Rice Balls, AKB48, and Raw Coffee.
After an awesome morning spent betting on bikes, we got back in the Cannondale van with Hiro and Ichi.
It was lunch time, and we would be eating on the road.
“McDonald’s or Rice Balls?” Hiro asked.
Tim and I both replied “Rice Balls” without hesitation.
Hiro shook his head and said, “Crazy Americans. They eat squid but not McDonald’s.”
Rice balls are purchased at 7-11 and they are really like rice triangles wrapped in thin seaweed. You can get salmon, sweet plum, or tuna with mayonnaise. They come double wrapped in plastic with special instructions.
First, you pull the plastic from the top of the triangle, straight down, and around the back. This unwraps the seaweed that has been kept separate to stay dry. Then you pull the plastic wrapped around the rice triangle directly to the side, almost like Mr Wizard pulling the tablecloth out from under the dishes on the table.
Mr Wizard. Hated that guy.
What you are left with is a deliciously sweet rice meal wrapped in fresh, paper-thin seaweed. From 7-11.
After lunch, we headed into the Akihabara neighborhood, otherwise known as “Electric Town.” Also known for gifting the world with the current female idol group, AKB48.
Aitakkata, aitakkata, aitakkata, yes!
There are 57 members in the group. They have their own theater in Tokyo where they perform daily, and they have pop-up shops that sell only their merchandise.
Back Street Boys? What Back Street Boys?
In Akihabara, Ichi took us to a shop where he said he would shop, with the types of items he would buy. Tim and I purchased gifts for our wives and I took a picture of a robot.
The shop was located in a cool, little complex that sat beneath the above-ground train.
There was bike parking.
And there were toilets.
There was a store that only sold items made of wood.
I nearly cracked around 6 pm from an already long day. Knowing we had dinner with Red Bull reps in a few hours, and who knew what after dinner, we needed some coffee.
We found good coffee.
Tim and Ichi enjoyed their “coffee of the day.”
And I acted like the weird guy taking pictures of raw coffee beans. By “acted,” I mean, “was.”
I really regret not buying this espresso grinder. Such an idiot.
After a few cups of coffee, Ichi walked Tim and me to the train so we could meet two reps from Red Bull Japan in ShiBOOYAH at the Hachiko Dog again where we would be dining on meat products.
On the train, where no one speaks, I told Ichi I loved him as he walked through the doors for the last time. He did not reciprocate, but I didn’t take it personally.
Red Bull, Red Meat, and Karaoke coming up next…
Cyclo Cross Tokyo 2012 GoPro
Some video from the handlebars of Christian Heule during Cyclo Cross Tokyo 2012.
Cyclo Cross Tokyo 2012
I didn’t realize this, but this was the first ever Cyclo Cross Tokyo, and to say it was a success is an understatement.
We all woke up early to be at breakfast in the hotel by 7am. We were at the course with bikes, wheels, trainers and other supplies by 8 for the 40 minute course inspection, since Tim and Erik had not yet ridden the course.
There was still roughly 1.2km of sand on the course, so there was that. Knowing that, I took great pleasure in not racing.
Crowds were already starting to fill in and there were tents already raised for manufacturers and vendors.
The guys were immediately bombarded by requests for autographs, photos, interviews and introductions.
The prevailing mood for this event was excitement; not just for the fans and spectators, but for the competitors as well. The local, Japanese racers seemed thrilled at the opportunity to race along side some of the World’s elite cyclocross racers.
Cannondale’s Japanese MTB rider, Kazuhiro Yamamoto, and the local Cannondale guys offered their tent, tools, and anything else we needed to make the race go as smoothly as possible. Here, Kazu has his number pinned by his wife, Erina Yamamoto.
Our hosts from Champion System were very busy with the days duties, particularly Ryoji, who was promoting his first ever cyclocross race!
Chiharu was also busy and kept us on task with where we needed to be and when, since we understood none of the instructions and information sent out over the loud speakers.
Before we knew it, it was time to race. Hiroki Ito, Watase Yoshiki and the Cannondale crew helped out immensely by running the spare bikes to the pits while I met the guys to take their gear at the start.
The whistle blew, and the guys headed down the start stretch, immediately into a double set of barriers. On the pavement. Tim almost killed himself, but didn’t, and it was off to the pits for me.
I have some video of the race, but that will have to be posted later since internet speed at the hotel makes uploading video very difficult.
To quickly summarize, a local Japanese racer, Yu Takenouchi, took off like a bat out of hell and put a sizable gap into the entire field, making Ben Berden, and every other racer say, “Oh S***!”
Ben eventually caught Takenouchi, who appeared to have gone out a little too fast from all the excitement of the huge hometown crowds.
In the end, only five racers finished on the lead lap, with Tonkin being the first lapped rider. The final results were Berden, Johnson, Heule, Takenouchi, Driscoll, and Tonkin.
After the race, I caught some photos of the women’s podium awaiting presentation.
Spectators.
And the fun on the podium.
Champion System threw an amazing race, and the fact that this was the inaugural event is extremely promising for the future of cyclocross in this great city. This event proved that cyclocross is more than just UCI races and World Cups and SuperPrestige. Cyclocross is what you choose to make it and Tokyo has made something special with this event.
Enjoy these final, few images I think best summarize this great race:
Wait up, #Japandler
You saw Christian Heule pre-riding Koksijde behind Sven Nys.
Now you get to see him pre-riding Cyclocross Tokyo behind me…notice how natural I look in the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld Pro kit. I could get used to wearing those colors…hopefully Team Director, Stu Thorne, will take notice.
If you’re looking for some analysis on this course, here goes:
The stuff in the woods was some of the most fun I’ve had on a cyclocross bike. It was like riding through a dark jungle, with loose needles and leaves over soft, loose dirt.
As for the sand, we skipped the first half that was completely un-rideable for me. After riding the second half of the sand, I was barely able to climb the steps and remount. Pedaling the start/finish stretch was not an option.
That was one lap, and I think the Pro race was 11 or more laps.
#Japandler
A few months ago, I got an email from Tim Johnson saying he had two options for after the World Championships in Koksijde; A race in Costa Rica or a race in Tokyo, Japan.
My response to him was something along the lines of, “Is it even a question?” While I’m sure Costa Rica is beautiful, Japan has always seemed, well, like JAPAN.
Shortly after the email exchange, Tim asked in passing, “Want to go to Japan?”
I laughed and shrugged it off. Not an option, really.
A few months later, Tim sent me a text message from Europe asking again, “Want to go to Japan?”
Up yours, Tim. Up yours. I get it, you’re going to Japan. I should have told you to go to Costa Rica. I wouldn’t have cared.
“We need a mechanic. The flight and expenses are covered.”
Up mine.
Japan was one of those trips my wife and I had reserved ourselves to making when we were old and retired. The cost and length of the flights has always been a deterrent, so the idea was put in the back of our minds, on temporary leave, so to speak. Who was I kidding, I’ll probably never retire.
“Yes, I want to go to Japan.”
Three days before the scheduled departure, I booked my flight. I spent roughly three hours comparing aircraft options, available seats, and flight paths. Did you know it only takes one more hour to fly from Toronto to Tokyo than from San Francisco to Tokyo? Arctic Circle #FTW.
#.
Final decision was Air Canada’s 777 in seats 12F, 18K, 31K, and 12F. Windows. Bulkheads. Empty rows. Total flight time: 16 hours.
Now, I have never been on one plane for more than 8 hours. I start to crack at hour 6. This was starting to stress me out.
Then I remembered something. I drove 21 hours from Wisconsin. Straight. Alone. It’s hard to admit one’s own stupidity, but in five less hours, I could be in Tokyo, Japan. And I wouldn’t be going through Pennsylvania.
I was over it.
I cleaned the house for my wife. Bonus points.
Todd loaned me a Canon 20D and told me to read the manual to learn how to use it.
Manual? For that camera? Looks pretty easy, and from all I could tell, Todd just pointed the thing at people, held his breath, made weird noises and magic appeared in the viewfinder. No manual. No way.
Wednesday arrived, at it was time to depart the country.
Travel from Boston to Toronto was uneventful.
In Toronto, I told the manual Todd have given me to shove it and I did what anyone in this Golden Age does, I googled how to set that camera up. Isn’t the Internet wild, guys? It has EVERYTHING.
If there’s one thing I don’t care about, it’s “Metering.” Or aperture. Or exposure. Or shutter speed. I just push the effing button, and it is supposed to look good. Why else would someone spend so much money on a camera?
They have moving sidewalks in Toronto that tell you where to hold on for safety.
As I made the journey down that moving sidewalk, I realized with every lurch and lunge it made I was getting closer to my sealed fate of 13 hours in a thing that is, for all intents and purposes, made and operated by people. And people make mistakes. Example: My Life. Just kidding.
I bought a big bottle of water. I put two Airborne tablets in it. I had a mini-nervous breakdown.
13 hours.
You know when there’s a plane crash and there’s always this one person who didn’t get on the flight because “I just had a bad feeling about it?” I didn’t have that feeling. But how could I be sure.
I should have flown Qantas. #Wopner.
I felt pretty good knowing I had an empty row to myself with all the leg room I would need, but Air Canada reminded me one last time that I was, much to my dismay, one of the sheeple.
There were a few fellow Americans chomping at the bit before take off. The cause of the hullabaloo:
Yup. Look at that oasis. I had no qualms, as I had my own mini-oasis.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Unlucky Lottery?” I first heard this term on an old radio show that was in Boston, then wasn’t, then was again. Opie and Anthony. Good stuff.
They used to do a bit where they talked about people who have the wrong kind of luck. One example was a guy who was cruising on a lake on his brand new jet ski and a duck flew in his path and took his head clean off.
Well, I like to think that I win the “Unlucky Lottery” every time I fly.
Here I am, all alone in the next best seat to Business Class and I smell something reminiscent of cat urine. The culprit?
Yep. It smelled like cat piss. And it was a culprit.
Halfway into the flight, one of the Flight Attendants stopped to speak with the cat piss foot culprit’s daughter who had, apparently vomited on herself.
Flight attendant (FA): Are you taking any medication?
Cat Piss Culprit’s Daughter (CPCD): Yes, Antibiotics.
FA: For what?
CPCD: Infection.
My ears started ringing. I tried to sit perfectly centered on my seat as to block any potential germ penetration.
Naturally, the Flight Attendant then asked, “Would you like some chicken soup?”
CPCD: Yes.
No.
No you do not want chicken soup.
But I do.
In case you’re wondering what someone looks like when they fly for 13 hours, here it is, condensed to a little more than a minute.
Riveting.
For the last 55 minutes, I stared at this, while I wondered if my tail bone would ever be the same:
The approach to Tokyo looks like this:
Once you pass through immigration, you are welcomed by a sign that says, “If you were ill during your travels, come to this area.” I probably should have stopped, preemptively.
I was intimidated by the health specialist, so I balked at a photo. I did grab this photo, though, once I passed him.
Shortly thereafter, I passed through baggage collection and then customs. Upon exiting the terminal, I was greeted by one of the Champsys hosts, Shinya.
We had some time to kill while we waited for Jamey “The Dangler” Driscoll, so we did what anyone would do upon arriving in Tokyo.
Having recently spent a month in Brooklyn, Shinya had no problem sharing a Starbucks with me.
I had no idea what time it was.
The Dangler was late, though, I did know that.
I used the airport bathroom and when I came back, Shinya had Jamey in his possession.
We hopped in a minivan from the future and headed to meet Chiharu, Ryoji, and Christian Heule for dinner, but that’s for another time.
