TOUR OF HAKONE



The weather is dry and crisp. The leaves are turning red. The sky is as clear with temps in the low fifties. Yama San, shop owner, club leader and bike carrying van owner wanted to get out of town and do a club ride, he calls them "tours". We headed out to Odawara, a city tucked in between the coastline and the mountains south of Tokyo. It was there we met up with our "tour guide", Seino San.
Seino was quite a pioneer of Japanese cycling. At the age of twenty he participated in the 1983 Coors classic. Seino San went on to ride pro in Japan and the US throughout the 1980's. Later he did MTB Norba circut in the US. In Japan he won the road National Championships in 1994 and 96. Seino San is retired and rides all the roads around Odawara for fitness. He had a hilly day planned for us and my first time in the mountains since leaving California on my Summer break.



Here's a pic of me with Seino San.

The last time we had done such a "tour", with Seino San was in March and I was really pushing my fitness, and going hard everywhere. I guess it left an impression on Seino becuase the first thing he said to me was, "Today, easy ride!". Okay, I'm with you; hair on the legs, just water in the bidons... don't worry, chimpicunie. But it wasn't over, next to give me an earful was Akiama san, club mainstay and superb hill climber; "Today is Yukurri slow, if you get to the top first wait or come back down and come up again, don't keep going". "Okay, OKAY!! Jeebezuz... I havent hardly started riding yet." I reminded Akiyama that Conneko San, another "tour", participant had just taken 25th place in the Fuji 200km challenge and then participated in the 200km Tour of Okinawa race, he was in phenomenal form, not me. But no one seemed to be informing Conneko on the ground rules.
After taking us up and down steep rollers Seino San got us to Hakone Kaido, our first serious climb. Unfortunately there were cars buzzing because of "Red Leaf Viewing". The smells of burning leaves and insence eminating from the hillside temples overpowered the car odors and we had high spirits. We just started going up while joking a chatting. Unexepectedly Conneko san took a flyer off the front and didn't look back. Akiyama san joined him, I was indignant yelling from behind, "yukurri YUKURRI!", what the @$@%!! I eventually joined them and rode it out, I made a stong point at the top that Conneko San started the aggresion, not me. It didn't seem to cause any contention...strange.



Here's Yama San topping the very difficult Ashigara pass.

Yama san saved me. What a gift to have an experienced mechanic on a ride with you. My derailler pully came loose and Yama san fixed it so I could continue, otherwise I would have climed Ashigara pass (sort of a four mile version of Page Mill Road) as a single speed. Fortunately everthing went well, as Conneko with Akiyama following kept ripping up the climbs. I had gotten over being bewildered and was doing what they call in Japan "my pace". However, my pace got me up ahead on the road through some steep sections of Ashigara pass. The road split and I waited for Conneko to show me the right way. When he caught up we played a game of King of the Hill, very painful. When we got to the top Conneko went back down to find Seino. When they met up they initiated an uphill sprint game that resulted in a crash. Conneko damaged his Colnago C40 and damaged his kserium wheel. Meanwhile I was chuckling; they're bunch of hard core maniacs I never knew about. Then I let out a yawn... okay, time to go home.



A unamed clubbie with Conneko on the left and Akiyama middle.

As I'm learning to speak the language better and integrate into the culture more I am also learning to not underestimate the Japanese amatures. Though less in number there just as tough and maybe more ambitious than their American counterparts.

We returned to our parking lot nestled between a pachinko parlor the size of a Home Depot and a building I only surmised later as a public bath. In fact, we all went off to the baths for some warmth and muscle relief after the ride. Though I had been to many hotel baths, this was quite different (by the way, I'm sure you understand why there's no photos of this). Not only was it a huge complex, there were many different kinds of baths, sort of a water park for relaxation. The strangest one was a bath with a gently electified current running through the water, when I got close to the edge of the bath it felt like my body was being shaken by the same force that you feel on your tounge when putting it to a six volt battery. There was also a bath with a water fall that dudes were lying under to massage their bodies. There were also individual jakuzzi seats that blasted your body from all directions. It was very comfortable, but I was constantly reminded of my foriegner looks and body. It was an equal discomfort being stared at and I kind of felt like a was livestock being evaluated by auctioneers. Kind of relieved to get out and back on the road home.

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Fuji 200 challenge
Presented by Funrace (hmmm)














Fuji speedway, an F1 course is opened up once a year for bikes. The challenge is to clear 200 k in under seven hours. However for the racers there are prizes for top times. So the most unique thing about the challenge was that everyone is out
on the course together, a mass start time trial. As for the course description I was told over and over again that it was flat
However, it is an up and down thing that really does it to the legs after a while. The pavement surface was fantastic, with one hairpin downhill that you just cant get enough of. There was room for everyone, however things got hairy more than
a few times. Slower riders were supposed to stick further to the left but that didn't always happen. With the free format of riding you are welcome to join in with any group that suits you, so it's kind of a blast. If you get pinched on the climb or cut off by a slower rider there was most likely an equally fast group behind tearing it up so the tempos stayed high. I was getting reports of finishing times close to 40kph average, for the amature racers. You are offered a pit stop area so you dont have to carry all your stuff on board. It took 44 laps to complete 200k. I have had good form all year with strength a speed. But my legs were tired but I figured the event sounded really cool and I should just go and see what happens. In my group I was matched up with Conneko San a strong "A" devision (Sort of a cat 2 thing) rider, who I generally had no problem with in training rides. I knew he is a more experienced racer with lots of technique and saavy so I worked hard to stick with him
and work together. As we waited for the start I made the first in a series of mistakes by standing around in the chill with no covering on the legs and a light jacket. Though I drank tons of water on the days preceding I was afraid of drinking in the moment so I wouldn't have to pee during the race. Finally it started, the first 70k was a total blast, we hooked up with some strong amatures and held close to 40kph. Conneko San got pinched on the speed a few times only to reappear slipstreaming and even faster group. Then the pros lapped us for the first time. Conneko suprised me with a fantastic small ring bridge on the hill to catch the pro paceline, then a 50kph tail wind sprint to stick with an attack when the hill leveled off, I just sat on his wheel in awe. I didn't really
know he could do something like that and it occured to me that for all my speed I just didn't have the same conditioning. Dragged along at the back of the paceline I felt like a dog who got his leash accidentally caught in the door of the car as it speeds off down the highway. The sound system was blaring Bon Jovi, it truly seemed the odds were against me. After some more laps at really high speed being led by some super strong maniac on a mountain bike; a couple of neo pro types stared to get pinched on the hill, Conneko San turned himself inside out to stay with the pro group, I decided to to a couple slow laps to re-fuel and get back up to speed. This was my next mistake as the weather had turned colder and so would my body. This resulted in my legs started to seriously cramp. I actually had to pull over to shake them out. No eating and drinking helped, my legs were toast. I was frustrated because I still wanted to play the speed game but my legs said no. Now I just had to crawl along and manage cramps. I thought about quitting, but I did finish with a time of 5.51. I got like 153 place or something like that. I took solace that there were a thousand riders in my event and only 43% can finish.
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