Strava BMC 79mi Challenge

As a fairly keen Strava user, I take note of their 'Challenges'. As a mortal human being and a fixed gear rider, most of these are frankly absurdly 'challenging'. However, last weekend they made a more reasonable demand:

This September, 79th running of the UCI World Road Cycling Championships was won on a BMC teammachine SLR01. 

To honor that huge accomplishment, BMC is challenging you to go out and complete a ride of 79 miles (or greater) in one day. 

Pick your favorite long training ride, prep your bike, fill up some bottles, maybe even sport a little bit of Belgian red/yellow/black, and push yourself to make it happen! 

Note: The Challenge is to complete a single ride of 79 miles (or greater) in one 24 hour period. You have a three day window to make this happen and can make multiple attempts. Manual entries will not count towards your Challenge effort, nor will trainer rides.

Why not?

Sunday traditionally being group ride day, I thought I'd combine the two. So, on Sunday morning, I met up with the group and set off up to Takao (where I visited last Tuesday). The hill felt much easier this time (probably because I was fresher) and we were soon at the top and enjoying some quality autumn leaf viewing.

Our little peloton at the top of the hill leading to Takao.
Left to right: Rafael, Grecia, me, Iago, Jamie, Alexander. Photo by Cory.

With a couple of hours of momiji under our belts (bib shorts?) and followed by a brief lunch stop at a convenience store, I set off accompanied by Rafael and Grecia... this time, to complete the challenge. I thought I'd ride to Kizu and back - about the right distance and relatively flat, so fairly appropriate for a track bike. Grecia and Rafael had to turn back about 1/3 of the way to Kizu due to prior commitments at home, leaving me riding alone save for my iPod (I never usually ride with one, but this time I'm certainly glad I brought it along... and glad I chose a route where it was safe to listen to it!).

I should note that Cory, Jamie and Iago set off on a separate mountain route to complete theirs. They all have geared road bikes! Their route took them on about 4000 m total elevation gain, which is frankly insane. Of the three, only Cory completed the challenge - Iago got a puncture and didn't have a spare tubular, so had to get a lift home, and Jamie was 10 km short when he got home and too tired to seek out what was left! Well done, Cory!

The ride to Kizu and back was less eventful. The weather initially looked threatening and I got one or two bursts of light drizzle, but it soon cleared up. I had a wicked headwind for the last part of the return journey into Kyoto, which wasn't really what I wanted, but I pushed through that ok.

Oh, and naturally I stopped for the obligatory mid-ride cake in Kizu...

Sure beats another bottle of electrolyte drink!

I arrived back in Kyoto about 15 km short of my goal, so I rode up to university and back. It was at this point that it decided to rain quite heavily. It was also dark. And I was pretty tired. Consequently, I can describe this last section as "less than pleasant".

However...

Total distance 127.7 km (79.3 mi) - CHALLENGE COMPLETE!

I think on a road bike it wouldn't have been particularly special and I think Cory and crew's decision to liven it up with a pretty horrendous mountain route was probably a good one overall. On a track bike, wholly unsuited to long-distance riding, I think one climb was enough and I don't think I'd like to ride much further!

Fixed gear means your legs are perpetually in motion and that certainly wears you down. My legs were feeling it for a couple of days afterwards and I've definitely tweaked my knee slightly, which means a week or so off from riding (the horror!).

And after all that, what do I get? A virtual badge on my Strava profile and a feeling of satisfaction. Worth it? Most definitely!

Gearing up for a Challenge

The Strava BMC 79mi Challenge is coming up this weekend, 'challenging' me to ride 79mi (about 125km) within a 24 hour period. On a geared bike this would be easy. On a fixed gear, probably not so much. I forsee much pain.

The route I've planned will take me up to Takao (with a group of friends) for some momiji (autumn leaves) viewing, then back down and along the rivers to Kizu and then back to Kyoto (the route I took when I was hit by that Prius last time). In other words, it starts off with a nice long Cat 4 hill climb, then provides about 90 km of flat terrain which I should be able to drag myself along no matter what, even if it gets dark before I finish (it probably will). I think one or two people will be joining me for the entire ride - Grecia and Cory, probably - but they'll be on geared road bikes so I'm sure they'll be laughing at my condition towards the end. Oh well, company is company, I guess...

Since I'm supposed to be leading this group to Takao on Sunday, I rode it alone yesterday to check it out, after an early morning run up to Ohara (this is becoming a regular thing now, and I'm worried that I may be in danger of becoming a 'morning person'...). Mainly to see if most of the rest of the group can make it, to be honest. Strava log below.

The hill to/from Takao is steep! In fact the return journey back out of the valley begins with a kilometre of 8.2% average grade, which is nasty with only one gear. Still, a beautiful ride and the scenery when you get into Takao is incredible at this time of year. I went to check out Saimyo-ji temple but saved the rest for Sunday.

It's stuff like this that makes the pain and suffering of climbing hills so entirely worthwhile...

Incredible!

More to come after Sunday, hopefully... although I can't guarantee I'll have any energy left to update this blog when I get back!

'Crash Test Dummy'

Remember those socks from the past post? The bright orange ones with 'CRASH TEST DUMMY' written on them? I pulled them on yesterday and went for a little ride. I hoped they'd provide me some kind of ironic protection against mishaps while riding, but no, it was not to be...

(My phone battery cut out with about 5-10km left to go, hence the incomplete Strava track)


I set off in late morning with a friend, Cory - we set a good pace aided by cunning drafting and soon made it most of the 45-50km to Kizu despite a bit of a headwind. With about 5 km left Cory had to turn back due to time constraints and despite this being my first ride for a week due to having a cold, I decided I might as well press on and finish the ride to Kizu proper.

I got there and soon realised that amenities are... lacking. There isn't even a convenience store in Kizu. Having just ridden that distance on a single 500 ml bottle of electrolyte drink, I was in need of something.

There are however several vending machines, including one with the ever-present Pocari Sweat (a stranglely-named Japanese sports drink). And a cake store.

It was obvious what had to be done...

The ultimate mid-ride nourishment

After enjoying the fine slice of chocolate cake you see above and refilling my bottle, I set off back home. 

Then, but 100 metres down the road, I got hit by a car at a fairly blind junction. Side-on. At probably 20 mph.

The impact knocked the rear wheel out from under me, so I went down pretty hard. Luckily I hit the ground on my side so save for a few scrapes and some utterly trashed gloves, I was pretty much OK. Thankfully, save for a slightly bent rear wheel and misaligned brakes, so was the bike. The car - a Prius (I hate Priuses) - was totally unscathed.

In the end I took the guy's plate number, refused medical treatment or the police (I was in a hurry to get back before it got dark, really) and accepted a token cash gesture (80 quid or thereabouts). Not how I'd have handled it in an ideal world, but like I say, it was getting late. Oh well.

A bit of road rash and bruising  on my hip and a few scratches on my legs - not too bad, all things considered...

I pushed on through the return leg (45 km or so again, back to a slightly different place). The adrenaline wore off at about the halfway mark, so I bonked hard and was pretty much falling asleep on the bike by the end. I didn't have the opportunity to consume extra sugar to fend off shock, so I'm sure that didn't help.

Anyway, I got home and both myself and the bike are more or less fine, so that's the important thing.

The lesson: Shit happens. No matter how careful you are, sometimes other people's stupidity will unavoidably find you. Deal with it and move on, and don't let it taint your enjoyment of things.

Personally, I'll be back on the bike on Friday. I have a Strava Challenge to get ready for in a few weeks.

Strava, socks

As autumn ramps up, so too does my road mileage. I'm currently riding 2-3 times a week so rather than post about everything here, you can track my riding on Strava here:

http://app.strava.com/athletes/1109295

You may need to be a member of Strava to get all the juicy details - I'm not sure.

I am particularly happy to have apparently topped 50 mph on a downhill stretch this past weekend...

On a fixed gear bike where the cranks are directly linked to the rear wheel, on a relatively low gear, this was frankly terrifying (in the best possible way). I'm not exactly sure how correct Strava is here but I know I was going damn fast (must have looked ridiculous, spinning my way down the hill, nearly being thrown off the bike) and I did pass several cars on the descent, so it's probably not particularly unrealistic.

In related news, I bought some new gear. Some 'Sock Guy' cycling socks. Which are bright orange and read 'CRASH TEST DUMMY'. I couldn't not buy them, really...

I can only get away with these on my 7am Friday morning ride, I think...

Climbing season shouldn't be far off now. Stay tuned... that is, after all, the original topic of a blog called 'Vertical Japan'...

Kyoto - Nara - Kyoto (via Typhoon Jelawat)

Had a little cycling trip lined up for a few weeks now - nothing too intense, just a nice little cruise out to Nara with a few friends. About 60 km each way, with a night in a little guesthouse in the middle. Pleasant enough, right? Well... kinda.

The ride kicked off nicely enough. The weather was glorious on Saturday, giving a beautiful ride into Nara via a few little sights: 'most notably' what is apparently Japan's longest wooden bridge.

We were 6 people total but to reduce frustration we elected to split into two groups - one 'fast' and one more relaxed. Grecia and I made up the fast group, with the other four tagging along a little later (although still in a very respectable time!).

The ride was made more enjoyable by a bunch of new stuff - some Rapha Classic Bib Shorts (more on these in a future post, possibly - you've been warned!), some Sidi Genius 5 Megas and the always-lovely Rapha chamois cream (possibly more on this, too...).

Japan's longest wooden bridge, just before the halfway point of the route

Bikes in Nara-koen (the deer park)

Good job!

Upon arrival (and finally finding each other) we checked into our guesthouse and went to find food. What followed was the most enormous curry-rice ever... for 600 yen. That's absurdly cheap. The menu in this place consisted of: coffee, curry-rice, orange juice. Nothing more.

Someone every single one of us finished this...

Chilling in the guesthouse - really nice old tea house, all wooden construction with tatami floors, etc.

After a few token celebratory beers (possibly a little ill-advised) in the evening, we elected to get a reasonably early night because, well, we knew what was coming up. With no chance of changing the guesthouse booking, we had to come... and that means we had to go home, too.

Meet Typhoon 17, aka Typhoon Jelawat:

JMA course plot for Typhoon 17

Here she comes!

After a hasty breakfast we set off at about 8am...

What followed was one of the more interesting rides I've been on. Being chased towards Kyoto by a typhoon (our average speed was around 20 km/h; Jelawat was hitting about 55 km/h...) conditions started off fine but rapidly deteriorated. We were soon riding into stinging rain and gusty sidewinds which nearly knocked us off a few times. This soon became a steady headwind, resulting in about 45 km of what felt like constant uphill riding. Needless to say, calories were burned. Added to the fact that we barely stopped, we were roundly destroyed by the time we somehow got back to Kyoto.

Getting hammered by the rain

Grecia trying to keep going through appalling conditions - props to her, and indeed everyone, for making it!

By some miracle everyone arrived back safe. Grecia and I, again making up the 'fast' group, actually made it back in about the same time as our outward journey despite the hairy conditions. I'm not entirely sure when the others got back to Kyoto but by that point the conditions were utterly foul as the full might of this Saffir-Simpson Category 1-equivalent typhoon came to bear on the Kansai region, so they did well!

The damage to my right calf. I'm not even sure how this happened...

A few days later and I'm still knackered. So is everyone else. Quite an experience!

In case you're wondering what happened to the Fuji trip... it never happened. The timing just didn't work out. One for next year, I guess. Still, I think this last excursion more than made up for it...