Fujisan - day 2

I woke at 4 o'clock to the sound of a local cockerel who liked the sound of his own voice, having woken me twice before during the night. I'm not the heaviest of sleepers and the window being open certainly didn't help. I turned over after the hundredth 'ko-keeko-ko-' (as they say in japan) and woke fairly soon after to the sound of the hotel alarm I'd set and then again 5 minutes later to the sound of my mobile, flashing and gyrating on the side board which resembled a piece of furniture from the same doll's house as my bath, the portable TV hanging over the side precariously. as I took that special five minutes contemplating the day ahead I realised the other noise I was hearing was rain hitting the fire escape and tree leaves outside and then as I sat up and saw my jersey I realised I was here to climb a very big mountain as fast as my legs would allow......

we met up at nakajima's hotel and headed to the start with the thousands of others as the rain stopped. the main thing that always shocks me is the standard of bikes that you can see at events in japan. it's no secret that the japanese are very thorough about doing things and hobbies are certainly no exception. what I found hilarious was the sunglasses most were wearing - a standard piece of kit one must have and therefor use. it was almost dark with the grey sky.

my mind boggled at the combined value of the bikes in the start car park. as my new machine is still being made I had to do with my old steel number - a far cry from the full carbon or alloy frames around me. if you were weak minded it would be enough to put you off but I knew my slight figure and goat like legs would help me up the road nae bother. we dumped our bags which would be ferried to the top and provide a descending layer and then we were ready.

eventually the 30 - 34 yr old (the second last) category got off and we ambled to the real start line. from there I spent most of the climb on the right hand side overtaking very, very expensive bikes. pinarello's, time's, colnago's, de rosa's. it was quite the boost to confidence and I sat at a fairly comfortable heart rate of about 170 bpm in a 39 x 21 gear. the road averaged 7% with only a few sections needing some out of the saddle action. I was passed by a fair few whipper snappers on my my right but the sheer amount of those I overtook was psychologically great. the ride was in silence apart from a few heavy breaths approaching and some drummers were playing a simple, ancient beat about half way up which was eery but fitting. it certainly was appreciated. the rythym spurring everyone around that hair pin. when the 2km's to go sign came into view I started sprinting with still some juice left in the legs and I finished in 1:20:33, the winner having gone up in 1:07:22. the rain had slowed things up considerably from last years times.

as great as it was to have finished, the weather was grim and we were above the clouds but yet below them too. I grabbed my bag and got the long sleeves, arm warmers and leggings on. as much as I wanted a coffee to heat myself up, I just headed to the pack waiting to descend. we had to wait 10 minutes which we all could have done without. already people all around were shivering, shaking almost, with the cold. some teeth, including mine, were chattering too. while we waited we let some air out our very hard tyres and then rolled off. there was something very pure about travelling at speed through clouds, but the descent was no fun - it was very wet with little visibility and I shook most of the way. my arms were really tense and it was a matter of back pedalling most of the way so my legs wouldn't cramp up.

when we got back to the car park we all headed straight for the udon tent and lapped it up - it was the best udon ever. hot and tasty. I had two bowls. we eventually found each other and with the rain still coming down we headed to nakajimasan's hotel and jumped in the yu (big, very hot, communal bath). before I had feared catching a bad cold but now, sitting in the lobby, it was similar to one of the best feelings you get in life after having completed something, endured a lot and then being given comfort and security. we had a big lunch and I got my beer from our bet the day before: getting a 1:20 or less. it tasted good.

we decided to rent a van which we drove the descent to shin fuji (we were meant to cycle) and took the shinkansen home accompanied by a few more cheeky beers which we had definitely earned. quality stuff. I'd like to be back for next year.