Tuesday 29 January 2013

Wisdom through pain

Ongoing pain from an infected wisdom tooth has had my mileage down again this past week. I finally managed to come by some antibiotics (now there's a story...) so hopefully that'll clear up soon - I definitely feel better already.

Meanwhile, I managed to get out for a ride with Grecia and Cory on Sunday. Conditions were fine lower down but as we got up to Takao we began to see patchy snow and as we turned off to Mochikoshi Pass (west side) the road became impassable. We ended up posing for a couple of snowy photos, impressing a bus-load of Japanese pensioners with our bike handling skills, then finding an alternate route on a bigger road that had been cleared. A lovely ride nonetheless, and one I would like to complete when conditions are better.


My bike, wondering exactly why it is where it is...

Myself and Grecia, who is dealing with the cold remarkably well for someone from a tropical country
that does not experience winter at all...

Grecia and Cory, who looks far colder than he should!

Saturday 26 January 2013

What goes around, comes around

I had a run-in with a homicidal bus driver a few weeks ago. The guy showed a continuous pattern of blatant disregard for the safety of cyclists riding fully within the law, so it got to the point where I memorised all of his vehicle registration details and wrote a detailed account of his actions to Kyoto City Transportation Bureau.

This morning I found this letter in my mailbox. They'd even taken the time to reply in (really quite good) English. Result!


Just goes to show, in Japan at least, it's worth reporting dangerous driving.

Additionally the phrase 'unnecessary horning' will now be a part of my regular vocabulary.

Thursday 24 January 2013

A week of pain

Got another good set of stats in last week - 270km and nearly 4500m of climbing. Not bad!


It's been a painful week, though. Firstly my final wisdom tooth has been pushing through and that's had me downing (weak Japanese) ibuprofen like a madman. Turns out the adrenaline and endorphins from riding are a far better painkiller!

On Sunday we took a long ride out to Kameoka and then north into the mountains. Between low temperatures, terrible roads (including what must have been 5km of MTB trail), slush, ice, wet leaves, a dropped chain (my fault) and a puncture (not my fault - who leads a group of roadies onto an MTB trail, anyway?!) it was an eventful ride. I've been taking a few days off since then, trying to deal with this tooth and what feels like a small cold, probably as a result of such a late finish and slight underdressing on Sunday.


This is why you carry a puncture kit...
This week has been slower (first ride of the week tomorrow, hopefully) but sometimes you just need a few days rest...

Friday 18 January 2013

A lesson in suffering

Grecia and I set out on our usual Friday morning ride today. It was sunny when we left, but that didn't last long - within half an hour we were riding through a full-on blizzard.

What followed was, as the title of this post indicates, a lesson in endurance and suffering. And bike handling skills.







We didn't complete the route, but we did get back alive and eventually the feeling returned to our extremities. I think we'd both consider that a win.

Sunday 13 January 2013

A week of climbs

Following on from the last post, I got a couple more climb-intensive routes in (including a quick bash up a nasty little Category 2 near university after class). What a great week overall.





Everything taken into account, this week I have ridden:
 - 209.3 km
 - 9hr 53m
 - 3800 m total elevation gain

I've passed my personal distance goal of 200 km for the week and I am EXTREMELY happy with that last elevation figure!

Thursday 10 January 2013

Going vertical again...

In the absence of rock and ice climbing, and following so many flat miles during Festive 500, I've taken to trying to gain more elevation on the bike again. Winter weather is making this fun, but I have well over 2000m total so far this week, with a couple more rides to go. Maybe I can hit 3000m!






The first route includes a horrendous little climb called Mochikoshi Pass (East) - 10% average grade for a little over a kilometre, with a maximum of about 58% (on a particularly nasty little hairpin bend, I think). Climbing that definitely fends off the winter cold!

Mochikoshi Pass (East) elevation profile - ugly!


Sunday 6 January 2013

Happy new year!

First ride of the new year - not bad! I've been very lazy since finishing Festive 500...



I resent that 'achievement' though - I was easily first to the top of the hill, then waited for the others to catch up. I stopped just before the official end of the segment. For my troubles I'm actually dead last on the leaderboard! Next time it's every man for himself!

Then again, all of our times are terrible because we got lost in the middle of the segment anyway...


My Sarto posing in front of the big bridge in Uji.
Today's group - left to right: Me, Kory, Ross, Grecia.


Great weather, great route, great company. Days like today are why I love cycling.

Friday 4 January 2013

Thursday 3 January 2013

Rapha Festive 500 or: How I Learned To Keep Pedalling And Love The Pain

DAY 1 - 24th December: Kyoto - Kizugawa (91.6 km)



I started off the challenge on a cloudy, cold Christmas Eve. 5 km in it began to snow. That didn't last long, but still, what an introduction. I picked an easy, flat route that I've done before to get some nice base miles in to begin with. I enjoyed a festive cake in Kizugawa, as is tradition now, plus many cups of free hot tea. I love that bakery.


Festive enough?

DAY 2 - 25th December: Kyoto - Katsuragawa/Ujigawa Bridge (51.2 km)



An easier day today, mainly because I had a BikeFit session booked in the afternoon. A Christmas present to myself, I guess.

In the morning I met up with and rode about 40 km with a new friend Ryo, who works at the Rapha Cycle Club in Osaka. I figured if I get in with him, maybe he'd just give me the completion patch without having to ride the 500 km. Just kidding - actually I've been meaning to ride with him for some time and this was a fun opportunity.

In case you're wondering, yes, he also completed Festive 500 - as he should, working for Rapha!

With that distance under my belt in the morning, I headed off to the fit session at 1-jyo Ultimate Factory Kyoto where a multitude of things on my bike were tweaked or outright changed, putting me in a comfortable and powerful position to complete the long rides I'd need while remaining injury-free. Getting a pro bike fit is pretty amazing and something I would recommend to anyone vaguely serious about riding.

Position after the fitting session - so much better!

Following that I had to head off and cook Christmas dinner for a host of friends, resulting in this being a busy day overall! Hence...


DAY 3 - 26th December: I did literally nothing (8.7 km)

I needed a rest. I spent most of the day in a cafe. It was very warm and toasty and I knew I should savour it, because the next three days were going to be full of pain and suffering...


DAY 4 - 27th December: Ohara via Ebumi Pass West - Kizugawa (130.7 km)




It was a cold, cold day. I met up with Grecia, who had the bright idea of riding up to Ohara via Ebumi Pass - a nice Category 3 climb. This set me up well for the preceding long day. Thanks, Grecia.


About to head over a freezing cold, icy Ebumi Pass to Ohara. Whose great idea was this?

After coming down from Ohara I swapped partners and met up with Adriano (a pretty new cyclist) and he rode out to the Katsuragawa/Ujigawa bridge with me - a good distance for him. By this point the weather was absolutely beautiful and it was a nice ride.


A mystery message.

At this point we parted ways and I continued on to Kizugawa once again, solo. Two pieces of cake were consumed this time, much to the amusement of the ladies running the shop. Oh well. It was a long day and after a few periods of waiting I ended up getting back to Kyoto in the dark. No big deal, but it was even colder by now!


DAY 5 - 28th December: Ohara - Rainbow Road - South Biwa Lake - Uji - Kyoto (113.7 km)


I should have known better than to ride with Cory on the day after putting in 130 km, but I needed the motivation. The guy climbs like a monster and coupled with the weather, this day turned into the most epic of the challenge by far.

We started off with a seemingly never-ending Category 3 climb up to the Rainbow Road through Ohara, at which point I lost Cory and missed the bypass road he'd taken, ending up heading through a huge dark tunnel filled with trucks. Luckily I'd turned my rear light on before reaching it. I was sat in the centre of the lane on the only dry strip of rather slick cement, screaming downhill in the drops, shitting myself and getting tailgated by trucks full of rocks. Great fun. Somehow I got out of that alive, managed to find Cory again and we descended down to Biwa Lake and across it on the Rainbow Bridge (which is an oddity worth visiting if you have any interest in classic video games).

On the Rainbow Bridge, looking back at the mountains we just descended from.
This was right before the weather turned.

It was around this point that it started raining. Hard. This didn't stop for the rest of the ride, so we both got thoroughly soaked and the only way to stay warm was to keep riding. Most of our riding was done without feeling in hands and feet. After a brief but steep ascent back into some smaller mountains and then a long, stop-start descent into Uji (while getting harassed by care-free truck drivers on wet, slippery mountain roads), we got separated again and I ended up making my way back to Kyoto along the Katsuragawa path once again.

Over the course of this ride we experienced rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow and freezing temperatures. Now that's what this challenge is all about - real suffering! Truly a hard-earned 114 km...

Road bikes are not generally supposed to get this filthy!

DAY 6 - 29th December: Ohara (+) - Kizugawa Path (Partial) (105.8 km)



Last day! All of my motivation couldn't make me get out of bed, but once I met with Grecia and Adriano again things warmed up and it actually turned out to be a lovely day. I needed just over 100 km.

We set off up to Ohara again, going just a little further to show what the road becomes on the route I took with Cory (it becomes a bit of a horror show, actually, but has a wonderful view). After descending back into Kyoto I left Grecia to her busy schedule and Adriano bravely followed me all the way to that bridge again - for him a total ride of almost 80 km which is pretty good for someone who's only been semi-seriously cycling for a month or so!

I split off again here and began on my final solo leg of the challenge. I rode maybe 2/3 total of the way to Kizugawa, to a rest stop filled with stray cats who always seem glad to have a visitor. After a brief rest I set off back home, feeling every one of the kilometres I'd ridden up to that point. Not an easy ride back, with my motivation utterly flagging...


Welcome friends near the end of a long journey!

CHALLENGE COMPLETE!




TOTAL DISTANCE: 501.8 km

Over 6 days. That includes 350.2 km in 3 days back-to-back, which I think is pretty good going, especially considering some of the conditions.

I headed off to Nagano for a skiing/resting trip over New Year. The challenge actually finished on 31st. Had I had those extra 2 days, I wonder if I'd have done things differently...

Special mention should go the Rapha Classic Softshell, which I wore for every single ride of the challenge. That thing is unfailingly awesome - far and away the best winter cycling jacket around. The design is flawless and kept me cycling comfortably across a good range of winter temperatures, through all kinds of gnarly weather conditions, both on the flat and up in the mountains. It carried everything I needed, kept me warm and dry, and ventilated perfectly. I'm not just pimping Rapha here - it really is that good.

I should be getting my commemorative woven patch soon. Now to decide where to put it - on the softshell maybe!