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05-15-07, 02:32 AM
Went out and pre-rode the course for the race I'm signed up for this weekend. I've never been on the course before so I signed up for it on a whim. The race plan is 90 minutes + 1 lap of a 6 km loop. Little did I know the course would be so friggin hard. The 180 degree hairpin turns are going to suck and the course track isn't exceptionally maintained. On today's pre-ride the course was littered with bits of gravel and tree "sticks" from winds in the mountains.
I attached the KMZ for the course in google earth format (change file extension from TXT to KMZ to load it in google earth). It's not a perfect shot of it, but the GPS was a bit sketchy in the mountains. I believe the race will run the course counterclockwise based on some markings on the course from previous years' races. The fastest I took the hairpin turn in the center north area was 36.7 kph today. Any faster than that and I'd overcook and be in the trees. Smaller wheel base would help, but not much. The hairpin in the north east is almost as bad, but on a faster portion of the descent.
The profile isn't exceptionally exciting, but there's nothing flat. It's up, then down. It's going to be probably 7 laps, maybe 8. That means it's going to be like doing 7 or 8 hill intervals and then going home. Debating the race because of the sketchiness of the course, blech.
http://www.cycleiwakuni.com/blog/files/tom_thumb_mominoki_profile.jpg (http://www.cycleiwakuni.com/blog/files/tom_mominoki_profile.jpg)
I attached the KMZ for the course in google earth format (change file extension from TXT to KMZ to load it in google earth). It's not a perfect shot of it, but the GPS was a bit sketchy in the mountains. I believe the race will run the course counterclockwise based on some markings on the course from previous years' races. The fastest I took the hairpin turn in the center north area was 36.7 kph today. Any faster than that and I'd overcook and be in the trees. Smaller wheel base would help, but not much. The hairpin in the north east is almost as bad, but on a faster portion of the descent.
The profile isn't exceptionally exciting, but there's nothing flat. It's up, then down. It's going to be probably 7 laps, maybe 8. That means it's going to be like doing 7 or 8 hill intervals and then going home. Debating the race because of the sketchiness of the course, blech.
http://www.cycleiwakuni.com/blog/files/tom_thumb_mominoki_profile.jpg (http://www.cycleiwakuni.com/blog/files/tom_mominoki_profile.jpg)