October 6: Specialized Cactus Cup at Fujimi

The fun never stops here in Japan. Over the weekend I travelled to a little town in Nagano prefecture called Fujimi. It just so happed the the Panorama Ski Resort there was hosting the Japanese leg of the international Specialized Cactus Cup mountain bike race. About three thousand people came from all over Japan (as well as a few other countries) to compete in a number of events.

Matt and I left Tokyo at around noon on Saturday. We had to pack up our bikes and carry them onto the trains. The one-way train ticket cost about US$35, and then we had to pay a couple dollars for our bikes. It wasn't the most convenient way to travel, but we got there all right. From the station, we had to ride a few kilometers across the town and up the hillside to get to the ski area. We made it just in time to ride the course one time before dark. The fatboy criterium (a short mountain bike race in a paved parking lot) was still going on when we got there, but our race wasn't scheduled until Sunday.

Saturday night we slept at a dorm for some girls school. School was not in session, so one of Matt's friends arranged for all of us to stay there for free. We had a little trouble getting to the place, because it was a ways up in the hillside. We survived the endless uphill and the pitch-dark night, and arrived at about 9:00pm. The place was amazing. The room we stayed in had thirty tatami mats. For those of you who don't know, tatami mats are the traditional Japanese flooring, and many rooms are measured in terms of tatami mats. For those of you who do know, thirty is pretty big, eh. Anyway, we really enjoyed the place. Some of the guys brought some beer along, so we had a little party in the cafeteria until about two in the morning (even though one of the guys was racing at 8:00am.

Matt and I slept in till about nine. Then we coasted about 60kmh back down into Fujimi and made it up to the ski area in little time at all. Then the waiting began. Matt and I were registered in the Sports division (above First-times and Beginners, but below Pro-elite) which didn't race until three in the afternoon. We spent most of the day scoping out the course and tinkering with our bikes. Most of all we worried about what we had gotten ourselves into.

All of the riders looked very tough. Looking around Tokyo, I figured there weren't many good bikers in Japan. Everyone that I know rides the equivalent of a granny cruiser with basket and bell to boot. However, the bikes at this event were quite different. I personally ride an aging Trek 8000 with no suspension, bells or whistles. These people all had full suspension US$2000 or so machines. I was a little worried.

Interesting enough though, the studs at Team Specialized (yes, the sponsors of the race) ride bikes with just front suspension proving that it is the man more than the machine. Speaking of the big Team, I think the highlight of the day was when we got to meet the one and only Ned Overend. This guy has been mountain biking his whole life. He has been the leader of the Specialized team for many years. He just missed going to the Olympics this year. He is supposed to quit riding professionally after this year. In fact, he said that this would be his last race as an official professional cyclist. From now on he is going to take it easy and help develop products for Specialized.

If we had been in America, I don't think we would have had a chance to meet him. Many Japanese riders know who Ned is, but they either didn't recognize him or were to shy to approach him. Not us. Matt and I walked right up to the little team tent set up in front of the ski lodge. We asked him for a picture and chatted for a minute about the course. He said he had just arrived in Japan on Thursday and thought the course there in Fujimi was a good one. He was quite a down-to-earth guy. It was really cool to be able to meet him in Japan. It is funny to see American things things from a Japanese perspective (like following the current presidential campaign through the Japanese media). Very cool.

Soon it became time for our race though. There were nearly five hundred people in the Sports class, and we were split into only two starting groups. We were lined up by our rider numbers. Luckily Matt and I were a little toward the front of our pack. It was quite a crazy start. Immediately we started to weave up the ski slope. Riders started to spread out pretty quickly. I am pretty weak on such climbs, but I tried to hold a good position. When we came to the single-track in the woods, there was no chance to pass. In fact, there was a line waiting just outside the woods. People were all trying to push their way onto the narrow path.

I did well on the downhill portion, but when it came to going back up, I ran out of steam. Then my chain fell off. There were spectators all over the course screaming out "Ganbare" (Hang in there or something like that). It was quite a rush. Two laps and about fifty minutes later, it was all over. Matt placed in about the top fifty out of our 230 people, where as I was somewhere closer to the middle of the pack. No trophies for us that day, but fun was definitely had by all.