Happodai Hill Climb and Yamakochi sufferfest

I've been really enjoying reading Laurent Fignon's biography. The other day I read about how he prepared for his two consecutive Milan~San Remo wins. He basically turned himself inside out on the Wednesday before the race. Mountains in the morning. Motorpacing in the afternoon. Total rest on Thursday and Friday. The body is so shocked that it recovers better than normal. The over compensation theory.

A week before Norikura and I'm looking for a similar thing. Two climbs of Ogami Dake yesterday and the always grueling Happodai HC and Yamakoshi “race” today.

I left Kashiwazaki at 5am and rode in the rain to the start. I did a few digs on Sochi Toge. I have a bit of niggling cold which makes breathing difficult. I won't be lighting up the climb today.

At the start area, others are taking it more seriously. Rollers. Race wheels. This event is really growing. The level of competition is astounding. Difficult to find a tougher hill climb field in only 30 entrants.

I'm not up for the slow / fast aggressive attack, counter attack, style of racing which I know will happen. The first couple of kilometres are fast drafting before the climb steepens. I have a plan to attack from the gun and see how far I can make it. I ask Oono san if he is interested. He thinks we should wait till the climb begins in earnest. I tell him he can have my wheel for as long as I can hammer it and then he should go alone....

Race start. Wait a few moments. Attack. Full gas. Look back. Oono san is on. The gap is growing. A fork in the road. Shit! Which way is it!? No glasses for hill climbing. Close in on the sign. Take the left at the last possible moment.

The gradient is picking up. I watch the speed drop, 40, 37, 35, 33. It's not fast enough. Look back and can see the pack coming.

“Oono san best go now!”

He goes but the group is too fast.

The pack is being driven by Watanabe san. Fresh from an excellent 55 min time at Tsugaike. He usually makes up ground later in the race but he's flying from the start today. I latch on. Next to Tazaki san on the back.

“Nice attack!”
“It didn't work though!”

Then as his team mate Oono san is caught, Tazaki san makes the inevitable move.

I can't follow. Need time to recover. It takes a while but eventually I find my rhythm. 80 cadence. 180 HR.

Two strong riders to share the work with. The right turn. The road steepens. I can't follow these two pure climbers here. Best to pace myself. On the limit all the way to the finish.

A time of 26 mins. Not my best but not bad considering my condition and the attack.

I realised two things about Norikura:

1.I need to use the compact crankset
2.I need to rest up, time off the bike and time in bed

Two young guns pushed Fuji HC champion Tazaki san into 3rd, which tells you something about the competition.

Next up, the Yamakochi “race”. Fast from the gun. I can do a bit on the flat but just don't have it on the two big passes. Too hot. Too tired.

Back down out of the mountains and I have a chance to show my strength. On the flats. Its attack after attack after attack. I can follow the attacks and ride over the top each time. I can't go for long but I can go fast, bloody fast. No-one can beat me on this terrain.

This season I feel I'm evolving as a rider. I always considered myself to be a good endurance rider who could do a bit of damage in the hills. This year though I seem to be more at home making short aggressive attacks on the flats. Maybe I should try a few criteriums instead of the usual hill climb circuit.

Each attack I was scraping the barrel of all I had left. I went so hard on the last one to the car park that I snapped my crank arm.

I never like to brake parts. Especially not my beloved 180 mm cranks. But I'm happy to join the Kashiwazaki Crank Breaking Group, whose only other member is Murayama san!

Fantastic training today. I need to be careful this week so I can go to Norikura fresh and raring to go.

Sunday's training: Happodai HC (130 km, 1700 m climbing)