Wednesday 31 October 2012

'Crash Test Dummy'

Remember those socks from the past post? The bright orange ones with 'CRASH TEST DUMMY' written on them? I pulled them on yesterday and went for a little ride. I hoped they'd provide me some kind of ironic protection against mishaps while riding, but no, it was not to be...

(My phone battery cut out with about 5-10km left to go, hence the incomplete Strava track)


I set off in late morning with a friend, Cory - we set a good pace aided by cunning drafting and soon made it most of the 45-50km to Kizu despite a bit of a headwind. With about 5 km left Cory had to turn back due to time constraints and despite this being my first ride for a week due to having a cold, I decided I might as well press on and finish the ride to Kizu proper.

I got there and soon realised that amenities are... lacking. There isn't even a convenience store in Kizu. Having just ridden that distance on a single 500 ml bottle of electrolyte drink, I was in need of something.

There are however several vending machines, including one with the ever-present Pocari Sweat (a stranglely-named Japanese sports drink). And a cake store.

It was obvious what had to be done...

The ultimate mid-ride nourishment

After enjoying the fine slice of chocolate cake you see above and refilling my bottle, I set off back home. 

Then, but 100 metres down the road, I got hit by a car at a fairly blind junction. Side-on. At probably 20 mph.

The impact knocked the rear wheel out from under me, so I went down pretty hard. Luckily I hit the ground on my side so save for a few scrapes and some utterly trashed gloves, I was pretty much OK. Thankfully, save for a slightly bent rear wheel and misaligned brakes, so was the bike. The car - a Prius (I hate Priuses) - was totally unscathed.

In the end I took the guy's plate number, refused medical treatment or the police (I was in a hurry to get back before it got dark, really) and accepted a token cash gesture (80 quid or thereabouts). Not how I'd have handled it in an ideal world, but like I say, it was getting late. Oh well.



A bit of road rash and bruising  on my hip and a few scratches on my legs - not too bad, all things considered...

I pushed on through the return leg (45 km or so again, back to a slightly different place). The adrenaline wore off at about the halfway mark, so I bonked hard and was pretty much falling asleep on the bike by the end. I didn't have the opportunity to consume extra sugar to fend off shock, so I'm sure that didn't help.

Anyway, I got home and both myself and the bike are more or less fine, so that's the important thing.

The lesson: Shit happens. No matter how careful you are, sometimes other people's stupidity will unavoidably find you. Deal with it and move on, and don't let it taint your enjoyment of things.

Personally, I'll be back on the bike on Friday. I have a Strava Challenge to get ready for in a few weeks.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Strava, socks

As autumn ramps up, so too does my road mileage. I'm currently riding 2-3 times a week so rather than post about everything here, you can track my riding on Strava here:

http://app.strava.com/athletes/1109295

You may need to be a member of Strava to get all the juicy details - I'm not sure.

I am particularly happy to have apparently topped 50 mph on a downhill stretch this past weekend...



On a fixed gear bike where the cranks are directly linked to the rear wheel, on a relatively low gear, this was frankly terrifying (in the best possible way). I'm not exactly sure how correct Strava is here but I know I was going damn fast (must have looked ridiculous, spinning my way down the hill, nearly being thrown off the bike) and I did pass several cars on the descent, so it's probably not particularly unrealistic.

In related news, I bought some new gear. Some 'Sock Guy' cycling socks. Which are bright orange and read 'CRASH TEST DUMMY'. I couldn't not buy them, really...


I can only get away with these on my 7am Friday morning ride, I think...

Climbing season shouldn't be far off now. Stay tuned... that is, after all, the original topic of a blog called 'Vertical Japan'...

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Kyoto - Nara - Kyoto (via Typhoon Jelawat)

Had a little cycling trip lined up for a few weeks now - nothing too intense, just a nice little cruise out to Nara with a few friends. About 60 km each way, with a night in a little guesthouse in the middle. Pleasant enough, right? Well... kinda.

The ride kicked off nicely enough. The weather was glorious on Saturday, giving a beautiful ride into Nara via a few little sights: 'most notably' what is apparently Japan's longest wooden bridge.

We were 6 people total but to reduce frustration we elected to split into two groups - one 'fast' and one more relaxed. Grecia and I made up the fast group, with the other four tagging along a little later (although still in a very respectable time!).

The ride was made more enjoyable by a bunch of new stuff - some Rapha Classic Bib Shorts (more on these in a future post, possibly - you've been warned!), some Sidi Genius 5 Megas and the always-lovely Rapha chamois cream (possibly more on this, too...).


Japan's longest wooden bridge, just before the halfway point of the route

Bikes in Nara-koen (the deer park)

Good job!

Upon arrival (and finally finding each other) we checked into our guesthouse and went to find food. What followed was the most enormous curry-rice ever... for 600 yen. That's absurdly cheap. The menu in this place consisted of: coffee, curry-rice, orange juice. Nothing more.


Someone every single one of us finished this...

Chilling in the guesthouse - really nice old tea house, all wooden construction with tatami floors, etc.

After a few token celebratory beers (possibly a little ill-advised) in the evening, we elected to get a reasonably early night because, well, we knew what was coming up. With no chance of changing the guesthouse booking, we had to come... and that means we had to go home, too.

Meet Typhoon 17, aka Typhoon Jelawat:

JMA course plot for Typhoon 17
Here she comes!

After a hasty breakfast we set off at about 8am...

What followed was one of the more interesting rides I've been on. Being chased towards Kyoto by a typhoon (our average speed was around 20 km/h; Jelawat was hitting about 55 km/h...) conditions started off fine but rapidly deteriorated. We were soon riding into stinging rain and gusty sidewinds which nearly knocked us off a few times. This soon became a steady headwind, resulting in about 45 km of what felt like constant uphill riding. Needless to say, calories were burned. Added to the fact that we barely stopped, we were roundly destroyed by the time we somehow got back to Kyoto.


Getting hammered by the rain

Grecia trying to keep going through appalling conditions - props to her, and indeed everyone, for making it!

By some miracle everyone arrived back safe. Grecia and I, again making up the 'fast' group, actually made it back in about the same time as our outward journey despite the hairy conditions. I'm not entirely sure when the others got back to Kyoto but by that point the conditions were utterly foul as the full might of this Saffir-Simpson Category 1-equivalent typhoon came to bear on the Kansai region, so they did well!

The damage to my right calf. I'm not even sure how this happened...

A few days later and I'm still knackered. So is everyone else. Quite an experience!

In case you're wondering what happened to the Fuji trip... it never happened. The timing just didn't work out. One for next year, I guess. Still, I think this last excursion more than made up for it...