Blog: April 2008
Suzuki San's Special Treatment
Suzuki San from Global Sports uses a dry technique. It was damn effective after the tenseness and pain of the Shiga race.
Tech Talk
Chatting with Masaru about whether to run wet or dry tyres at Shiga. Ran full-on mud tyres - bad choice...
New Race Food
Pounded rice balls with a bean paste centre. Very high energy. Very heavy on the gut. I saw these again later in the race, mostly all over my top tube.
Lined Up and Ready
On display at the Ritz Crit. The Trek roadies are way different this year. Compact frames are used now, seeing as Lance's influence is gone.
Super Commuter
My commuter last week. A no-brainer. 29ers feel amazingly good over small bumps. Single speeds are great when you don't want to think. The scene in Japan is slowly growing.
Portugese with Japanese Spice
La Esquina in Osaka puts on some fine Portugese food with a Japanese touch.
La Fun at La Esquina
La Esquina puts on cycling videos while you eat. The owner's a fanatic.
No Holding Back
The Japanese like to go all out on electronics and features, including on toilets. This one was actually at a mountain-top race site. Heated cover and all.
Stiffy
The Bontrager Switchblade forks remind me of riding back in the day - full rigid. So much fun, till you hit a long rock garden!
Look Out
One of many switchbacks around the Mt Roko area. This sign is there for a reason. There are crashes, or at least fresh new skidmarks, every time I pass this spot. Today's taker - a concrete truck.
Hanshin Fanatics
The Hanshin Tigers baseball fans are insane. Totally fanatical. And with their team leading the series, they're going off. They sing like a choir too, always in sync and going nuts.
True Atmosphere
Baseball - the number one sport here. All the kiddies want to be here one day. Not the fastest game, but about 100 times better than cricket!
Kyoto Bunch
The Kyoto bunch. One of the only bunches I've ridden with here. Very rare and hard to organise.
Sparrow's Fart
Too early in the morning, we headed off for Kyoto to meet the bunch. Motoji and Noguchi joined me in drinking 5 coffees each.
Old Wood
A snowy mountain town, an amazing 200 year old house, good company, nice beer, great food. What more can you ask for?
March