03.06.08 - Fujimi: Good views, bad legs
I always wanted to see the Fujimi/Suwa area, not far from the famous Mt Fuji. And the next JCF race was 4 hours drive away. It rained on the day we drove up, but race day was perfect weather. I didn't practice the track until the morning of the race, to make sure I saw the conditions on the same day. It was still muddy in the morning, but most of the tracks dried up quickly.
The track was steep, with some very fun singletracks. It was very pedally though, with few places to rest. I was expecting Onodera to go well on this track. The climbs suited him because they were steep. And he was in good form. That was obvious from the start of the race. I led the first climb and descent, with Takenouchi second and Onodera third. Then Onodera kept going fast all the way to the top of the course. After that he just kept going. Takenouchi was unlucky to puncture later on, but is looking good for the World Championships this month.
Takeya and Senda ended up going past me and I couldn't hold their wheel. My climbing is still not good. It's very different to Australia. Our climbs aren't so steep and never so long. I think the style of racing here is harder and you have to be fit just to complete a race. That was my aim, and I did that in 4th place, 40 seconds from 3rd. But I did my best and had no energy left at the end.
I was happy to go straight to the local udon restaurant and have lots of udon, inari, rice, and ocha. It was a fun race and a fun weekend. But the traffic jams on the way home weren't so fun! The next race is in two months, so there's plenty of time to train and get faster. I'm hoping to stand on the podium soon. But it will be hard.
