Sakura...

Apologies for the lack of updates recently, ive been busy packing for my move.
Sakura trees are officially in full bloom here in Fukuoka (each region of japan has full bloom at slightly different times of the month) and i took a stroll in the park to take some shots.
Definitely gotta be one of the most beautiful seasons of the year.
Anywho, ive got some pictures i want to upload but theyll have to wait until i get back from my 2 day trip to the hot bathes with the fambam.
Ride safe everyone!

最近更新してなくてごめん！
引越しの準備でバタバタしてて・・・
あと数日間しか残ってないので、できるだけ友達とチャリを乗ろうと思ってる。
月曜日の夜、ぶあいそのあと、みんなと最後（最後は言いたくないけど）に岩田屋前でちょっとセッションしようと思ってるけど、参加できる人参加して！
ちゃんとお別れの挨拶をしたいので。
今日から明日まで家族と別府に行くことで、また明日会おうね！～

Spring...

is right around the corner and both the tires on my cannondale and kalavinka are about to go.
the kevlars just started to peek, so theyve still got some fight left in em but ill change em out before i move to nagoya just to begin on a "fresh" start.

春なんでけど・・なんだよこの寒さ・・・
先週の昼間にTシャツだけで乗ってたけど、今週は真冬の天気が続きそう。
もう冬飽きた。

で、ランドナーのケブラーがちょっと見えてきた。
全然まだ乗れるけど、引越しの前に新しいランドナーを今日中に付けにいこー。
新たなスタートに新しいタイヤ。
ん・・・

fresh new ourys to go on the handles...

一年ぶりに新しいグリップつけた・・白っ！

my old washed up ourys that turned purple?...

お疲れさまでーす。何故か薄いパープルになってた・・・

new 90mm thomson stem...

新ステム。前は50mmでちょっと上半身が狭かった気がして、今回は90mmに兆戦。
5°上がりで、ハンドルの位置ももうちょっとラクになりそう。
練習したいけど・・寒いから乗る気にならん～

My fricken Kalavinka...

...has fricken laser beams attached to its head...

ok i know lame. but my new mini bull horn looks like somethings gonna shoot outta its ends. seriously. it almost takes a little while to get used to looking at it from the side.

my first time riding a bull horn, and i must say, its quite comfortable. very recommendable for city use. relatively easy to get power to your pedals, and enough width to keep a comfy stance while cruising (or mashing for that case). although im enjoying this set-up, i have to admit i still prefer drops rather than bulls.

this is the nitto version that released recently.

ちょっと気分転換でチャラビンカに日東のミニ・ブルホーンをつけてみた。
個人的に初ブル・ホーンで、乗りやすくてびっくりした～
姿勢が大分ラクになるし、ダッシュ（もしくはマッシュ）する時にはちゃんと力が入る。
見た目は最初なれないけど・・時間が経つとそんなに悪くない。
（ブルもいいけど競輪フレームにはドロップが一番似合うね）

Not your avg Sunday...

*For those of you keirin maniacs, you'll enjoy this update

I tagged along with the bike shop owner Ichirou-san on one of his monthly visits to go buy keirin frames off of some racers in our local keirin dome. I thought it was going to be the usual routine where a racer brings out about 5-6 frames, some fully built, some just the frames alone, for us to inspect and bid on...

昨日は衝撃的の日曜日だった～
オーナーさんの一郎さんと一緒に競輪フレームの買い付けに行って来た。
いつも通り、５－６台ぐらいを見て、買って、すぐ帰ってくる予定だったけど、この日はいつもとちょっと違う日になった。

So once we get there, negotiations start, and surprisingly, one racer after another start bringing in their frames for us to look at. One of the racers asks us:

racer: hey do you wanna check out the locker room? we've got some cool frames (of course not for sale) just hanging out in there. its pretty cool...

us: are u kidding...

this is what racers see on the way to their locker room, or out to the velo.
"inoru!! kentou", which translated, means "Hope!! For a good fight".

And following are the shots i was able to take in the locker room.
So much keirin porn it almost blew my mind.
Next to this room where all these frames are hung is a room with about 3-4 rollers where there were 2 racers warming up their legs. Room smelled of mad body odor...but wut do u expect right.

祈る！健闘～って・・・熱いな

そして、一郎さんが交渉に入ってた間、ある選手が「ちょっとロッカールーム見る？」って聞かれて・・

選手のロッカールームをお邪魔することできた～！
中々一般人が見えない風景を見させていただきました！
４－５台ぐらい盗みたかった・・・笑

And being the Kalavinka whore that i am, this particular (and very nice) racer brought out his newly built Kalavinka to show me. If you look closely, the top tube, seat stay, and fork are matt black, while the rest of the frame is gloss black. He was telling me that he was testing it out for a couple of races and if he doesnt get good results, hes gonna get rid of it. *Raising hand.

ある選手が自慢のカラビンカを出してくれた～

トップチューブ+シートステー+フォークがマット黒で、他は普通のグロス入り黒だった。

To continue my Kalivinka fetish...the stickers on the seat tube look somewhat old school...

The bank. Sucks for all the rain...one racer said they wouldve let me run the bank if the conditions werent so poor. SUCKS.

この日は残念ながらバンクを走ることできなかった～TT

Rare lettering for a Baramon.

ちょっと珍しい文字のバラモン。なんかマキノっぽくない？！（言っちゃった・・）

An "upper rank" racer helps a younger racer change out his cranks. Man check out those thighs...

クランク交換（？）してた先輩と後輩。太もも半端なかった・・・

This was another racers build. An "illusion" model by Samson.

The "illusion" is Samsons top model, costing anywhere from around $2500-$3000 for a frame.

Reasons for the high cost are the intricate welding of the lugs.

ある選手の「イルージョン」っていうモデルのサムソン。

サムソンのなかで最もランクの高いモデル。

ラグの溶接が「段差がなくなる」ぐらい薄くする、まさにGOD HANDの原田さん。

写真より生で見たらすぐ分かると思う・・

Kinda hard to see with my shitty photographing, but the lugs are welded so clean to the tubes, that when you touch it with your hand, you dont feel an edge. Its somewhat hard to describe, but if you ever see an "illusion" model in person, youll definitely know what im talking about.

The racer was telling me that Samson builder Harada-san might be one of the best welders of today.

これでサムソンを乗りたくなってきた。

Another rare photo. A racer (the dude who races the "illusion" above) prepares his bicycle to be shipped to another Keirin stadium.

選手が自分の自転車を他の競輪場に送るために準備してた。

A look into the bike case. They look custom made, with hooks for your fork and ends to make sure the bike doesnt shift and get damaged while being delivered.

箱の中を覗いたらこんな感じだった。

Cases and more cases...

箱だらけ・・・

We came out with...15-20 frames? and a buncha rims and extra parts.

It was a tiring, but exciting day. I think ill go bum around the shop after work today and try to find some hidden gems among the parts. Ill also try to take some pictures of some of the frames we were able to get our grubby hands on.

今日はいい買い物できたと思う！

残念ながら自分に合うサイズのフレームがなかったので、３台目はもうちょっと時間がかかりそう。

１５台？２０台？ぐらい買ったので、今度お店に行ったらパシャパシャ写真を撮ろうと思ってる。

また次回！

Iwataya sessions...

Weathers been SUPER nice lately.
Sakura's are beginning to bloom, and you can pretty much ride at night with just a hoodie.
It's crazy how the weather can change so fast. I mean, it was literally snowing in parts of Fukuoka LAST WEEK! I remember...bc i was freezing my ass off.
Anyway, so the weathers been on the up and up, and Japans been holding their own in the WBC so im in high spirits. Next games against Korea again...

Took some pictures the last time we sessioned at our local spot. Rode with some heads that i havent seen in a while so it was real refreshing. Good times...

3日前に久しぶりにOLD SCHOOLメンバー達と早い時間に乗っちゃった。
天気が最近ものすごく良くて、めちゃめちゃ乗りやすい環境になってる。
ちょっと去年の春と夏を思い出しながら写真をパシャパシャ撮ってた。

それで、日本がWBCでがんばってるよね！
今日のピッチャー達が完璧だった。イチローがスランプから復活かも？？？
明日はまた・・・日韓戦だよね。どうだろ・・・勝つと大分楽になると思うけど～

乗った後にいつものチル・スポット、ぶあいそへ。

メンバー内で大人気のカクチャーと赤のピザ。いつもありがとうマジェ。

To clear things up...

I posted about this frame not too long ago wondering who and where this "Narahara" maker is from, but upon closer examination, its simply just a GanWell custom made for a keirin racer named Narahara. Apologies for the "unthoroughness", haha, but i just had that picture layin around in my comp and posted it for the hell of it. With all that aside, check out the rare coloring and beautiful craftsmanship. So here she is in all her beauty...a GanWell named Narahara...

以前この「ナラハラ」のフレームアップしたけど・・どこのビルダーさん？？と書いたけど、昨日またエブリーに行ってフレームを出してよく調べた上、普通にGanWellだったｗ。
シートステーのラグを見たらはっきりGanWellって書いてあるし、ヘッドに普通にGanWellって書いてある。笑。

今日の昼からWBC日韓戦だね！！！Darvishがんばれよ～

WBC...

皆WBC観てるのかな？

僕は基本的に野球あんまり興味ないけど、こういう国際大会があるとほとんど観る。

日本のサッカーは当分前からウンチになって（本当に観れない）、野球しか面白くない。

昨日は最も大事なキューバ戦だった。

朝の８時ぐらいまで起きてて応援してた。

しかも、松坂・・かっこいい（気のせいかも知れないけど、太ってない？？？）。

普段日本人ってプレッシャーに弱いと思うけど、昨日の松坂がちゃんと相手を抑えて・・かっこよかった。次は再び韓国に対戦するみたいね。熱くなりそう！明後日の夜に予定があるけど、終わったら即効家に帰って見ようと思ってる！

そして、昨日のピスタチオ...

Whos been keeping up with the WBC?????

Japan pretty much sucks at every sport except baseball (yes im japanese so i can say this).

We've practically thrown in the towel in judo (one of the only things we had going for us) and dont even get me started on soccer.

So i stayed up till the butt crack of dawn to catch this mornings game vs Cuba. I had a gut feeling that our starting pitcher Matsuzaka was gonna fold under the pressure but he held out like a champ. Im not the biggest baseball nut, but i think its safe to say that he held his own. Japans batting seemed pretty solid as well, not giving up easy outs to Cuba.

Next games gonna be against Korea, which is gonna be madness...again. Its really a toss up whos going to win. All i know is im gonna be coming home early on wednesday night to catch it!

Onto bike stuff...here are todays rides...and...stuff...

Nasty...

Untitled from kr!$+＠1k? on Vimeo.

いい動きするね～俺もいつかここまで激しく動けるのかな～

多分無理。

Paul...

Same shit different day...


Yasuo's Paul crank set. Very durable, thick, and strong. In other words very american.

やすお君のポールのクランクセット。まだ福岡で付けてる人いないのかな？
丈夫そうで、さすがアメリカ製って感じ。

ミックの新しいチャリスタイル。バスから降りてきた綺麗なお姉さんを追っかける前の映像。
怪しい。

スーパースターの一郎さん。いつもお世話になってます～
箱に「内田輪業様...へ」って書いてある・笑。

My good friend Masayoshi came into get his BB overhauled.
One of my favorite bikes out here in Fukuoka. Very simple yet pays close attention to detail.

久しぶりにマサヨシ君と会って、エブリーでBBの掃除をしてもらいに来た。

綺麗なEIMEI君。

Last but not least i went in to get my Araya Super Aero "re-done".

Itll look a bit different after its laced in a couple days.

僕のスーパーエロがこれから変身。まっち君に頼んで、3日後ぐらいに完成してくれるらしい。

いつもあさっず！