02.08.09 - JCF#5: Grinding Hakuba's Peanut Butter

Last year Hakuba in Nagano wasn't kind to me or my team mates. We all punctured and DNFed, so we were all out to make amens for the 5th JCF race. But the course had moved from the well-known steep ridge to a flatter XC ski course on the other side of the valley. So nobody knew what to expect. Maybe a good chance of wet weather.

And it was the case. When we arrived two days before the race, it had already been raining all week. Practising the new course wasn't so bad, as the rain was heavy enough to keep the track wet and wash the bikes off constantly. So the bikes didn't clog up. It was slippery and fun.

The track looked like it would be great in the dry, more like Australian courses, just not as technical. But there was about a 1% chance the track would dry up. In fact, by Saturday, we were hoping it wouldn't stop raining, as that would mean harder and heavier mud... hell!

And it was in the end. It barely rained on Sunday, so the mud turned to peanut butter. The worst conditions on an otherwise good track. There was also plenty of grass to mess things up. At least the sun didn't come out to cook us. I've slowly learned that these sort of conditions are more of a mental battle and it's a matter of rising to the occasion.

Having not raced in about two months, I was wondering how my form was. All the training in the world can't prepare you for a race. So my plan was to start the race slowly and build up each lap, making sure I didn't 'blow up'. Especially in the mud, where it's easy to go too hard too soon. There would also be a lot of running, mostly in the singletracks. Getting on and off all the time gets exhausting, so efficiency is the key.

My race went to plan, sort of. I started well, kept in control, and was set for a good race. But any mud race will create many mechanical problems. I had to stop many times on the first 2 laps, to sort things out. That cost me time and I moved from 2nd all the way back to 12th.

I didn't panic though. Instead I tried to maintain my own pace and remembered what my mentor Vince said: "In the mud don't fight the bike, flow with it". That helped me ride smoothly and efficiently, while riders ahead were clearly slowing down. I sped up each lap and caught most of them, falling short of 2nd place by about 30 seconds. Yamamoto was way ahead to take the win.

Our whole team did well. While Shun had some problems, Yu was just behind me in 4th and Ken took 2nd. A job well done and a happy team. Everyone did a great job all weekend, dealing with the shocking weather and constant cleaning up.

The main reason I don't like muddy races. The other reason is I never have good mud tyres. This time putting on narrow (1.8) and deep-tread Bontrager Jones X tyres made all the difference. The mud was like nothing I've ridden before, so being confident in it helped me push harder.

So the race was tough and I wasn't race fit, but I was generally strong, which helps for a demanding mud race. All the riders will be extra tired this week, with sore legs from all the running. I'm no exception. And it seems the sudden changes in weather were a shock to my body. I'm in bed with a cold now, so hopefully it won't take long to get back into training. Lucky the JCF races are so spread out.