The Flu, seasons end

I love riding during the month of November, the fallen leaves make for a red carpet ride through the forest, the weather is chilly but sunny most of the time here in Nagano. I must apollogize to the customers who I had to cancel suddenly on because of the infamous Swine Flu, Adults are least likely to catch the flu I was told, but I managed to pick it up from my son, Nesta. I am still riding up here now, the trails are frozen but have no snow, definitly a nice time to ride a full suspension bike. Nesta has stopped ridng now and has traded his bike for speed skates, I will ride until the snow is too deep!

fall colors by bike

Now we are well into the fall colors here in Nagano, mornings are actually cold and at night I am burning wood to stay warm. Cold nights and sunny days make for ideal fall colors and riding conditions. I did a couple nice one day rides last week, one ride was around Yatsugatake about 120 kilometers long and the other a nice flat ride in the Azumino Valley of about 60 kilometers. The Yatsugatake ride has lots of climbing and decending, not a ride I would reccomend for beginners but the Azumino Valley is perfect for a nice easy flat days riding, we stopped and checked out a Wasabi Farm, ate freshly picked apples and enjoyed the sunshine.

Indian Summer!

September is a great time for riding here in Japan, the humidity drops and the temperature seems to stay between 25- 28 degrees C. for most of the month. I spent a week riding around the Noto Penisula and then into the mountains to Takayama. Fantastic weather, great roads and good company made for a really good trip.

Father and Son Ride

Genki and Nesta took thier fathers for a summers end ride last week. I am very lucky to have some customers who are starting to bring their kids to ride here at Freeride Adventures, my son and I really enjoy spending the day riding the trails with them . Takagi-san has come riding with his son Genki a couple times this year and it is really exciting seeing both the father and son riding better and better. Kids learning curve is so much quicker than us adults and it won`t be long until they are demanding bigger jumps and faster trails to ride, but for now it is great cruising some easy trails.

Summer Time at Last

I haven`t been able to get the camera out much recently,the rainy season really dragged on this year and it was really nice to finally have some sun for the Holidays. I had some Demo Bikes, www.covebike.jp , for an event a Panorama Ski Area last week and spent a bit of time checking out the new 4 cross and jump areas now open. I thought it looked like a lot of fun and today I took my 8 year old son , Nesta and his friend Ayano to give it a go. I have never tried this style of riding but after a few hours playing today I am hooked. It really helps your riding on the berms and jumps. If you ever have a chance to pump of a few runs definitly give it a try, it will only make you a better rider.

Quiet Roads and Seafood

So many people are suprised to hear me talk aobut how good the road riding in this country is. Once you get out of the urban areas you can find some beautiful quiet roads almost anywhere in Japan. The Noto Peninsula is one of my favorite areas, sleepy villages, no traffic, beautiful scenry and fresh seafood all add up to a wonderful place to ride. Personally I think touring in small groups is the best way to enjoy Japan. With a big group you are restricted as to where you stay, eat and the main benifit of actually blending into Japan. I just got back from a short trip around Noto with Micheal and Tina, a wonderful couple from Germany, Micheal was kind enough to send me some pictures, enjoy his take on the Noto!

Panorama "motai nai"

I had 3 Austrailians up here for a week a the start on July. 3 very solid riders who were happy to spend their time riding the Gondola at Panorama and ripping up the trails. I was suprised to hear that in the land down under they were riding 2-3 minute tracks,when you think about how many Aussies are at the top of the MTB downhill game it is hard to understand why there are no fast Japanesee riders, Mio-san excepted. They also wondered why Panorama doesn't make some trails like Whistler has done, this would help with the erosion problems ,slow the riders down and make it more enjoyable. They wonder why the thinking in Japan is "small world not the big picture". My favorite quote " This place could be Aisa's MTB capital,don't they know we are out here?" I had no answers for them ,, who does? Check out this video of the 3 Aussies enjoying a bit of Japanese single track.

Bikes are Beautiful

Last weekend my customers and I met some cycle tourists on a local climb, it was the first time in over 10 years that I have met any riders on this road. These riders have been riding for a long time and they all looked very smooth climbing up the mountain. Check out the pictures I have uploaded and you will not find any Carbon in this group! Proof that the most important part about riding is getting out the door not worrying about having the latest, lightest gear. I am now inspired to build up a few of the bikes in my basement,,,they are crying out to be ridden again!

This is Fun!!!

I was joined by Murata-san and his friends for a ride last saturday, Murata-san came for a couple of rides last year with me and this time brought some friends that he road rides with. It was great to introduce MTB`ing to these road riders,because of the good cycling fitness they have from the road they could climb on the big full suspension rental bikes without to much problem.The advantage of ridng these bikes doesnt become evident until you hit the trails, when the suspension sucks up all the bumps and the disc brakes help you control the speed and let you enjoy the challange of single track riding. I too love the feeling of my 7 kilogram road bike but it doesn't compare to a good single track ride. You must concentrate on the trail at all times, you don't have time to think about much else so you really can forget about the real world while you riding.

The Natural

On Sunday I had a group from Kanagawa-ken come for a ride, this group shows up once or twice a year, the numbers vary but they are always ready for anything. This year just before we got to the top of the mountain, I was told that this was one guys first ride. I was quite concerned as the trail we were about to ride is not ideal for beginers, dropping in is a good way to descibe the first 10 meters of this descent. I was pleased to see him use good judgement and walk this section, I gave him a very quick , 1 minute, how to brake lesson and we were off. He made it down the first trail, a bit jerky but no injuries. One of his friends decided to let him try his full suspension bike and then it was game on, he found his groove and was riding right in the middle of the pack. Even during our afternoon ride when he was back on his "Bridgestone Slugger" he was right there ripping it up. I hope he keeps riding, he is a Natural

Age doesn`t matter

Saigo-san and his friends came for a ride during the week, it was my first time riding with this group and we had a really good time. The ages in this group varied from 30 something year olds to 60 something , they were a perfect example of what makes cycling so wonderful. We did one of my more aggresive rides with a good 8 kilometer climb and fun downhills, I won`t say who was fastest or slowest but I will say the youngest and oldest were right in the middle. Great day , Paul

Big Day

Hayashi-san asked me to take him for a different ride last Saturday so I decided it was time for him and his friends to join me for an OLD SCHOOL epic. 8 hours lots of trails and big climbs. My sons joined us for the first 30 minutes then we got serious. After our final and hardest climb of the day a 15 minute downhill which takes me back to my roots of Vancouvers North Shore, steep and fresh. Many thanks to the group for an excellent day, no whinners in this group!

Nesta's First Guide Tour

This past Golden Week we had some nice weather, good rides and good times. Nesta, my 8 year old son joined me and a family for an afternoon of riding. I didn't get to see him working as the 2 boys couldn't wait for us slow folks, but they did stop and wait for us once in a while. Many thanks for those who joined us over the holidays.






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Trails Open

Riding has started early this year! We have been having some fantastic weather here in Nagano so far this year, the low snowfall and warm weather has enabled us to ride the trails much earlier than usual and now the riding is very good. Last week we had some customers here for both road and MTB rides , many thanks to them for making our season start so enjoyable. Now is a great time to come and spend a day riding here at Freeride Adventures. We have a good variety of rental bikes here, road racers , mountain bikes or even nice cross bikes for an easy days riding , we have you covered.

BC RACE Stage 6

Day 6
The town of Squamish was the setting for what many had said would be the crunch of the BC race. This stage is a combination of 2 separate cross country races the Test of Metal and the Gearjammer. The Test of Metal is widely regarded in Canada as the unofficial MTB Championship of the World, the winner of this one day race held in May every year must be an excellent mountain bike rider, Max Plaxton won the race just before the BC Race started this year and along with his partner Andreas Hestler managed to win the stage as well. Today we made it through without any problems but I was really feeling the effects of only 4 hours sleep the night before. After the ferry trip back from the Sunshine coast I had gone into Vancouver for a couple hours before trying to head up to Squamish. A propane leak on the Whistler Highway closed the road until 1 a.m. so what should have been a big nights sleep turned into a stressful evening instead. Our plan was to ride smoothly and pick up the pace on the long logging road climb about halfway through the race,a couple times I had to tell Yoshi to back off a bit and even though we managed to maintain our position we could have done a bit more with this super hard 65 kilometer course today.
A big thanks goes out to the mechanics who worked until 3 or 4 a.m. every night repairing racers bikes, my bike spent the night before the 6th stage in their hands as I had manged to destroy a chainring and chain on the 5th stage. Due to my traveling problems I didn't have a chance to check the bike out at all before the stage start, I pretty well walked up to the service area 10 minutes before the start of the race, begged them to let me "pay you later" and lined up at the start line. The bike was perfect right from the word go and after the race when I paid up I also gave them my thanks. There is a lot that goes into putting a 7 day stage race together, somebody was taking my tent down and putting it up again every night, somebody else was making me breakfast and dinner everyday, when you think there is about 600 people traveling along within the race. A big shower truck was always near the campsite, I never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get clean. The organizers of the race made a few mistakes but were always quick to take the blame and make the corrections, very impressive group.

BC RACE stage 5

Stage 5
If you ever have the chance to get over to the sunshine coast , make sure you ride the trails around the towns of Sechelt and Gibson known as the Rat Race Trail System. The locals have built some of the most fun flowing trails that I have ever had the pleasure to ride. Not super technical but just tricky enough to keep you on your toes. Great banked trails through the rainforest help you keep your speed on these fast smooth trails. We were feeling good about our riding over the last couple days and were looking forward to this day. The cycling gods were not on my side though as today was my turn to have the mechanical problem , with about 15 kilometers left to go on this 65 kilometer ride my chain snapped. Not only did it break but a whole section of chain came off. By the time we got that fixed we had lost at least 20 minutes and once again finished the day feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Stage Winners-

Team Old School ( Canadain 2008 olympian Seamus Mcgrath, Chris Sheppard) 3:36

Brownfishjumpers 4:47

BC RACE Stage 3-4

Stage 3
With our new plan of action we start out on a 65 kilometer day which takes us to Cumberland. We had been told that the last 20 kilometers of this day were like the icing on the cake with the last 10 kilometers being the sweetest. Lots of singletrack and logging roads took us to the Qualicum river. The cool river waters felt great as we hiked through to the far side, Yoshi layed himself down in the water while we waited our turn to get up the river bank, he started a trend as by the time we got out pretty well all the racers behind us were submerged in the river. The final hour of riding was awesome , we had energy left in our tanks to really enjoy the technical riding and we finished feeling tired but good about our day, a big contrast to our 2 previous days
Stage Winners – Team Trek VW- 3:42
29th- Brownfishjumpers- 4:39

Stage 4

A 4:30 am wake up call greeted the racers today, we were herded onto buses, driven to the ferry. After a breakfast provided by BC Ferries we had time to go on the deck of the boat and take in a classic BC scene of　mountains, ocean and blue sky. Today’s race started right from the Ferry Terminal and would take us 60 kilometers down the Sunshine Coast to Sachet. Once again we started of at a reasonable pace and slowly worked into the ride. Lots of excellent trails along the way today and we were well on the way to having our best ride yet when Yoshi had the first of 2 flat tires in the final 2o kilometers. Having a mechanical problem in a race of this length is not really surprising in fact we had seen many other teams dealing with their problems right since the first kilometer of day 1. Mountain Biking is all about finishing.
Stage Winners – Team Kona- 3:11
31st Brownfishjumpers- 4:15

BC RACE Stage two

Stage-2
135 kilometers of gravel roads was the answer for the snowed in trails that separated Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni. I used to ride allot of road races but hadn't ridden in a pack at 35kmh for longer than I cared to remember, Yoshi as well has spent many hours riding but mainly on the trails that abound in British Columbia. The hard thing about riding in a pack is that at first it is not that hard in fact if you get right in the middle of it you get a good draft and get pulled along. Problems started to occur after about 90 kilometers of hammering along trying to stay in the slipstream. 1st I had to chase back to the pack after a slow stop at a feed zone , next Yoshi got left behind on a short climb and when I dropped back to him we made a huge mistake, For the next 5 kilometers we chased back to the pack one more time. As soon as we made contact the road turned up, the climb was only 3 kilometers long but after all the high-speed riding Yoshi`s legs stopped going around. This Combined with his overheating the previous day and the pace of road racing today he experienced what is commonly know as the bonk. It is almost impossible to recover if you have let your body get into this state, Yoshi tried to eat and drink as much as he could but in the 35 degree heat and with 30 kilometers still to go we were in big trouble. I should have realized what we were getting into well before we got to this point but both of us were elite racers not to many years back and it felt great to ride with the pros again. Yoshi completely drained himself getting to the finish then had to spend 3 hours in the medical tent rehydrating and cooling his body down. That night I said to Yoshi that on the 3rd day we should start very easy, forget about riding with Sheamus Magrath(Canadian Olympic Team Member) and finish the day riding strong not dead.
Stage Winners- Team Flight Center- Aus.- 4:21
32nd- Brownfish Jumpers - 5:18

BC RACE Stage one

Stage-1, 89 kilometers
Nerves were frayed as all 450 racers lined up to start was to turn into an epic adventure. As a former professional cyclist I was well aware that the start would be one of the most dangerous times of this 7 day race. Even though the organizers warned us at the previous nights pre-race meeting as soon as the gun went off so did the race. Within 500 meters I had lost my partner , who seemed to be riding way faster than I could, a big field full of cut grass slowed everyone down as racers, myself included, had to dismount and clear their drivetrain of grass before continuing. Yoshi was pulled over waiting for me and we got going along with the rest of the field. Todays race was an 89 kilometer ride from Shawnigan Lake to Lake Cowichan, it included a variety of the terrain that we would ride over the next 7 days, gravel logging roads, double track jeep roads and of course what all mountain bikers crave , single track trails. The heat, mid 30`s was a factor many riders including Yoshi didn`t consider as they rode past the first water station thinking it was more important to hold their position in the technical trails. The heat and Yoshi`s choice of clothing " I`m not a racer anymore, I am a freerider" started to effect his riding and for the last 20 kilometers we had to back off on the pace and cruise into the finish. We felt okay about our day and realized we could do a bit better if we worked together more smoothly, little did we know what day 2 had in store for us.
Stage winners- Team Canondale U.S.A. - 4:14
45 place- Team Brownfish Jumpers - 5:43

BC Race- report- Intro-Day Zero

BC RACE
Back in the early summer of 2007 I had the opportunity to work with a Canadian film crew here in Japan to film a 30 minute TV show for Rideguide TV. The idea was to combine a lot of riding with some sightseeing. The show would feature Andreas Hestler, 5 time Canadian Champion and 2 time Olympian and myself . We had a great time and you can see the end result at www.rideguide.ca episode 138. During filming Andreas kept telling me about a race he is the course director for, a 7 day epic stage race linking up a lot of the now famous single track trails that abound in B.C. I didn`t hesitate when he asked me if I was interested in doing this race and reporting on it here in Japan.
The BC RACE is a 2 man team race so my first task was to find a willing partner. I made a few calls and soon had a few very good prospects, in the end I teamed up with Yoshito Tsuji who is a Japanese transplant living in BC. Yoshi T is an excellent rider/racer. I consider myself very lucky to have had him as my partner as he had ridden many of the trails we rode on over the last 3 days and his local knownledge was very helpful on some of the techical trails we rode.
Day O
The race starts in Victoria on Vancouver Island, a beautiful ferry ride and a short drive to the town of Shanigan and we were at race registration. Here we signed the race waivers and recieved a Dekine travel bag in which we were told to place all our belongings for the weeks race. Upon opening the bag we found alsorts of goodies from the races sponsers . We were told to put all our belongings for the race in the bag and every morning after getting geared up we took the bag to a waiting truck and then at the end of the days stage we would pick it up and take it to our tent. After a welcome dinner party we went back to our hotel and prepared ourselves for adventure.
Before I get into the actual racing I feel a bit of my background should be shared with you, I did my first MTB race in 1983 , raced profesionally until 2000. During this time I raced many different races, some good , some bad, I have done some big stage races on the road such as the Tour of Hokkaido here in Japan, the Casper Classic in the US and I even did the Tour of the Rockies Mountain Bike race back in 1986. I tell you this because after all the racing I have done I would never have expected to be saying that a race I did in 2008 was the best race I have ever had the privilage of racing. The organizers have a winning combination with the BC RACE, it is a race for all mountainbikers, pros are saying it is the best test for a true MTB rider. Age group riders love the challenge of riding over the same course as the pros and old washed up racers like myself only dream about being a bit younger and really having a go at this race. Stage One will be posted next week.
Paul