Betting on Bikes
The day before our trip to Tokyo ended, Hiro and Ichi surprised Tim and me with a trip to Keirin racing in Omiya.
Ichi was pretty pumped for the trip.
But Tim was concerned for his health.
It was close to a one hour drive, and from what I could tell, the Japanese were not accustomed to driving such a long distance. Tim and I didn’t care, as we just tried to repeat the Japanese commands coming from the GPS Navigation.
Hidari. That means left.
Upon arriving, we found the Keirin track situated in a relatively large sports complex, where they also hold soccer and baseball events. We parked in a surprisingly crowded parking lot and walked to the track.
It felt a little like going to a NASCAR event.
We had been told that Tim was a special guest at the event, so we were walked down a private hallway where we were given special passes that afforded us our own private suite looking over the track.
There were TVs to watch replays. The rider on the ground was taken away by ambulance, we were told.
Before we got down to business, Tim presented Hiro with a team jersey for the Cannondale Japan office. I suspect this jersey is in Hiro’s closet and he is waiting to wear it in his next race.
The name of the game in Keirin is gambling. According to Hiro and Ichi, many people in Japan have made careers of gambling on Keirin, but the younger generation is less interested, so Keirin is a dying sport.
Like we have for horse racing in the US, there are all sorts of statistics available for betting on Keirin. Every 20 minutes or so, there is a race with anywhere between 7 and 9 racers, all in easily identified colors. The colors always match the same number, and the racers only do one race a day. The odds are displayed on screens in the suite and the newspapers offer their predictions that typically match the odds on the screen.
You have a few options for how to bet…again, this is very similar to horse racing in the US. You can pick the exact finishing order of the top two or three or just the top 2 or 3 at random.
You mark your predictions on what looks to be a mini SAT sheet.
Before their race, the riders do a few laps, slowly, to let you take a look at them. They ranged, in age, from 20 years old all the way to 48 years old. According to our host, we were not to be discouraged by the age differences, as Keirin was as much about brains as it was legs.
Once you had decided on your bets (up to five on one sheet), you took it down the hallway to the automatic machine that would process your bets and provide you with a ticket that could be used for payment if you won.
“Big Gamblers!” as Hiro liked to call us as we bet $.75 per race.
After placing my bet, I needed to use the bathroom.
We went back to the suite and waited for the first race to start.
Tim started a ritual the Japanese had never seen.
When the race started, there wass a pace setter (we called him the rabbit) who led the racers around the first two laps. He was there to break the wind so no one was stuck leading.
At some point in the second lap, the riders began to attack and fight for position and when they heard the bell at the start of the third lap, it was no holds barred. Using elbows and your body to fight for position is standard practice in Keirin.
While we each won at least one race, we all still lost. Maybe next time.
