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Race The Training Thread

baribari said:
I have started buying those frozen-solid drinks from the convivence store and stuffing them behind my neck until they're ready to drink. The heat would be unbearable without this sort of external cooling. It's criminal how much they charge for ice here.
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I've been using a Camelpak filled with water and then placed in the freezer overnight. Take it out about 1 hour before you want to ride if you can, and then it becomes a nice cooling pack as well as some cold water for some of the ride.
 
BeerTengoku said:
I've been using a Camelpak filled with water and then placed in the freezer overnight. Take it out about 1 hour before you want to ride if you can, and then it becomes a nice cooling pack as well as some cold water for some of the ride.
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I do something similar. I put 1L of water and between 1-2kg of ice in mine, as well as powdered Pocari Sweat to taste. I get cooling for up to about 3 hours on hot days, as well as hydration for up to about 6 hours on Winter days. For my road bike, the pack smooths the transition behind my helmet and body, adding a bit of aero benefit, and on my recumbent when the bag is worn on my chest it fills the gap between my thighs and helmet for similar aero benefit. The lightest bag by far is the 6L Athform (the one without the waist straps) and since the material is so thin it cools the most, way more than the Deuter Road One or the 6L Doppelganger bag I have. The bite down tube with magnet makes drinking handsfree as well.
 
GrantT said:
Must be the Japanese "gaman" culture of grinning and bearing every inconvenience until eventual work-death. By bringing ice you actually created a disturbance in the "wa" that will probably require a public apology. I hope you are ready for an extra-long bowing sesh.
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She did win the race, which meant she had to be part of an elaborate podium ceremony including an interview. We take Japanese classes and they cover many daily life / work place situations... but they haven't gotten around to teaching us podium etiquette yet.

baribari said:
Just another reason for me to lose weight... hahaha.
Sunscreen prices are ridiculous here. You're probably best off buying American-sized bottles of generic SPF30-50 (ideally mineral-based?) online.
Apparently paying extra for anything over SPF50 is a waste of money, and even the best sunscreen is only designed to last 90 minutes, anyway.
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Yeah, the sunscreen is dumb. I miss the giant American "NoAd" bottles of goopy sunscreen that you never seem to be able to rub in. Never thought I'd say that. The largest bottle I have been able to find online is tiny by comparison. And I've never even seen a bottle with over 50 SPF. They just start adding all of those ++++++++ symbols from what I can tell.

I have kind of landed on a somewhat expensive bottle of a Nivea sunscreen. It has a light perfume, which is a downer. But it's not as watery as some others and I have noticed it keeps me from getting sun compared to a few others including a muji sunscreen I tried.

But... maybe like @GrantT said earlier, I am disrupting the Japanese vibes by not simply wearing my winter clothing in the summer. I know skincare is important. And I don't want skin cancer... but I also can't wrap my head around wearing winter accesories in the summer. I think everytime I see a cyclist covered from head to foot it brings me closer to experiencing heatstroke. And I know they make sun sleeves, etc. But I have seen people in the full blown Pearl Izumi shelled leg warmers, yikes.
 
With the right fabric, I think long sleeves are preferable. I'd say cooler, tho I guess that's arguable, or in the eyes of the wearer.

The best aspect is UV blocking, and not having to lube up your arms, too.
 
The people who look like ninjas in summer do it because they don't want to tan, not necessarily because they care about skin health per se.

You would be shocked how many cyclists don't use sunscreen at all, or frequently forget, including pro cyclists. That said, Japanese tend to tan more than burn.

Apparently no matter how many + symbols after SPF50 a sunscreen has, it only makes a 1% difference in terms of protection.
 
MIC 21 in Ikebukuro has long sleeved rash guard surf shirts. They protect against UV, so you don't need sunscreen for your arms, and since it is close to your skin lighter colors do actually feel cooler than darker colors. Better yet, they are intended and designed for use in the water, so to take advantage of the cooling evaporative effect I put on a little water and let the wind do its thing. I did an extremely hard ride yesterday, down and back up Arakawa, and on the down trip into the wind I mistakenly rode it without wetting the top first, and by the time I got to Tokyo Bay I was burning up. With a tailwind on the upriver part I felt way cooler after having thrown some water on. With well over 900 trips up and down Arakawa in varying lengths, seasons and conditions I am convinced that doing as described above is cooler than applying sunblock and wearing minimal clothing.
 
Honestly if I could tan, I'd worry a lot less about sunscreen. Unfortunately, I'm prone to looking like a lobster. I have been told that even underneath all of that ninja attire, often they are still wearing sunscreen. Usually with the skin whiteing serum for that 美白 beautiful white skin. I was also told that having skin that is too tan makes you look "unapproachable" for some Japanese. I think my beard handles that on its own.

It's "Summer Break" at work, but we're still required to make an appearance. This leaves me with a lot of free time. I have spent maybe more of that time than I should have reading about the pros vs cons of clothing on thermoregulation in sport. I think that Sports Medicine Australia puts it best:
• Where possible, select light-weight and breathable clothing with extra ventilation
• Remove unnecessary clothing/equipment and/or excess clothing layers
• Reduce the amount of skin that is covered by clothing – this will help increase yours weat evaporation, which will help you dissipate heat.
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and also
NOTE: Sunscreen does NOT impede sweating or affect heat loss from the skin. Sunscreen should be applied regularly, as per instructions, to avoid sunburn.
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The American College of Sports Medicine even says that sunscreen may improve microvascular bloodflow to the skin, which boosts your thermoregulation. So a win win seeing as this is impaired when you're suffering from sunburn. Not to mention the other impairments such as increased loss of liquid, impact on recovery, etc.

Now, this could be all a setup from Big Sunscreen™️ trying to create havoc in our oceans. And if I were a Bedouin living in an arid climate you'd probably find me wearing a flowy yukata-esque bright white outfit. I don't enjoy wearing sunscreen. But I can't see a cooling benefit of wearing extra material in a humid climate that will inevitably become sopping wet, sticking to my skin's surface leaving no room for airflow.

I'm also inclined to believe that we would have seen Tadej in his own ninja suit if a material existed that provided better cooling than naked skin, since apparently heat is his cryptonite.
 
Not sure if I mentioned or not, but there's going to be a 210 km "line" (point A to B) race in Fukushima next month. Only problem is that the logistics are very dodgy. For one, there aren't enough hotel rooms, and two, the shuttle bus that will take riders back to the start is apparently...lacking.

I almost wonder if it wouldn't be better to skip the time trial the day before, take public transport, and rinko back home afterwards.

Ideally, it would be best to hire a van with a driver with a few other riders. But I think my friends are all doing other events.

On another note, apparently the Tour de Okinawa 210 filled up so fast this year that many of the favorites ended up on the waitlist. Possibly even Takaoka-san. lol.
 
BeerTengoku said:
I've been using a Camelpak filled with water and then placed in the freezer overnight. Take it out about 1 hour before you want to ride if you can, and then it becomes a nice cooling pack as well as some cold water for some of the ride.
Click to expand...
This is also how I survive rides in summer.
On a convenience stop I later fill with large rock ice, with some electrolyte drink that makes the pack colder due to the salt & ice effect.

I recently picked up an insulated bladder from a different company as al of my Camelbaks were either sold or old.
 
Tsuga said:
She did win the race, which meant she had to be part of an elaborate podium ceremony including an interview. We take Japanese classes and they cover many daily life / work place situations... but they haven't gotten around to teaching us podium etiquette yet.


Yeah, the sunscreen is dumb. I miss the giant American "NoAd" bottles of goopy sunscreen that you never seem to be able to rub in. Never thought I'd say that. The largest bottle I have been able to find online is tiny by comparison. And I've never even seen a bottle with over 50 SPF. They just start adding all of those ++++++++ symbols from what I can tell.

I have kind of landed on a somewhat expensive bottle of a Nivea sunscreen. It has a light perfume, which is a downer. But it's not as watery as some others and I have noticed it keeps me from getting sun compared to a few others including a muji sunscreen I tried.

But... maybe like @GrantT said earlier, I am disrupting the Japanese vibes by not simply wearing my winter clothing in the summer. I know skincare is important. And I don't want skin cancer... but I also can't wrap my head around wearing winter accesories in the summer. I think everytime I see a cyclist covered from head to foot it brings me closer to experiencing heatstroke. And I know they make sun sleeves, etc. But I have seen people in the full blown Pearl Izumi shelled leg warmers, yikes.
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Just buy Banana Boat from iHerb. SPF30 is more than enough. Anything else that I use here just runs off as soon as I start sweating.
Electrolytes, peanut butter & spices in addition to vitamins but seems to be better value than Amazon seller/scalpers.

Banana Boat, ウルトラ スポーツ、サンスクリーンローション、ブロード スペクトル SPF 30、8オンス（236 ml）

iherb.co iherb.co
 
Tomorrow I have my first race, much earlier than I expected. The new team invited me (twice) for a hill climb TT, which I really like. It is a short one, 10 km with 400ish m of elevation gain, and it starts at 19:00 (7 pm). Plus, I passed the finish line yesterday on my ride, and loved the way the course looked.

I'll start under the banner of my potentially new team. Not sure how strong they are, but it seems that they place highly. I'm at the opposite end of peak fitness, literally. I haven't done any structured training in 6-8 weeks and am still waiting for my indoor trainer. Still, sometimes you gotta do things for the fun of it, not for results.

The bit of Austria I moved to is spectacularly beautiful. We don't have proper mountains, but lots of rolling hills. Yesterday I did 1,100 m of elevation in a 70k ride.
 
Yeah I go for cover up sleeves and skullcap since I don’t like the slimy feeling of sweaty sunscreen. So sunscreen is limited to face ears neck and back of hands.
 
I am one of those ninjas. Literally, only my forehead is showing, but "protected" by the shade that the cap provides (cof cof).

As long as there is no oven-like wind, it will be fine. However, as someone who has ridden in Abu Dhabi, if we (the climate) move in that direction, it will be close to impossible to ride in the daytime. Personally, I rather avoid putting sunscreen as much as possible, although I do put some on my ears (covered), face (covered), and forehead (uncovered).

I've had my fair share of sunburns in Japan: 3 in 5 years. :p
 
The race was really fun, it was short enough that my lack of endurance didn't really show. And for a fitness minimum, I was happy with the numbers. My pacing was, hmmm, not great, but that was also because I had to catch up in the beginning. There were 179 starters in the road race category, and everyone from M70+ to the really fit guys started all at once. I took it easy and had to burn a few matches. When things mellowed out I didn't quite know my power targets and I came in too hot. But overall, I was happy with the result: 7th in the time I tried out for (the top 4 are really fast, they were 4–5 minutes faster than I was), 15th in my age bracket and 83rd overall. Properly trained, I would have had a chance to be in the top-10 in my age group. In the end I posted a time of 26:47, 328 W average and 335 normalized. People here are really quick, and I cannot cheat by being the heaviest guy around with usually the largest absolute power.

There are a few things I liked better than in Japan:
  • Instead of having to put numbers and transponders on your bike, they just had number stickers with a built-in RF-ID tag that you would “fold over” your seat post. No extra holes in my jersey, no having to hand transponders back. Easy, peasy.
  • They had a matsuri at the top with beer, showers for athletes and all. I couldn't make use of that this time as we don't have a car yet. So I had to go back by bike.
  • They offered self-made cake to the athletes after the race.
 
I'm interested in entering JBCF races, but it seems like you need to be a member of a pre-existing team.

Anyone have a lead on active JBCF teams in the western/southern Tokyo area?
 
You don't necessarily need to join a team that's (nominally) located near you. But you shouldn't have trouble finding one, either!
 
nateberkopec said:
Anyone have a lead on active JBCF teams in the western/southern Tokyo area?
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Hey, there is a bike shop called Bikeshop Snel (link) in the southern part of Tokyo that might be worth a look. They have a road race team in the JBCF with two English speaking guys, one from Australia the other from US/Europe. A good place to start at least.
 
Btw, if you don't have much experience racing in a large peloton, it might not be the best idea to rock up to a JBCF race alongside 150 other riders for your first experience. When I started out, I did a few races under a different organisation with smaller groups that rides the same courses as JBCF but doesn't require you to be a member of a club. It's a nice way to get accustomed to the road racing scene. They look to be organizing a couple of races in October and one in November. Web site is here: https://walkride-cycling.info/wr-road/
 
baribari said:
It's too hot and humid for riding... It was pretty bad even at 5:30 a.m. I think I'll swim and weight train this month instead.
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I lied, all I have done so far this month is ride my bike in the dark (I keep forgetting that I decent bike light...), where it's *only* 28-30 degrees.

This might actually be the best option for me, since riding indoors at night is typically the only training I manage to do on weekdays, and two hours on the road basically feels like an hour on the trainer, anyway.
 
I'll maybe write a longer post about it in another thread, but last week my wife and I completed our summer break tour. From here on the Sea of Japan coast over to Matsumoto and back. 690km, 10,600m of elevation, 30 hours of riding. It was a Saturday - Friday affair with a rest day on Day 5. We beat the heat and a typhoon along the way and made it home without any incidents. Honestly got really lucky with the weather, the riding was incredible. Highlights included seeing Gujo-Hachiman Castle, staying in a house hosted by the 14th generation owner on the Nakasendo, riding along Higashishirakawa's Tea Road (we didn't find any Tsuchinoko), climbing Akandanayama leaving Matsumoto and so much more.

This was my last big block of training / riding before a little mid-year break. Flying back to the USA this weekend to visit family and friends for a couple of weeks and I'm not taking my bike. My old steel Gunnar from now defunct Waterford is with my brother... but I don't think I'll ride it. Planning on eating a lot of bread and good cheese. Hopefully all at once on some days in the form of pizza.
 
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