Jun 1, 2008 13:16
Going to record my eating + cycling = weight loss progress in here.
I’ve been battling weight gain ever since the day I got married.
My usual weight before marriage was between 75 & 80kgs.
My first year in Japan I was working out doors in Tokyo Disneyland and due to a poor salary, long hours doing physical work as opposed to office work my weight dropped down to 68kgs. ( I wish I’d taken up cycling then).
Once married I ballooned to 88kgs and was stuck on that for a long time.
In 1998 I did the Fit for Life program and went back to 73kgs. That is a great book and I had so much energy from it. A trip back to Australia combined with Christmas dinners meat pies, fish n’ chips then back to a cold Japanese winter put me back on the Fat for Life program and before long I was back to 88kg.
I was quite depressed about this and after 13 years of being a non-smoker I started smoking again. I was still active coaching my son’s soccer team but I was going down hill fast. Drinking heavily with people from the PTA weekly some times more. Smoking more and more…. looking worse and worse each month.
I had hit rock bottom. My brother on the other hand was a triathlete, fit and healthy… he knoew I used to be fit and healthy as well…. One day on his numerous trips to Japan he brought 2 of his road bikes. One for me and one for him.
That was the day that put me back on the get fit war path.
That was also exactly 5 years ago.
I got fit. Very fit. I did my first race 6 months later and although I got dropped I didn’t finish last. I then did another race and got dropped again. I made a pact to do well at this race the following year and I trained very hard for a year.
My weight was still a problem. I got it down from about 90 to 83kg and was training every Thursday night with some S class guys and I was actually getting faster and faster. I came 3rd in the race a year later…and was feeling great.
Work schedules made eating properly a big obstacle…. to cut a long story short after 4 more years of working hard, sleeping poorly, eating sensibly, and riding as much as possible but without the weight loss I was at a stage where I’d try anything.
Spring and summer is when I lose weight naturally anyway so it’s a good time to start another serious attack on my gut.
A friend of mine who has been using HERBALIFE had been telling me for the last 6 months that it will work if I give it a try and he and his girlfriend had both had very good results after being sceptical at 1st themselves.
I don’t want this to turn into a commercial but I’m going to try it.
I partially started using the products on Friday, seriously from yesterday and so far they’ve giving me diarhoea which means I’m probably getting dehydrated and maybe there is a diuretic effect with the herbal tablets.
Protein powder drinks twice a day to replace 2 meals. One normal to large meal per day on top of that. 4 kinds of herb tablets 3 times a day. I still have to figure out what they do besides give me the trots.
My friend warned me. ‘You may suffer a bit of constipation from doing this but stick with it.’. Maybe I’m doing it wrong!
Since February I’ve been hitting the gym too so my muscular conditioning is good. I even have some abs trying to poke there way out of the blubber.
Friday I was 92kgs. I was 89 at one stage over a week ago. I was 89 this morning as well. That was between doing 100kms on my bike and after trotting on the toilet.
I’m going to use that 89 as my start. I will never go over 90 again. 😎
For those of you that have read this far…. sorry to have bored you to tears but I need to put this somewhere so that I can embarrass myself into sticking to this….
May even put up some gross b4 photos… 😀 (once I’ve got some nice after ones to show first.
[IMG]http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/the-battle-of-the-bulge-timeline-2.jpg[/IMG]
Jun 2, 2008 10:32
Day 2: summary:
In my Sunday morning sprint yesterday I didn’t have my usual speed or stamina.
After riding the 100kms yesterday morning on a banana, protein shake, tablets and water I needed to add to the lunch time shake with a normal meal thrown in. My body needed a lot more than the tablets and shake had to offer after a long hard ride. Needed to carb up my leg muscles before the lactic acid took over. I was feeling a little dizzy and that was probably due to a lack of sugar in the body…had burnt it all up during the morning ride. Drank lots of water throughout the day.
For lunch I had about 5 small inari (sushi rice onigiri) with 2 small fried chicken nuggets my wife had cooked the night before. Then the shake and tablets to wash it all down.. Then a visit to the in-laws where I had a small slice of cake and a cup of tea and a banana…. Dinner was back to the shake only and tablets.
Day 3:
This morning I woke up and weighed myself… 89.8kgs. Feeling fine.
Then had the shake and tablets.
Packed my lunch—> (Shake powder and tablets.).
Will hit the gym after work tonight and see how my energy levels compare with my usual work out… (Will I be able to lift those weights?).
Going to snack on almonds while at work today.
Not sure what I’ll have for dinner…
Here is a photo with me in it yesterday…. (June 1).
http://www.seo-smd.com/07/asaren-080601%20011_1.jpg
Here is one from March 23…. 11 months pregnant…
http://www.seo-smd.com/07/asaren-080323-%20020.jpg
I can already see a difference…. so I’ve been losing weight and adding muscle since I started the gym… lets hope this new eating program adds fuel to my fire….
Jun 3, 2008 22:25
Pretty much the same routine both days here.
Except I’m not feeling hungry or tired.
Breakfast & Lunch: shakes and tablets.
Snacking on almonds (very few) at work.
Normal dinner. ( a bit of pasta, potato salad and an egg).
Water in between.
Had some coffee & popcorn at a student’s home tonight and a soy (iron) bar from the konbini.
Was 89.8 kgs both mornings.
Monday night (day 4) I hit the gym and felt fine but rather than doing 2 sets on some machines I only did 1.(as I wanted to ride to work today) Had no problems with the weights and due to rain today didn’t ride and due to work load didn’t go to the gym.
I’m going to take the next 3 or 4 or 5 days off and hit Nagano. Hiking, biking, and taking it easy.
Just me, 2 bikes and my 2 dogs.
Jun 6, 2008 14:49
Had 3 days off work so on Wednesday morning loaded up the car with the MTB, a WEBER bbq the dogs and headed for the hills. Hakuba Hils. No swimming pools, no movie stars.
Stuck with the herbalife routine for breakfast and lunch and besides a packet of chocolate coated macadamia nuts I’ve been a good boy.
Had a short hill climb ride Wednesday arvo and made sure the MTB was in order while the barbie fired up the coals.
Threw on 2 trays of beef, some mushrooms, an ika, an onion and a chunk of beef to roast for the next days dog snacks. Opened a beer and it tasted excellent however I couldn’t finish it… I was feeling like a right dick though so lit up a cigar that had been sitting around for about a year…. and put my feet up and warmed myself by the weber as the sun went down. ( I don’t smoke, so the puffs were not deep…)
The dogs made sure I didn’t eat too much with the bbq and I have been eating at home the whole time. (home being my brother’s house up here in Hakuba).
On Thursday it rained all day so I just stayed indoors, slept, DVD, and a small drive to the next town and back as my phone was dying and needed to find an AU shop. Not many keitai shops up here. One every 50m back in Tokyo.
Gave up after 40kms of searching… was also looking for riding routes as well. Measured the most scenic hill climb to the peak. Exactly 13kms from home.
Friday morning after walkies and a shake I decided to do the hill climb. I’d had a few small rides on the MTB so it was already to go. No meter on my bike so didn’t know how far to the peak but it was never around the next turn like I hoped. It’s an easy hill climb with my MTB gears but not sure if I can do it on my road bike. That will be next time. All up I rode around 40kms. Took the dogs on leash and let them learn how to ride up the hill by my side then let them swim in the river.
No idea how my weight is because there are no scales. Still look like an elephant on a tricycle in the pic I took this morning…
[url=http://www.tokyocycle.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2729][img]http://www.tokyocycle.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/406hillclimb.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.tokyocycle.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2731][img]http://www.tokyocycle.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/47swimsora.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.tokyocycle.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2730][img]http://www.tokyocycle.com/gallery/data/500/thumbs/406hillclimb2.jpg[/img][/url]
Going to watch the men’s volleyball tonight. (JPN V AUS)
If it’s not raining in the morning I may do the same ride again a bit faster….
Jun 8, 2008 17:06
After the relaxing time in Hakuba I was afraid I may have put on some weight, however on return to the scales (night weight) I was 89.6kg. Eating and cooking for 1 without being wasteful while on a diet was a challenge of willpower.
This morning I was 88.2kg I can’t complain about that.
Morning warm up ride.
[IMG]http://www.seo-smd.com/08/asaren-080608-1-%20001.jpg[/IMG]
I awoke early this morning and decided to put in 50kms before training. (Noda –> Sekiyado–> Misato.
Training consists of the team’s usual 16km warm-up—>Noda, 12km sprint–>Misato(groups of 4 to 6 graded), then a 4km cool down. Then free riding in smaller groups. (Me to Matsudo)
I usually go in the 2nd fastest group for the sprint but most of the guys in the faster group were racing in the Bridgestone JCRC race so I had a go at the (watered down) fast group. We worked well (6 of us) changing the pull quicker than usual which made life easier for me as I can’t lead the paceline as fast as the others. We got to the last km and I was sitting 3rd….thought that would be perfect until the 1st two guys rotated out to the back. I was then pulling again… I also decided to drop to the back..and the turn over at the front was fast….the guy in front of me got to the lead again and he usually beats me and I was ready for him. He started the sprint early thinking he’d drop us all and I went with him. We dropped the other 4. I then burst in front of him with about 80m to go (which was probably too early) and looked back and thought he’d given up….but, no he was coming at me again. I put in a 2nd burst to scare him away and I won. I always make my move too early but this time I had the juice.
In doing so I set a new Heart Rate Max for myself of 196. (last best was 194).
I’m sure I can crack 200 under the right conditions.
I attribute this new Max to the excess aerobic work I’ve put in this year with gym work and the few kgs I’ve lost. My fitness seems to be improving.
Finished off the day with an extra 30kms on the way home for a total of 115km. Then my shake and herbs….with a banana and a small cheesecake. Followed by lots of water, pepsi diet, some macadamia nuts and gardening.
Dinner tonight will consist of curry rice with an YEBISU kuro.
Back to work tomorrow so will be easier to control my meals with the routine of sitting at my desk. If no rain, I’ll ride….
3 weeks till race day…. determined….
10kgs to go….2 a month will be fine….the first 3 or 4 are always the fastest.
Jun 13, 2008 17:18
Been hovering in the 87.8kg to 88.8kg range all week.
This is the plateau that has to be waited out…
A small problem. (hope it’s small).
I woke up this morning and it felt like I’d been kicked in my left kidney.
Never experienced kidney pain before….
Could be a chill from standing outside in a T-shirt last night after my bath.
Could be an infection.
Could be my body dealing with toxic waste, extra protein, vitamins & minerals.
Could be due to not drinking enough water.
Could be passing a kidney stone? (what does that feel like?).
Could be a combination of the lot.
Will chug down a little more water over the next few days and see if it gets better or worse.
Been sticking to the shakes and herbs for breakfast and lunch.
Small dinners with some harmless snacks between 3 pm and dinner time.
I managed to get in 2 X 50km rides on the days it wasn’t raining since Sunday.
Looking forward to a quick early ride tomorrow and then a long hard ride on Sunday.
Not feeling hungry. Legs felt a bit weak on the ride home today but it was a busy day on my feet so can’t complain.Tested my sprinting legs and could only manage 50.8kph. A long way off what I should be doing this time of the year.
Just as I got onto the river path this afternoon a young guy on a cross bike went zooming past me. I didn’t want to turn it into a race or should I say an obvious race. But I did. I upped my pace a bit but not suspiciously fast….creeping up on him. He looked back and saw I was cruising along about 20m back…then he stepped on the gas. I just slipped into a heavier gear and kept my cadence. I then crept up on him and was about 5m back when he looked back again…. Again he stepped on the gas. We were already going 40kph at this stage buit it was time to blow him away…. Into the slipstream into a harder gear…up the cadence and bye bye Mr. Cross. Held it at 46kph till his image dissapeared from my little mirror that is looking back between my legs. Made sure he never came back into view again…. Then I started practicing my sprints… he’d got me warmed up and in the right frame of mind for it.
Ippppparttttz…… Fight Onnnnnnnnnn!
Jun 20, 2008 06:53
Finally cracked past the 87kg mark. 86.8kg this morning.
Was a good week.
115kms on Sunday, 51km Tuesday, 6 Wed, 58Thurs, 650km on the clock so far this month and that’s not bad for the rainy season.
My kidney cleared up after about 3 days. Was probably a combination of diet, water, etc. Still on the Hebalife program and about to run out of the first lot of protein. Will keep on it while the positive results are showing.
I’ve been eating a lot in the afternoons. (long dinners) especially after riding. Was getting dizzy spells on Sunday afternoons due to lack of food after the long rides. Also been adding in a bit of plain yogurt to the protein drinks to thicken them up a bit.
Had the odd beer with dinner, have had almost no bread, no sweats, no processed foods.
Trying to keep away from rice too but will include it on a riding day in dinner.
Hit the gym on Wednesday and changed my lifting routine. No more 15 reps. Just 5 now but try and lift as much as I can bare. This is supposed to build strength witihout bulking up. I’m already too bulky and need the extra power.
Looks like rain for the next few days so will hit the gym tonight and tomorrow and hope to get in one last hard training on Sunday morning with the club ride.
Feeling confident for the race on Sunday.
On yesterday’s ride of 58km I had a shot at breaking my land speed record of 59.8kph and got it up to 59.3kph. (with a slight crosswind). Was happy about that but can’t figure out why the speed stops at 59 no matter how much extra effort I put in to push it to 60.
Hard day at work today so going to drive in…
Back in Feb I set a target to be 85kgs about this time of year. Looking good.
On Wednesday I took my pda to the gym and recorded all my weights since Feb, as well as blood pressure counts. Will make an excel chart/graph tonight so I can upload a visual.
Jun 27, 2008 14:24
Well the weight is still moving south which is good. I have been sticking to my plan but after running out of Herbalife protein powder I’ve been using DNS instead with added creatine.
On Monday our club captain asked me if I could show him my secret night time training area as he and a few other members from our club need a safe place at night to train at high speed safely.
Tuesday night 7 of them turned up at my home at 9p.m and I took them down a few dark alleys to a land that nobody in the cycling world knows about.
A 5km course with a 1km hill climb, and 2 very long straights that are wide and bordered on the left side by a canal so no cars or people can walk out in front of you. We went hard for an hour and they have all decided to come back every Tuesday night from 9pm to 11 pm. We are not to let other members in our club find out about it as we need to keep the numbers down to keep it safe. We also want to get faster than the other guys.
I’m actually about to go there now and do a light run for my Sunday race…
While we were training we were doing sprints in the straights and my form was aboive average beating everybody (including 2 S class an A class and a C class rider). More confidence for Sunday.
Reasons to do well this year compared to last year?
Last year was the first time on the course and I misjudged the last 3kms. I know what to do this year.
I have just as many kms under the belt this year as last.
I have about 60 visits to the gym on top of last year.
I weigh less than last year.
I am riding faster than I have in about 4 years.
I am stronger than I was last year.
Reasons I may fail?
Rain may be a concern and cause extra nerves.
A crash?
Bad positioning on the last lap.
63 is a lot of people to stay in front of after riding 29.9999999km at high speed.
Everybody else may be faster than me.
When I had my best ever race in Saiko and got pipped at the post by 2 drafting mutts I was up against 54…63 may be a nice number.. I was born in 63…
I am getting nervous about this race!!!!!
Jul 13, 2008 13:47
After a very busy week including many many beers, the weight is still melting away. Tuesday night training 50+km,Thursday night a hard gym session Friday night 80km TDF ride, Saturday 44km BBQ ride. and today’s 58km training…
The new Tuesday trainings are great. We ( 7 of us) are really pushing ourselves to the limit.
I measured the course to be 3.1km with a 900m climb at the start. We do lap after lap. Each lap we go hard up the hill take it easy at the top as there are some narrow roads and a dangerous corner. It’s a good time for the people dropped on the hill to catch up. We regroup and head back down to the first long straight. The straight starts at a left hander traffic light and runs along a canal. No cars, people, dogs or tanuki can run out onto the road unless they had been snorkeling in the canal. We really crank it up till we get to the next set of traffic lights. 50kph to 55kph. Then we turn to the left again, still following the canal and get our breaths back before we hit the hill again. We do this for about 90 minutes to 2 hours and at 2 laps to go we turn it into a race. The hill experts break away and I try my best to stick with them…at the end I sometimes get back to them in the straight but last week I couldn’t get to the 2 guys out in front. I’m really going to have to stick with them up the hill or break away myself before we get to the hill. All good race training.
My Herbalife tablets have run out so using up all my other multi vitamins and health tablets I’d accumulated over the last 2 years. Still on protein shakes for breakfast and lunch with a normal dinner.
Yesterday I went to a BBQ and pigged out on hamburgers, ribs, beers, potato salad, chocolate mousse desserts, chips and all that stuff I had been avoiding for a few months… that topped up the TDF party drinks and the ice cream and cream bread roll I had at 1:30 a.m while talking to Travis somewhere on route 4.
Woke up this morning thinking…I’m too tired, I need rest…I don’t want to go to training…
I went anyway, and went real slow to get there, and I may have seen Chris riding along the river or his twin brother??? (13km).
We did the normal warm up for 16km.
Then the sprint…the first fast team went and I followed in the 2nd fastest group. Finally a tail wind to help me. I didn’t have to worry about finding the biggest guy to draft behind today. We took turns at the front for about 1 to 1.5kms each. I looked down at my POLAR at the 5km mark and my heart rate was a nice and low 150bpm. (Usually 175 at this point). Hmm, this is easy, think I will win today….
One of the fast guys in group one had been dropped and he joined our group.
The last 2km everybody starts to jossle for a good position, I was in front but was going to take it easy at 38kph and see if anybody behind would just think I was toast and pass me. It worked…two guys tried to break away from me and I just slotted in behind them. Then they rotated again and I was out front again. I pulled off and was then behind the fast young guy. The pace picked up and the fast guy decided to break as well. There was one guy behind me still using me as a windshield. I jumped on the fast guy’s wheel but the guy in 2nd jumped out at the same time without looking to see if the coast was clear to I had to brake a little while yelling at him to let me go through and he moved to the left a bit. I got back to the fast guy easily enough and sat on his wheel. He wasn’t expecting me to stay with him and he tried to pick up the pace a bit more.
[IMG]http://www.seo-smd.com/08/asaren-080713-%20023.jpg[/IMG]
(according to this pic one guy is missing)….(This is just when the sprint started…after almost hitting the guy now at the back).
I knew he went too early…as that’s the same mistake I usually make week after week. He looked back, saw me on his wheel still and then got out of his saddle and went for it as hard as he could. Was easy for me to use his lead out and with about 200m to go, nobody behind us and sensing the young guy was about to run out of gas I decided to put the turbos on and went flying past him…. 54kph and holding back a little in case there was another attack coming from behind. Looked back and they had all given up. Was good to beat this young guy as he had been beating me almost all year usually with break aways well before the finish line.
Glad I got out of bed. Bloody hot though…. One more week of work then I have 6 weeks off. Going to hit the Nagano mountains for daily hill climbs before breakfast….
Goal! 78kgs by September……
:rescue:
July 22:
Ok, so my weight is moving the wrong way… Why?
Reason #1
The herbalife stuff ran out and since then it’s hard to manage a good eating plan that removes body fat.
Reason #2
Beer. In the last 10 days I’ve had more beer than I’ve had all year. TDF party. bbq. A weekend away with my brother. Another bbq.
Reason #3
The binge factor of eating more than normal after a period of low calorie fasting. (reboundo).
The last 3 days I went up to Hakuba again in Nagano. My brother came up from Singapore and we took the bikes. (+one son + one of my dogs).
There is a hill climb I found last time I was up there so we did that on Sunday & Monday mornings. The first time I did it I was a little hung over and had my Mavic Cosmic carbons on which sport a hard 23 cog on the back. I know it was going to be hard using that gear with my body weight but was surprised to get up the hill in 35 minutes (9km climbing part) and beating my lighter brother. The ride from the house is about 14km and 9km of climbing. On the Monday I switched the back wheel and put on one of my old Bontrager wheels with a 25 tooth helper. Again, another slight hangover and hotter weather as we started out a bit later in the morning. The climb felt harder and I was watching my heart rate monitor and tried to keep it between 165 & 170 as much as possible. Funnily enough I also finished the climb in 35 minutes the same as the day before. Unfunnily enough was my brother beating me up to the top this time. Recorded both assaults on the HRM and will upload a jpg of the graph soon. Besides the hill climbs which were serious hard rides we did a bit of ‘cycling’ around the town’s back roads and up to a few ski resorts. Lots of people around hiking and having summer camps.
We also went hiking and swimming in an icy cold river pool.Tobbogoning on a plastic ski slope was fun too. Felt like a little boy (as usua). Looking forward to going back to Hakuba in a week or so to do that hill climb every morning before breakfast.
All in all, taking into account all the food and drink, the one kg increase is not too bad. My holidays start tonight and training as well from 9pm. I think I’ll find the little hill at training a breeze tonight after Hakuba hill climb X 2. Need to buy some more protein powder and hit the gym as much as possible before I go back to Haks.
I also ran into Karey Watanabe’s husband http://www.sweetriders.com/Japanese/page1/page1.htmlwho has built a little MTB jump course at Hakuba 47 just 700m from where we stay up there. I promised him I’d take my MTB up there next time. He was a really nice guy and even though I’ve chatted with Karey a lot on the net I haven’t actually met her down there yet. As soon as I saw her husband in the distance I recognized him straight away from their homepage. You cna take your MTBs up the ski lifts at 47 and ride down. We saw a few guys with hired bikes tackling the downhill courses. Looked like they were beginners and they survived, so I should be able to handle the run as well. Sweat Riders run MTB events, often and I’m hoping to join one of their training camps soon.
Something like this.
http://sweetriders.com/English/page1…-1001-pop.html
http://sweetriders.com/English/page1…-1002-pop.html
Jul 29, 2008 15:15
Back on track. 84.3kgs.
I’m just getting back into the protein shakes after a 2 week absence and will get back to the same routine. 2 shakes as meal replacements and vitamin tablets + a normal to largish dinner.
I’ve got 2 beers left that will be gone by bedtime tonight.
I’ve got new cycling shorts to stop my crack from being perved on by all those people drafting behind me. (all my old cycling pants have become translucent around the vital areas). If people stop drafting me now, I’ll know they are gay.
Not sure if I’m going to make Travis’ wedding as I may be back up in Hakuba again to tackle the hill climb (see below) daily. I’ve already done one run to Hakuba last week and each time I go it costs about 1 man yen in gasoline and 12000 yen in traffic tolls (round trip). Can’t afford to go up and back too much.
Somebody told me that ETC is free after 1 a.m? Is that true? If so, I can make the return voyage an extra time.
After doing the Hakuba hill climb twice last weekend I came to Tuesday night training and blew everybody away. Didn’t get dropped on the little hill climb and came home strong on the last sprint. Tonight they will have me marked and not sure if I can beat the 2 faster guys tonight. Half way throught that 1st beer right now…
Here is the Hakuba hill climb that is going to turn me into a Sastre like mountain goat. It starts out nice but has a mean last 3kms. I’ve done it 3 times now and 35 minutes is the time to improve upon.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/SirZephyr/HakubaHill406.jpg[/IMG]
Even though Evans didn’t win the TDF, he should not be dissapointed. He rode alone for the whole tour, knew his limits, pushed his limits and still managed to beat a lot of guys with more flare or ‘attack’. He has nothing to be ashamed of. People complain that he doesn’t attack. But besides a fe druggies and Sastre…who else attacked at the TDF? (and succeeded?).
I’ve heard that Evans and McEwen may be going to Tinkoff. Hope they like vodka.
Oh, yeah… I have a bad knee that doesn’t like walking 100m that is in the lottery for a run at the Tokyo Marathon next March. Will have to get my weight right down for that…and hop on my good leg.
Aug 23, 2008 10:29
I’ve been up to Hakuba now 6 times since Christmas, twice in the last month.
So many places to ride and so little time. Living down in the Kanto plain on the banks of the Edo river I don’t get much mountain climbing in let alone the odd hill. Not like you guys who live a bit closer to the hills in Gunma and Saitama.
I have no idea how my diet is going as there are no scales up here where I’m staying and being ‘holiday time’ I kind of let go and do what I like. More bbqs this summer than I can remember, more beers than I’ve had in years. Not looking forward to my next stand off on the scales.
The rides. Hakuba is known as the foot of the Japan alps and when trying to decide where to ride, whichever direction you take, you will have some of the best views of mountain ranges. My favorite ride so far was the day I tested the map of my Garmin 705 GPS. I rode up my usual hill climb (route 406) from near Hakuba eki up to a lookout that has the best views of the valley and alps ( about 30km round trip). Ive done that hill about 8 times now and usually just turn back and head home afterwards. (I start the hill climb sprint at a sign that says 47km to Nagano just as you get onto route 406 about a km..- it usually takes me right on 35 minutes to get to the top from there…33:43 my record for the 8.5kms). Not sure if that is good or bad. When & if you guys try let me know.
Last week I went to the other side of 406 from the lookout and down towards Nagano city. Very exhilarating, windy, narly (surf talk) and did I say exhilarating?’, ride… Once at the bottom, the route I have mapped out on the 705 was to take me up another mountain to find the Ogawagawa river road that loops back down to the Olympic road that leads back to Hakuba. This was also very narly… and the most beautiful road I’ve ever ridden. I’m hoping to do this route in reverse before I go home, but am running out of time and rain is on the map for the next day or so. These roads are old routes, so there are virtually no cars. Seeing the farms on the steep banks of the Ogawagawa mura hillsides and the farmers looking at a space age looking cyclist flying down and around the bends; I felt like an alien inspecting some new planet.
The gps took me on my planned route and a few times I didn’t trust it but kept on going. There was a goat track of gravel and rocks to negotiate for about 2kms before I hit the road again to take me down but I’m glad I didn’t give up and go back. Well worth the purchase. Trust your GPS. 50km round trip.
Other rides. My MTB was sitting at home feeling lonely and needed some exercise, so I took it up to Hakuba 47 ski resort, just 800m from where I’m staying. You may have seen on the news that 2 hikers were buried in a landslide the other day. This day was when the rescue teams were out looking for them. There was a helicopter parked on the other side of the river with police and TV crews. I watched for a while and could see that the water hole I was swimming in a week before was now full of rubble, sand and rocks. No more jumping off the 3 meter high wall into that pond. That was some rain we had and I feared that the missing people would be dead for sure. I stayed home the day of the heavy rain thinking that anybody out hiking on the alps was committing suicide. Here is the effect of the rainfall at Hakuba 47 on August 19th [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/SirZephyr/47riverrain.jpg[/IMG]
This is how it was a week before… where we went swimming…
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/SirZephyr/47waterholejmp.jpg[/IMG]
Don’t swim in rivers when it rains….abunai yo!
I saw a few MTBers come down the beginners ski slope at 47 and I know that they paid for gondola day passes and would be getting the lift back up and riding down again, time after time. Being the kechi guy I am, I decided to ride up. Even for a beginners slope it was quite steep in parts and gravelly. As I climbed up, a few MTBers coming down were looking at me like I was an idiot. 😮 Was probably supposed to be one way, down hill traffic only but I kept to the sides, made sure I wouldn’t get in any body’s way and kept on grinding my way up in the lowest gear. At the top I had a drink and then motored back down to the beginning. I don’t get it. How do you get to use any gears if you just get the gondola up and fly down using the brakes most of the time? I was happy to have had a good work out and saved my money. Scary going down too. Didn’t take me long to realize not to use the brakes at high speed on gravel, especially while drifting around a bend. I didn’t come off though. Other MTBers in jeans and protective elbow and knee pads, me in my lycra racing outfit. Guess I was an idiot….after all. :nosweat: Was not strong enough to ride back up again or suitably attired. 😎
Did a few other MTB rides exploring the local ski fields, town and shopping on other days incuding another hill climb to my friend’s house on the other sided of town.
Yesterday the rain seemed to be gone and a chance to do a big ride. I went from Hakuba to Hotaka about 50kms. Nice ride away from the traffic (set my gps to ‘off road’ and it took me on a very interesting route following old roads, cycling paths and kept me away from traffic. Was hot and I got quite sun burnt. On the way back I went a totally different way and at about the 70km mark the gps decided to take me up the steepest hill climb I’ve ever done and then after going down the other side it decided to do a U turn and go back. I refused and battled on in the direction I thought was the right way. A good decision as I found some more beautiful rides and alas two more murderous hill climbs. Got home with 101km on the clock but a very hard ride and most enjoyable. Just as I arrived home my back tyre went flat. :p
Raining again today and I want to go out and do some more hills. My family back in Noda are also wondering when I’m coming home…
I’ll be coming back here in September so if anybody wants to tag along, let me know.
I don’t want to come home….if I do stay up here another week, I’ll surely re-edit this blog and include some other rides… I should be heading home though…missing my Tuesday night trainings too. (need to prepare for the keirin in Omiya next month.)
Not up here alone either… can’t spend all day away on the bike as my 2 dogs need walkies… here is Sora-kun up at the water hole at 47
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/SirZephyr/47swimsora.jpg[/IMG]
Oct 29 2008
Short blog update:
Been training harder than usual but that may not be as hard as a lot of the members here at TCC.
My Tuesday night training has turned into Tuesday & Thursday night trainings with a faster team. The timing of this has been perfect and I have seen a big improvement in the last 2 weeks. Will go tomorrow and then next Tuesday then taper down a bit before my Saiko race Sunday the 9th of Nov.
The training with the fast group has been 11 laps X 3.8km with a sprint at every lap after the 1st lap. I’ve actually been doing 15km before they get there and sometimes 10 or more after they go home.I’ve been able to experiment a lot doing this with leading out long, leading out short, double attacks, false attacks, trying to wait till the last second and coming past everybody with the draft.
There is no answer though. You don’t know what the others are going to do and you just have to play it by ear and hope your timing and strength are going to be better than the others. Do it the same all the time and they know how you work. I’ve increased my confidence at least. All these guys are B class or higher and I’m only a D class low life. I’ve been beating them a few times too many, which is good.
Been blogging a lot on my own page here with details about exactly what I’m doing.
My weight has been steady around 85kgs without much attention to dieting. Still taking protein shakes for some meals. Been taking Ominex 04 as well which has made my blood pressure drop and made me more alert some how.
My blood pressure was quite high earlier in the year when I was 95kgs in Feb.
Often over 150/90. The weight loss to 85kg brought my blood pressure down to 140/88. The extra training must be helping too. There was an immediate drop though after a week on the Ominex. Still not sure if it was the Ominex or just natural. Will keep taking it till after the race anyway.
Not looking forward to the winter when it’s hard to get out of bed for training….
This weekend I’ve got 4 days off, so going to head up to Hakuba and do some light hill climbs. Will even try and break my Hakuba hill climb record of 32 minutes and enter it here in the Hall Of Fame. My brother is coming up too, so I’m hoping he won’t break my record at the same time. He beat me up the last time we went together. At least I have an excuse to go to the great Pizza family run restaurant in Misorano called The Garlic. Best Italian food I’ve ever had. Carbing up with beers and wines.
My gym visits are only about once a week but after Saiko I’m going to go 3 times a week and start my winter program.
Going to be a busy 2 weeks. Work this week, pick up my brother Saturday moring from Narita, straight to Hakuba, hill climbing Sunday and Monday, drive back…got Tuesday off so may do an LSD and then back to work Wed. Thu. Fri.
Friday the 7th (night) I’m going straight to Saiko and going to stay two nights and make sure I’m ready Sunday morning…..