Tim Kendall
Speeding Up
- Aug 11, 2013
- 42
- 11
Like all JCF regions in Japan, local events are organized... but, please consider this.
A local event is organized by the Aichi CF on a monthly basis. It is a crit around a fairly famous local park, and is on private land, and the road is completely closed.
Last Sunday, a beginner entered the Elite Race (3 categories, Beginner, Sports, Elite) with the 'I want to challenge' attitude, and was doing fairly well until the hammer went down. He was the cause of a huge pile-up... 90% of the field went down, 5 went to hospital, and one is critical. In addition, a huge value of bikes were potentially written off.
The point is that there are few checks at the local level, and it is up to the common sense of the rider what category he chooses to enter. Being elite is not fully about power, but is about the experience, and ability to ride a bike in a peloton at a higher pace.
A local event is organized by the Aichi CF on a monthly basis. It is a crit around a fairly famous local park, and is on private land, and the road is completely closed.
Last Sunday, a beginner entered the Elite Race (3 categories, Beginner, Sports, Elite) with the 'I want to challenge' attitude, and was doing fairly well until the hammer went down. He was the cause of a huge pile-up... 90% of the field went down, 5 went to hospital, and one is critical. In addition, a huge value of bikes were potentially written off.
The point is that there are few checks at the local level, and it is up to the common sense of the rider what category he chooses to enter. Being elite is not fully about power, but is about the experience, and ability to ride a bike in a peloton at a higher pace.