2020 Race Blog - Keeping it Real (if not Rad) in Japan!

[Mikku]

Thanks mate! Although I haven't been able to do much racing this year, I'm having plenty of fun with the bikes!! I'm now also in pretty good shape, should I actually get the chance to race again!!

[Mikku]

It's the Japanese National Championships this weekend at my "local" track Oizumi in Osaka. Half of me really wants to go as I've not seen one before and it's at my nearest track and one I know well, so would be good to see. On the other hand, it's 3 hours away and with petrol and tolls, it's not a cheap day out. I don't mind the money when I'm racing but just to watch... Plus I'm a bit miffed that the normal race series there has been cancelled but the National Championships is going ahead. If I don't go then Plan B would be to go for a practice session at Gonzo, which I reckon would be fairly quiet with Oizumi going on the same day. Plan C is to work on the bikes - more specifically to play around with the GT! Decisions, decisions!

[Chilli Rinse]

It's the Japanese National Championships this weekend at my "local" track Oizumi in Osaka. Half of me really wants to go as I've not seen one before and it's at my nearest track and one I know well, so would be good to see. On the other hand, it's 3 hours away and with petrol and tolls, it's not a cheap day out. I don't mind the money when I'm racing but just to watch... Plus I'm a bit miffed that the normal race series there has been cancelled but the National Championships is going ahead. If I don't go then Plan B would be to go for a practice session at Gonzo, which I reckon would be fairly quiet with Oizumi going on the same day. Plan C is to work on the bikes - more specifically to play around with the GT! Decisions, decisions!

I am a lazy bugger and would opt for plan c  I would also buy a BMX part with some of the monies saved 

[Picklez]

If I honestly had all three of those options in front of me today it would be a no brainer ..... B

Ride till you can't Mick, then tinker.

Irrespective, have a great weekend buddy 

[Mikku]

Thanks guys! I'm leaning towards plan C as I really want to swap out the chainring on the UB2, but am still tempted by Plan A! Will see how I feel in the morning!

[Mikku]

So Plan C won the day and I stayed at home, though the planned spanner-work didn't go quite as I'd hoped! More about that elsewhere because in far more exciting news, I've just read a post on the Niigata BMX website which says that for this weekend's final race of the season, they've relaxed the restrictions on who can enter! That means I can bloody well race!!! I shouldn't get too excited because this is subject to track conditions which, at the moment, they say are not great, so there's a chance the race may not happen!! All will depend on the weather over the next 24 hours which does look ok - there's a small chance of some rain - but we'll have to wait and see! In the meantime I'm stoked to at least be in with a chance of racing again. Time to dust down and clean up the Crupi!

[Mikku]

I am happy to post my first race report in nine, long months! Better late than never!

The Niigata track is a 3 and half hour drive away, which meant an early start and also leaving home before receiving official confirmation that the track conditions were good enough to race on! Not ideal but the good weather en route gave me some confidence and sure enough, when we arrived at 9, the gates were open and people were setting up, so the 170 mile gamble had paid off! As always, there was a low turnout but unlike my previous two race meetings there, this time I actually had other older guys to race against! The BMX gods were indeed shining on me and thankfully the track too, which was still damp after recent rainfall. There were three of us in the over 30s class but I know at least two of us were over 50! We were joined by a lone 15 year old to make it a 4-rider over 15s class. I had lined up next to the 15 year old during gate practice and we were next and neck down the first straight, so I know she would be one to beat. That turned out to be the case throughout the day. I was a bit faster than the other two guys but the youngster had the edge on me. Or rather, the legs on me.

In the first moto, I found myself out front and led all the the way to the final, third berm, when she took me on the inside. I had left a gap there because the entry into the berm was still damp and I didn't want to risk sliding out. Obviously 15 year olds don't worry about things like that, so she went for the gap and took the win. Moto 2 was a repeat performance and even though I tried closing the door at the same place, she got a wheel inside me and held the line to the finish. In the third moto we were neck and neck on the first straight but she had the inside line into the first berm, and we stayed like that to the finish. So with three 2nd places, I qualified for the 3-rider main.

By now there was a definitely a drier line in the middle of the track, so middle gates were the best choice in my book. However, in the main the 15 year old chose gate 2, so I went for 3, knowing that I could probably close her out in the first straight and still keep ahead of the other guy. That turned to be the case and this time I held the lead all the way until the final straight but then, with no juice left in the tank, she once again snuck by to take the win. It was an exciting race though, and also the last of not only the day but also the club's season, so a good one to end with. I wasn't so disappointed - just stoked to be back out there again and also dicing in every race. A podium finish was the icing on the cake.

[Picklez]

Nice one Mick, and glad you got a session in before the end of the season. Three 2nd places, well done  . I'd have been happy with that in a 2-person race 

[Mikku]

Thanks mate! When I've raced there before I've been the ONLY over 30s rider, so it was great to have (and beat) some similar-aged competition. Also won these vouchers for my efforts! Big Mac anyone?

[Mikku]

Since the excitement of Niigata, I've been playing around with the GT and yesterday took it down to Gonzo for a shakedown test. More specifically, I wanted to check out how it rode with the new chainring and chain set-up and the answer was a big thumbs up. I really like this bike and definitely want to race it, at least once. I suspect that won't happen until next year now, but that gives me time to make a few more changes. On Saturday I borrowed some bathroom scales from a neighbour and was able to weigh all my bikes for the first time. The results were:-

1. GT = 8.34kg/18.39lbs
2. Crupi = 9kg/19.84lbs
3. Quamen = 10kg/22.04lbs

No big surprises there since the the frame material differs between the three (carbon fibre, aluminium and steel, respectively) but I can definitely lighten the GT further by swapping over the carbon forks from the Crupi!

So that's the next step, followed by a return to Mie to see how the GT feels with a lighter front end. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics from the Gonzo blog.

[Picklez]

Keep the updates coming, good to hear the work on the drivetrain paid off, love the Renthal ring, and that second picture's awesome  .

[hotdog]

Yep,agreed.... that second shot is just ace.

[Mikku]

Thanks guys! Yeah, that second pic has become my new screensaver.

After posting that update yesterday morning, I took the Crupi for a quick, late afternoon spin and was really reminded how much I love that bike. It's so dialled in now, which it should be after 3+ years, evolving, riding, racing and sometimes crashing together! & man, that Alienation cassette just puuurrrrs, in contrast to the higher pitched whir of the Profile Elite cassette on the GT and the obnoxious (but nonetheless likeable) noise from the Quamen's Halo Clickster. I don't want to get too sentimental here but it was like it was saying to me, "Hold on a minute, don't forget about me!" So I won't. But I will swap over the forks and pedals, to see how the GT feels on track then!

[Mikku]

Forks and pedals switched over, I took the GT back to Gonzo Park track yesterday for a shakedown test. The front end was noticeably easier to lift up - not that it was difficult before but it just pops up easier now, as per the pic below.

[Mikku]

I have another window of opportunity this weekend, so having been to Gonzo Park quite a lot recently, am thinking of revisiting Oizumi, down in Osaka. It's a longer drive but I haven't been there since my first race of the season in January, so it would be good to go back. Plus it gives me the chance to test the GT there, which may well be the venue of my first race of 2021. The weather forecast currently looks promising too, so I'll see how the rest of the week pans out.

[Mikku]

Unfortunately I haven't been able to make it down to Oizumi, mainly for work reasons, and with rain and snow forecast for the next 48 hours, that's it for the year. & what a year it's been!!

Looking at my season's track stats tells its own story but back in January, who could have predicted what an impact COVID-19 was going to have on everything:-

Oizumi, Osaka = 1 race + 0 practice sessions;
Joetsu, Niigata = 1 race + 1 practice session;
Midoriyama, Kanagawa = 0 races + 0 practice sessions!

At least I got to race twice, which is more than some did. And of course, some people had much more serious problems than not being able to race BMX, so I can't complain. Plus it wasn't all doom and gloom because I grabbed that podium in Niigata and found a new local track in the form of Gonzo Park, which despite being 100 miles away and not holding races, I'm happy to make the trek to. In fact, I drove down to Mie 6 times between July and November, which averages out at about once a month. Since that equates to my normal racing schedule, Gonzo kind of filled the void left by the cancellation of the Oizumi series. Kind of!

I may not have raced much this year, but I did see plenty of action with race bikes. I started the year off with one complete race rig and now have three! The Crupi was first joined by ?Project Q? aka the bike I built up around a Quamen prototype race frame and then in September I unexpectedly picked up the carbon UB2. Both fairly unusual but fun bikes for different reasons. I was actually out and about on the Quamen yesterday, which has become my go-to daily rider.

So that was 2020! Next year we'll just have to see where we are with COVID-19 but hopefully I'll have some more racing exploits to report on. Whatever happens, I'll continue to share my efforts here on RAD. Happy New Year!