tokai CX podium Cruise

2016 Tokai CX #2 Wild Nature Plaza

東海シクロクロス 第2戦 ワイルドネイチャープラザ

A couple of weeks ago I had a really bad crash while training, and that really set me back both physically and mentally. My biggest injury was a broken thumb, which didn’t mean I couldn’t train, but I simply lost all of my motivation to train and ride for a while. The second race of the Tokai CX series was coming up, and although I had already pre-registered, I had already given up on going to the race. That was, until the night before when I went out for a Birthday dinner with some cycling friends. They convinced me that I should still at least come out to the race to watch, so I messaged my other friend last minute to see if he had space in his car, which he luckily did.

top of sand mountain

The course was located at a park called wild nature plaza (ワイルドネイチャープラザ), and it was at least 50% deep sand like the above picture.

Once I arrived at the environment of the race, my negative mood lifted and I decided that I still wanted to try and see what I could do in the race.

Tokai CX C2 start line Tokai CX C2 start bikes

Thanks to my 2nd place finish in the first Tokai CX race, I had the number one tag and a front row start.

Tokai CX C2 start

I had a pretty good start and was the first person to enter the deep sand section.

Tokai CX C2 start 2

I tried to maintain my position, but each lap I was gradually losing ground due to my recent drop in endurance from not riding.

tokai CX first lap enter sand

Some riders who passed me where also on mountain bikes, and it looked like they were able to ride parts of the course easier than I could with my CX bike.

tokai CX sand mtb vs cross bike

In any case, I struggled on and still managed to keep myself in a top 5 position and keep most of the people in front of me within sight.

Tokai CX sand cruise

About halfway through the race, I started to get a rhythm down, and decided to try and push myself to my absolute limit and try and catch as many people as I could by the end.

tokai CX barrier cruise

By the last lap, I worked my way up to 4th, with 3 people still ahead of me, 2 of which were still within my field of vision, so I continued to dig deep..

cruise bogedin riding through woods

During the last lap, I caught and passed 3rd, and going into the very last corner, I caught and passed 2nd, edging him out in a sprint.

tokai CX podium Cruise

1st place was still about a minute ahead, so not even close. Although normally I’d be pretty upset with getting two 2nd places in a row, considering the circumstances, I’m very happy to be able to get back on the podium. Especially with racing after two weeks of no riding and with a broken thumb.

Today’s result and being surrounded by the environment of Tokai CX helped to lift my spirits again and motivate me to look forward to the next race!

cruise post race

I was pretty cooked by the end of the race, my average heart rate was 190 BPM! …. Ouch…

post race bucyo coffee frozen shake

Nothing that a chocolate banana protein smoothie can’t fix. Thanks Bucyo Coffee!

FOE Bradley race footage

Bradley also came out to film the race events, so be sure to watch his video on the day!

The photos used in this post were taken by
Kikuzo Photo
Muto Photo

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