A couple of weeks ago I did the "Kanagawa Prefecture Bicycle Track/Truck Competition Record Meeting". Or at least that's what Babelfish says it was called. What that means is; only time trial racing. For me, flying 200, kilo, and maybe a team sprint. There was also 3k and 4k pursuit and 4k team pursuit.


I finally got to put the magic helmet to good use, and it worked! This is me setting the fast time of the day in the 200, an 11.68.

Here's a vid of my second run. Not as good as the first, only 11.89:



Then it was time for the kilo. All is peaceful beforehand. Note all the kids in the background. Bike racing is a high school sport in Japan, which always blows me away. There were three or four high school teams there, with a couple of university squads as well. I wish we had had such a system in the US when I was growing up, it's cool.

I'm off, but looking down too much...

...that's a little better...


...and the PAIN, again! But it was worth it, I got the fast time of the day, and a new PR for me-- 1:10.07. So frustratingly close to 1:09! It was suggested to me later that had I shaved beforehand I'd have had that extra .08 of a second. Dammit.

Fun day. Unfortunately my last chance to do a good ride with the Kanagawa team sprint squad evaporated- we simply ran out of time. Maybe next year?

Nice bikes! Mine and my friend Nakagawa-san's.