Nobeyama is the biggy in CX terms in Japan.

Don't know if I'll make a full on CX debut this year as it's so full on!

If you (or anyone else)wants to race some amazing off road trails, there is a local race on the Kakuda trail here on Sun Dec 14th...

Andy
 
That was fun!

Usual blog link and cut and paste below.

Cheers, Andy



「rapha nobeyama gravel challenge race report」

my off road debut at nobeyama today

two stages

the climb on each stage is race on

・stage 1

light rain at the start
but it warms up quickly

some are racing from the gun

my plan is a tempo warm up

before the official uphill segment

there is a 2.5km strava challenge segment

I won't contest this one
use it as a warm up for the official SS1 segment which starts 500m after the strava segment finish

・strava segment

170HR on the strava segment
last week's rest was good

pass Deej and Dom in a big group
I want a clear run at the segment
careful not to go into the red

・SS1 segment

hammer time
up to 180HR quickly
in days gone by I used to lock onto 180HR for an hour at the tour of yatsugatake on this very same mountain!

hopefully today will be less than 15 minutes!

4.4km of suffering
a 4.5% average gradient

but a downhill section in the middle makes the uphill average steeper

perhaps a 6% average?

4.5 bar for this hard gravel
a good choice
pick off a few riders
like hill climb days of old

the gear feels like days of old too
34x25
feels like
39x21!

a big dig at the end

goal!

an aid station
but if I stop I'll die!

need to flush out the lactic acid for stage 2

sunshine above the clouds

riding the blue wind high and free

a beautiful off road descent

back to the mud of the farm

goal!

・stage 2

get cleaned up
change everything but the sidis!

roll out with Dom and Taylor

nice chatting to Dom
lives closer to me in the uk than he does in japan!

and surprising to hear Taylor has only been in Japan for 3 days
「next race?」
「american nationals!」

mostly downhill
then a steep climb before the next timed segment

・SS2
3.2km at 6.25%

I knew this was going to be tougher than SS1

but I wasn't prepared for...

the mud!

big
thick
wet
mud!

like the mississippi in the summer time!

the tyres are too hard
the gears too heavy

lock onto 180HR

dream of 80rpm
but it's mostly 60rpm!

half way up we leave the mud

for green grass fields

it doesn't look steep

but locked in the 34x25

the open vista
the goal can be seen from afar

time to dig in and bring it home!

goal!

enjoy chatting with Deej for the remainder of the climb

first time to meet since the Giro de Hotaka more than 10 years ago!

good guys never change!

roll home for a warm afternoon on the farm!

・result

I don't know the result yet

but the experience was more important than the result

a fun event with a fun format

hopefully I can try more events like this

here we go!
 
they must have made the segments private because I can't see the stats on your strava for the climbs in question (or Dom's etc)... how are they going to determine it then?
 
they must have made the segments private because I can't see the stats on your strava for the climbs in question (or Dom's etc)... how are they going to determine it then?

They were done with electronic timing chips.

If you wanted to do an unofficial event like this, making private strava segments and then opening them up just for the day would be a good way to do it.

Andy
 
More on the event here.

Andy

 
What is your max HR?

180 is the number I always see when I am ready to stop pedaling unless I am sprinting for a finish or otherwise extremely motivated. Haha.

It takes a truly monumental effort to get it up above 182, much less to max (185).
 
Don't know, I've seen 194 but that was quite a few years ago and they say you lose a beat each year.

Yesterday's efforts:

IMG_20191125_104936.jpg

The strava climb at threshold from the 5k mark.

Then the segment I put the hammer down for from 7.7k.

The segment had a downhill in the middle. I drilled it in the big ring but still recovered a little.

IMG_20191125_105004.jpg

The second was a nice steady slog through the mud.

I say lock on to 180 but it's a max effort as much as anything, which is what most of my racing is these days.

The flat shape of the curve with the tiniest of kicks at the end makes me feel I squeezed it all out.

I was happy to get the heart rate up twice too.

When I used to do the JBCF Tsugaike hill climb I could always do a good ride in the morning race but could never get going again for the afternoon uphill TT...

Andy
 
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On the other hand, I always feel good the day after a race.

Got the heart rate up there again on zwift.

IMG_20191125_122158.jpg

That was straight after a gym session too.

Hitting some form as we enter the off season😅

Andy
 
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