...the weekend madness (installment 12)

Unfortunately, I never made it to the Goldsprints Friday. I got home, armed myself with marshmallow essentials (bicycle, beer, and bud), and was all set to head over to hipster central when the sky opened up and a deluge of precipitation came down on NYC for the next 24 hours or so...

I really need some fenders.


Anywho, since Saturday was a flop for riding (for the aforementioned reason), I packed my sparse belongings into boxes, preempting my move back to Bed-Stuy, and watched youtube vids of bike races all day.

As I mentioned recently, I'm becoming quite the track racing fan and can't wait 'til I've got a bike worthy (and legal) for the velodrome. So of course I'm spending countless minutes in front of the computer watching races, studying tactics, and drooling over impossibly pretty bikes.

We all know (or if you don't you will soon) that track racing originally gained popularity right here, in NYC, over a hundred years ago; and Madison Square Garden, in its original 'sportway', was a velodrome that garnered widespread attention and created it's own event, called of course, the madison.

Sadly, track cycling lost much of it's popularity with the american public in favor of newer, more intense "sports" like Nascar and football. Fortunately, the sport held fast in other parts of the world like Japan, where it has enjoyed the status horse racing holds in the west, as a venue for state-run betting.


They organized thier own special event called the Keirin (ケイリン) where 6-9 cyclist sprint for 600m or so after being paced by a motorized bike for the first 3/4 of the course.

Needless to say, its a ripping good time and really fun to watch the color-coded racers muscle for position behind the pacer before all hell breaks loose and they fly to the line.

Like this:



I don't read Japanese, but I'm pretty sure all the writing is just betting odds and finish times.

Of course, like all state approved vices, gambling won't maintain continued financial success without manufacturing some desire... Check out these commercials I found for Keirin from Japan:





Pretty seductive, huh? I wish I could understand the speech and text to know if it's cheesy, epic, or epically cheesy.

Anyway, if that doesn't get your pistons pumping for some high-cadence action, just check out this viddy of a Keirin racer training:



Wow. The Japanese will conquer us all... on the track, at least.