Mud makes Tour memorable

see some of the photos I took at the race

(from Stars and Stripes May 23, 2000)

BY RICK CHERNITZER
Stars and Stripes

    What a miserable, lousy, rotten, perfect day for a bike race.

    At Saturday's seventh Tour de Tama, a semi-annual bicycle race held at the Tama Recreation Area near Tokyo, about 85 contestants braved the near constant rainfall and resulting mud to compete.

    Slip-sliding over what many deemed "treacherous terrain" and finding themselves covered head to toe in mud, the riders who went the distance took on the additional challenge the muck provided. Other contenders, however, second-guessed themselves.

    "We had a few who came out, did a test lap, then packed up and said forget it," said Steve Ondriezek, outdoor recreation director. "But we hold this race rain or shine; we don’t control the weather."

    For the hard-core enthusiasts, however, there was a day of slippery slopes and mounds of caked mud.

    "It was muddy," Joe Duarez, an Air Force staff sergeant from Yokota, said as he hosed off his bike. Duarez competed in the men’s open category, a three-lap race for male riders up to age 35. "But I got in all three laps. The mud really slowed me down on the third lap. It added quite a bit of weight (to the bicycle)."

    "It was like riding on snot," piped up fellow competitor Tech. Sgt. Rick McCarthy.

    The Tour de Tama consists of an expert’s category featuring six laps on a 30-kilometer trail; a men’s and women’s open category, with three laps on a 15-kilometer course; and a men’s and women’s master’s category for people age 36 and older, also three laps on the 15-kilometer route. The race is held each May and November.

    "We listen to what people tell us that could improve the race and try to implement it," Ordriezek said. "For example, last November, we added the expert's category because there are some bicyclists who come out here that actually compete in tournaments all over Japan. These guys aren’t your weekend warriors."

    Keeping the competition flexible is only one part of the successful formula, Ondriezek noted.

    "More people want to compete," he said. "They find out we only have so many contestants and they decide that want to give it a shot. Each one so far seems to increase (in the number of entries). Each race has grown."

    Tech. Sgt. San Johnson took top honors in the expert’s category.

    "The trail was treacherous today," Johnson said, "If your bike slips out from under you, it’s over."

    There were quite a few wipeouts during the race, as riders took sharp turns and tried using momentum to fight the washed-out inclines, often being forced to dismount and walk their bikes up. Quite a few also tried riding their bikes on steep declines, with more than a few losing control and racing their bike to the bottom.

    Spence Palmer, first-place winner in the men’s masters category, said the declines were the downfall of many riders.

    "It was like a deep muck after a monsoon," he said.  "It was nearly impossible to ride the declines."

    Yokota Air Base Outdoor Recreation, R&R Cycles and Cultech International sponsored the race.

    The top three finishers in the expert's class were Johnson, Tetsuaki Nihei, and Eric Mullard. For the men’s master’s, it was Palmer, Wesley Potter, and Kunihiro Susuki. In the women’s master’s, there was only one competitor, Cindy Potter. John Jose, Chris Laporte and Chad Morfey took the top seats in the men's open. In the women’s open, the top finishers were Ann-Marie Johnson, Katie Mood and Connie Hinson.

    While many riders agreed a romp through the mud was fun, there was a price to pay for others.

    "I can tell you this much: this race determines what equipment I need to replace next," McCarthy said, looking down at what appeared to be a broken stopwatch.

    It was actually a altimeter, which measures speed, distance and other statistical data on a rider’s performance. Picking up the mud-encrusted device, he sighed. "This thing didn’t last. It broke down on the first lap."