Ti Toge at the Toge! Norikura ‘Shine On’ Challenge
Norikura ‘Shine On’ benefit ride. Holding the trusty Toge Warrior after completing 2 days and more than alot of meters of climbing over several mountains. Only Mikio and I were on fixed gear. We rode in the advanced group which turned out to be a painfest of severe attacks and hairy descents through some of the most beautiful country ever. When you weren’t battling out for king of the hill, you could take a couple of quick breather strokes and see the local charm!
I setup my bike a little differently for this ride:
1) GS Astuto Alpine Fixed Gear Wheelset – less than 1000gr the pair. For sure I had the lightest wheels among all the riders.
2) GS Astuto ergo bar set. Very comfy for climbing – shallow drop and wide top section lets you really sit back and grit hard!
3) 44 Chainring – battling mountain passes all day gets to be a cruncher. So I ran primarily a 44×15, then swapped to a 44×21 when the going got super tough and my muscles were jellified.
4) Brakes! Needed to be legal for this ride – so I installed some old Modolo Kronos levers and Shimano 105 brakes with DiaCompe plates. Used our special compound pads to prevent any issues with the full carbon rims.
This is how you roll on the roads, my friends!
