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Saturday 25th Oct . . .

Philip

Speeding Up
Feb 15, 2007
765
11
Two more training weekends before the Giro de Hotaka. I plan to use them to complete two race pace rides. The purpose of the rides is:
  1. Get my legs accustomed to riding at 120km race pace without blowing up (or riding too conservatively).
  2. Learn to pace my climbs so I don't blow everything on the first ascent.
Travis created the ideal course to simulate conditions at the Giro de Hotaka (HT4): http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/jp/tokyo/993949686730
Hotaka is 122km with 2,080m of climbing compared to HT4 which is 105km with 1,863m of climbing. This includes the climb over Kazahari rindo, Imagawa-toge & Kazahari-toge (via Tomin-no-mori). The course starts and ends at Musashi Itsukaichi station. My goal is to complete Saturday's ride in around 4 hours - no stops except to refill the drinks bottles.

If you want to join me, the ride is open to anyone regardless of ability. Depending on numbers we could handicap the course. You decide your goal time and depart so we all arrive back at a similar time.

Because it will be ridden at race pace you are on your own (so read the map) and the objective is to get back to Musashi Itsukaichi station as soon as possible (stopping at the ramen shop is not a race strategy).

How you get to the start at Musashi Itsukaichi is your choice (train, plane, car, bike etc.). I will ride out to Musashi Itsukaichi from Tokyo and back to put in the mileage (I will take it easy and have a good rest stop before the fun begins).

Let me know if you are interested :) Any decision to cancel the ride due to weather will be based on the Friday 17:00 weather forecast and notified in this thread.

Cheers Philip
 
Good luck!

Philip,

This looks really good and I am sorry to miss this opportunity. However I am UK bound on Friday and return on the 4th so my training is all done now. We shall see how it goes on the day !

Good luck everyone who joins this excellent training ride :D:D

I expect there will be separate posts covering the journey to Hotaka so I will wait for that. I guess I will going by train.

chazzer
 
Participants List . . .

Participants to date:

Philip
Sergey
Deej
Tom
 
Otherwise

8:00AM at the station would be absolutely fine by me...would be even better.


Two requests from confirmed riders for an early start. We will depart Musashi Itsukaichi at 9:00AM.

Philip
 
roger...

...9:00 AM it will be. Like the previous time, I will "race" with you guys until the gates at the end of Kazahari rindo. From there, I will do my reverse OHSMK...:eek: meaning I will skip the Imagawa and lake-up Kazahari and instead add the Matsuhime, Suzugane, Hinazuru and Otarumi toges. Thanks for taking the initiative Philip;). Keeping fingers crossed for the weather...will use my extra-heavy Shimano cheapos for extra training effect this time :D

Sorry Tom, that would be to early for those of us who live in the city :)
 
One of my favourite routes

but have never tried it in four hours.

I would like to join you and have a go, if possible.

Lee
 
I will "race" with you guys until the gates at the end of Kazahari rindo. From there, I will do my reverse OHSMK...

The OHSMK is the easy option :) it is longer, but - the total ascent is similar - you get longer to recover from the climbs - and you will be riding at an easier pace.

I am sure you have your reasons. However, let me encourage you to join us for the total ride - I promise you will not be disappointed.

Philip
 
keeping options open

...if it looks like rain in the afternoon, I will gladly opt for the "total ride" :) Travis did an excellent job in mapping out this route; perfect rehearsal for Hotaka. I'm still in LSD mode though.

The OHSMK is the easy option :) it is longer, but - the total ascent is similar - you get longer to recover from the climbs - and you will be riding at an easier pace.

I am sure you have your reasons. However, let me encourage you to join us for the total ride - I promise you will not be disappointed.

Philip
 
Gentlemen,
I will not be able to join you this time - on Saturday I have to find somewhere to live.

However, on Sunday 26th, Naomi-san and I (and maybe Mike too) will do HT5. If anyone's feeling doubly tough (Deej I'm talking to you ;)) please feel free to come along.

See you soon,
AW.
 
If anyone's feeling doubly tough (Deej I'm talking to you ;)) please feel free to come along.
Wow, I feel as if you have peered into my soul. As is the case with Hobbits, Deej is made of stern stuff indeed. Unfortunately, I will be attending Deej Jr. #2's preschool sports festival on Sunday.

Good luck with the house-hunting!

Deej

P.S Mithril is the new titanium.
 
Philip, I've been thinking this one over and I'm still not sure if I'll join you guys. I'll let you know by Friday.
 
Tentatively...

... I could be in!
I have to take my bike to my LBS tomorrow, and if it's ready by Friday evening, I'd like to join you guys.
My back is still a little sore, but I can ride!
As for the course & riders involved, I think everyone knows it (the course) well enough, so as Philip mentioned, there should be no need to stop & wait at the top of any climbs. Just a straight non-stop ride for about 4 hours; and get back to Musashi-Itsukaichi at around 1pm.

>Philip: Good call on this one! It's the perfect training course for Hotaka.
Hope I can see you there.
Will let you know if/when my bike is ready!
Travis
 
Philip, I've been thinking this one over and I'm still not sure if I'll join you guys. I'll let you know by Friday.

No worries Mike, but don't let the presence of Deej scare you off :p:p:p
 
Travis, be great if you can join.

Philip

... I could be in!
I have to take my bike to my LBS tomorrow, and if it's ready by Friday evening, I'd like to join you guys.
My back is still a little sore, but I can ride!
As for the course & riders involved, I think everyone knows it (the course) well enough, so as Philip mentioned, there should be no need to stop & wait at the top of any climbs. Just a straight non-stop ride for about 4 hours; and get back to Musashi-Itsukaichi at around 1pm.

>Philip: Good call on this one! It's the perfect training course for Hotaka.
Hope I can see you there.
Will let you know if/when my bike is ready!
Travis
 
Philip, Ironsword doesn't scare me, but Kazahari Touge does:eek: Seriously though, it's the trains I'm thinking about. I have to take about 3 to get there :(
 
Philip, Ironsword doesn't scare me, but Kazahari Touge does:eek: Seriously though, it's the trains I'm thinking about. I have to take about 3 to get there :(

Mike, because you did this ride before I made the assumption (SORRY) that this was easy for you :( One train is bad enough, but THREE :eek: My apologies.

I gotta get some KM ridden. I have not seen the road since I went out with Tom on . . . (checks calender) . . . 21st September . . . that's a whole month . . . PANIC :eek::eek::eek: I may be able to join you Sunday :)

Philip
 
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