K E I R I N

I have ridden a fixie only for 5 months. The experience is not considering very much.

But somehow, for these 5 month, there are something I found very very interesting.
My bike responds to road riding different from other bikes I had ever ridden on. It is very direct and sensitive, even sharp I will even address it as. Different road surfaces make the bike behave differently, even my riding.
To make mid-skid on the rough road surface a rider may move centre of gravity forward, but not on dirty one.
It just is like a sporty tuning car; it's more dynamic. It will behave when you want it to.
After few runs, a rider will not only understand his/her bike, but the road he/she rides on too. The riding is not just eating the road, but tastes the road.


An another interesting thing is;


The fixed gear cycling will always be related to a sport, Keirin. I personal believe it is because the bikes they both ride are also fixed gear and no brake what so ever. The Keirin bike is very much the same design as what they call "fixies", fixed gear bikes.
Most of all, the street fixed gear rides want to make their no brake dangerous cycling have a sense and need real life acting heros.
So Keirin（競輪）becomes one of choices; one and only.


Here is a quote from BBC:

The keirin is a very bizarre event which originated in Japan.
It is a popular sport in the 'Land of the Rising Sun' and attracts major betting from punters.
It is similar to the individual sprint but features six to eight riders on the track instead of two.

Now, this is the bizarre bit: the riders follow behind a small moped-type bike called a derny!
This derny paces the riders for the first few laps of the eight-lap race.

It steadily increases speed before pulling off into the centre of the arena with two-and-a-half laps to go leaving the riders to sprint to the finish.
During the lead up laps to the finishing sprint the riders jostle with each other for the best position.
But they have to stay behind the back wheel of the pace-maker bike.
With so many riders taking part in what is really a sprint race there are often crashes on the final laps.
So the race is fun-filled and action-pack.