Official Ride Tour de Kusatsu! (13th TCC Tour)

[WhiteGiant]

The hill-climb race season is about to begin!
“Tour de Kusatsu” is quite a short race – only 13km, up a not too steep-ish mountain, climbing 800m in altitude over that distance (average 6%).
For anyone familiar with the Kusatsu region, we climb up to the top of Mt. Shirane.

Race day is April 15, but you need the whole weekend to do the race.
After the initial sign up, which closes on March 25, you need to be there the day before to check-in by 6:00pm, and get your numbers and time-check meter.
http://www.sportsentry.ne.jp/event.php?tid=11927

There’s also a little festival held in the town centre the day before the race.
The stay overnight can either be arranged privately, or through the website, depending on your budget.
I think Sora-san is also thinking of making it an Official Tour (Ooops! I've already done that!), and he might be able to help with accommodation arrangements.

With the entry fee (6,000 yen), you also get a free “Onsen” ticket to use after the race.

The trains to Nagano-Hara-Kusatsu-Guchi （長野原草津口）station leave from Ueno about once every 2 hours on Saturday!

I’ve been in this race twice already, and this year, I’m looking forward to destroying my previous times!
2005; 57mins:48secs
2006; 51mins:02secs
2007; I’m aiming for under 45mins!

The winner usually has a time of just over 30 minutes, and the last person has 2 hours to get to the top!

For anyone interested in coming along, please post your replies ASAP!
AND, keep an eye out for the training runs in the hills out towards Okutama, and the Otsuki region around the beginning of March.
Rubber down! T

 

[Sora]

count me in

:climb01: オイラは登るよ。
今度は押さないで済むといいけどなぁ。

 

[Newton]

Hello, everybody!!!

Long time not post here....
I have been busy and I am working like crazy...

Anyway, I will be more active from March and I look forward to see you all.

Newton

 

[thomas]

Thanks for the reminder, Travis! Needless to say, I'm in!

Hello, everybody!!!

Long time not post here....
I have been busy and I am working like crazy...

Anyway, I will be more active from March and I look forward to see you all.

I knew there was another TCC Peloton Leader!

Good to hear from you, Newton, we do look forward to seeing you and your Felt again!

 

[Sora]

Hello, everybody!!!

Long time not post here....
I have been busy and I am working like crazy...

Anyway, I will be more active from March and I look forward to see you all.

Newton

ニュートン、はやくもどってこーい！
まってるぞー！

 

[nobu☆]

私も登るよ♪　:climb02:

 

[shinobu]

みんな登るんだあ・・・
坂道は不得意だけど、私も登る！！
nobu、ついにin出来たよ！じゃまたね:greets:

 

[WhiteGiant]

Accommodation!

I'm a little bit surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for this race.
However, we still have 5 riders going:

Sora
Thomas
Travis
Nobu
Shinobu

Accommodation in Kusatsu is filling up fast, and the dead-line for entry in the race is March 25.
Although the entry cut-off is still about a month away, we really need to find a place to stay the night before the race, so IF you are thinking of coming along and haven't made up your mind yet, do so quickly - Real quick! - within the next few days PLEASE!
I've sent Sora-san a list of available places, and I've left it in his hands to decide where we will stay. But if we haven't made concrete arrangements by the end of this weekend, we might find ourselves without a bed to lie down in.
Therefore, you ALL have about 4 days to make make a decision!
With any luck, hotel reservations will be completed by Sunday night.
Waiting for your replies! T

 

[Sora]

I have already reserved Minshuku (民宿： Minshuku D&B&B: Dinner & Bed & Breakfast) for 12 people. I will write about the details tomorrow, but sorry I cannot do that now because I have enough drunken. :beer1: See you tomorrow!

おおいに酔っ払っているので詳しいことは明日書きますが、現在5名参加表明ですが草津の民宿をすでに12人で確保していますっ！まだまだまだ、皆様の「オレ（あたしっ！）も登るぜ！」をお待ちしてマース！

I'm a little bit surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for this race.
However, we still have 5 riders going:

Sora
Thomas
Travis
Nobu
Shinobu

Accommodation in Kusatsu is filling up fast, and the dead-line for entry in the race is March 25.
Although the entry cut-off is still about a month away, we really need to find a place to stay the night before the race, so IF you are thinking of coming along and haven't made up your mind yet, do so quickly - Real quick! - within the next few days PLEASE!
I've sent Sora-san a list of available places, and I've left it in his hands to decide where we will stay. But if we haven't made concrete arrangements by the end of this weekend, we might find ourselves without a bed to lie down in.
Therefore, you ALL have about 4 days to make make a decision!
With any luck, hotel reservations will be completed by Sunday night.
Waiting for your replies! T

 

[Sora]

Accommodation!

As I wrote I reserved minshuku (民宿： D&B&B: Dinner & Bed & Breakfast) for 12 people on April 14th.
It is Koakan (興亜館), the fee is 6,975 yen.
(with yukata(sleep wear), toothbrush, towel, soap, shampoo)
=> http://kusatu.com/kouakan/
The cancel fee will cost from April 7th.
I said them we will change the number on March 25th (the limit of entry of the hill climb race).

Then who is the next climber?


宿情報です。
民宿：興亜館
=> http://kusatu.com/kouakan/
料金：6,975円（税込み）
（浴衣、歯ブラシ、タオル、石鹸、シャンプーあり）
キャンセル料は一週間前（４月７日）よりかかります。
現在１２名でおさえています。宿には３月２５日（ヒルクライムの受付締切日）に人数をいったん確定して連絡する旨を伝えています。

というわけで、次のチャレンジャーはだーれだ？

 

[Pete]

This Tour looks great. Very fun. Do you think it's ok for a keen novice? As Travis says 'its not too steepish a climb'. Maybe I can push the bike up some of the way if I get puffed out.

 

[WhiteGiant]

Time is running out!

Just a reminder for the entry cut-off date: It's March 25th.
To register, you'll need a credit card, or if you don't have one, you can use your printer that will give you a sheet with a bar-code on it to take to your local convenience store (I always use 7-11).
Please use the following web-site! It's all in Japanese, so you might need to get a friend to navigate it for you, or start hitting the "kanji" books a little harder.
http://www.sportsentry.ne.jp/event.php?tid=11927

Failing that (I hope Sora-san can make arrangements), you'll need to send to Sora, by Private Message, your:
Name, Address, Date of birth, Blood-type (don't know why they need that!), and the type of ride you want to do - I think we'll all be in the 18km Road-race category. Then, you will have to give Sora \6,000 next time you see him - and buy him a beer after the race:beer:
I've registered.
Nobu-san has registered.

How about Thomas? Shinobu? Pete?
And for anyone-else, you still have 2 weeks to make up your mind.
Later! Travis

 

[cinelli]

hello travis

i can let you know by beginning of next week (when i'am back in japan)
if i can join you. untill today it looks good and therefore please count me in - and i will contact sora-san for some help also by mid of next week...!

cheers
christoph

 

[Sora]

Hi all,

Tora-san, thank you for your info.

Just a reminder for the entry cut-off date: It's March 25th.
To register, you'll need a credit card, or if you don't have one, you can use your printer that will give you a sheet with a bar-code on it to take to your local convenience store (I always use 7-11).
Please use the following web-site! It's all in Japanese, so you might need to get a friend to navigate it for you, or start hitting the "kanji" books a little harder.
http://www.sportsentry.ne.jp/event.php?tid=11927

Yes, in the case of registering, don't forget to input the name of the team (チーム名・所属) "TCC".

Failing that (I hope Sora-san can make arrangements), you'll need to send to Sora, by Private Message, your:
Name, Address, Date of birth, Blood-type (don't know why they need that!), and the type of ride you want to do - I think we'll all be in the 18km Road-race category. Then, you will have to give Sora \6,000 next time you see him - and buy him a beer after the race:beer:

In this case, I need:
1. Name
2. Name in katakana (カタカナ)
3. Sex
4. Address (with post code): if you can, please in kanji (漢字) also.
5. Phone number
6. e-mail address
7. Date of birth
8. Blood-type
9. Type of ride (えっ！？みんな18kmでしょ？ If anybody wants to enter "11km category", I may not going to enty the one. )
10. Type of bike: road or MTB



Btw, Thomas-san and I are thinking that "team TCC" wear same jersey. In fact in the staff room we (including Peloton Leaders) are thinking about team jersey, it has logo and unique design. But it takes time to make it, so this time we are thinking to buy same jersey: it costs 3,500 yen.

Details are here. Check please:
=> http://www.cb-asahi.co.jp/image/kokunai/asahi/07road.html

How do you think? Please let me know your opinion about this idea.

 

[nobu☆]

Hi　ａｌｌ

『１８ｋｍ』でエントリーしましたぁ～
（ｓｈｉｎｏｂｕちゃん　　みんなでいっしょに１８ｋｍにでましょ！タイムは気にせずに、、、、わたし、途中で歩くと思うけど）


チーム名・所属は『TCC』でエントリーしてしまいましたがよかったでしょうか？uch:

PS　ローソンでの入金を選んだらプリンターは要りませんでした。

みんなでモリモリ登りましょう:climb02:

 

[WhiteGiant]

Team name!

When I registered, for the team, I just put "TCC".
I hope this works!
T

 

[shinobu]

Ｈｅｌｌｏ，ｅｖｅｒｙｂｏｄｙ

nobuもうエントリーしたの？っていうか、自分でするんだ？？
『１８ｋｍ』恐ろしい～。ずっと坂道でしょ？
楽しく頑張ろう！歩いてもいいよね・・・

sora-san
ユニフォームですか？sounds interesting

 

[Sora]

Today, network in my home doesn't work well. I can seldom connect to internet. Now I am logging in from PHS. Hard to post!!

When I registered, for the team, I just put "TCC".
I hope this works!
T

"TCC" is also good!! Let's go with it. I edited the previous ppost.

nobuもうエントリーしたの？っていうか、自分でするんだ？？

大変なら、必要な情報をもらえればやりますよ。

sora-san
ユニフォームですか？sounds interesting

上記の通り、オフィシャルのユニフォームは別途検討中なのですが、今回は間に合わないので”お揃いのジャージ”ぐらいの雰囲気です（背中にワッペンぐらいつけるのは悪くないですかね。）どうでしょう？

 

[WhiteGiant]

Getting higher!

It looks like we might be up to 7 riders:

Thomas
Travis (me)
Sora
Nobu-san
Shinobu-san
Pete
Christoph "Cinelli" (If he's in Japan at the time)

>Sora: That grey jersey looks GREAT! It matches my bike! I'll buy one!
>Cinelli: Thanks for your earlier reply - When you find out whether or not you can be here, send a reply as soon as possible, and we'll have someone (probably Sora-san) enter you in the race too.
>Shinobu: １８ｋｍのレースなんだけど、本当は山登りが１３ｋｍだけだよ！最初の５ｋｍは登録されてないから、、、（１１ｋｍのレースは、実際６ｋｍだけで中途半端だよ）！
>Pete: No problem with you coming! I hope you can make the "Okutama 2..." ride on the 17th of this month. It will be good training.
>Nobu: もっと軽い自転車を近いうちに手に入れそうになり、大丈夫だろう！？
No problem!
>Thomas: This one's for TCC, so let's ride our arses off! I hope to see you at Okutama on the 17th - I'm still on to ride out with you from Kameido - Door to door!　It'll be great! - not sure about the ride back, but I promise I'll leave my bike-bag at home for this one!

To anyone else who is still undecided, Kusatsu is a great experience for "experienced" and "inexperienced" riders alike - not too long, not too steep, but still challenging!
And we still have five places (beds) to fill up in the next two weeks.

Later! Travis

 

[Terry]

It looks like we might be up to 7 riders:

Thomas
Travis (me)
Sora
Nobu-san
Shinobu-san
Pete
Christoph "Cinelli" (If he's in Japan at the time)

One more rider + Terry