Power file: Found Here
After sleeping in the car last night, I woke up at about 5am to munch down some granola cereal and bananas. I opened my eyes and saw the windows had fogged up quite a bit. I leaned up to wipe the windows clean, but nope. It was outside. I opened the car door and I couldn't see more than about 30 feet away from my parking spot the fog was so bad. It had rained on and off overnight and looked to be a miserably wet day.
After hemming about whether or not I would race, I did a lap of the course with my new helmet cam to video the course. I'd show the video, but you'd get more entertainment out of watching static - as that's all you can see in the fog.
They opened up the check-in precisely at 7am, and I got my number and went back to the car to relax until 8:15 to start warming up. By 8:15 it had rained pretty hard a number of times, stopped just as many. This was going to be a miserable race. When I finally hopped on the bike to do a couple laps of warm up, the rain had trickled down to just a drizzling mist. I didn't do much of a warm up, just hit the course for 3-4 laps to get a feel for the climb that would destroy the pack lap after lap. It's not a really long climb. It's 700 meters or so @ 7% (according to the course profile on the Autopolis site). But it was surely going to create some pack selection today in horrendous winds and wet pavement.
I got in the last pee-break at 8:40 to get ready for the race @ 9am. Hopped on the bike and on the way over heard them announce 2 minutes to start, everyone to the start line. (or something like that... I heard two, start line, and please.. the rest was something said in Japanese that told me I need to learn more Japanese) I got to the FULL start line and squeezed my way up to the second row.
We started off pretty quick and in no time at all we began to thin out the pack. We climbed the first time around @ 21 mph. This was going to be a loooong day. 37 laps to go.
On the fourth lap, dumping into the downhill stretch two guys wiped out in the corner. Those ahead promptly pushed the pace. Those of us behind promptly pushed the pain. It took a lap and a half for those of us back to catch up to the 8 riders out front. This sucked big time only being 25 minutes in when we caught up. 33 laps to go... oye.
At 40 minutes in, two riders from the same team decided to make a go for it on the climb. So what do we do? Hammer time. No getting away from all of our fresh legs... Once again climbing at over 20 mph, 1 min 10 sec over 500 watts. Yeehaw, 29 laps to go.
Almost on cue at the 1 hour mark we hit the base of the climb. Again, two more riders thought to make a go of it. Fortunately for me, I'd just spent a good length on or near the front for the descent. Dialed it up to 400 (418 to be exact) and hung on for dear life. 25 laps to go!
By this point, I'd considered stopping. I was praying for some sort of physical breakdown. Maybe I'd get a puncture, or some other catastrophic failure. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and my heart was feeling like it could come out my mouth at any time. The next hour was spent thinking about quitting this event. This is perhaps the bad part about calling a race "just another training day."
Fortunately, that had been the last time a serious attempt was made to break away for some time. For me, the rest of the race was almost a non-event. Somewhere around 30 minutes from the end, the two riders that would eventually come in 1-2 took off on the climb. Too many of us hesitated and before we knew it they were over the top and gone. Everyone waited for someone else to make chase, and within a lap we all pretty much gave it up for a bid for 3rd. I pause here to say that the two riders that went away made it look very easy. The difference between the way they were climbing and the way the rest of us were climbing was no small margin.
We rolled across the start/finish line after lap 35 with 10 min 31 seconds remaining. I thought "Awesome, two more laps!" Lap 36 ended... 5 min 31 sec... uh oh.... Lap 37 ends... 31 sec on the clock. Awwwwww CRAP. Another lap. I came over this lap feeling pretty good actually. The slowed pace of the last 30 minutes had given me some legs back. We'd been climbing in the mid 300's instead of the 400+ and I'd been able to get over the top early on the last 4 laps and get a breather on the downhill straights. I came over the top first again and settled into a mid level 1 pace waiting for the pack to come around.
Haha... no chance. We hit the base of the climb and I was still on the front. I never picked up the pace and we'd actually gone really slow in the wind. Here they go. They all stand to mash, and I just gave it what I had left. It was comical to see them drop like flies 300 meters into a 700 meter climb. One by one they fell back behind me. The last guy to fall behind me fell behind as we crested the top and he didn't have anything left to push through to the finish. Only one guy between me and the finish line and there was no catching him. Final result... 4th place. No problem!
The final results as published actually ended up putting me in 5th place when I got home and checked. The guy they put in front of me between leaving the course and getting home was definitely behind me on the course, but it's not really worth calling them about it. (Mostly because they'd speak Japanese, and I can't)
They split out the semi-pro guys from the rest of us, and I ended up with a "second in my category" trophy and award. The prize? Two pair of socks (one small, one large - so my wife gets something too!). I also got a set of energy drinks which could only be marketed in Japan.
Here's the "marketing slogan" on the front of the package:
Sounds tasty!
Another top 5 finish to add to the list, and this one was rough. Came home and checked up on some of the names. Nice to know who you're getting smoked by.
First place over all would be a BR-1 JBCF rider. This gives him the ability to compete at the national level. This means he's racing at the Fumy Beppu level races in Japan. (this particular guy DNF'd last week at the Road Race national championships, but so did all but 13 competitors out of 100 riders).
Either way, nice to know I was even on the same lap this guy was on.
Safe riding! Stay Dry!
After sleeping in the car last night, I woke up at about 5am to munch down some granola cereal and bananas. I opened my eyes and saw the windows had fogged up quite a bit. I leaned up to wipe the windows clean, but nope. It was outside. I opened the car door and I couldn't see more than about 30 feet away from my parking spot the fog was so bad. It had rained on and off overnight and looked to be a miserably wet day.
After hemming about whether or not I would race, I did a lap of the course with my new helmet cam to video the course. I'd show the video, but you'd get more entertainment out of watching static - as that's all you can see in the fog.
They opened up the check-in precisely at 7am, and I got my number and went back to the car to relax until 8:15 to start warming up. By 8:15 it had rained pretty hard a number of times, stopped just as many. This was going to be a miserable race. When I finally hopped on the bike to do a couple laps of warm up, the rain had trickled down to just a drizzling mist. I didn't do much of a warm up, just hit the course for 3-4 laps to get a feel for the climb that would destroy the pack lap after lap. It's not a really long climb. It's 700 meters or so @ 7% (according to the course profile on the Autopolis site). But it was surely going to create some pack selection today in horrendous winds and wet pavement.
I got in the last pee-break at 8:40 to get ready for the race @ 9am. Hopped on the bike and on the way over heard them announce 2 minutes to start, everyone to the start line. (or something like that... I heard two, start line, and please.. the rest was something said in Japanese that told me I need to learn more Japanese) I got to the FULL start line and squeezed my way up to the second row.
We started off pretty quick and in no time at all we began to thin out the pack. We climbed the first time around @ 21 mph. This was going to be a loooong day. 37 laps to go.
On the fourth lap, dumping into the downhill stretch two guys wiped out in the corner. Those ahead promptly pushed the pace. Those of us behind promptly pushed the pain. It took a lap and a half for those of us back to catch up to the 8 riders out front. This sucked big time only being 25 minutes in when we caught up. 33 laps to go... oye.
At 40 minutes in, two riders from the same team decided to make a go for it on the climb. So what do we do? Hammer time. No getting away from all of our fresh legs... Once again climbing at over 20 mph, 1 min 10 sec over 500 watts. Yeehaw, 29 laps to go.
Almost on cue at the 1 hour mark we hit the base of the climb. Again, two more riders thought to make a go of it. Fortunately for me, I'd just spent a good length on or near the front for the descent. Dialed it up to 400 (418 to be exact) and hung on for dear life. 25 laps to go!
By this point, I'd considered stopping. I was praying for some sort of physical breakdown. Maybe I'd get a puncture, or some other catastrophic failure. My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and my heart was feeling like it could come out my mouth at any time. The next hour was spent thinking about quitting this event. This is perhaps the bad part about calling a race "just another training day."
Fortunately, that had been the last time a serious attempt was made to break away for some time. For me, the rest of the race was almost a non-event. Somewhere around 30 minutes from the end, the two riders that would eventually come in 1-2 took off on the climb. Too many of us hesitated and before we knew it they were over the top and gone. Everyone waited for someone else to make chase, and within a lap we all pretty much gave it up for a bid for 3rd. I pause here to say that the two riders that went away made it look very easy. The difference between the way they were climbing and the way the rest of us were climbing was no small margin.
We rolled across the start/finish line after lap 35 with 10 min 31 seconds remaining. I thought "Awesome, two more laps!" Lap 36 ended... 5 min 31 sec... uh oh.... Lap 37 ends... 31 sec on the clock. Awwwwww CRAP. Another lap. I came over this lap feeling pretty good actually. The slowed pace of the last 30 minutes had given me some legs back. We'd been climbing in the mid 300's instead of the 400+ and I'd been able to get over the top early on the last 4 laps and get a breather on the downhill straights. I came over the top first again and settled into a mid level 1 pace waiting for the pack to come around.
Haha... no chance. We hit the base of the climb and I was still on the front. I never picked up the pace and we'd actually gone really slow in the wind. Here they go. They all stand to mash, and I just gave it what I had left. It was comical to see them drop like flies 300 meters into a 700 meter climb. One by one they fell back behind me. The last guy to fall behind me fell behind as we crested the top and he didn't have anything left to push through to the finish. Only one guy between me and the finish line and there was no catching him. Final result... 4th place. No problem!
The final results as published actually ended up putting me in 5th place when I got home and checked. The guy they put in front of me between leaving the course and getting home was definitely behind me on the course, but it's not really worth calling them about it. (Mostly because they'd speak Japanese, and I can't)
They split out the semi-pro guys from the rest of us, and I ended up with a "second in my category" trophy and award. The prize? Two pair of socks (one small, one large - so my wife gets something too!). I also got a set of energy drinks which could only be marketed in Japan.
Here's the "marketing slogan" on the front of the package:
QUOTE:
A special jelly drink to supply carbohydrates equivalent to a rice ball.
A special jelly drink to supply carbohydrates equivalent to a rice ball.
Sounds tasty!
Another top 5 finish to add to the list, and this one was rough. Came home and checked up on some of the names. Nice to know who you're getting smoked by.
First place over all would be a BR-1 JBCF rider. This gives him the ability to compete at the national level. This means he's racing at the Fumy Beppu level races in Japan. (this particular guy DNF'd last week at the Road Race national championships, but so did all but 13 competitors out of 100 riders).
Either way, nice to know I was even on the same lap this guy was on.
Safe riding! Stay Dry!