Road Fixie

If you are of my generation of cyclist you’ll remember so clear the challenge between Fignon and Lemond. The defining time trial of the 1989 TDF with Fignon giving 200% and Lemond just squeaking by with an 8sec victory overall. Amazing stuff! Fignon defined cycling at the time – carefree, powerful, natural. His form was outstanding and we all emulated it as much we could. He was the real ‘naked racer’.

1989 was nearly the last year I raced. It was the start of a new era in many ways. Lemond guaranteed that with the advancement of aerodynamics in a big way.I was more like Fignon – the passion of cycling ran through my veins, not the technology. We thrived on brotherhood, aged silk, wet wool and hard climbs. You made it by virtue of your legs and not much else.

Fignon was and shall remain a national hero of France. He was representative of a more carefree and voluptuous time of cycling.  Larger than life heroes. Chalked slogans of your champions and camaraderie and debauchery. Perhaps when I saw cycling become so technical thats when I hung up my frame and said good bye for awhile.

Laurent, we will miss you. I will miss you. You defined a generation of cyclists and left them inspired by your freedom and passion. Rest in peace, my friend.

Just competed in the Nariki Hillclimb which is a short, 10km roughly hillclimb that consists of an initial 5km of relatively flat or moderate slope up, followed by 5km of 10%+ grade to the finish. This is particularly challenging to a fixed gear rider because there are really 2 distinct gear ratios that would optimally attack the race. However , in keeping with the purity of ‘one road, one gear’ , we choose to honor that by only riding one gear the whole race.

It is settled – the optimum gear is around a 2.0. and I choose a 44/22 as my preferred cogs of choice. Mikio does the same and James is riding a 42/20.

We gotta come up with something a little more to spice this event. Its not enough, for me, to be the first fixed gear rider to enter the Japanese privateer race scene – sooner or later, the masses will follow. Thats great – but I do enjoy pushing the envelope a bit. So, this time we decide not only to enter and ride fixed, but also , wear an alternate kit. James does some quick shopping and its decided. We will all wear ‘man-kini’. Well, the only man kini we ca find is pink – and thats that. So – its on to the race.

My main concern is if the race officials will disqualify us based on our kit. However nothing is stated in the rules except the requirement of helmet and gloves. Good — ammo. We don the man-kinis and tentatively cover with std jersey just at the start. Though Alan offered to model – and hadwe an extra – would surely have worn as in his haste to make the race he forget his proper kit jersey! Alan, who is a damn fast rider, decides to fore go the man-kini for this event . We 3 musketeers forge on and prepare the start. Surprsing, or not, we actually raise alot of very positive attention and have to spend quite some time posing with various riders and guests for pics. This does not affect our serious concentration.

The race is at hand, and I play by a pretty strict strategy based on several recons. I can honestly say that I followed my game book and it turned out quite well. The first half of the race I just spun up to a strong comfort level and held a decent pace without totally spinning out my heart. When I reached the cut-off for the more aggressive 5km, I was at a good balanced form and ready to climb. The last 5 km were as tough as I expected and the 33+ temp didnt make things easier. However, the man-kini really helped as it allowed for maximum ventilation and minimum upper body restriction. Finished the race at the summit to a very welcome respite of watermelon and spring water — yumm!! Plus the photo ops!

Watermelon was the best ever!

Dos tres amigos .

Naomi – master of the hills!

Finish ceremony.

On a side note – I placed in the top 10 for my category (senior) and this is the goal I’ve been striving for in this year! It was great to achieve it on this race as especially it had a serious fixed gear handicap. My trusty Akamatsu served me well, in addition the Chub Hub rear wheel which I can’t imagine riding without. This course was somewhat technical with moss and grates and slippery bits. I feel that the combination of Chub and my steel frame gave me a little advantage to the other riders. I could solidly put down the power and have very good management over the slippage with just enough suppleness and compliance to make the effort comfortable and stress free. In short, i could pretty much hammer and didn’t worry.

The Akamatsu in Nariki trim with Chub rear riding Open Pave 24′s and extended front stem (Cinelli 1/a 130mm) , Fizik Saddle,  44/20 (Surley/ Sugino cog /chain set ).

Feeling a bit cramped on the smallish 535mm frame, I finally found a good choice of parts to upgrade my stem and bar and give me a little breathing room. Wanting to keep in the original era of the bike, I had to scrounge up a 22mm stem and 26mm bars. Also, since I want at least a 110mm stem to get the reach, I wanted a good stem. Luckily I found an old(er) Cinelli stem and decent Fuji bars that fit the match exactly.

Now I’ve got more breathing room to stretch out and gain a little more comfortable aero position. Next step is to find some proper tandem ‘stoker hoods’ so I get good upper grip supports. Here’s the final profile. Starting to look like a proper bike now.

Small side note to this – since I’m only using leftside brake lever – I am now getting some asymmetric stress on while climbing or sprinting hard. So, its time to fit a rightside tandem stoker stubby – or just get the same thing on both sides. For the hills I really like the brake lever supports as it does give me another position to change to while climbing or on long rides. Single side support is not recommended.

‘Dude, there’s a ride coming up organized by the guys at SAG’. Cool, I’m there! Only thing is that I woke up with major sore throat and had to jury rig a temporary filling since the one the local Doc inserted failed (as much of  Japanese dentistry does). So – armed with my daughter’s modelling clay and hydrogen peroxide and proceeded to gargle and irrigate both throat and gaping tooth hole.  With the modelling clay packed firmly into the hole, everything seemed copacetic - so I pushed off with like 10min before the start. Luckily the Sat 9am start was a ‘soft launch’ and I arrived in time to register up and chill.

There were more fixies gathered in one place than I’d seen before in Japan! Beautiful rides! The people came from all walks – messengers, polo, roadies, afficianados and just anyone who wanted to join a group ride to the BEACH!

http://blog.livedoor.jp/saglife/archives/51216794.html

OK – the group was split into 2 – A TEAM (fast<er> riders, and B TEAM (slower riders) And we’re off. On the way we made several scheduled stops for water and snacks and a couple unscheduled stops for flats. Arriving in Kamakura about 3.5hr later. A very leisurely pace that allowed for banter and just enjoying the company of fellow riders.

Riding with this many fixed gear on the roads can sometimes be dicey, but this ride was smooth, well coordinated and pretty much everyone minded their manners – at least until the TEQUILA was purchased.

Arriving at the beach we made a quick stop at the shrine to pray for unborn babies and success in future races (or at least I did). Then it was down to the BEACH!

JF decided that the best way to get the party started was to buy a bottle of JOSE. So, with TEQUILA in hand – shots were drunk and the activities spiced.

J went on a nampa rampage and succeeded in not only gaining the digits and mail of several bathing beauties , but also the wrath of their boyfriends! HAHA! But hey, all is settled when you offer a shot of TEQUILA!  Next on the list was a traditional Japanese game where you put on a blind-fold, stick your head on a stick then spin around until you either puke, fall or become so interdiscombubulated that you simply have no control over your motor functions. THEN, your teammates try to direct you to the goal, which is a water melon. You have 1 STRIKE to smack it – and then team that succeeds gets the first bite! And of course more TEQUILA. Well, J – completely lubricated at this time took his turn at the stick.

Then the REAL FUN began! Somehow the TEQUILA combined with the stick spinning had put J into a dervish mood that would be the envy of any crazed sufi. And without any hesitation he went straight away to the GOAL! However – the goal he reached was NOT the Watermelon – but instead OUR BACKPACKS! Everyone stood aghast as he took the stand of the last Samirai and proceeded to beat the hell out a backpack!!

Finally after extracting him from the enemy backpack we managed to get a few cracks in on the REAL Watermelon! Later J confided that he was 500% SURE that he was smacking the crap out of a watermelon! THUS SPEAKS TEQUILA!

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and a great hanabi. Thoroughly toasted, sunburnt and tired, headed back to the train for a rinko back home. I’m looking forward to more rides with this group – it was awesome. And who knows, you might even find me rocking a SAG bag some day!

Thanks SAG!

Earlier recon showed that the guard shack was open from 8am – 5pm and absolutely no bikes were allowed on the road. So , I roused at 5am with the intention to get there before the guard opened. Alas, my morning prep took longer than expected cause I wanted the max spread on cogs so I could get good training action on the way out to the Mountain – as well as sufficient gearing to tackle the 15% grade. To make long story short – I didn’t actually leave the house until a bit past 7am — (ugh)

The way out to the mountain was awesome. Followed the ‘Apple Road’ which winds its way through orchards and offers a nice rolling hills tour. By the time I hit the Skyline guard shack I had climbed about 500m (alot more if you count the ups and downs) and travelled about 25km in just about an hour. So – pushing the tougher gear was perfect choice for this route. A bit stiff on the climbs – but I could really nail it on the flats and downs.

Tried to sneak past the gate (just past 8am) and no luck. The guard chased me down. Not wanting to press my luck, I conceded. Apparently, though, there is a cycle race HC every year here. I’ll definitely be hitting it the next time.

On the way back I checked out Dake Onsen – this is the head of the trail to climb up the mountain. Maybe a good MTB / Cyclocross alternative, though not so great with my fixed gear and 23C Open Paves, plus the skeeters were worse than Alasaka!

I’ll be back for a redux on this climb and general tour around the area. Aomori is a hidden jewel for cycling. And in the autumn you have endless food supply right on the roads (apples and fruit everywhere), plus affordable Minkushan and Onsen Ryokan.