TOKYO BIKE SCENE THIS JUST IN

that's a post i'm going to write when i finally make it into a bike shop -- that is to say, a bike shop that's coolly japanese enough to impress the sensibilities of my countrywomen in the already saturated-in-japanese-cool state of cascadia. and that's not even to mention the recognized ascendancy [don't you prefer ascendance, too?] of our homegrown bicycle industry. this is why we procrastinate...and make things up. if the storied annals of 'looking good in pants' teach you one thing, it should be that journalism's greatest success lies in its colorful (i.e. debauched, if you don't understand japanese) relationship with fact.

i'm hoping to garner a lead during a lunch meeting i've got today, and i'm guessing i'll be sent somewhere in shibuya; but then again, the friend i'm meeting is more of a roadie than a commuter or a fixster or any in-the-middle urban rider sort, so i can't really be sure. but ultimately, i imagine myself walking into some designed-out little boutique store where i'll nonchalantly let my sleeve draw back to show my spoke bracelet, whereupon the staff will ask me where i'm from, and we'll all love that i'm there to represent portland. i don't know how many takes it's going to be to get it right, but if you can't be real, you should at least be perfect.

i do regret not taking pictures of the two riders i saw stopped the other day at an intersection on waseda doori between nakano and kōenji. one was on a fixed gear, headed north, balanced up on his bike by the aid of holding on to a telephone pole or a fence or something. he was wearing rolled up jeans and canvas sneakers, but the triple layered combination that he was wearing above the waist was so perfectly styled and color matched as to be impossible outside of japan. the other rider was stopped in traffic headed east. he was riding a production model giant road bike, anything but special, but his all black commuting ensemble would put the best of us in portland to shame. head to toe rapha (well, i suppose not his shoes), including a pair of those newly designed three-quarter lenghts. man, he looked sharp. unlike his fixed gear counterpart, the man on the giant was wearing a helmet, less, i'm sure, because he was riding with traffic and was therefore more safety conscious than because it was part of the package.

on tuesday, i'm going to a keirin race with the same friend as i'm almost late to meet for lunch. i know. keirin is so three years ago...but i'm excited anyway. i mean, they made it up here, so even if it already crested on the american trend wave, seeing it here is still an important cultural and historical experience. plus, those dudes are stacked. and apparently they get to retire at 35 to a public pension. the scene at the track moves from a distraught closeup to a building excitement to a wide shot of me hanging over the rail frantically waving the billet that just won me tens of thousands of yen. then there's a snapshot montage. i'll be able to afford myself a cup of coffee on wednesday morning.