By Paul Richards
On Sunday, October 2 NTV’s Bankisha news program aired a segment about the dangers of fixed gear bicycles on city streets. The reason for the program was the fatal accident last month in Shibuya caused by a fixed gear bicycle that had been stripped of its hand brakes. The Yomiuri Online reports that there are two other related deaths in Kanagawa Prefecture as well. In Japan, it is required by law for bicycles to have both front and rear brakes. It is punishable by a 50,000 yen fine. Police have recently stepped up their vigilance in ticketing offenders. Last month, in Nagoya, a company employee was given a “Red Ticket” (aka kippu) and most notably, comedian Fukuda Mitsunori, 36, of the comedy team Tutorial, received a ticket for riding a piste bike without brakes on October 28.
These incidents are raising a furor among people and spurred the police to crackdown on illegal fixies. The offense is riding a bicycle with inadequate equipment.
For those who don’t know, most brake-less bicycles are inspired by bicycles used for track racing. These bicycles are often called piste bicycles. Piste is a French word meaning track or trail which the bike racing sport has borrowed from downhill skiing. Another name for piste bikes is fixed gear bikes or fixies. Piste bikes have a lean, minimalist look to them as there are no brakes and no gears. The lack of extra cabling and hardware gives them a sleek, stripped down esthetic that has become fashionable among certain groups of bike riders. You might reasonably ask, how are such bicycles stopped if they don’t have brakes. They are stopped by attempting to pedal backwards. This isn’t like the coaster brakes you probably had on your first bike when you were a kid. Without the freewheel hub in the back there is no coasting with fixed gear bicycles. The pedals don’t stop turning until the bike loses momentum or the rider forces it to slow down by pushing backward on the pedals until the bike comes to a complete stop or the wheel locks or the rider crashes into
Though I don’t own a fixed gear bicycle, I have ridden bicycles with inadequate braking ability due to worn pads. The first time I was cut off by a truck driver and had no recourse but to barrel head first into the passenger side door. I credit my helmet for keeping my gray matter inside my skull. Now if my brakes had been better maintained I might have avoided meeting the truck door up close and personal or at least minimized the impact. The second time was a case of me not learning my lesson. After my narrow escape from being road ragu you would think I would have rushed right out and gotten my brakes into tip-top shape. But I didn’t. I approached a corner as a car passed me. Realizing that the driver intended to turn right I attempted to slow down but my brakes just didn’t have enough purchase on the rim to slow me down in time to careen off of the side of the car. It wasn’t the driver’s fault. While she may have cut it a little too close after passing me she did make a legal turn. It was my own fault that I side swiped her door because I didn’t keep my brakes maintained. The Bankisha program pitted a professional keirin racer on a brake-less piste bike against an ordinary mamachari. At around 30 kph the mamachari was able to come to a compete stop within 6 meters but it the piste bike over 21 meters to stop completely. The video is pretty damning evidence. That additional 15 meters could easily take you through a cross walk filled with people into the middle of a busy intersection.
My take on the fixed gear issue is that bicycles equipment should be safe and ridden in the environment they were designed for. Track bikes should stay on the track or on such empty roads that they pose no significant danger to the rider or other road users. (I don’t know of any roads like that in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.) Bikes that take to the streets and sidewalks must have two sets of well maintained brakes. The streets in most Japanese streets are just too crowded with vulnerable road users to take chances.
Additional Resources:
Yomiuri Online (Japanese Text only)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111007-OYT1T01129.htm
http://chubu.yomiuri.co.jp/news_top/111006_2.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/kanagawa/news/20111007-OYT8T00110.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111001-OYT1T00401.htm
By Paul Richards
My son accompanied me on my second day at Cycle Mode. I decided to make this day about him. I let him lead me through the hall from colorful bicycle filled booth to colorful bicycle filled booth. He was greatly impressed with the aero bars in the Pinarelo booth. He liked resting his elbows on the pads and trying to grip the bars. I wonder if he was imagining himself racing. We returned several times to the Strider booth to watch the 2 and 3 year olds walk-riding up and down the bumps on the tiny test course. They were adorable in all their intense seriousness.
TokyoTwoWheeling Jr. lines up to take his turn through the cones at the Cycle Mode.
We walked by the kids area and I showed him all the mountain bikes, cross bikes and road bikes the kids were riding. At first he wasn’t too sure he wanted to do this but after wandering around a bit more and getting some lunch he he screwed up his courage enough to try it. We made it just in time for the last kids school of the show. The kids bike school is run by Weiler School (http://www.voiceblog.jp/ws-japan/). Inspired by cycling in Belgium, Weiler School’s goal is to promote cycling and cycle sports by educating children in bike safety, bike handling schools and introduce them to competitive cycling. The instructor, Blackie Nakajima, kept up a steady flow of talk without being boring. He kept the course moving along at a pace that didn’t leave his young audience behind while not allowing the kids to slow down long enough to become distracted. He had assistance from the Japan Road Race Champion, Miyazawa Takashi , and Inoue Kazuo, Team Skil Shimano rider and participant in the recent Road Race World Championship in Australia.
The class started out by parents helping their kids pick out a bike that fit them. Our choices were mountain bikes, cross bikes and road bikes. After a few tries my son and I found a road bike from Fondriest that wasn’t too bike for him. I didn’t know that anyone made road bikes small enough for a six year old. The kids took a few laps around the track to get used to their bikes. Blackie Sensei and the Weiler School staff had the kids dismount from their bikes and gather around a large computer monitor. Blackie talked the kids through a few slides and videos about early bikes and bike safety. Then wrapped up the talk with Miyazawa-san explaining what road racing is. I am glad that bicycle safety was also taught to the kids. When asked how many wore helmets the majority of them raised their hands. Perhaps, given where they were, this is not so surprising. It may have been preaching to the choir. Still, it never hurts to drill safety into the kids heads. You can never have too much safety.
TokyoTwoWheeling, Jr tests his balance by riding over a plank bridge.
Next the kids were run through some exercises on the bike that were designed to improve the kids’ bike handling skills. Each time the two pro racers demoed what was expected of the kids. The kids started out with just trying to ride between two lines taped on the pavement and stopping behind a line. They moved up from simple lines to a plank bridge the same width of the taped off lane and only a couple inches high. My son had a bit of trouble staying on the boards. The next challenge was riding a zig-zag pattern through cones. The last event of class was the slow race. Kids rode in groups of six. The winner was the person who could ride the slowest from start to finish without putting their foot down. What a unique way to teach balance.
The class was open to kids starting from 2 years old (with lots of help from a parent). I didn’t see any upper limit but the oldest kids were probably 4th or 5th grade most being younger. There was one little boy of about 3 years old on a Strider who just zipped circles around the bigger kids. He was adorable.
After the kids bike school we caught the last few riders in the Cycle Mode time trial. Most of the riders weren’t taking it seriously but it was fun for the kids because they got front row seats about 5 meters closer than the adults. After the last rider we wander among the booths for the last half hour of the show. The floor was nearly empty of attendants. We checked out a recumbent and a pedal cart. We couldn’t test ride them because they had already taken down the test ride course after it was used for the time trial.
We had a great time and are looking forward to next year’s Cycle Mode International.
By Paul Richards
The other night I made a late night ride to a nearby store near Nishi-Kokubunji. On the way home I was rolling down a slope at fair pace along a particularly dark section of the road. The road is wide with a fair amount of traffic with a speed limit of 40 kph. I always run with at least one headlight and a taillight. I also never ride without my brain bucket. Fortunately, for the idiot riding on the wrong side of the street without lights or a helmet that I him huffing and puffing up the hill. When I spotted this idiot I gestured frantically at my headlight and pointed at my eyes. I was so annoyed at this moron I couldn’t think of anything to say. I found my tongue after I passed him. I let out a “baka yarou”. No doubt he didn’t hear me as he was already behind me. It isn’t that Idiot-on-2-Wheels and myself nearly collided. After all, I did see him in plenty of time to avoid a collision. The problem is my imagination and experience is enough to picture what would have happened if we had crashed into one another. We probably would have both survived to regret Idiot-on-2-Wheels’ irresponsible behavior but I really don’t fancy being a customer of the ambulance customer or visiting the local hospital emergency room?
I think this guy is proof that survival of the fittest is a fallacy. If it were true this guy’s defective DNA would be taken out of the gene pool long before he had a chance to reproduce. I don’t believe in helmet laws but I do believe in common sense and my own mortality. It isn’t common sense to ride on the wrong side of a busy street, in the dark without lights or a helmet.
I have noticed that the vast majority of incidents of reckless riding are perpetrated by either the young (under 25 or so) or the very old. Having once been so young and carefree I can understand somewhat the former group of miscreants. When you are young you are sure that you are going to live forever (despite all evidence to the contrary) and that no matter how reckless and irresponsible you are no harm can befall you. A few close calls and a minor accident or two goes a long way in eliminating delusions of immortality. I wish upon everyone to experience a close call at least once in their formative years.
Not yet quite of the age where I would be considered old I have more trouble understanding the oblivious manner in which senior citizens ride. I surmise that it could be a number of things. They probably remember learning to ride a bicycle in an era when automobiles are far and few between and perhaps never developed defensive riding skills. Or perhaps they feel that they have ridden safely through many decades (the first few of which they did not share the road with faster vehicles) without major mishap that they have developed a false sense of safety. There have been many studies recently on how badly human beings evaluate personal risk. I think these studies can be applied to cyclists. Finally, we all know that reflexes slow down as we get older. Perhaps older riders have to divert valuable attention attention from road to the act of maintaining their balance. Coupling shorter reaction times with a false sense of safety seems like an equation that equals disaster to me.
I don’t know what can be done about Idiot-on-2-Wheels and the like. Perhaps I need to mount an idiot gun on my handlebars and help out the gene pool by taking these idiots out of the gene pool. I would love to hear how other people deal with idiots on two wheels.
Tokyo Two Wheeling
Tokyo Two Wheeling is a source for cycling information, bicycle culture, news and commentary on cycling.