A few good fellas and I are starting to organize new bike race events. It’s a pump track race, just like the worldwide Red Bull event that stopped by Akaigawa, Hokkaido a few years ago. There are three events planned for this season.
Last weekend saw the first of the series, held at Rukochi Park in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido.
A great time was had by everyone, thanks to the good weather – maybe a skosh bit too good but without any heat stroke or other incidents nonetheless.
One major feature of this event is the ban on the chain. Elementary school kids are exempted, but all senior riders are required to go chainless. It’s all about pumping not pedaling, that is.
The overall winner was Haruma Kudo, from the renowned ski/XC racing team BG8. I guess you’d find it hard to imagine a crosscountry bike with no chain and wouldn’t expect much from a crosscountry rider with no pedaling, right? Well, wrong.
In retrospect, the seemingly surprising results were actually coherent with my words at the kickoff ceremony, “It doesn’t matter if you ride MTB or BMX, doesn’t matter what discipline you’re into, it’s nothing but pure skills that matter here.”
Time-wise, Haruma, Shiita who finished second, and myself in the demo run made the 22-second range. And I was 0.555 second behind the winner. If there was anything I’m not stoked on about the event, it’d be this defeat. Can’t wait to see if I can have my little redemption in later events, or if I’m to face more of such defeats.
Thank you so much for the participation and support, and see you in the next round.