City Riding, helmets or style?

Recently I have been spending some time riding around some cities here in Japan. I am happy to see so many people using bikes these days. It could be the economy or enviromental issues that have gotten more folks riding but it does show that the bicycle is a very good solution for this world.
When I ride in the city my biggest concern is safety, I need to have good vision, good brakes and quick reactions. I almost always ride my Mountainbike, I am sat up on the bike looking at all my surroundings , the disc brakes will stop me quicker than anything else available especially if it is wet, and with the high volume tires I can at least try some sort of manouver if a car happens to attack, and attack they will.
I consider myself a very good cyclist, I have ridden as a courier, a pro-racer and now as a guide and I always ride with a helmet. Why I wonder do all these smart well educated people ride around on their fancy bikes without a helmet on? "I don't want to mess my hair" is the answer I hear most , second is "helmets don't look cool". Whatever the reason it doesn't cut with me, I have crashed many times over the last 20 years, both my fault and sometimes caused by others, 3 helmets have been demolished during this time and each time I broke a helmet I walked away, and each time I crashed were times that I would consider low risk riding, you just never know when you will go down, but you will.
I urge you to wear a helmet ask any doctor they will back me up, you are putting yourselves at an even higher risk than we already are.
Paul

This is Fun!!!

I was joined by Murata-san and his friends for a ride last saturday, Murata-san came for a couple of rides last year with me and this time brought some friends that he road rides with. It was great to introduce MTB`ing to these road riders,because of the good cycling fitness they have from the road they could climb on the big full suspension rental bikes without to much problem.The advantage of ridng these bikes doesnt become evident until you hit the trails, when the suspension sucks up all the bumps and the disc brakes help you control the speed and let you enjoy the challange of single track riding. I too love the feeling of my 7 kilogram road bike but it doesn't compare to a good single track ride. You must concentrate on the trail at all times, you don't have time to think about much else so you really can forget about the real world while you riding.

Age doesn`t matter

Saigo-san and his friends came for a ride during the week, it was my first time riding with this group and we had a really good time. The ages in this group varied from 30 something year olds to 60 something , they were a perfect example of what makes cycling so wonderful. We did one of my more aggresive rides with a good 8 kilometer climb and fun downhills, I won`t say who was fastest or slowest but I will say the youngest and oldest were right in the middle. Great day , Paul

BC RACE Stage one

Stage-1, 89 kilometers
Nerves were frayed as all 450 racers lined up to start was to turn into an epic adventure. As a former professional cyclist I was well aware that the start would be one of the most dangerous times of this 7 day race. Even though the organizers warned us at the previous nights pre-race meeting as soon as the gun went off so did the race. Within 500 meters I had lost my partner , who seemed to be riding way faster than I could, a big field full of cut grass slowed everyone down as racers, myself included, had to dismount and clear their drivetrain of grass before continuing. Yoshi was pulled over waiting for me and we got going along with the rest of the field. Todays race was an 89 kilometer ride from Shawnigan Lake to Lake Cowichan, it included a variety of the terrain that we would ride over the next 7 days, gravel logging roads, double track jeep roads and of course what all mountain bikers crave , single track trails. The heat, mid 30`s was a factor many riders including Yoshi didn`t consider as they rode past the first water station thinking it was more important to hold their position in the technical trails. The heat and Yoshi`s choice of clothing " I`m not a racer anymore, I am a freerider" started to effect his riding and for the last 20 kilometers we had to back off on the pace and cruise into the finish. We felt okay about our day and realized we could do a bit better if we worked together more smoothly, little did we know what day 2 had in store for us.
Stage winners- Team Canondale U.S.A. - 4:14
45 place- Team Brownfish Jumpers - 5:43

BC Race, Awesome

I just finished the BC race in British Columbia, Canada. 7 days of hard mountain bike riding/racing. I did my first race in 1983 and have no idea how many races I have done since then but this last race was by far the Best Race I have ever done. Great organization took care of all our needs, tents were always built before we arrived at the finsh everyday, good food was plentiful and even the emergency crew was very profesional during the entire week. More than anything though was the riding, everyday was epic, lots of hard work but if you like single track riding like I do then the 5-6 hours a day were a joy not a burden. Look for my race report in outdoorjapan coming soon.

Freeride Adventures Video

This video was made by one of our customers last weekend. Everytime Paul looked at Suzuki-san he seemed to have his camera in his hand. He filmed all this one handed while chasing us down the trails riding his mountainbike. The only thing he couldn`t do one handed was eat the hamburger! You can link up to either of these links to check it out.