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Race The Training Thread

But I have to say that also in other situations the Japanese seem super conservative: ..............It really seems the shops and reps here are glued to the oldest-school vision of a road bike that you can have.
I still get customers asking me for a faxed quote. This after they contact me in the first instance by email. Some seem surprised that PDF's are the standard way now. Local LBS prefers faxes to email.
 
Japan is apparently one of the only places in the world where sending faxes is still considered to be a normal part of office work...
 
Japan is apparently one of the only places in the world where sending faxes is still considered to be a normal part of office work...
Yeah. And you need to buy "stamps" (inshi) to pay for stuff at government offices. My German genes compel me to ask "Why?!?" every time.
 
I'm heading down to Mie tomorrow for a 2 up TT on Saturday.

As I get older (wiser?!) I pay much more attention to the taper before an event.

So when look at friend's blogs who are going to do the 210km Tour de Okinawa this weekend, I'm surprised by how much volume and intensity they do right down to the wire.

Maybe it is just me getting older!

After a few hard weeks, I did next to nothing this week.

The plan is to be like a bull at a gate come Saturday!

The usual blog below.

Andy

 
So you'll be at the Tour de Okinawa? A riding buddy of mine will also be there. If you see a Michelin*-themed BMC bike with Jason Pollock-esque brake calipers and Lightweight wheels, that's him :)

* As in the tire company, although in his case it is an homage to the food guide.
 
So you'll be at the Tour de Okinawa? A riding buddy of mine will also be there. If you see a Michelin*-themed BMC bike with Jason Pollock-esque brake calipers and Lightweight wheels, that's him :)

* As in the tire company, although in his case it is an homage to the food guide.

No, not Okinawa. The Suzuka F1 circuit in Mie prefecture.

But Okinawa is up there with Niseko as Japan's premium races.

Good luck to your buddy!

Andy
 
90 minutes at Z1 sounds mind-numbingly boring to me. I salute you.

I may not be able to afford a power meter this month after all... need to pay down my credit card debt. OTOH, I realized that the FSA Powerbox uses a 110 mm spider for all chainring sizes, so I could get a 53 for flat-ish races and then buy a 50 for $75 next year for regular riding and hill climbs. Good luck tomorrow. No, wait, today.
 
90 minutes at Z1 sounds mind-numbingly boring to me. I salute you.

I may not be able to afford a power meter this month after all... need to pay down my credit card debt. OTOH, I realized that the FSA Powerbox uses a 110 mm spider for all chainring sizes, so I could get a 53 for flat-ish races and then buy a 50 for $75 next year for regular riding and hill climbs. Good luck tomorrow. No, wait, today.

I was up later than you as we arrived at 3:30am.

I enjoy 90 minutes in zone 1. Speeds up the recovery I reckon.

Race was good. Was hoping for 1st. But sometimes you have to be pleased with 2nd!



There's always the next race!

Andy
 
Nice work! How much did they win by?

I wouldn't mind 90 easy minutes on the road, I was thinking more about on the trainer!

Next week I'm doing a fan service ride event (two rides with a party and a hotel stay in between) with Nasu Blazen and their bike sponsor BOMA. I'm gonna rent some of their 50 mm carbon tubulars for the ride, haha. I wanted to rent a bike so I could take the train, but their "large" is a 52!!! Need to go steal my bike bag back from my friend who has had it for like two or three years... he's used it more than I have.
 
Nice work! How much did they win by?

I wouldn't mind 90 easy minutes on the road, I was thinking more about on the trainer!

Next week I'm doing a fan service ride event (two rides with a party and a hotel stay in between) with Nasu Blazen and their bike sponsor BOMA. I'm gonna rent some of their 50 mm carbon tubulars for the ride, haha. I wanted to rent a bike so I could take the train, but their "large" is a 52!!! Need to go steal my bike bag back from my friend who has had it for like two or three years... he's used it more than I have.

They won by about 45 seconds. I reckon we lost about 15 to 20 seconds per lap due to my poor descending, which is regrettable!

I've been trying to get the guy from Boma to provide me with a bike for years. Met him just last week with the usual greeting, "Have you made me a 60 yet!?"

Nice bloke. Might do you a deal if you say you know Andy in Kashiwazaki.

Never know unless you ask!

Andy
 
The Niigata sales rep for Boma was on a business trip. As expected the riding was largely social. Still fun, though.

Their new "Sai" model had a really beautiful paintjob, though.
 
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My weekly training blog below.

After today's ride I washed the bike, oiled the chain, changed the brake blocks and put on the race tyres.

Looking forward to one last fling at Motegi on Friday!

Andy

 
I would love to be able to ride on the coast every day... Do you have any issues with salt corrosion?

This weekend was the first time I used my bike bag in literally years.
 
I would love to be able to ride on the coast every day... Do you have any issues with salt corrosion?

This weekend was the first time I used my bike bag in literally years.

Back in the day the cranks would corrode to the extent that they looked like they'd been dragged up off the ocean floor!

These days, with carbon cranks and a titanium frame, I don't have to worry.

I have to watch the nuts and bolts though.

Personally corrosion from sweat is a bigger problem. Especially on the TT bike which gets a white covering of salt every time I ride it in earnest...

Andy
 
When I brought over my then-brand-new MTB to Fukuoka, I got a layer of surface rust on some of the screws after two weeks. And two bottle cage screws corroded into the frame, although I tried to unscrew them after six years, so I can't say for sure when they fused into the frame. I should point out that I arrived in Fukuoka at the height of summer with lows of 28-29 degrees and highs in the high 30s and sometimes low 40s. The humidity was constantly between 90-100 %, so I don't reckon this is a problem further up north, though. But none of the parts really suffered, and the bike still works flawlessly (apart from the fused bottle cage screws).
 
Yeah. And you need to buy "stamps" (inshi) to pay for stuff at government offices. My German genes compel me to ask "Why?!?" every time.
Yeah, but Japan isn't really an outlier here. Just of the top of my head, Ireland, the UK and Hong Kong also have stamp taxes.

In the US and Australia, some individual states also charge a stamp tax for some transactions.
 
Back in the day the cranks would corrode to the extent that they looked like they'd been dragged up off the ocean floor!

These days, with carbon cranks and a titanium frame, I don't have to worry.

I have to watch the nuts and bolts though.

Personally corrosion from sweat is a bigger problem. Especially on the TT bike which gets a white covering of salt every time I ride it in earnest...

Andy

I think they make an anti-corrosion spray especially for that purpose.
 
When I brought over my then-brand-new MTB to Fukuoka, I got a layer of surface rust on some of the screws after two weeks. And two bottle cage screws corroded into the frame, although I tried to unscrew them after six years, so I can't say for sure when they fused into the frame. I should point out that I arrived in Fukuoka at the height of summer with lows of 28-29 degrees and highs in the high 30s and sometimes low 40s. The humidity was constantly between 90-100 %, so I don't reckon this is a problem further up north, though. But none of the parts really suffered, and the bike still works flawlessly (apart from the fused bottle cage screws).

You should use anti-seize lubricant on threaded parts and grease on any metal-metal part. It keeps things from getting stuck and the latter has the benefit if reducing creaks (especially in BBs and headsets). Also, make sure to use carbon grease on any carbon/carbon or carbon/metal contact surfaces. It doesn't just reduce the torque you need, it also prevents seat posts from getting stuck in frames.
 
You should use anti-seize lubricant on threaded parts and grease on any metal-metal part. It keeps things from getting stuck and the latter has the benefit if reducing creaks (especially in BBs and headsets). Also, make sure to use carbon grease on any carbon/carbon or carbon/metal contact surfaces. It doesn't just reduce the torque you need, it also prevents seat posts from getting stuck in frames.
I'm applying grease to select screws now. The only reason the bottle cage screws got stuck was that nobody (neither me nor someone in a bike shop) ever saw any reason to touch them. Plus, I made the mistake of not applying grease to the bolts holding my cleats. My bike mechanic had to use a Dremel and order some replacement parts for my shoe. I'm never making that mistake again.
 
I think they make an anti-corrosion spray especially for that purpose.

Every time I have the bike on the stand at the shop, I say "let's change the bolts!" but Enosan says "there's still life in those!" and applies some more of what he calls "silicon grease".

I was caught out in the spring when one of the seat clamp bolts snapped, the saddle dropped, and I had to ride 50km home "dancing" out of the saddle.

That was ironic as I always have the opposite problem on the road bike. The seat pillar gets stuck.

Shouldn't be a problem with a titanium bike I thought, but the seat tube has an inner aluminum lining. Which reminds me I should give it a twist!

Andy
 
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