Wrapping Up the Tour of Japan

Stage five was glamorous, as it was held on the Utsunomiya circuit which had been used in the 1990 World Championships which Rudy Dhaenens had won. Again we put on the 26 cogs and needed them. The hill was just over a kilometre with a couple of pretty steep sections. After the long break of the day before the legs were paying the price but I managed to stay in the front, through the use of hitting the climb on the front each lap, until right near the end of the race.

Finally, stage six was held in Tokyo. It was to be the most disappointing day of the Tour for me personally. Another blistering start got the race rolling as attack after attack tried to get away, but with the field flying along at 50km/h nothing stayed out for too long. Buck and Ryan were both attentive at the front and made it into a couple of good moves that ended up coming back. It wasn’t until 20km or so into the race that a break was finally established and I had made the split; the only break of the race to make it to the finish. With several laps left I was hit with an asthma attack, the combination of humidity and pollution overcoming me. Hanging onto the back of the break I was gasping for breath and soon found myself off the back. I couldn’t even stay in the field when they came by and at one point thought I would have to stop riding, even though I was already off the back practically costing. In the end I got lapped and assigned a prorated time, a bummer of a day. Buck did a great ride though, coming in third in the bunch finish behind the break; a nice way for him to finish off the Tour.

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Racing in Montegi Japan

Motegi, the fourth stage of the race, was to be our most exciting day on the Tour. We raced on Motegi a car racing track, using both the track and the service roads. Though not as tough as the last two days the organisers had still managed to put in a tough grinder of a climb that pitched up over two sections. What actually made it tough was the flat windy, gutter section in between. It was here that the field was actually coming apart on the first couple of laps, only to regroup on the very fast sections on the circuit. Both Buck and Ryan were aggressive in following the early attacks over the first couple of laps. Originally it had been decided that I would save myself for the end of the day. But on the third lap the field seemed to be flagging in their attempts to bring back attacks and I decided to have a go on a longer false flat drag. Four other riders came across to me and punching it we pulled away from the field.

Soon the time gap was rising and we had established the attack of the day. Unfortunately only four of the five of us in the break were working. For some reason, supposedly because he was defending third of fourth place on GC for his team-mate, the rider from Team Exteondo (Asia) didn’t do one pull all day. Weird tactics if you ask me. Anyway, after being away for 100km we still had three minutes lead coming into the final three laps and I was thinking that we might be able to make it.

With two to go the lead was down to 1minute 50seconds and the other guys in the break weren’t pulling as smoothly as we needed to; the rhythm needed to stay away was gone. So with just under two laps remaining I attacked, in the same spot at which I had initiated the break, to try and go solo to the finish. The legs were good and I figured it was now or never. I soon had twenty, twenty five, then thirty seconds on the break with the field just outside one minute with a lap, twelve kilometres, to go. I figured I had a decent chance and kept myself buried at my redline. If I could just get over the climb with a decent gap I felt that I would have a decent shot.

I put everything I had into the climb, pushing hard into the headwind but all was for naught. With just three kilometres to go the field came up beside me and my day was done. I hadn’t won but it had been exciting and caused a buzz in the race for the team.

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Nara and Shuzenji

After stage 1 in Osaka we struggled on the following two days of tough circuits. The Nara stage, which was run on a technical circuit around a damn, was impressively fast. After a comfortable and lackadaisical neutral, in which the race actually went off course, the race exploded into high gear as we hit the race circuit. The field stretched out into a long line of 100 riders as the pace on the front never relented and the constant corners made it challenging to move about. For most of the day I rode in the top twenty riders, making sure never to drift towards the back. A little bit of wiley riding in making sure to always hit the climb near the front kept me in the front longer than otherwise would have been possible. Although I ended the day in the second group I can’t say that I was too disappointed with how the legs were turning over.

After a “rest day”, which was nothing of the sort as we had a seven hour transfer, we tackled the third stage in Shuzenji at the Japan Cycle Sports Center. What an incredible circuit; it was nothing but climbing and descending for ten kilometres each lap. Not only was it descending but the descent were technical with decreasing radius turns on each one; there was just nowhere to rest. On top of that we rode 26 cogs, and actually needed to use them. Again, like in Nara, it was a bit of a case of survival; the peloton whittled down slowly but surely. Near to the finish I was actually not feeling too bad and with three laps to go was aggressive on the front of the race. Buck too was following the moves. Unfortunately neither of us was able to follow the final accelerations that determined the front group and once again we were left to ride in the second group on the road. Still with three days left not all was lost.

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Tour of Japan - Osaka

the 8th Tour of Japan is a six day race spread over eight days. The format of the race, which was made up of circuit races each day, was different from any race that I had done before. Going into the race we were expecting that racing on circuit races would be tough, little did we know how tough the racing was going to be. Three of the six races were super tough on hilly circuits that slowly whittled down the field.

Our first day of racing, held in Osaka, was on a flat loop run off at a high speed. Making it tough were crosswind and flying tailwind sections that in the end actually split the field. We had put Thorben into the break; they did an impressive ride to stay out ahead of a storming field for much of the race, needless to say they were caught near the end. A strong lead-out for Buck was foiled when he rubbed wheels in what was a pretty hairy and turbulent finish.

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The New JetFuel Website

We've just published a new look website for 2004. Please poke around, get comfortable. There isn't too much here currently but we'll be adding loads of new content regularily. This new website has a ton of features that gives us no excuse not to keep the site fresh. Look for all the key riders to contribute. Next stories up... the Tour of Japan.

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GET 2004 TEAM GEAR!

The team is overstocked on clothes and for a limited time we will be selling it off. Within a few days, all for sale items will be available for sale off of jetfuelcoffee.com.

If you can't wait, stop by the Jetfuel Coffee shop at 519 Parliment St. in Toronto. You can also call to see what is available (416) 968-9982.

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Training Camp Round-up

May 13th, with another great week of racing the Jet Fuel Coffee cycling team finished off our training camp. Having had a fantastic weekend to start things off we went on to do an intense week of training in order to prepare for the upcoming Tour of Japan, May 23-30.

The mid-week training was looking like it might be put in jeopardy by the weather; Tuesday we left for our ride in a mix of hail and snow. Lucking though the weather only improved as the days went on and in the end we were able to put in some great mileage. We were staying up in the north-western corner of Massachusetts, in the corner bordering both Vermont and New York states, where the riding was just fantastic. Once out of town there was little traffic and plenty of rolling, winding roads to choose from; surprisingly there were climbs in the area that took us twenty plus minutes to climb.

It was one of the best weeks of riding I have done in North America.

All in all, with the team finishing on the podium in three of the four races we rode and putting in some fantastic miles, the training camp was a resounding success. It was definitely one of the best things we have done as a team. We have to say a huge thank you to Kathy Rinehart in North Adams, who gave up her house to the team for a week, making the whole camp possible. Thank you Kathy, it is not often that generosity like that is seen in the world.

(by Andrew Randell -- full story on pedalmag.com)

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Jiminy Peak

Ahhh, the first race of the year in shorts and a jersey and boy was it hot! The Jet Fuel Coffee team has driven down to Massachusetts for a week long training camp, book ended by two weekends of racing. We’re staying in Williamstown, on the border with Vermont, where the riding is great.

Today was the first of the races, Jiminy Peak at 150km. The field was fairly strong with a Canadian contingent made up of the VW guys, Perras, Fillion and us. A long false-flat head wind section, leading into a 1km climb made the race tougher than expected. Off the gun a break pulled away and luckily Ryan was in it; some of us were suffering for the first lap with bloated legs from the drive. It seemed at first like they would fly away, as we started in a tailwind section, but on turning into the headwind it was pretty clear that they were doomed. They managed a lap and a half off the front before succumbing to the pressures of the peloton.

Riders were trying to get away all over the course, but things were aggressive and the race stayed together. On the third of five laps a break rolled off the front on the decent from the climb, straight, boring decent. It always astounds me when breaks just roll away in spots you would never imagine it possible. Suddenly we were jamming in the tailwind at 55+km/h and a second group had moved up to the break. It was definitely one of the decisive moments in the race and the team had missed the move. OOpps!

We were covering moves, hoping that we would get into a move that was moving across to the break, but with no luck. Finally, in the headwind section some attacks started to get some ground before coming back to the field. I followed a move, it came back, went again and finally the elastic snapped. Stig and Thorben followed other riders across to the move and we became eight that were working well together. Again in the wind the strength of working smoothly together was making itself shown. Without a huge effort we were coming back on the break, little by little. Some of the guys were struggling but pretty much everyone was doing their turn.

Flying into the climb we must have been 20+ seconds down and on the first steep section one of the Fiordifruitta riders attacked. Three of us latched on and he dragged us up the climb. Over the top we caught the break and cruised down the decent with a good gap on the chase.

Turning into the tailwind section the break was in complete disarray. Some guys were working, some trying to sit on. Really, there was just a lot of people getting in the way of us doing a good paceline. At 50km/h the little gaps that kept opening up were tough to close as the guys on the front were jamming. Slowly, things settled into a bit of a rhythm and we flew along with the wind at our backs. Turning into the wind though, things ground to a standstill again.

Perras launched on one of the rollers and no one responded. Sitting at the back I was in perfect position and attacked to get across. Kevin Bouchard Hall was the only other rider to make an effort behind and the three of us came together. Steadily we pulled away from the front of the race, with a minute gap leading into the climb with one lap to go. The key now was to stay away in the tailwind, as once we turned into the headwind I didn’t think that the chase would be concerted enough to bring us back.

I was maxed out, and on the verge of cramping, working with the other two. Perras and Bouchard Hall were putting in great pulls and I was doing the best I could, mainly trying not to look like I was suffering too badly. In the end though my ticket was up when Perras attacked on a roller in the headwind. I couldn’t hold Bouchard Hall when he responded and was left dangling in the wind with the chase who knew how far behind and with 4or5km to go. All I could think was how embarrassing it would be to get caught. Stars danced in by vision as I tried to ride a tempo that I could hold to the end.

Ahead, Bouchard Hall caught Perras and won the sprint, while behind I struggled just to get up the final climb. I made it in for the third and pretty happy with my ride; I have some great power, I just need some racing to hone my form. Tomorrow we race again, they say it’s a harder course.

(by Andrew Randell - also published at pedalmag.com)

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