September Alley Cat Race

Quick reminder that this month the NUTs Alley Cat bike race will be on Monday the 14th instead of Saturday. Meeting time is 8:30 PM at Shirakawa Park with after race party at Cafe Parlwr in Shin Sakae. Happy cycling!

Bang King 2009 - A banging success

Just back last weekend from the Bang King Track bike race in Kanazawa City. It was great seeing a lot of my Nagoya cycling friends and even managed to make a few new friends. Though the race is rather laid back and friendly, we had two people there who proved to be serious contenders and good sports. On the Dude side was an Aussie named Rob who just only started racing less than a year ago. He was quite impressive and left everyone behind in the sprint races. Rob eventually won the whole shebang and took home a track bike and messenger bag for his effort. On the femenina side was a Japanese lady who turned out to be a semi pro track cyclist. I missed her race but I heard she took home top prizes too. Over all the event was fun and we all got to enjoy a nice BBQ at a local beach campsite. I'm really impressed by how the local cyclists go out of their way to cultivate a friendly and fun cycling culture that lacks the usual pretentiousness of hipster cycle chic. It seems like Tokyo and Nagoya are the two cities helping to define what cycling is in Japan and leading the way in showing people how to have fun on two wheels. I look forward to partaking in more cycling events with my Japanese pedal freaks in the near future.

2009 Bang King Track Race

Saturday I'm off to the Keirin Velodrome in Ishikawa prefecture for the annual Bang King Track race. Many of the Nagoya Nuts will be in attendance as well as cyclists from around Japan (here are some picts from last year's race. We expect a weekend of racing, riding and BBQ, but most of all a great excuse for cyclist to get together and have fun. This event tends to be casual and light-hearted even though many race to win. I'm not racing since I don't have a fixed gear this time around. Maybe next year I'll muster up the guts to ride fixed. I'll post pictures of the event next week.

August Alley Cats

We had a good turnout Saturday night for the monthly alley cat race. This time the race resemble more of a Critical Mass ride through downtown Nagoya than a race. It was fun nonetheless and the night was just right. Afterward we met at Cafe Palwwr for a Kakigori (shaved ice) eating content. Did I mention they you had to eat all of the ice topped with chili sauce? Major ice headache.

For all you fixie freaks out there

My Girls

Here 's a picture of some of the female members of my cycling group (Nagoya NUTs). I love these girls. All of them are sweet, fun and love cycling. And they all look sexy on a bike. We all have lot's of fun on our regular cycling trips and races. Love live the NUTs girls!

Let's Biking

Local Cycle Nut, Justin Miller is organizing a little cycling fun event Sunday July 12th at Tsurumai park. Everyone is invited. Meeting place will be by the park fountain at 1PM. The Let's Biking event will feature a short group ride, some food and beer and maybe even a little performance art. If you've got a bike ad want to hang with some cool people, cycle on down to Tsurumai this Sunday.