The email arrived in my inbox months ago. I
was being invited to fly to Japan and take part in the Saitama Criterium and
then race in the Japan Paracycling Cup. Both firsts for Paracycling in Japan –
and both firsts for me.
There wasn’t even a second of hesitation as
I hit the reply button and sent back my answer: YES. Without a doubt, yes. It
is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and there was no way I was going to pass it
up.
For those that don’t know – the Saitama
Criterium is an end-of-year ‘race’ held in Saitama – on the northern outskirts
of Tokyo. It is organized by ASO, who also run races such as the Tour de
France. It is less of a race and more of a procession as riders follow a
scripted race plan, lapping the 3km city centre circuit in front of the
thousands of fans gathered to watch. Each year the Tour winner is there along
with a host of other supremely talented riders. A few other local teams are
also invited along for good measure.
This year as part of the festivities, they
held a short time trial on the course, with one rider from each team doing a
lap of the course as fast as possible. Along with the Pro riders, they also
invited 7 women and 7 Paracyclists to take part. This is where I came in. I
would be putting my best lap time up against the likes of Simon Geshke, Joaquim
Rodriguez and yes… Chris Froome. It’s all a bit of fun, but it’s not every day
you get the chance to race against top Pro riders, in front of 100,000 people!
Accompanying me on this epic journey would
be fellow Irish (current) Paracycling TT and Scratch Race World Champion,
Eoghan Clifford and our faithful coach Neill Delahaye.
The trip to Japan, despite the long
distance, was relatively painless. Sitting on an airplane for 12 hours at a
time is never a lot of fun but we got to Japan in one piece. I made sure I had
very little sleep before the flight so was able to sleep a bit on the flight
and arrived in Tokyo at 6:30am ready for a full day ahead.
We were met by our host, Ryuji Hiratmatsu who works with
the Japan Paracycling Federation. Ryuji would be key to us enjoying our trip –
and is also the key person behind the Japan Paracycling Cup that was taking
place the following weekend. I’ll have more on him in my next post as he
deserves his very own article.
The
next few days would prove to be a whirlwind of adrenaline and jetlag. We spent
a fair bit of time travelling between the hotel where we were sleeping and the
hotel where our bikes were stored – just to be able to ride them on turbo
trainers in a conference room! Unfortunately the city streets are a bit busy
and not really conducive to proper training. All the while, trying to get over
the 8 hours of jetlag we were dealing with! Fortunately we only had a couple of
days of this to deal with before the festivities started.
Our second night there was spent
mingling with all the other invited riders. It was a bit surreal hanging out in
a hotel ballroom, eating sushi and drinking beers whilst Grand Tour podium
finishers, Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo winners and a host of other cycling
gods walked past. I admit to be a fanboy, and I had brought a few jerseys with
me to get signed by some key riders. It also gave me a brief chance to
introduce myself and chat with them.
The next morning was the big day. Once
again we found ourselves in our little hotel conference room, with
(effectively) our backstage passes, waiting for the festivities to kick off.
Pro riders wandered the hallways freely. At one point I saw Chris Froome sat on
a sofa, so I headed over with my Yellow Jersey to get a signature. He invited
me to sit down and we chatted for a short period of time as he (mostly) quizzed
me on how I lost my leg and my cycling background. I’m not sure why but I
couldn’t stop my leg from twitching – I was that nervous!
Eventually it was time to get the event
started. We headed downstairs and through the hotel lobby. Throngs of fans had
lined up for photos and autographs. Although not exactly for us! All the riders
gathered outside the main entrance until Froome came out – and then it was time
to leave. We headed out on our bikes onto the race circuit. We (myself and
Eoghan) we mixed in with all the other riders. We pedaled around the race
circuit in parade fashion – Froome and his teammates just off my rear wheel at
times. It was surreal.
After a lap of the circuit we headed to
our pit area – which was located inside a small concert arena. The race
actually passes through the arena each lap in front of hundreds of seated fans
all watching and cheering you on. After a brief introduction – the Paracyclists
all headed back onto the course for another lap in front of the crowds. They
probably had no idea who we were, but that didn’t stop them from cheering us on
as we rolled past. Many of the fans at the edge of the circuit leaned out
across the barriers, high-fiving me as I went past. I was loving every second
of it.
After another short stop back in the pit
area we were called up to the start area for the time trial. Again we rode
around the circuit past the gathered crowds to a row of seats near the start
ramp. I picked a seat in the long line of chairs and sat myself down to wait
for my turn. As I sat there waiting, 2 of the Pro riders sat themselves down in
the seats beside me to wait. Let’s just say it made for a photo opportunity I
won’t soon forget.
Finally it was my turn to get underway.
I rolled up onto the start ramp and waited for the clock to tick down.
5-4-3-2-1…. and off I went. This wasn’t a normal time trial. It was just one
lap of a race circuit – on a road bike as fast as possible. An all-out sprint
to see how fast I could go around the 3km circuit. There were several corners
to negotiate, a descent and ascent under an overhead road (twice), a 180-degree
turn in the road, and a passage through the arena on soft rubber floor
covering.
I was riding so hard that everything was
just a blur. I was pedaling as hard as I could and could barely see where I was
going at times. I could hear the cheers of the crowd as I sailed past but
definitely not paying much attention. Just trying to get to the finish. And it
was over before I knew it.
In the end, I didn’t break any speed
records. In fact, I was one of the slowest of the Paracycling riders, but as
the most ‘disabled’ that was to be expected. Furthermore, riding a road bike instead
of a TT bike doesn’t do me any favours but all that is irrelevant. I was only
37 seconds slower than Chris Froome – and to me – that’s a win.
**Title is in reference to the
Alphaville song “Big in Japan”.
