Another rare ‘reblog’ here, but since the Olympic Road Race is coming up this weekend, I thought it’d be worthy. Below is an account of my ride up to Mount Fuji in January 2019 on part of the Olympic Road Race route. The last two climbs will be the deciding factors this weekend, especially the penultimate, which was a killer.
Wout van Aert and Michael Woods (2 pros I follow on Strava) are already doing reconns of the course if you want to check them out. Otherwise, tune in this Saturday (and Sunday for the women) for the hot, humid, fireworks.
I just got back from a business/family/cycling trip to Japan and rode a little bit of the final of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Men’s Road Race course near Mount Fuji. Here are a couple of lovely views of Fuji-san, really common in the clear air of winter, but a virtual miracle in summer, when the race will take place.
The first photo is on a descent to Lake Yamanaka. Yamanaka-ko is a beautiful-but-cheesy place of fine views and pedal boats shaped like swans, but the riders who are left at the front of the race at this point won’t care all that much, I’d suspect, because they will have only one little climb left before descending to the finish line at Fuji International Speedway, right on the flank of Mt. Fuji.
What comes before the descent above will surely see the selection made in this race. You can see the…
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The Vicious Cycle 