After my return to racing in last month’s Hirata criterium where I finished in the top 10 in the C2 race, I decided to increase my training intensity so that I could compete in the C1 in this month’s Hirata criterium to see how I could perform.

Unlike the last race, which was a rain fest, today was a nice clear and warm day. The pace started fast, and there were constant attacks. Unlike the C2 race, where I was the one doing the most of the attacking, this more aggressive style of racing was what I was more used to.

Since it was my first C1 level race attempt in a few years, I decided to play it easy for the first half and just follow wheels. This strategy seemed to work well since it came down to a field sprint. I led it out going around the last corner, but was passed by two people in the long finishing straight.

Very happy with a 3rd place finish in my first C1 race. Definitely need to work on improving my sprinting power / speed if I want to get that win though.

Today was also my first race on my new race wheels, which are made in Tokyo Japan: Imezi’s Project 167 carbon wheels.

Thanks to Catarina for the race day photos!

The post 2016 Hirata Criterium #9 – 3rd Place C1 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

My friend Bradley and I had been training together quite a bit this Summer, and we started discussing possibly going to a race together to see what it was like. We found out about a local race called the Hirata Criterium (平田クリテリウム), which is held once a month and only cost about 1,000 yen (~$10). It was only about a 1.5 hour ride from the center of Nagoya, so about a 2 hour ride for me from Nagakute, which is on the east side of Nagoya.

It was a pretty cloudy day with a high chance of rain, but we had already decided that we were going to do this race rain or shine. Luckily, it didn’t rain during our ride over. This was Bradley’s first every crit, and he managed to stay on until about 2 laps to go. He said he really enjoyed the race though and was motivated to train more and come back again next time.

This was my second ever race since moving to Japan, and also my second race since quitting competitive cycling a few years back. Although I hadn’t been racing much, I had been training with some of the fast local racers, so I was pretty confident in my ability, and decided to first start out in the second highest category, C2.

During the race, it started to rain pretty hard, and I decided to bury myself and test my limit by attacking as much as possible.

Unfortunately, none of my breakaway attempts stuck.

It came down to a field sprint, which I had no energy left for, so I finished at about 6th.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my result. I was able to prove to myself that I can still race hard at the front of the pack, and next time I want to challenge myself in the C1 race.

I also really enjoyed the atmosphere of the Hirata Criterium. It is very relaxed, with lots of people chatting, catching up, and also Bucyo Coffee has their food stand with delicious snacks, which I was more than happy to stuff myself with after the race.

Definitely gonna be back for the next one!

For more information about racing at the Hirata Criterium, click here

Thanks to Kikizu and Catarina for the race photos!

The post First Ever Race at Hirata Criterium appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

二年ぶりの初めてのレース！

Photo: Catarina

Photo: Catarina

Although I barely rode a bike at all in 2014, since moving to Japan this year, I have started cycling fairly regularly. This was not out of desire to race, but out of excitement to explore a new place, see more things, and meet meet new people. It’s also a bonus that there is some excellent riding with some big mountains fairly close to my new home. I learned about a nearby race that was taking place about 40 kilometers (I’ve switched to kilos since moving here) away, and I decided to go check it out. I started to toy with the idea of participating in the race, but part of me really did not want to. Mainly because I hadn’t been training very seriously or often because of the rainy season, but I also I didn’t see the point in competing in a race when I felt that I could not win. I found out that the race was actually full up on registration, but that there was a chance to participate by showing up and being put on a wait list.

2014年には自転車をあまり走っていないけど日本に引っ越した後毎週走ってきた。理由はレースじゃない。ただ新しい所を自転車で探検したかった。そうしながら友達が出来たらいいんじゃないと思った。ボーナスもある。それは自宅の近くに素晴らしい道と山がいっぱいある！

とにかく、近くにレースもあると聞いたから見に行った！参加するかなと思っていたけど今はそんなに強くないと思って勝てなかったら参加の意味がないと思った。だけどやはりちょっと参加したかった。

Japan / AACA Racing Categories

A friend from the Michigan cycling community who is in Nagoya for the summer, Alex, also joined me for the ride to the race. Once we arrived, we could not resist the temptation to race and we decided to put ourselves on the wait list for the 1-2 race. For this particular series, there are 4 main categories:

• 1-1 / US pro/1/2
• 1-2 / US 2/3
• 1-3 / US 3/4
• 1-4 / US 4/5

Since it was our first race in Japan, we were not able to start in the 1-1, so we put our names on the wait list for the 1-2 race. We had to wait until 15 minutes before the race start time to find out if we could participate or not. Luckily, there were enough no-shows that we were able to enter. Unfortunately, we only had about 15 minutes to complete our registration, pin our numbers, and get to the start line. Normally, this would have been fine, but we thought we had 30 minutes so we were a bit slow. With 5 minutes remaining we pinned on our numbers and sprinted to the line, just making it in time.

日本で最初のレースだから１－１のレースが出来なかった。そうして１-２のレースのキャン待ちに名前を書いて、レースのスタートの１５分前に「オッケ」だった！よーーーし！行くぜ！ギリギリスタートラインに間に合った！

Kinan Coupe de AACA number 20
Photo: Catarina

AACA Course and Location

The AACA race series has a few different locations, but today’s race was next to a large river. It was nice and flat with 2 long straights and 2 wide U-turns. It was about 5 kilometers per lap, and in total only about a 32k race. We started in the back row, so my goal was to get up to the front quickly and try and conserve energy until the halfway point. I have been doing a few harder efforts recently, but nothing really in a group, so I wasn’t sure how well I would hold up. I ended up making my way to the top 15 within the first lap and held my position fairly comfortably. With this course I benefited a lot from my cyclocross experience. It was a lot of quick accelerations with the U-turns, which I really like.

レースコースは川のそばにあった。平たくて長いストレートと１８０度の曲がりもあった。昔のcyclycrossの経験があって良かった！

Photo: Catarina

Finish & Impressions

Once we reached the halfway point, I was feeling very comfortable so I decided to try and launch a few attacks to test myself. Most of the time, no one would go with me, but I wasn’t feeling strong enough to hold off the field by myself, so I would soft pedal until the field caught me. The humidity was really strong this day and after my efforts I was starting to really feel the effect of that. Also, I had run out of food from my ride over to the race and I was starting to lose my energy, so I needed to make sure I rode smart. I sat in until 2 laps to go and then then launched an attack which was followed by another rider. We got a small gap, but we were quickly caught as we went into 1 lap to go. I tried to hold a position near the front so that I could contest the sprint, but I ended up not having much energy left and died in the last 100 meters, finishing about 6th or 7th I think. The race average speed was about 42k/hour (26mph). Despite my weak sprint, I was happy to feel very comfortable with a decent race pace.

レースの半ばあと気分は大丈夫だったからアタックをしてみった。でも湿度が高すぎだったから力が出せなかった。あと２周ころ二人のbreakawayをできたけれどすぐにつかまれた。あと１周グループスプリントだ。６位か７位か取った。

What did I gain from this experience? I have now raced in 5 different countries (US, Canada, Puerto Rico, China, Japan)! I realized that I missed racing and being a part of that community. I do not plan on racing regularly anytime soon, but I am starting to consider picking my training up a bit more and possibly participating in a few more events.

Link to today’s race on strava

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ve been failing with my blogging since coming here, but with my University work, freelance work, Japanese studying, and minimal riding, I have not had too much time to write. One thing is for certain though, I am keeping busy and enjoying my new life. More updates to come soon!

変な日本語すみません！

The post First Time Racing in Japan and First Race in 2 years – Coupe de AACA appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.