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.

In a recent video, I introduced my new spin bike, but I also ended up buying a new road bike fluid trainer for my wife Thuong to use to be able to ride alongside me. It’s a no-brand cheapo black friday deal trainer, so we weren’t sure what to expect, but it seems to do the job and isn’t too loud as long as she’s not going all out, so the sound shouldn’t be a problem in our Japanese apartment.

What do you guys think about our new living room / cycling room? As Thuong said, my dream finally came true, and now we are able to cycle together husband and wife in the evening after work while watching anime/movies. Doesn’t get much better than that?

LifeLine TT-02 Fluid Trainer
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/jp/en/lifeline-tt-02-fluid-trainer/rp-prod155467?mx=a

SPIN BIKE
IROTEC（アイロテック）レーシングスピナー RS220 フライホイール22KG
https://amzn.to/2QOJc2m

Thuong seems to really like her new trainer 🙂

The post Her First Time Cycling Indoors | Upgrades to the Cycle Cave Living Room appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

今日のサイクリングは奥さんと一緒にロードバイクで愛知県の有名な紅葉スポットに行ってみました！香嵐渓です！

Most people go here by bus, and it can get really busy with traffic jams since most roads over here are single lane. Fortunately for us, it’s only about a 30 km cycle away and we can go most of the way on the cycling path along the Sanage mtn Green Road path. If you’re interested in seeing our route, here’s our ride on Strava.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1968967286

November is in my opinion the best time to cycle in Japan. The weather is nice and cool. Not too hot and not too cold, and the colorful leaves (red, yellow, green) are absolutely stunning. Having no humidity after a long hot & humid summer is also pretty great.

We also grabbed some gohei-mochi, a must eat snack while cycling around Japan. Popular any time of the year, but especially in the Fall.

We also just got our new Taiyaki cycling knee warmers in today, and they look awesome!

The post Autumn Cycling in Japan at Korankei, Toyota ロードバイクで 香嵐渓 紅葉 サイクリング appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

I actually bought her these shoes a couple months ago, but we were lacking cleats for her to use, and then she had to go back to Vietnam for a few weeks. After arriving back in Japan, we had some rides already planned, and didn’t want to risk learning on the main roads, so we decided to wait..

Diadora X Trivex Plus II Womens cycling shoes

We also ordered her some new Shimano SPD pedals, which came with some new cleats.

For her first attempt at using the new cycling shoes and SPD pedals, we went to Morikoro Park’s Cycling Course.

This cycling course is a closed off 5km course that is specific for cycling only. This means that we are safe from cars, making this a perfect place to practice out using the new cycling shoes and SPD pedals.

Trying the new shoes on!

Time to try them on!

She actually rode over with her regular shoes, so this was her first time every trying out the new cycling shoes with her new pedals.

Attempting to Clip In

As with any beginner to new cycling shoes, the first time clipping in can be the biggest hurdle. We spent a few minutes fumbling around trying to get her clipped in, and for a while things were looking hopeless..

But after a while, she finally was able to clip in!

I taught her the strategy of holding only a pole/wall and sitting down while clipping in. After a bit of practice, she started to get the hang of it!

Starting to Ride

Now comes the easy part, just pedal!

She instantly felt a big difference and was telling me how light the pedals felt now. She couldn’t believe how big of a difference it made.

After finishing our lap of the 5km course, she was able to clip out (just twist) and stop safely!

For good measure, she practiced clipping in again and we did another lap, but faster this time. She beat her goal of 10 minutes on the course, and was feeling pretty exhausted, but proud and confident with using her new shoes and clipping into the SPD pedals.

All in all, it was a great success and hopefully these new cycling shoes will help take her/us to many new awesome places going forward. See you in the next cycling VLOG!

The post Wife Trying Cycling Shoes With SPD Pedals For the First Time appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Mama chari’s are the standard bike in Japan. They’re big, sturdy, comfortable to ride, and can carry lots of luggage with big baskets up front and racks in the back.

I bought one myself when I first came to Japan years ago..

Sadly, I only had the bike for about a month before selling it to my coworker since it was a bit too small for my liking. But we finally have a new mama chari bike back in our family, and are already putting it to a lot of good use..

Enjoy today’s VLOG where Thuong and I go hunting at a few different bike shops for the perfect mama chari!

The post Buying a Mama Chari Bicycle in Japan 新ママチャリ appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Rest assured that this is not the last time you will see Thuong on this channel. I will be heading to Vietnam at the end of December and Thuong and I will be travelling around together and filming new videos while she shows me around her country.

The post Thuong’s Visa Expired and Is Leaving Japan appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

I was able to take a few clips from the night, and thought I would make a video about it.

The post Surrounded by 3 Beautiful Ladies, Happy Birthday to Me! appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.