Chris Writes.

So in an unexpected turn of events, I ended up on the start line of an Oakley-sponsored criterium within 24hrs of landing in Shanghai. I’m not sure what surprised me more: the fact that it happened, or the fact that this little regional race was full of haze-reducing vibrance and was seething with the enthusiasm of a new cyclist on a new bike on the first day of spring. I heard that among the four categories (Mens A, Mens B, Womens, and MTB) there were 178 registered riders. That’s comparable to lots of regional criteriums in the USA. What was astonishing were the number that belonged to local teams, all wearing matching kits, posing for team group photos, cheering each other on, and generally having a hell of a good time. For a race that was organized and run entirely by ex-pat civilians, it was indistinguishable from one organized by a promotion company: there were police at intersections, a lead car calling out the race over a loudspeaker, a photographer on the back of a moto, a starters pistol, a podium ceremony with magnums of champagne to spray, glass trophies and certificates for top 5 in all categories (including two sprint preems in the Cat A race)…all for an entry fee that didn’t quite hit $4. Oh, and the title sponsor, Oakley, threw down 3 pair of sunglasses for a random raffle. When that was announced, the crowd went crazy. Apathy? Not here. Not one bit.

A few other observations worth mention: the range of bikes here went from 20″ wheel folding bikes (seriously – one guy raced the MTB category on one), to 1992 vintage Frankenbikes with random collections of parts, to $10,000 Time and Colnago dream bikes, in a land where the average working class wage is $200 per month. Lycra was worn, though lots had a sort of loose-fit (probably because it was bought on sale, I’m told). The pace was decent in the Cat-A (a hair over 40kph avg), though I should note that there wasn’t more than 2 ft of elevation change during each of the ten 5km laps. There was at least one crash that I thankfully wasn’t involved in (but I saw it, and it was ugly).

One of the most interesting things, and apparently the reason why races like this are successful: they had a bus system of their own devising. Few people here own cars (see previous mention of average wage), and public transport doesn’t go to this race location; it’s about an hour from downtown Shanghai in an Intel-anchored industrial park. So the race organizers get a few private buses, schedule a few stops in town, and everyone rides in together. A separate box van follows the bus, with all the bikes carefully wrapped in cardboard. Again, all included in the $4 entry fee. Some teams and riders showed up in their own cars, but a majority used this bus.

As for me: I placed third overall, and took the 7th lap sprint preem, so I was quite happy (astonished might be a better description, actually) given that I was on a borrowed bike and my training over the past week has been very, very limited by work travel. But more important: I got to see for myself that there is a very real and growing racing scene in China, and despite the flat terrain and poor air quality and impossible traffic, they have found a way to make it work. And it works really, really well. I’m told that just 3 years ago, they might have had 4 or 5 riders out to something like this. That’s pretty serious growth.

Tokyo_2

Originally uploaded by Chris Matthews.

Japan is pretty darn cool. Some random observations:

incredibly clean. as in, at busy downtown streetcorners, there are ashtray boxes. People will stand by them and smoke, carefully flicking their ashes, and then cigarette butt, into the ashtray. No one walks around with a cigarette. Lots of smokers, yet difficult to find a cigarette butt on the street in downtown Tokyo.

Almost no garbage cans. Very difficult to find. When you find them, they have 5 or 6 different ones, for different types of recycling

iPods are very popular, but rarely used in public. On the trains and subways, where you see them most often in USA and Canada, they are almost non-existent

Younger fashion does not follow traditional lines. Lots of really elaborate apparel, crazy garish outfits, girls dressed up as dolls…very deliberate, very distinct. Older/business folks are straight traditional: blue/black suit, white shirt, conservative tie.

There is a word in Japanese that translates to, and accurately means, “died from overwork”

There are guards everywhere, not really police, but rather, people standing near worksites watching to make sure people don’t trip, or watching over workers.

I went into a starbucks in downtown tokyo. There was a line, maybe 5 people in front of me. I almost couldn’t keep up with how fast the line was moving. In a starbucks that might have been 120 sq ft, there were 12 people working there. I was out with 5 coffees in less than a minute.

Very trusting culture, sort of. Bikes should always be locked up, but you can lock up the front wheel of a $5000 bike to a signpost with a $3 chain lock and it will be fine.

Food is, of course, excellent and always fresh. I had chicken sashimi last night, which I had (up to now) always thought was impossible and unsafe. Apparently safe, as I’ve lived. In a skinny culture, they sure do eat a lot of fatty foods. They’re more about balance. Portions are smaller, and there are sometimes “US portion size” options on the menu, which I was told is about 50% more.

Cell phones are ubiquitous, and utilized more often for web access and maps. Which is good because often, even with maps, locals will have trouble following directions to a small restaurant if they’ve not been there before.

Very common sight is to see a 2D barcode on ads and fliers that people can take a picture of with their camera phone: this activates a hyperlink to a related mobile-optimized website.

Culture says “thank you” (and there are many ways to say it) more often than any other culture I’ve seen. Every chance they get, they say thank you. Often, when entering a building, the thank you is punctuated by great flourish and sweeping arm movements of welcome. They say thank you, and they’re DRAMATIC about it.

If you’re in the company of Japanese colleagues, and you suggest something “might be good” or you ask “if they think it’s a good idea to ___” or anything else that suggests some sort of action, they’ll take this to mean that you’d like them to do it. And they’ll often do it without further discussion. To find out what they feel about a situation, you must directly ask what they think, in a way that isn’t a leading question.

It’s common, because of a cultural bias towards never saying no, to get into trouble with sentences and questions that involve double negatives. For example: if you ask “So we’re not eating now?”, the reply is “yes”, meaning “true”, but conversationally, this is typically answered “no” in a conversation between westerners.

It is an INCREDIBLY bike friendly culture, with a ton of commuting by the young and old alike. Lots of cheap bikes, and lots of bike parking lots – some with clever 2-level storage systems to fit more bikes into small spaces. Also, a reasonable number of high-end bikes and cycling enthusiasts. Almost none wear helmets.

Oh, and gas is about $7 per gallon

So it’s officially bike to work week. I didn’t ride to work today, but I rode home, so that’s gotta count for something. All the sordid details of my 24-mile commute into a 13-mph headwind can be found here, but the bottom line is that by riding home (and by riding back into work tomorrow, since that’s where my car is spending the night), I’ll at least be a participant in this week of trying to convince people that short trips *can* be done by bike.

Ride a bike this week. At least once. Please.