東海シクロクロス第5戦愛知牧場ステージ1に夫婦で挑戦してみました。
私はC1カテゴリーで、妻は初心者のCL3カテゴリーでした。

Today’s course is at Aichi Bokujo, which is a small farm near where we live in eastern Nagoya, Japan. It is the biggest and most popular race in the Tokai CX series, and also the best course. It’s full of steep climbs, off camber turns, burms, a steep staircase, and of course a heckling section.

Aichi Bokujo CX Course Full Lap

I’ve separated the course pre-ride full lap video to a separate video, which you can watch here

Today was Thuong’s first ever cycling race, which was really exciting for us both.

Race Results

My goal was to get into the top 10, and I was on pace to do that for the first half of the race, but then blew up on lap 5 and couldn’t hold the fast pace any more. I gradually lost some spots, but managed to get a second wind on the last 2 laps and held off a large group to stay in the top 20.

I think my performance was largely affected by my diet lately. Too many end of year parties, most of which are all you can eat.. It’s not always about how much you train, but diet and recovery are also very important. I was quickly reminded of this during today’s race..

That’s it for today, looking forward to the next race!

The post Thuong’s First Race! Aichi Bokujo CX 愛知牧場 東海シクロクロス 2019 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Because of the category upgrade, my race time increased from 40 minutes to 60 minutes. In addition, about half of today’s course is covered in deep sand, meaning lots and lots of PAIN and running. To make things even worse, one of the long sand sections was uphill..

Honestly, most of the races up until this point this season have left me frustrated and with leftover energy. This is mostly due to poor / narrow course design and limited courses that were not very challenging. That was not the case today as the course was very wide open and gave me plenty of chances to power my way through.

My goal was a top 10 finish and I was able to finish pretty close to that goal with a respectable 11th and only a few seconds off. I finished the race completely depleted of energy and with a broken shifter from all of the sand, but deeply satisfied with leaving everything out there.

Even more motivated now to continue with my training and look forward to the next race!

CX Race Results
https://data.cyclocross.jp/race/7018

東海シクロクロス第4戦ワイルドネイチャープラザ
砂地獄と呼ばれているレースにC1デビュー挑戦してみました。
今シーズンの今までのコースはほとんどすごく狭くて力を出せるチャンスはあまりなかったですが今日のレースは違います。逆に力を使い切っちゃいました（笑）。久しぶりに全力で走れて嬉しいです。次のレースも頑張りたいと思っています。

The post Riding in Sand at Tokai CX #4 東海シクロクロス 第4戦 ワイルドネイチャープラザ appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

This event was the 10th annual BikeNavi Grand Prix 2018 (aka Tour de Moricoro), which is held at the Moricoro Park cycling course, which is a 5km circuit closed off to cars and walkers, making it a great place to ride (and race) road bikes!

Here’s some more information about the event for those interested.
http://www.bikenavi.net/08Moricoro2018/02.html

They hold road races on this course every few months, though they are sometimes done through different race promoters.

Here’s a video of a full lap of the course at race speed in the top group.

Also, a big thanks again to Zac from BMC Japan for lending me this great bike (SLR 01) to use for the event since my main road bike was still in the shop.

Today’s ride on STRAVA
https://www.strava.com/activities/1983359293

The awards ceremony after the race was also a lot of fun, and we got to have our cheerleader podium girl debut.

The post Tour De Moricoro BikeNavi Grand Prix 2018 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

IRC CUP 第3戦　東海シクロクロス
新城　ふれあいパークほうらい

After some bad luck in the first two rounds, my luck finally started to turn around with no major problems and I was able to finish in 2nd place behind the Japanese Junior MTB national champion.

Official race results / リザルト
https://data.cyclocross.jp/race/6907

The post Tokai CX #3 Shinshiro 東海シクロクロス 第3戦 新城 ふれあいパークほうらい 2018 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

東海シクロクロスの第２戦各務原アウトドアフィールドでC2カテゴリーのレースで挑戦したかったですが運が悪かった。レースの前にスポークが壊れてレース中にもフロントディレイラーが壊れてしました（泣）。

しかし、トレーニング相棒のヒロキさんが良いレースを走りました！ホールショットもできたし大半のレースは1位で走っていました。夜練の成果かな。ですが、残り２周のところでヒロキがコーナーで転んでしまった。最後のスプリントで５位を取れました。実はトップ１０の選手は３０秒の差しかなかった。まるでクリテのようなレースでした。

次のレース頑張ります！

Unfortunately, I had a series of bad luck today, including a broken spoke before the start and pushing my front derailleur outside of my big chainring in the second lap.. I tried to push the derailleur back in place, but I couldn’t do anything without a tool.. So my race was over after only 10 minutes 🙁 This was a first for me, but it’s my own fault for shifting up while sprinting in dusty conditions.. Lesson learned..

My training buddy Hiroki had a pretty good race, taking the holeshot, and riding in 1st position for most of the race, but unfortunately he got caught in a crash with another rider on a dusty corner with 2 laps to go.

He still managed to sprint for 5th place though. Actually, the top 10 were all within about 30 seconds of each other.. The course was very short, narrow, dry and fast, so it was kind of like a dusty and rocky crit.

Despite our bad luck today, we’re both looking forward to the next Tokai CX race!

Here’s a video from when I raced here 2 years ago made by my buddy Brad where I made my debut in the C1 cyclocross category here in Japan. Unfortunately, I had bad luck that day as well..

The post Bad Luck at Tokai Cyclocross #2 | 第2戦 東海シクロクロス 各務原 2018 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

1年半のレース引退はもう終わった。久しぶりにレースを挑戦してみました。東海シクロクロスの第一平田リバーサイドプラザ。

My goal was to get in the top 5 in the C2 category, but it unexpectedly ended up raining all day and turning the course into a mudder. With just my regular clincher tires and last row start on a narrow course, I was barely able to move up and ended up finishing mid-pack. Not the result I was hoping for, but it was a lot of fun to be back.

目標はC2のトップ5に入ることでしたが雨のせいでコースがドロドロになって私のコーナリングは全然ダメでした。ちょっとがっかりしたけどやっぱりレースは楽しいですね！次のレースをもっと頑張りたいと思います！

Tokai CX INFO (東海CX)
http://gcf-fukyu.p2.weblife.me/cx/
RACE RESULTS – 2018-11-04 東海シクロクロス#1　平田リバーサイドプラザ
https://data.cyclocross.jp/race/6462

Because of the rain, I mostly stayed in the car to stay dry. We didn’t have any rain gear or umbrellas, so I wasn’t able to film as much of the other races as I would of liked.. Next time I’ll be more prepared so I can film more of the awesome cyclocross scene here in the Tokai region of Japan.

A big thanks to Rika as well for bringing me some Rolos all the way back from Michigan!

After suffering from a disappointing result, my motivation is back and even higher than before.. Looking forward to the next race!

The post Tokai CX #1 Hirata 2018 東海シクロクロス 第1戦 平田 appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

The first part of the ride was very cold and cloudy as you can see. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop us from taking some selfies.

After about a 45km ride, we arrived to the race venue at Hirata Riverside Plaza Park. The racers had already been doing time trials in the morning to determine race categories and starting positions. We arrived with good timing, right before the main races were starting.

I quickly went into vlogging mode, and started filming the race action.

I actually participated in this race last year, and won, so coming back this year and not racing was a little bit tough. On the other hand though, it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy watching the race and cheering on my friends who were participating (and suffering).

If you want to read about / watch last year’s race, click here.

Unlimited Class Start (Elite)

The fastest class of the day was “unlimited”, which was limited to the top 15 fastest riders of the morning.

The course here at Hirata for the sfiDARE Crit is half technical with some narrow turns, but also requires power with some very long straights and corners that can be taken at full speed.

This was Thuong’s first ever time seeing a race, and she quickly turned into a super fan with her cowbell.

In the end, Kodama-san, who had the fastest morning TT, also won the unlimited category race by riding solo away from the field with a strong attack halfway through.

The pack riders put in a really hard chase, ultimately shattering the pack, with the sprint for second coming down to a group of 3 who couldn’t quite close the gap to Kodama-san.

All in all, it was a really fun race to watch and it was great to see some big growth and interest in the race compared to the previous year. Kodama-san is actually a professional keirin racer here in Japan and together with his wife, they are making big strides to make fixed gear racing popular in Japan. They’ve even started their own dedicated fixed gear racing time that is racing in fixed gear races throughout the Asian circuit (and even Red Hook Brooklyn).

The Long Way Home, To Ichinomiya Tower!

Rather than going back home the same way we came, we (I) decided to take the long route back, and check out the cycling path along the Kiso river and Ichinomiya Tower 138 Park.

This was my first time coming here up close, and I was really glad we made the extra effort to come here, but I think I pushed Thuong a little bit too hard..

Nothing a quick little nap can’t fix..

We ended up getting over 100km in for the day, and the cold cloudy morning turned into a pretty warm day with some strong sun. I hadn’t prepared for such weather, and ended up getting really sun burned. Was going to happen sooner or later though.

Today’s Ride on Strava

Be sure to check out today’s VLOG as well.

sfiDARE Crit 2018 Cycling VLOG

The post 100km Ride to sfiDARE Crit 2018 Japan’s First Fixed Gear Criterium appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

I participated in this race last year in the C1 elite category and managed to finish close to the podium in 4th place. That day was also my very first attempt at making a cycling vlog, and was the beginning of me discovering my new passion of making cycling videos.

Here’s a little blast from the past, me filming last year’s race..

In today’s race, however, I am not participating. I just came to watch the race and cheer on some friends, and of course film some video.

The new video is at the top of the page. Last year’s video is below. I hope I was able to improve my video editing skills a bit over this last year 😉

The post Aichi Bokujo CX 2018 Day 1 愛知牧場シクロクロス appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

The race was held at the Hirata Riverside Plaza, which is the same location as the local monthly training crit (平田クリテ) is held. There just so happened to be a race this day as well, which I was planning to enter, and then enter the sfiDARE Crit afterwords.

Because I wanted to participate in both races and I don’t have a car, I had to ride over with my road bike as usual, and Kodama-san lent me one of his spare track bikes, a Giant Omnium.

After a solid top 10 finish in the Cat-1 race of the regular crit, it was time for the main event!

The first lap was supposed to be a “free lap” for people to get used to their bikes and riding in a pack on fixed gears on the course. One person didn’t get that memo and decided to attack. Other people went with him, and that left me dangling off of the back trying to get used to my new bike. Luckily, after a few laps of getting used to the bike and the course at speed, I was able to put in some hard attacks on the long back straight and eventually catch up to the front group and then attack off the front.

I was able to get a gap briefly, but was brought back into the group by Kodama-san and Jasmin, who were fresh on form from travelling to the Red Hook Crit in Brooklyn, NY. Eventually, it came down to the three of us, with Jasmin taking a last lap flyer, and Kodama and myself playing cat and mouse to see who would chase and lead out the sprint. He ended up leading it out, and I was able to come out around him at the very last second in a very narrow sprint finish.

Needless to say, I had a blast and was really happy to be able to perform well in my first fixed gear criterium race.

This race wouldn’t be possible without Kodama-san and his wife, who have both made significant strides in bringing fixed gear racing culture to Japan through the sfiDARE Crit.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and I’m excited to see how this race will grow in the future!

みんなさん、お疲れ様でした！

sfiDARE Crit Race Day VLOGS

Full race day, Hirata & sfiDARE Crit

sfiDARE Crit Full GoPro Race Footage

The post Victory at sfiDARE Crit! Japan’s First Ever Fixed Gear Criterium appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

SPYDER BUKAK Race Day

The race format was a hill climb done in similar fashion to 4-cross. Groups of 4 riders would start together, and the 4 riders with the overall fastest times would qualify for the final heat, which was where all of the prize money was. Normally, I am more of a sprinter and not so much a hill climb kind of rider, but I can usually do pretty well on climbs up to about 5 minutes. Looking at previous times from this race, a winning time was a low 6 minute, so I felt that there was still a chance for me to do somewhat well.

I was very impressed at how professionally this race was put together. From the glass racer sign in board, to the starting stage, to the portable restroom playing classical music, to the live results board, everything was just overall very smooth and well thought out and put together, which was great to see.

I particularly enjoyed this rider sign in board made from glass. I’ve signed numerous rider sign in boards before, but this was definitely my first time doing it on a glass one! Fancy!

Right before the start of my heat, they conducted a mini interview with me about my cycling history, which was apparently broadcast live in Korea (which my other friend in Korea just so happened to watch).

My heat finally was underway! Derek told me that the guy in green was the winner from the previous year and to just follow him. My strategy was to just try and sit on and save energy for the first half, and then see if I had anything left for the finish. Luckily, the pace wasn’t too bad for the first half and I was feeling confident I could sprint out the second half of the climb. Unfortunately, when the guy in green started his attack, the other rider in between us did not react, so my chase was a bit delayed and I wasn’t able to catch him before the finish line.

I ended up with a time of 6:48, which put me in 5th place overall.. Which was one spot out of the final round, the podium, and the money.

Chris Uburti ended up having the fastest qualifier time with a 6:17.

He then went on to win the final round by dominating the sprint, which was a sight very familiar from our collegiate racing days together..

Fun random fact: Derek, Chris, and I all used to race in the MWCCC (MidWest Collegiate cycling conference), and all used to race for the same US domestic elite team, RGF/Panther. Thought the team split into two teams when I joined, and we ended up as rivals rather than teammates.

The SPYDER BUKAK race continued to impress with the level of quality of the awards ceremony. There was a proper awards stage, DJ, professional announcer, and even a KOM jersey for each race winner.

These trophies were also pretty massive and weighty. I think Chris had to check another bag on his flight just to get this home and add it to his trophy rack.

There was also a pro Men’s division in today’s race, but apparently the pro racing and amateur racing is completely segregated in Korea. If you’re curious about why all of these professional cyclists are showing off their legs / cycling tans, be sure to watch the full day’s video here:

SPYDER BUKAK CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP 스파이더 북악 스카이웨

Race GoPro Footage

More information

http://www.spyderbukak.com/

The post SPYDER Bukak Climb Championship Race in Seoul, Korea appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Racing around the Christmas and New Years holidays is always very difficult for me since I tend to lose control of myself and stuff myself with lots of delicious food rather than train and maintain a proper diet.

I still had one last race of this Tokai CX cyclocross season, which just so happened to be my local race at Aichi Bokujo　(愛知牧場), which is a farm that is only about a 20 minute bike ride from my house. Aichi means my prefecture, and bokujo means farm.

As the name suggests, this race was held around the Aichi Bokujo farm. It turned out to be a great venue since it is family friendly, and so many people brought their entire families, resulting in a large number of spectators.

Since this was only my second race in the C1 category and I flatted and DNF’d out of my last race, I was stuck with a last row start.

The course had numerous sections that were single file only, especially on the loose sandy / dusty switchback descents.

Luckily, this also meant that there was a significant amount of climbing each lap, which was nice and wide for passing.

The first few laps, I tried to rest in the technical parts and sprint up the hills as hard as I could. I ended up passing quite a few people, and by the halfway point I made my way to a top 5 position group.

Overall, the atmosphere of this race was fantastic! Every lap, countless people were cheering me on, and I kept hearing my name from the race announcer as they blasted techno music, so I kept getting pumped up and pushing myself harder to try and catch the leaders.

Although I had the 2nd and 3rd place riders in my field of vision, I was burned from my previous efforts of sprinting all out on the hills, and I wasn’t able to close the gap by the end, so I rolled in at 4th.

I’m happy to say I accomplished my goal of returning to cyclocross, and that was to get my upgrade to cat-1 and get a top 5 finish. Hopefully next year I can continue to get stronger and get back on the podium and get some new Tokai CX glasses to add to my collection.

Speaking of adding to my collection… They had these awesome Aichi Bokujo (愛知牧場) cyclocross t-shirts!

So of course I bought one. I went with the safe choice of black, while Zac went with the flashy red. As expected of Mr. BMC Japan.

Race day video

Up until now, I had been relying on my good friend Bradley to make the race day VLOG videos, which I always looked forward to. Unfortunately, he recently left Japan, and this led me to try and attempt to make my very own race day VLOG.

I still have a lot to learn about video editing, but it was a fun first attempt. Check out the race day vlog for Aichi Bokujo here!

The post 2017 Tokai CX #6 Aichi Bokujo C1 4th appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

At last, after finally getting my upgrade from my win in the last Tokai CX race, I have my C1 (cat-1) debut race here in Japan! My broken thumb was starting to heal, and I have been able to train more lately, so I was feeling good about my chances today.

Today’s race was at Kakamigahara Outdoor Field (各務ヶ原アウトドアフィールド), which was a nice big park near the Kiso river.

The course itself was pretty nice, including a good mix of long power straight sections as well as some more technical twisty sections. One area of concern was the large number of rocks on the course, which made a risk of crashing or puncturing pretty high.

Since this was my first C1 level race, I was stuck at the back row, but luckily the field today wasn’t too large, so it wasn’t too big of a problem.

I stuck to my usual strategy of taking it easy in the start and relaxing in the technical areas since they were backed up with traffic anyway, and then would attack and sprint in each of the long straightaway sections.

My strategy worked pretty well, and I found myself attacking the group for 3rd place. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the first two position riders were already out of sight.

About halfway through the race, I felt my rear tire go flat and that was the end of the race for me since I didn’t have a pit bike or spare wheel to use.

At first, I assumed that I had pinch flatted due to the rocks, but after I inspected my tire, I found that it was a thorn that punctured the tire. Oh well..

In any case, I’m happy that I was able to accomplish my goal of fighting for a top 5 position. Hopefully next time I can stick around until the end though.

Race day Tokai CX VLOG

Bradley was also out at today’s race and made a video for the day’s events. Check it out here.

Photos were taken by
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maekawa0717/
and
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132570324@N04/

The post 2016 Tokai CX #4 Kakamigahara C1 Debut appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.