Track riders??

[BabyPuke]

Hi All,

I'm a bit new in Japan, came over from San Francisco in the spring, looking for a few bike-related tips.

First, I'm in Kanagawa, Noborito to be exact, and I'm getting a bit bored riding by myself. Any folks on here in the area? It would be great to make some riding friends. If anyone has any ideas on good places to ride, I'd love to hear about that as well (please don't say Tamagawa bike path...).

I'm an ex-roadracer, but that was a long time ago and I'm nearing 40 now, so I'm not terribly fast. But I am trying to get things in order a little bit, which brings me to my next question...

Any track riders on here? I recently bought a keirin bike and I'm dying to get it on a track. I've seen the "ride the bank" post, but what I'm really interested in is joining a track club and doing some regular riding, training, and yes, maybe even racing on the track. As of yet, I have no leads. It's kind-of a boyhood dream of mine.

Anyone who wants to can feel free to email me off-list as well at:
[email protected]

Thanks
-Dave

 

[massa]

Hi, welcome to TCC.
I know one organization, "VC SPLENDOR (多国籍自転車クラブ)",
which not only has some training programs for track racing but has participants to track races.

http://diary.jp.aol.com/dgdtes/105.html

Hope, this help.

Michel

 

[BabyPuke]

Great, thanks for the lead, Michel! That seems to have led to some interesting information. If I do find out how to get regular access to a velodrome, I'll share with the list.
-dave

 

[massa]

Hi, Dave!

You'll be able to have any kinds of contact with VC SPLENDOR by means of a bulletin board of which url shown below.
They seem to use velodromes like Keioukaku(京王閣競輪場「オーバルクラブ」), Kawasaki (川崎競輪場) and Tachikawa(立川競輪場) on the regular bases.
Enjoy!

http://9119.teacup.com/vcsplendor/bbs

 

[BabyPuke]

Thanks, Airtrain!

This is great info, keep it coming everybody! My main problem here is that my Japanese is extremely minimal (still learning hiragana), so the language barrier is a huge handicap. My GF is a native, so she's very helpful, but I'm gonna have to find some track people who are willing to be patient with an ignorant "gai-jin"...

Are there any others here that are looking to ride the track in a semi-regular fashion? The proliferation of keirin-jo's make it pretty attractive for me. In San Francisco, Hellyer in San Jose was an hour (at best) away by car. Here, I can actually ride my track bike to the track (Keiokaku) in about 15 minutes.

Still looking for road rides in and around Tama-ward...

Arigatou gozaimas
-Dave

 

[BabyPuke]

http://9119.teacup.com/vcsplendor/bbs

Unfortunately, VC Splendor seems to be a dead forum. No activity since this spring, no replies to my emails or posts.

Any other ideas on track clubs? There MUST be more....

And nobody does road rides in Kanagawa?? How 'bout some advice on places to ride? I'm doing circuits around a factory at this point! Help!

Thanks all
-dave

 

[massa]

http://9119.teacup.com/vcsplendor/bbs

Unfortunately, VC Splendor seems to be a dead forum. No activity since this spring, no replies to my emails or posts.

Any other ideas on track clubs? There MUST be more....

And nobody does road rides in Kanagawa?? How 'bout some advice on places to ride? I'm doing circuits around a factory at this point! Help!

Thanks all
-dave

Hi dave!
Sorry to hear.

Here is JCRC (Japan Cycle Racing Club), which is NGO, produces and arranges cycle races. Here is registration form to be its member.
According to its web site, they have a few track races per year. Why don't you get the membership first of all and you'll get relevant info.

https://www.jcrc-net.jp/new_player/apply_sid.htm

Also, it seems that Keiohkaku Oval and Kawasaki Oval have Oval Club, open up to amateurs, where you can use their tracks as a club member. But unfortunately, I don't have any idea about how you can access to the club. But, may be you'll get it from someone among JCRC.
Hope, you can find the way you want to.

 

[Phil]

Wish I could help with the track racing, but don't know anything about it apart from the "Try the Bank" events you mentioned already.

AFIK, to race JCRC events you don't actually have to formally join beforehand (although you can do that, too). Just sign up for a race that interests you and you'll get a SID number automatically.

 

[BabyPuke]

Cool, thanks Phil and Airtrain for the info. I will sign up with JCRC and see where that leads me.

My LBS owner is an ex-Keirin pro, and he has offered to help me (I bought my keirin bike from him), but it's been I while and I am thinking now he is probably just too busy.

It's a puzzle!