Japan

It only took me a little over 3 years, but I finally rode my first race in Japan. The race was up  one of the highest mountains in Fukuoka (if not the most), Hikosan. Hikosan is a famous and well-known spot for hiking with a beautiful temple near the top.  I've had the pleasure of hiking Hikosan twice and riding up once before.  The race itself starts in Soeda town and runs approximately 9 miles (14km) with around 2,800 feet (850m) in elevation gain.  Simply put, it wasn't a race for me.  Anything that goes uphill is not a race for me.  It was however the nearest race to my house and so I decided to finally hop on the saddle and go. I was surprised to find out that nearly 600 riders had entered.  I looked at the results from 2016 and figured I could place well within the top 150.  Unfortunately, I finished 156th.   My time was a few minutes slower than I hoped.  I was aiming for the 45 minute mark but came in at a disappointing 47:51.   An insight int