I forgot to file my registration on time for the 2006 Nojiriko triathlon but was so taken by the weather, the location and the short course dynamics, that I ended up going along just to cheer. Took my Specialized MTB instead of the Leopard road bike which was both a plus and a minus. Easy on the hills lousy when i got a flat and those MTB tubeless tire patches proved impossible. We were able to hitch a ride to the station from the middle of nowhere, god bless that kindly woman with the little van.
Anyway, Nojiriko is a pearl of a little lake in the Nagano and Niigata northlands, a favoriet of turn of the last century missionaries who came there to remember New England and escape the sultry heat of Edo. The race is a lake swim, a 4 lap ride and a tough 16km run. Not standard at all - for reasons I fail to understand, but the elite turn up nonetheless, and the Leopard team was there in good number as well. Irony strikes like cut glass: Our mentor and tencho, Shoji Nakano busted his spare tubular on practice day, and busted another in the race and had to retire - the FIRST TIME in 25 years that he was unable to finish a triathlon he had entered!!!
Here are just a handful of photos. I plan to go back in 2007 if I can find time. No aerobars allowed on the bike course, and odometers are mandatory. The minshuku with kayak school on the premises is NIRVANA. Spend an extra day up there - Monday after the race and SOOTHE YOUR SOUL. It is easy to ride back to Nagano City to catch the Shinkansen PROVIDED you bring a fix-it kit for flat tires.
