Rigid cycling training in Japan

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 12

Rigid cycling training in Japan

The Japanese Professional Training School for Cyclists is situated at Kodama, about 230 km from Tokyo. I went in the. Bullet Train about 180 km and then by taxi to the most amazing cycling set-up I have ever seen.

The area is set in about 80 acres of hilly wooded country near Mount Fujiama " and comprises a 10km road course up and down hills and round corners, and a very testing circuit, three first class tracks set up exactly like horse racing tracks with television coverage of all activities, a hotel for holidayers, a camping area, and bicycles of every sort to hire and ride around the circuit or track. There are small bikes from 15cm high to real sky-scrapers, side-by-side bikes, tandems, a bicycle sky-way, pedal boats on a lake, swimming pools, indoor games sports rooms and everything for a family to have a holiday with a cycling atmosphere.

Tucked away in a corner of the area is the training school. This comprises first-class dormitories, a gymnasium, roller training school, electrical equipment room and everything that can be imagined to make good cyclists. I was warmly greeted by the director and introduced to the head coach and we went on a tour of inspection. The dormitory and dining room were as expected, but all food is carefully arranged for the right amount of calories and is expected to be eaten. Lights go out at 10 p.m., there are no canteens for extras, and a strict watch is kept on diets, and weight.

Then we went to a room where there were

dozens of rollers for indoor training, next door a shed with' more than 200 racing cycles hanging by their wheels from the roof; a first class gymnasium with equipment of world standard; an electrical equipment room where there are machines which measure muscle movements, pedal action and all other actions made while riding a cycle at speed. The answers to these calculations come out immediately on a paper for the coach to study and rectify if necessary, and I saw a man on a machine which measured the time it took for him to jump from stop to racing speed and then timed him over a half-minute with the graph gradually slowing as he weakened.

We then went to the tracks where the three tracks were being used one by four pursuit teams; one by about 80 cyclists doing "400 m dashes 'from the fence into the straight, once round and then pulling in until the next turn, all being timed electronically; and the other by cyclists having organised races. All of these activites were being watched by about six coaches at each track and at the racing track, the head coach was watching from the glass box at the top of the stand and talking over the speaker to the individuals as they were riding.

All races are replayed over the closed circuit TV immediately after the races and then discussed with the riders. At the track I went in while the races were in progress and as I went to sit down, my guide told me not to: “they are going to salute you.” So I stood still and all of the cyclists bowed from the waist and said

By DAN DOYLE, a Canterbury cash cycling administrator, who was recently in Japan.

some Japanese words of greeting. Races start from a machine which hoids the wheel and the electric gun releases the top of the apparatus and they are away as from a release start. The whole place runs like clockwork and on strong disciplinary lines with all boys having to toe the line or leave. The members of the school are chosen by applying for admission and then passing a scholastic and physical examination with high marks. There are many hundreds more entries than can be accommodated so only the’ best are chosen. There are 280 young men between 18 and 23 years who are in strict training for one year — six days a week and nine hours a day. Diet, training sleeping etc. are all strictly supervised and there is strict supervision of everything they do; comparable to an army camp in New Zealand but a lot stricter.

When they, are finished their year’s training, they are ready to be professional cyclists and can earn from between $6O and SI 1.000 a year. The money that is heeded to run this establishment comes from the cycling races run by Keirin, an organisation "which is in charge of the professional cycling racing in Japan. Cycle racing is held at tracks all over Japan and is held under conditions more or less the same as at a trotting meeting in New Zealand. There is betting on al! races with bookmakers, totalisators. doubles, quinellas. and even little old ladies at

the gates selling form books.

There are the usual touts, food bars, drink bars, for all the world like Addington. There were about 14,000 people at the particular meeting I attended, which would be a very good crowd for races in New Zealand, and they all seemed to be very knowledgeable about the cycling and cyclists’ form. There are nine competitors in each race, all starting together from the machine, and in front of them is a pacemaker on about 40m who receives a push start. When the gun goes the riders al! spurt to try to get the wheel of the pacer, who proceeds to ride at about threequarter pace for two and a half laps when he then drops to the inside, and the race is on for the next one and a half laps to the finjsh.

There is a fair amount of switching and pushing at the start to try to get the right wheel and also at the finish but mainly the races are very stereotyped and uninteresting. If a rider moves inside the pole line he must drop to the back at once or be disqualified, and I saw about one half of the field giving lead outs to the other half, so I don’t know how you could ever bet on that, sort of arrangement.

The tracks ar- as smooth as glass and *h& organisation runs like clockwork. The riders come out from a tunnel opposite the winning post and across a path through the middle of the green to the start. When finished, they go straight into the tunnel again when they reach the middle of the back straight. When the placings are announced the cyclists ride around b

once in their finishing order and then disappear again. There are no warmup periods, pushers off, bikes all over the green, as we know it, and it certainly is more businesslike.

A moving television camera on a pole in the middle of the green follows the races and any infringement — such as inside the pole-line or interference — can be replayed immediately. There are six referees on elevated stands at each corner and front and back straights, and beside these men are attendants standing at attention with stretchers at their hands. When the race is over, the referee past the post rides around the track and all the others join in till they arrive at the winning ■post where they dismount and march with their roadsters under the stand to deliver their reports. There are wire rutting fences right round the track to stop things being thrown and the crowd sounds just like the people at Addington when the horses turn for home, with cheering, yelling and booing.

It is a shame we in New Zealand could not get some money to prospu.i the same as Japan as I believe our cyclists are every bit as good and /bur races are much more spectacular When 1 was in Japan, I made some inquiries about the possibility of four Japanese professional cyclists coming to New Zealand about December this year to comnete with our riders. The director of the school was very interested, so this is being investigated to see whether the various clubs and sports bodies are preoared to meet the cost of this venture.