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Twin Ring Motegi 100km or 5hr Enduro - 1/4/2011

So - who all is confirmed for this? I got a hostel bed close to the track for 4000 yen. And am signed up for the 100km individual. Looking at the 3hr 'tour' as my goal - more or less.
 
Entry Received

Hey Tim. My entry confirmation came in the mail today. #447 in the 40 year olds 100km race.

I will likely be driving up very early Tuesday morning with my regular supporters.

As for my extreme stretch goal I will shoot for a front main pack finish. The key will be the first hill after the start finish line. By the looks of things, we are running anti-clockwise and go up the side that climbs 29m vertical over 940m. That was where the pack usually broke up in the last race I did out there. Keeping near the front to avoid ending up in the slower group will be important. Unfortunately, I may more likely be 1 or 2 laps down based on my recent condition during my training rides. We will climb over 600m over the 100km.
 
Quick question / advise - since I'll be doing this on fixedgear and haven't ridden this course.. Looks like a Top 10 finish will require (for me) roughly 37kph avg. --- that's fine. But I need to know should I tune for the climbing portion? 48/17 or the flat - downhill bits 48/15. If I use 48/17 - I will be in a 37-39kph sweet spot (110rpm) with ability to mash / attack any hill up to about 7%. If I go to the larger gear like a 48/15, I'll be in the 40-45kph sweet spot, but exponentially lose ability to attack or climb efficiently - and gain a shitload of lactic acid to recover on the flats. But , I can go fast enough to bridge gaps and chase down packs on the flats and downs. And the bigger gear is more energy conserving in a peloton. What do you think? Err towards the spin and carry the small hill? Or slag it through the hill and pickup on the flats?
 
Hey Tim,
I am not one to offer advice to a fixie, but we will have a couple hours of open track time before the race (7-9am) which should give you plenty of time to decide which way to go.

I have all my gear ready and will hit the sack soon. Gonna depart Tokyo in the wee hours and plan to arrive at the circuit around 7:30.

See you there.
 
Good luck you guys!
 
Racing Strategy

I attended the race last year with Phil, Zen Biker and some other guys. The post about the race is on the Positivo Espresso blog:

http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2010/01/2-12-hours-freezing-in-motegi.html

Last year the race was clockwise. But no matter which way it is running, key are always the slopes, either about 400 meters after the short, short and brutal, or halfway, not so steep but very long. Chances that you loose contact with the main field is highest at the slopes, I believe.

In my opinion there are some pretty strong riders attending, so there is virtually no chance to stay with the strong and fast group, or even if, to finish well in the sprint.

But to finish at least with a good time, you need to stay in a strong group. So my guess would be that a strong group of 20 - 50 riders will move away from the main field after 2 to 5 laps, but there will be a second fastest or third fastest group to which you can hang on. It's better to stay with this groups than to ride individually - you will run out of steam fast.

So don't worry so much about the right cogs, Tim. Neverthless, this race is a good experience as you wil overtake lots of riders.
 
In my opinion there are some pretty strong riders attending, so there is virtually no chance to stay with the strong and fast group, or even if, to finish well in the sprint.

Ignore the Doom Sayers, they said something very similar about me even winning the D class Championships last year and look how wrong they were.

Basically the breaks will come on the climbs as they said but the trick is to stay at the front, if you aren't a strong climber this will allow you to drift backwards through the group while still benefiting from the draft.

Use the time at the back to recover and then make your way to the front ready for the climb again, just keep repeating. A lot of these strong guys rely on psychological warfare, "Hit em hard Hit em fast" tactics. They will hit the first 50km at very high speeds and then slacken off. The same happened at Gunma last year and the peloton reeled them back in on the final lap.

Basically stick with the fast group for as long as you can and race smart and when you feel yourself blowing push harder, they are feeling just like you.

As for the sprint....well you have to be in it to win it ;)

Good luck and forget the long rides now focus on hard core interval training, those climbs aren't a climb but a sprint, so treat them as such.

PMA.... Positive Mental Attitude, if you are going with the attitude that you are going to lose or place in the middle of the peloton, you will. If your racing race to win and go with that attitude.....you'll fare a lot better.
 
PMA.... Positive Mental Attitude, if you are going with the attitude that you are going to lose or place in the middle of the peloton, you will. If your racing race to win and go with that attitude.....you'll fare a lot better.

Full ack on this. Even if your goal (like a 35+ avg for Hakone ekiden), seems impossible, it is more likely to be only highly improbable, which makes it possible.

So, what happened in Motegi to our valiant TCC riders?
 
I'll defer to Doug's report on this - but needless to say - was 'terminated with extreme prejudice' by the same 'fixie nazi' that busted JF at Toyo. ... 'Arbeit Macht Frei'
 
BTW - for anyone attempting this in the future (I'll not give Sunday-Sunday 1 yen more of my money for ANY event) 48/15 is a great gear. In practice the 48/14 was too stiff to sustain repeated attack on the hill, and 48/16 too slow on the remainder. Not that I could thoroughly test this due to ejection - but, IMHO.
 
Our 'beginner' who I train with Tue & Thursday night.... (he only started riding less than a year ago) came 3rd!!!!!!!!
2時間29分35秒 (probably 3rd in his class...not sure if that is out of everybody).
:eek::eek::eek:
 
2hrs30mins 06 secs for a 40.44 kph average which was good enough for a 5th spot on the 40-49 podium!:D
 
I'll defer to Doug's report on this - but needless to say - was 'terminated with extreme prejudice
Tim that's really tragic. But when you stop crying boo-hoo (Rule 5) we still want to hear about the cold, cold, cold freezing your antifreeze. How did Dr. Smith's Patent Capsaicin Liniment, Mouthwash and Chamois Cream perform? Did it reach the parts others cannot!?:D
 
@Mike - I fully accept the folly of my (ignorant) attempt - however, did NOT expect to be physically abused by the inconsiderant course marshal who seemed to be on a personal witch hunt for any fg rider. Besides that - Dr. Smith' s patented liniment worked great! Otherwise frozen parts retained a 'glow' that could only be described as sublime. It was still bloody cold out there, though. But can't recommend this enough to anyone venturing into the chill. The recipe:

1) Titrated capsacin oleoresin (ethyl alcohol extracted) from cheap chili powder.
2) Shea butter base.
3) Beeswax binder
4) Soy oil
5) Bergamot oil
6) Tea tree oil
7) Olive oil
8) Methyl salicylate

Most of this stuff you can get online at various essential oil places. I extracted the oleoresin myself with just cheap souchu (spiritus) and chili powder from the local Korean market. Go easy on this - it has a half-life of like 4hrs and the whole mixture is sweat activated. So - you don't really start feeling it until you start riding and your pores open a bit - then its like a chain reaction!

Great results from the riders out there! I was so missing the ride.... grrrr! No excuses.
 
Full ack on this. Even if your goal (like a 35+ avg for Hakone ekiden), seems impossible, it is more likely to be only highly improbable, which makes it possible.

So, what happened in Motegi to our valiant TCC riders?

Gunjira..... my post was being sarcastic... thus the Red Dwarf Quote.
 
Another good placing, congrats!

James> No worries. I sometimes overdo it with my strong PMA.

Tim> Please school those Sundaysunday guys, I cannot think of anybody else to be better suited to do so.
Of course I hope you can get your money back, but it would be even better, if they were to allow any drivetrain, as long as the bike has brakes.
 
it would be even better, if they were to allow any drivetrain, as long as the bike has brakes.

Let me venture to guess that this was the problem? They didn't like the fact your bike had only one?
 
Surprisingly that was not the issue - though I actually thought it might be. The REAL issue was that I was riding a fixed gear - and this was not allowed - though not entirely disallowed. I'm writing a blog entry about this and will post soon. But the crux of the situation (after a very long discussion with the director), was simply that: (And I quote him nearly verbatim)

"Fixed gear bike is not allowed because you cannot stop."

So, there you go! brakes or not, doesn't matter. I guess we FG riders somehow break the laws of physics and only appear to be stopped, when actually we are still going.

Funny - in my few practice laps, I failed to see any intersections, crossings or circumstances where I would be required to STOP my bike. I thought this was a race and the object is to keep moving in a forward direction. Also - unlike majority of road bike riders out there , I could pedal through the corners easily without striking cause my bike is made with higher BB - as is practically ANY FG bike.

Let me venture to guess that this was the problem? They didn't like the fact your bike had only one?
 
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