Bike commuting and Keirin

Well, I quit my eikaiwa job and got a part-time job as a proofreader. At the moment, I only have the part-time job, so money is a little tight, and I decided to start biking to work. It's something I should have started a long time ago, but going to a different school everyday meant finding a place to put the bike and take a shower, and I just never did. Besides, the old job paid for train fare; the new one does not.

So I've decided to commute by bike. I timed myself the first time and clocked an hour and a half; more recently, though, I managed to get there in an hour, only twenty minutes more than by train. Because it takes time to get to the station and wait for transfers, door to door it takes almost the same amount of time!


It was a pleasant ride the last couple of days, but it is Golden Week; a work day might be quite different.

The warmer weather has me excited about cycling again, so when I'm not on the bike, I'm looking at websites about bikes: travelogues that inspire me, fixed-gear cycling and the related urban bike polo, and keirin (track racing--A wikipedia article and the official keirin website.

Keirin is today's source of excitement--in particular, the keirin official website has archives of previous tournaments as well as on-demand streams. Something to do late at night rather than play old console games. I hope to get to the Matsudo race track at the end of the month. Another funny thing--Lawrence's sister city, Hiratsuka in Kanagawa, has a keirin velodrome. It'll be hosting the Youth Grand Prix and Grand Prix this Christmas.

One more thing about keirin--this Saturday, Nihon Terebi will be starting a reality TV show about keirin riders hoping to make it big. That same day, there will be a century ride on the Arakawa to watch during the day, so I'll have to record it somehow. The show starts at 10:30 am JST on May 10th.