WhiteGiant
Maximum Pace
- Nov 4, 2006
- 1,233
- 395
This is just one of the few names I couldn't decide on - The other main contender was, "Okutama Touch-and-go TT", amongst others. The route is so brilliant in its simplicity, I'm surprised nobody else had thought of it before - There are no hidden twists or turns - It's just like back in school, where you'd run down to one end of the gym, touch the wall, and run straight back! Whatever time you got, that was it!
The ride is basically a 90km Time-Trial, which includes two long climbs.
Here's the MAP
Start at Musashi-Itsukaichi station. Ride towards Tomin-no-mori, keep going over the top at Kazahari-toge, all the way down to the lake. Cross the bridge at the lake, and touch the wall (Do not go to the soba-shop, do not collect $200). Turn around and ride all the way back to Musashi-Itsukaichi station exactly the same way you came - 90.55km. Time how long it takes, and you're done!
The beauty of this ride is that anyone with minimal climbing chops can do it - Unlike the Best of the West ride, the precursor to the KOM ride, where only the fittest & stupidest may apply, this could be a truly "open" event.
Anyway, I did it this morning to check if it was easily do-able, and to check my own time. Here's how it went:
I caught the 6:12am train from Tokyo, and changed to the Musashi-Itsukaichi train at Tachikawa. It arrived out west at 7:36am. I stashed all of my things in a coin-locker there (200 yen) - No point carrying anything you don't need into a hill-climb Time-Trial. For the ride, I had two bottles full of water, an energy-gel, a banana, and a piece of fruit pound-cake, all from the convenience store.
I left the station at exactly 8:10.
The first point I wanted to time myself at was the "Motojuku" T-junction, about 8.7km from the start...
A race within a race!
It all started when I saw a "Strava" report from Tim (GSAstuto), saying that he had just dethroned Takaaki (Kawa) from the number one position - See the Strava link
Tim's time was 58:57, and Taka's was 1:00:56.
The section in question starts from that corner, and finishes at Tomin-no-mori - Just over 20km. I wanted to see if I could beat that!
I rounded that corner at exactly 8:29, and I won't lie, I had a bit of a tailwind. I was able to keep an average speed of around 27km/h, at least until the Kobu-tunnel turn-off, where the climb would start in earnest. I past the Kobu-tunnel turn-off at 9:47, and once it started going up hard, I thought I could egg-beater it (with a cadence of 100 ±5 r.p.m.) all the way to the top, and I almost succeeded, but there were a couple of steeper sections that I'd forgotten about. I past the toll-gates (actually, where the toll-gates used to be) at 9:17 - I would have had to ride the last 3km in under 11 minutes if I wanted to beat Tim... Not gonna happen! In the end, I reached Tomin-no-mori at exactly 9:32:45 - If I'd had a Garmin, my time would've been 1:03:45, which would be enough to knock SteveT from 4th position... Next time, Steve! Next time!
Anyway, there's still another 3km of climbing after Tomin-no-mori, but it's not too bad, and I was soon rolling past the Kazahari rindo gates at 9:47. Without stopping, I started heading downhill. It was here that I decided to have something to eat - While I was rolling, I reached around and grabbed the banana from my jersey pocket. I had a bite, and it was good. I made the mistake of unpeeling it too far though, and as I went over some of the red painted speed bumps, the top half of my banana broke off, and was lost on the road.... So, after half a banana (the bottom half), I continued down the mountain. The road was still wet in a few places from earlier rain, but for the most part, it was dry, clean and smooth - I love that downhill!
As I neared the lake, where the last 2km flattens off a bit, I took the opportunity to suck down the energy gel I had brought. I had more luck with that than the banana, and finally, I was at the bridge. The wall at the other side of the bridge is the turn-around spot. Of course, just to the right, about 30m away is the soba-shop with its vending machines, but that's just extra time, and I still had a full bottle left.
I snapped a quick shot for posterity (and proof - note the time, 10:06), then did a U-turn, and headed straight back up the mountain. Again, on this 2km flattish section, I managed to get down the last of my food, a piece of fruit pound-cake. This would have to be enough to get me back. The climb from this side is not as steep, and I was able to hold a reasonable pace to the top, arriving at the Kazahari-rindo gate in 51 minutes, at 10:57. From there, it's pretty much all downhill, and not in a bad way. The descent continues through Hinohara village, but there are a few ups & downs near the bottom. Once I was past the Kobu-tunnel turn-off, I had to contend with a bit of a headwind - The same wind that had helped me get up the hill a bit quicker was now hindering my return to the station. I had to push hard just to hold anything near 40km/h, and often, it was a lot less than that. I was in the drops the whole way, and I weren't slouching - This was a Time-Trial, remember, and it would've been nice to finish the whole round-trip in under 3:30:00, but that also was not to be. In the end, I got back right on 11:50 - 3hrs, 40mins after leaving.
So that's it really. I was on the 12:17 train, and back home by 14:00. That makes it quite an early finishing time, but you still get in all that riding... all at once... without any breaks...
But that's the point, isn't it!?
Anyway, my plan is to do this very same ride every 4~6 weeks, so I can see my improvements over time (Heaven forbid my time go up!) - As I continue training, and getting both stronger AND lighter, I imagine first breaking the 3:30:00 barrier, and possibly even the 3 hour barrier (like perhaps, Clay, Deej, Alan, Mike, Serguei, Tom, Thomas,...?)
Oh, and finally, you may ask, why the "BOOB" ride - Take a look at the profile! Could it be called anything else?
Like I said, I'll be doing this regularly, and will post the dates beforehand for anyone who'd care to join.
Cheers!
Travis
The ride is basically a 90km Time-Trial, which includes two long climbs.
Here's the MAP
Start at Musashi-Itsukaichi station. Ride towards Tomin-no-mori, keep going over the top at Kazahari-toge, all the way down to the lake. Cross the bridge at the lake, and touch the wall (Do not go to the soba-shop, do not collect $200). Turn around and ride all the way back to Musashi-Itsukaichi station exactly the same way you came - 90.55km. Time how long it takes, and you're done!
The beauty of this ride is that anyone with minimal climbing chops can do it - Unlike the Best of the West ride, the precursor to the KOM ride, where only the fittest & stupidest may apply, this could be a truly "open" event.
Anyway, I did it this morning to check if it was easily do-able, and to check my own time. Here's how it went:
I caught the 6:12am train from Tokyo, and changed to the Musashi-Itsukaichi train at Tachikawa. It arrived out west at 7:36am. I stashed all of my things in a coin-locker there (200 yen) - No point carrying anything you don't need into a hill-climb Time-Trial. For the ride, I had two bottles full of water, an energy-gel, a banana, and a piece of fruit pound-cake, all from the convenience store.
I left the station at exactly 8:10.
The first point I wanted to time myself at was the "Motojuku" T-junction, about 8.7km from the start...
A race within a race!
It all started when I saw a "Strava" report from Tim (GSAstuto), saying that he had just dethroned Takaaki (Kawa) from the number one position - See the Strava link
Tim's time was 58:57, and Taka's was 1:00:56.
The section in question starts from that corner, and finishes at Tomin-no-mori - Just over 20km. I wanted to see if I could beat that!
I rounded that corner at exactly 8:29, and I won't lie, I had a bit of a tailwind. I was able to keep an average speed of around 27km/h, at least until the Kobu-tunnel turn-off, where the climb would start in earnest. I past the Kobu-tunnel turn-off at 9:47, and once it started going up hard, I thought I could egg-beater it (with a cadence of 100 ±5 r.p.m.) all the way to the top, and I almost succeeded, but there were a couple of steeper sections that I'd forgotten about. I past the toll-gates (actually, where the toll-gates used to be) at 9:17 - I would have had to ride the last 3km in under 11 minutes if I wanted to beat Tim... Not gonna happen! In the end, I reached Tomin-no-mori at exactly 9:32:45 - If I'd had a Garmin, my time would've been 1:03:45, which would be enough to knock SteveT from 4th position... Next time, Steve! Next time!
Anyway, there's still another 3km of climbing after Tomin-no-mori, but it's not too bad, and I was soon rolling past the Kazahari rindo gates at 9:47. Without stopping, I started heading downhill. It was here that I decided to have something to eat - While I was rolling, I reached around and grabbed the banana from my jersey pocket. I had a bite, and it was good. I made the mistake of unpeeling it too far though, and as I went over some of the red painted speed bumps, the top half of my banana broke off, and was lost on the road.... So, after half a banana (the bottom half), I continued down the mountain. The road was still wet in a few places from earlier rain, but for the most part, it was dry, clean and smooth - I love that downhill!
As I neared the lake, where the last 2km flattens off a bit, I took the opportunity to suck down the energy gel I had brought. I had more luck with that than the banana, and finally, I was at the bridge. The wall at the other side of the bridge is the turn-around spot. Of course, just to the right, about 30m away is the soba-shop with its vending machines, but that's just extra time, and I still had a full bottle left.
I snapped a quick shot for posterity (and proof - note the time, 10:06), then did a U-turn, and headed straight back up the mountain. Again, on this 2km flattish section, I managed to get down the last of my food, a piece of fruit pound-cake. This would have to be enough to get me back. The climb from this side is not as steep, and I was able to hold a reasonable pace to the top, arriving at the Kazahari-rindo gate in 51 minutes, at 10:57. From there, it's pretty much all downhill, and not in a bad way. The descent continues through Hinohara village, but there are a few ups & downs near the bottom. Once I was past the Kobu-tunnel turn-off, I had to contend with a bit of a headwind - The same wind that had helped me get up the hill a bit quicker was now hindering my return to the station. I had to push hard just to hold anything near 40km/h, and often, it was a lot less than that. I was in the drops the whole way, and I weren't slouching - This was a Time-Trial, remember, and it would've been nice to finish the whole round-trip in under 3:30:00, but that also was not to be. In the end, I got back right on 11:50 - 3hrs, 40mins after leaving.
So that's it really. I was on the 12:17 train, and back home by 14:00. That makes it quite an early finishing time, but you still get in all that riding... all at once... without any breaks...
But that's the point, isn't it!?
Anyway, my plan is to do this very same ride every 4~6 weeks, so I can see my improvements over time (Heaven forbid my time go up!) - As I continue training, and getting both stronger AND lighter, I imagine first breaking the 3:30:00 barrier, and possibly even the 3 hour barrier (like perhaps, Clay, Deej, Alan, Mike, Serguei, Tom, Thomas,...?)
Oh, and finally, you may ask, why the "BOOB" ride - Take a look at the profile! Could it be called anything else?
Like I said, I'll be doing this regularly, and will post the dates beforehand for anyone who'd care to join.
Cheers!
Travis