Riding High

Zurich Ironman 2008 - Hop, Step Leap

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:47:05 +0900

Yes, I agree. It is going to be awful. But the dice are cast, alea jacta est.

So better get ready and set to enjoy the challenge of my first full Ironman.

How did we get to this crazy decision in the first place. Here a quick review of the process.

In a way, it all began at the Sado 210km Round-the-Coast ride with the gang from Half-Fast Cycling. A superbly well-planned trip to the island - thanks to Kelly, Kaz and Magic Mike - and many minor adventures en route (rom finding the best source of carbos on the island, a donut shop, to a wild ride along the fog-bound ridges atop the island) helped all of us enjoy the event despite the monstrous storm conditions that persisted till mid-afternoon when the sun miraculously came out to warm-up the finish line and dry-out the soaked riders. My own event gave me a taste for speed and riding at the front of the pack - the short 80 km sprint to the first rest area on the north coast, with the official escort motorcycle as my guide. Cool, I finished with an average speed of 32km thanks to the strong tailwind coming home and the windless burst through the tunnel.

Fast forward to the next event on the calendar, my first go at the Nojiriko short-course triathlon. Only 3 weeks before the event, however, near disaster struck - in the form of a careless trucking driver running me over in morning rush-hour traffic along the Inokashira Doori. I went down hard on the pavement, but managed a catlike flip to land on my bike, bike flipping harmlessly. Net result: two severely bruised ribs but no need to call in the insurance people Sumie was not so lucky - ony 10 days later, she was hit by a careless motorcycle rider and suffered a black-out and bent bike frame. Enough to knock her out of Nojiriko.

We drove up in several cars with several first-time riders in Team Friend Leopard and had a quick training ride around the 15km lap around the lake. Next morning I braved the cold lake water and managed OK along the 1500 meter swim, got on the bike for a medium fast 45 km and struggled up the first half of the 16 km run, clutching my ribs, but managed the turn and eventually made it to the finish.

That got me motivated for my third go at the Sado International Triathlon. Training was mostly on the bike, three weekends in a row doing double loops on the Aoyama Seven-Hills course. Great, good for the lungs and the legs.

That brought us to Sado where I swam a good 2000 open-ocean leg, swimming wide to stay clear of the pack of zig-zagging freestylers, and got on the biek after a fast T1. Felt good to be well into the pack at that point, and the legs were feeling good. A headwind to the turn at Ryotsu where the find gradually moved aft as we hit the coast road. Passed numerous riders on the way to the hard uphill right at Ogi port, and a steady zig-zag climb up the dread Oginosaka. I did not look at the watch till nearly done with the bike, having kept my eye on the average speed instead. Three kph faster than last year, so I knew I was well positioned for a strong PB.

Another quick T2 to the run, where I soon passed Carbon Ken Aoyama and managed to get Kojima-san in his Leopard team jacket in sight. The halfway turn at 10k and a hint I was doing well from seeing Fabien not far ahead. Never caught Kojima-san and Ken came up from behind, but still a fine effort, breaking 6:30 the way I broke 7:00 last year.

So what did we do in the flush of satisfaction that comes from putting a major race behind us? One by one we got on the internet at the Niigata ferry landing and registered our names for Zurich.

So here we come. Details to follow.

HOLD THE PRESS - NEWS FLASH ON THE WIRES....

Wed, 2 May 2007 09:16:44 +0900

Tokyo, JAPAN (Cyclewire Intl.)

Sources in Tokyo tonight disclosed that despite rumors to the contrary, the design for the long-awaited Half-Fast Official Team Cycling Jersey is now completed and ready to order.

For details, please set your browser to the following URL:

http://half-fast.hobby-site.com/jerseys/index.html

Max 100 per customer. Note: Some if not all of the profits will be donated to the Half-Fast Tire-Patch and Warm Beer Foundation. (A voice calls out from the middle distance: What profits?.

Here are some close up details of the new jersey design. Love that full-custom attention to detail and that customized detail itself. Note the TY Harbor beer can.

Maydays in May

Tue, 1 May 2007 15:14:16 +0900

Well, the pundits were only partly right. Mayday came around after a long three-day break which had balmy summer-like conditions and a spectacular thunderstorm on Saturday with huge temperature drops, massive bolts of lightning and pea-sized hailstones belting out of the sky like some biblical admonition. But Sunday and Monday were nice enough, and people went to the park in full force.

Our neighborhood park with its two ponds and 2km jogging path is just right - it hardly draws any crowds as it is off the beaten track and just about everyone crams into Inokashira Park with its zoo and market stalls and street musicians. Lots of flower power out there, this season has defied the pundits, April was in fact cooler than average, which kept the floral displays at just the right note of splendor.

Enjoy.

Many Maydays These Days

Hurrah! Tencho wins a ticket to the Hawaii World Championships!

Wed, 2 May 2007 09:27:52 +0900

News Flash from Tempe, AZ:

Noted Japanese triathlete Shoji Nakano, a bike-shop owner from Sugiinami-ku in Tokyo, showed his outstanding speed over the challenging course of the Arizona Ironman held on April 15th to win his age-groiup and earn a berth in Hawaii.

Nakano, a perennial podium finisher at the Asia-Pacific Triathlon Championships in recent years, won his age group in Arizona by a commanding one hour over his nearest competitor.

Winning the age group earned Nakano his slot at the Ironman World Championships, held every year in Hawaii. In 2006, he won his age group at Ironman New Zealand, a storm-plagued race where the swim leg had to be abandoned. The race was held on Nakano's 65th birthday, March 3, 2006.

Friends and teammates in Tokyo were thrilled to hear of their coach and mentor's success in Tempe. "He's eccentric but iincredibly determined," said one of his neighbors, the owner of a dry-cleaning shop a block down from Nakano's Friend Shokai shop. "He's just an amazing athlete," said Peter Fuchs, a member of Nakano's Leopard Triathlon Team since 2002.

Sumie Kawakami, 43, of nearby Musashino City, a western suburb of Tokyo, finished her 3rd official Ironman event with a time of 14:03. "That was the toughest race I've ever done," Kawakami said in an email the evening of the race. "The wind in the desert and dry weather just killed me on the bike," she said, referring to the demanding conditions in the hot Arizona desert near Phoenix.

Members of the Leopard Triathlon team at the Nojiriko Triathlon, July 2, 2006. Nakano is third from the left, Kawakami to his right. She won her age group at Nojiriko. Nakano had to retire with a puncture, his first DNF in 25 years of racing.

Final Race Results:

Bib: 1020 Total time: 13:18:49 Name; NAKANO, SHOJI SUGINAMI WAR TO JPN Age group rank: 1/8 M65-69 2010 Swim rank: 1 1119 Swim time: 1:17:09 T1: 7:58 Bike rank: 1 1050 Bike time: 6:33:05 T2: 5:45 Run rank: 1 1108 Run time: 5:14:54

Bib: 1272 Total time: 14:03:18 Name: KAWAKAMI, SUMIE MUSASHINO TOKYO JPN Age group rank: 35/73 W40-44 2358 Swim rank; 66 1895 Swim time: 1:39:20 T1: 8:37 Bike rank: 39 1495 Bike time: 7:10:34 T2: 7:39 Run rank: 24 890 Run time: 4:57:11

Said recently re-elected Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara in an imaginary press release: "I am proud of these outstanding Tokyo athletes who show great guts and determination at major international sporting events like the Arizona Ironman. We welcome them home with pride and gratitude and hope to host the first ever Tokyo Ironman in 2009."

Haneda: Fast Saturday ride - 15 riders take the challenge

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:45:15 +0900

Mike has plotted the Haneda route - just a quick 30km run down the Tokyo harborside.

Lots of green in surprising places. The park at the end - overlooking the busy harbor with planes dropping in from above just across from the Haneda runway. Warm but windy. A few flat tires coming and going - the pathways are not swept and full of twigs and road rubbish.

But worth the run out and lunch at TY Harbor brew-pub where our friend Koichi Hama designed the logo.

Good nama, good burgers, and great chili.

Here is the map. (www.bikely.com for those so inclined. )

On the way back, close to Tokyo Tower, John and I found an oddly striking flower garden, at the base of a Sumitomo Fudosan office building. Nice - like Boso or Hokkaido.

Omedeto Gozaimasu Ironmen and women: They both made good time

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:13:54 +0900

Wow. Arizona IM is now history. Men's winner crossed the line in 8:21 not the fastest ever but still absolute extraordinary.

My teammates and very special friends, Tencho and Sumie, did well too.

Here are the official results.

By grit and determination: AZ Ironman and TYO Man of Irony

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:33:35 +0900

There is something epic in this era of "been there, done that" anomie about the Ironman and the thousands of extraordinary athletes who go out there and test their stamina and willpower to the utmost.

Sure, at the front are the pros, heralded by sponsors, organizers, and specialist magazine editors, but still largely unknown in the world of global megasports. No one in triathlon like Red Sox Superstar Dice-K Matzuzaka certainly - who by the way, like Ichiro and Matsui, is an astonishing athlete who like his senpai has done as much as anyone over the past 60-odd years to narrow the great divide of mutual misunderstanding between America and Japan. (For more on which I highly recommend the books of talented author and sportswriter Bob Whiting (see interview in Metropolis here.)

But I digress as usual.

Next Sunday, Sumie and her coach and mentor, Nakano Shoji (aka Tencho, or Store Master) are going for the guts and glory at the Arizona Ironman. Run, Bike, Swim. It is all being held at Tempe on the outskirts of Phoenix, and the event will be more or less available in real time over the www.ironman.com website.

But by the same token, just for one more "Oh, Peter, gag me with that politics stuff - no more of that guff, please spare us and tell us more about riding bikes in Japan, OK?" installment in my Tokyo election race saga (Today, btw, is Easter Sunday in certain Euro-centric countries around the world and election day here in Tokyo and other prefectures.

My point here is this. I am starting to warm to this guy.

Irony Man

Honestly, Shintaro Ishihara has served two nearly flawless terms and has rid the city of smog and has put it back on track to prosperity and a dynamic eruption of new and bold "only in Tokyo" architectural excess. More subways too, and some needed highway extensions. What can you say?

Still to come. Tokyo Olympic bid for 2016 (chances SLIM to be generous), Odaiba or Miyakejima Casino (chances equally slim) and other promises.

The man gets things done. My hat is doffed out of genuine respect. He is a literary man who sometimes misinterprets Dickens but again, he is a cultured man of taste and, let me emphasize AND a sailor too. (For more on sailing in Japanese waters, see my other site here.)

Here are his election promises from his manifesto. They are roadmaps - like the ones for the Phoenix Ironman swim, bike and run courses. Take a look and refer back to this site in April 2010 when the next election comes around for Governor of this Sprawling Megaton-opolis.

Cheers. Rant over and done with. Let's really cheer for the Arizona Ironmen and Ironchicks who are going to be out there next weekend.

OK. I am listening to Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd on "Jazz Samba" (Verve 1962)

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 23:50:47 +0900

Yes. That is an incredible album. On classic 12-inch vinyl LP. VINYL? Are you serious Peter, that is raw non-renewable petroleum stock!!! Shock and awe. But it is from 1962 and I am preserving not only the raw material but also the MUSIC itself. Getz and Byrd are awesome, and also FOR ALL YOU iPod and CD swingers. Classic 33rpm vinyl has MORE MUSIC DETAIL than any CD, betcha. Play it on a Time Domain Yoshii 9 set of Minimalist Audio Engine speakers and amp if you don't believe me. And if you REALLY DON'T believe me, bet me. Bet me a bottle of pink Dom Perignon 1995. You will enjoy losing the bet. This sound fidelity is INCREDIBLE.

And yet here I am, sipping on Bushman's Gully 2004 Cab Sauvignon (bought at Wal-Mart Japan, nasty) and lo and behold, this comes over the transom. An ALL-POINTS BULLETIN from Major Domo Don Morton at Half-Fast Headquarters.

What can I do but run it past you all. April 4th by the way is TOMORROW.

From Don: Just a reminder that Wednesday, April 4th is our monthly Half-Fast meeting at The Pink Cow (map at: www.thepinkcow.com )

Lots of stuff gong on. Mike will offer a presentation about the use of GPS in the pursuit of better biking. How to use a GPS device, how to interface with your computer, GoogleEarth, etc. And lots of other nifty tech stuff. This technology can of course be used in many sports — sailing, hiking, curling, etc.

And we will choose from a staggering number of entries for the Half-Fast team jersey (4, 3 of them Mike’s).

Those sado-masochists going to Sado in a few weeks are advised to attend, as Kelly and Kaz will be laying out final plans for transportation, lodging, etc.

Outstanding pair of cherry blossom rides this weekend. I’m attaching an absolutely great shot of most of us on Sunday that you’re really going to like.

And we’ll talk about some upcoming rides in the next few weeks and months (Izu, Miura, Oshima).

Starts around 8, but you can get there early to chow down and quaff a few ales.

Ja mata.

The Don
090-5813-6721

Bacchanalian ballistic bloom and now .... falling like snowflakes

Mon, 2 Apr 2007 11:26:59 +0900

April 1, 2007 - Tokyo

Perfect Sunday weather - warm in the morning, cool in the afternoon brought an estimated 18 million people outdoors today.

The reason?

Cherry blossoms.

Tomorrow, the new fiscal year and the new school year start and milllions of students will start new classes, or recent college and HS graduates, new jobs.

The obverse face of Samurai Socialsm is "Club Capitalism." On our 50km training ride we finished at the Yomiuri Gold Club and saw dozens of black chauffer driven limos full of .... capitalist captains and club members. It is the other PERFECT metaphor for the governance of this country.

And you know. NO ONE SEEMS TO MIND.

Ballistic Blossoms

This is STILL a bike-site, so here is some useful info on Tokyo Jitensha-jin Magazine

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 12:01:50 +0900

Don't despair the lack of infrastructure spending on better bike-paths and smoother riverine byways and backroads. Despite the ponderous plodding of "Samurai Socialism" as the main organizational princliple of the state since Yoshida Shigeru sat down with his mentors from SCAP and decided the best way to fight the scourge of REAL socialism would be to merge the Liberal and Democratic parties of yore, and lo and behold create a hitherto logically implausible mashup of samurai plus socialism this place is NOT going to become a Sweden or Denmark any time soon.

The real architect of Sammy-Soc, of course, was none other than Nobu Kishi, who was given a Canada-sized laboratory called Manchuria for his experiment in the 30s but didn't really do all that well until Doug MacArthur unlocked his padded cell door at Sugamo and told him, "if you say you are sorry, we'll give you another chance," which of course they did, and he did. Ipso Facto. Too bad his photogenic grandson is incapable of uttering the word sorry (maybe he should go back and read Kishi's memoirs), but mea culpa has never been a prominent character trait for people of his ilk. People who confuse stature with posture and status with respect.

But I digress.

For those with some command of Japanese, there is a nifty source of info on bike ships around town, bike paths, daytrips, detailed maps, and much other USEFUL information in the current issue of TOKYO JITENSHA-JIN magazine. Granted most of this knowledge is shared by Half-Fast riders as a group knowledge base, but sometimes it is easier to have it all between the covers of one magazine.

Here are some excerpts - the rather lame looking cover should not discourage you, a route map from Kasai Rinkai up the Arakawa, another version of the popular Half-Fast Miura Peninsula trip, and a page on what seems to be the consensus Best Bike Shop for Roadies in central Tokyo, Narushima Friend.

JitenshaJin

(Click on the thumbnails above - you can then click enlarge and see large size scanned pages which can be printed with the maps etc. Ed)