Road Fixie

About a year ago I started riding in earnest.  What I mean is that I had not actually ridden seriously for more than 20yrs and just decided based on circumstances to get back on the bike.  Alot had changed in those 20yrs – material sciences brought us carbon and other composites, exotic metals were affordable and workable, techniques improved, bio-metrics evolved along with a major advancement in technology. Alot has not changed either. We still use the same basic drivetrain and more importantly, the ‘engine’  itself is the same. And underneath the skin, there is still the same driving forces of passion, innovation, competition and conditioning. As for me – I just wanted to get back on the bike and recover my body from some past injuries and feel the wind again in my face. A little gentlemen’s ‘king of the hill’ now and then wouldn’t hurt either.

Along the course of re-training I came across the TCC (Tokyo Cycling Club) and read their spirited posts about cycling in the mountains of Japan, winning races and overall passion and somewhat obsession for all things cycling. In particular I was drawn to the challenge of conquering a few of these famous ‘toge’ or passes in a slightly different way – on a fixed gear. Why? Other than the fact thats what I happened to be riding at the time – it raised a new challenge to me. Personally I had raced and toured all over the US and Europe and no longer wanted to assume the tortuous regime required to raise myself to an elite level. However – this fixed gear challenge was of a different sort. A very pure and natural challenge based on the simple mechanics of bike and rider. A strong connection to the road and the mountain which presents itself as the insurmountable object. So, somehow, the tortuous regime of training became one of necessity to meet the challenge of the Toge rather than the mass hysteria of the Peloton. It was something I could do on and by myself. With results being the simple satisfaction of  ‘I MADE IT’.

Now then, humans are social creatures and I’m no different. I like to ride with people as much as alone. And through these jaunts (and taunts) I discovered that a few other brave souls were indeed similar minded and experiencing the same things as I especially regarding the fixed gear on the road (hence RoadFixie). We pondered and pained our way up thousands of kilometers of roads and meters of climbs. During those times, I formed the basis for the frame delivered today. Something that would be a kindred spirit and tool for these rides and also a result of my experiences cycling through the years. So it was born. The ‘Toge Warrior’

Here are a few pictures from the first ride – I’ll let them speak for themselves!

The ‘rear set’. As you can see – we fitted it with a Chub Hub / Mavic CXP. I love this combo and it works very well on this bike. The slightly heavier wheel helps to reduce skipping and stutter under seriously hard sprints – especially uphills. And the Chub Hub gives noticeable improvement in power transfer. Note the gorgeous dropouts – shamelessly inspired by the Kalavinka, what can I say?

Ready to roll on the first climb up Wada. For the proto build we just slapped on some generic reversible pedals and Daeda cockpit. The Thompson Elite seatpost will stay and probably the Fizik , though an upgraded Aliante.  Crankset is a SRAM 300 – which seems pretty good for the moment and use a standard NJS chain by HKK.

There she is sitting pretty at the top of the mount. Notice the brushed finish and you can just barely make out the couplers. I placed a couple of  oba^san arm warmers over the tubes to protect them in transit – and to somewhat camouflage the frame.

I’ll be posting more pictures as we go along farther in this evolution and journey of the perfect frame.

After completing the Kusatsu Hillclimb after many years ( more than 20 in fact) of any kind of competitive cycling I was struck by the bug – again. The next event I registered into was the Mt. Fuji Hillclimb. This was a bit confusing as there were actually TWO events by the same name – and on the same day!! WTF!! In any case – I somehow managed to struggle through the registration process and figure out the ONE I was doing was the 10th Mt. Fuji Fillclimb and was being held on a relative consistent grade of 25km. Sounds good. The OTHER Mt. Fuji Hillclimb was shorter and more gnarly – GREAT! I’ll save THAT ONE for NEXT YEAR!

With that being said – I ramped up my training a bit to include more hills. My goal thus far is to really just get back in shape, lose weight and have fun. I have no intention of becoming a serious contender or racing  at an elite level anymore. But I do want to go out with my friends, show some cred and hang with good riders on fun rides. Plus, when my daughter gets older – I’ll be in enough shape to <hopefully> coach her along, which would be a nice legacy.

Adding a small twist to this event, I decided to hook up with some fellow TCC members in a warm up ride OUT to the Mt. Fuji. Sounds good to me!  I rendezvous with them in Takao and together we went to Yamanakano via roads I’ve never been on. This ride turned out to be a bit more than I expected, and it sapped my pretty hard, though fun nonetheless and would be a good test and conditioning ride.

On pre-race day – Kimm, Keren and I managed to get our race packages without any hassle and enjoyed the many bike booths located around the park area. It was pretty much cycling heaven with Mt. Fuji in the background.

Kimm hooked us up with an awesome Onsen Hotel – and believe me the hot soak felt great! We joined up with Phil and his family for a great Udon Nabe dinner then back to the hotel to chill and sleep. James made it in that evening and we prepped his bike for the race then crashed for the early morning start (6am).

On the ride out to the park – I hit a large grate on the bridge and promptly received a snakebite award. DAMN! The LAST THING I wanted was a flat. We repaired it quickly, then hooked up with another gang riding to the starting park. At the park – i frantically searched for replacement tire / tube. ANytime I get a snakebite it jinxes the tire. I simply can’t race on a tire that has been ‘bitten’. Luckily – one of the booth’s had not only the large allenkey for my CHUB HUB but also a lighhtweight tube and replacement Michelin tire. Sorry – no more Panaracer for me!

With that being accomplished – we found our starting grid and waited for the gun. Japanese races use nifty RFID timer – so you just ‘chip’ your bike and ride. When you cross the timing grid you are ON.

On the race itself, we follow a beautiful road leading to the 5th Station. Its a continuous grade of about 5 or so percent, with some steeper sections. All told, about 25km to the finish. James and I rode together to nearly the top, where he pulled away on the  Colnago Master. I managed to grit out some more energy and finished strongly with the last 300m basically a stand up sprint.  At the top we were welcomed by an amazing view of the mountain.

Looking around I spotted a guy on a Surly PUGSLEY! WOW! He made it up in just about 2hr!! Awesome ride!

Back at the park after the seriously tedious descent (what goes up – must come down) we ate some more Udon , snapped some shots then headed back home.

The final touch to an awesome weekend of riding – Mesquite Grilled Steak Dinner!

I posted an ad-hoc redux ride for the Wada. 4 riders confirmed with a possible hookup at the station. Cool. We (James, Andy, Kori and I) met up at Takao station, strapped in and headed to the rendevous at Takao Sanguchi. There we met up with another krewe – mainly the Krewe of Iron(men and women). Arrgh – well, we had our work cut out. Route was decided by Keren and off we went.

This time the <other> approach to Wada which is shorter, nastier and strewn with pitfall, spikey switches and steep pitches. The pace out to the Wada was leisurely – like gladiators on a stroll to the lions. You are in not much hurry to face fate. I cog swapped a bit early and had to hold a high spin to stay grouped. Haha – that cog would come in handy on the climb (so I thought). Entered the climb and began the pain. The extra teeth on the cog disappeared early into the retina-blood haze and I was almost wishing for 2 less teeth mainly cause the ascent speed vs pain ratio was far off the feeling of success.

We ALL made it and and had brief respite (and I switched cog back) ready for the downhill and rest of the journey.

Great descent down to Uenohara via some nice rolling hills and there James had to bail back. We continued along the golf course route and over yet more rolling hills. Reaching the 20 Junction a decision was made to bail back Takao. After the last hill over to Takao, I switched back to the road-killer cog and dragged race some Bozuzoku kids on 50cc rat bikes down the mountain. The must have been a bizarre site – 4 kids on howling scooters, straight out of Quadrophenia and a friggin insane fixie rider mashing it up with them. I missed the rendevous and got a call from Andy ‘wtf are you?’ – Umm, back at the station! Haha – I retraced back and met the regroup for some much needed Pizza and bevs before heading back to T-Town. Awesome ride indeed!