So, this is Tokyo 24.09.2009
I’m in Tokyo Japan right now for the Cycle Messenger World Championship, which wrapped up the other day. I’m sticking around through the weekend to go out to the Kirin track tomorrow to actually get to see people I know race on a for real Kirin track, including (hopefully) my roommate and 3rd place woman’s racer Christina Peck.
Tokyo is amazing and unlike anyplace I’ve been before. Riding here (on the left side – it’s switched up from the States) is intense, and there’s not really a way to describe blowing through a light and a crowd of people in the heart of Shibuya on a Saturday night.
I don’t know what this is a sign for, but it seems sketchy.
Bad news first – I killed my D200 during the awards after the race. Somehow a 1 yen coin actually got into the camera’s body (I have no idea how) and shredded the shudder. Hopefully it’s fixable, but I won’t be able to do anything about it until I get back to the States next week. This really bums me out, but at least it happened after the race. I picked up a nice Lumix digital rangefinder in Akihabara, so I’ll shoot with that for the rest of the duration. Also – if you’re traveling to Japan call your bank before you go. I didn’t bring a grip of cash and after my first ATM action the bank shut me down (as did my Visa). Never a joy to be this far from home with about$30 in your pocket.
The other bummer is that the Open Forum vote to decide the CMWC 2011 happened yesterday and Chicago lost to Warsaw. I don’t really have much to say about that aside from, well, I’m bummed. But I met the Warsaw dudes and they seem cool and they have some really rad stuff in the works for the event.
The good news is I got to race. I wasn’t sure how I would be feeling after getting jumped about a month ago. I’ve still got six fractured ribs, which pretty much hurt all the time. Day of I still didn’t know if I was going to do it. I shot photos and watched the course for a while and then went off by myself for a bit. It’s scary thinking that one crash could put you back into the hospital and into surgery and I know myself well enough to know if I started racing I’d start feeling competitive and I’d stop taking it easy. But screw it. I’m in Tokyo. This will never happen again for me. So I stashed all my camera stuff, emptied my bag and got in line hoping no one I knew would come and talk to me before-hand so I could study the course map and psych myself up.
Safety in Traffic Charm from the Meiji Shrine on my bike.
The race was the most fun I’ve had in a really long time. I haven’t actually done a race in a couple years and it was amazing. The course was really tough, not just physically but in terms of thinking and routing. I ended up burning two packages, including my 5min direct, because I mixed up Oakley and Fuji and then I mixed up Inhabitant and Affinity. But I didn’t really care. It was awesome to do and as soon as it was over and I drank some water I just wanted to do it again.
CMWC Tokyo Race Map – After The Race
I also was part of the COG Magazine art show that Yoehi and Kevin Sparrow organized. Some of my stuff, including the Bradly photo for CMWC Toronto, were featured and I feel really privileged to have been a part of that. I also was really excited to get to hang out with Kevin and Yohei as well – Milwaukee’s not that far, but Tokyo means I haven’t seen Yoehi since the COG book launch. You can check out photos from the event here:
Kevin Sparrow Photo by Tomoaki Maeda
http://www.flickr.com/photos/esehama/sets/72157621749615711/
I’ll get my photos from the event that aren’t off my cell phone up this next week, so look for lots of updates then. Right now I have to go try and find the SAG Bag store with the Pecks.
