Bayley Takes A Wild Ride Through Japan

The Sunday Age

Sunday September 17, 2006

DANIEL LANE

Keirin racing in Japan involves plastic body armour, billions of dollars and lots of swearing, Daniel Lane reports

RYAN Bayley learnt the hard way that an Olympic gold medallist competing in the Japanese velodrome's answer to a smash-up derby is considered prey.

Bayley recently competed in the keirin (Japanese for racing wheels), a two-kilometre race where riders are paced behind a motorcycle. The keirin might sound like a form of Japanese spiritual enlightenment, but it's actually a high-speed, highly dangerous event on which 20 million gamblers bet 1.15 trillion yen ($A13 billion) annually.

The rules are loosely translated as "anything goes", something Bayley understood quickly when he raced opponents who thought nothing of trying to make him crash at 70 km/h.

"As the Olympic champion, you attract a bit of attention," Bayley said. "You have eight competitors staring at you when you ride . . . they wait for you to make your move and when you do they try to knock you over the fence!

"Another tactic was boxing me in the middle of the pack and then attempting to flick me over when I tried to break free. I was cracked from one side by an opponent and cracked from another."

The unwelcome attention didn't stop him from winning some of his races. While such tactics wouldn't be tolerated in other disciplines of cycling, it's actually encouraged in keirin. Indeed, the promoters almost endorse it by way of providing the contestants with plastic body armour to minimise any injuries from a likely fall.

It's to the promoter's advantage to protect their stars because they're crowd-pullers and money-makers. Yet, even though they compete on outdoor tracks, they are made to race regardless of the conditions.

"In every other country, the races at an outdoor track stop when it rains," he said. "But in Japan, the show goes on. They have a sticky surface that allows the wheels to grip regardless of the weather."

Japanese punters take the sport seriously. They have formguides crammed with such detail about the riders as their background, star sign, blood group and thigh measurements.

To avoid any risk of cyclists being influenced by bribes to throw a race, they're accommodated in what Bayley describes as a "warehouse", which has high security and no links to the outside world.

"The security is tight," said Bayley. "The event goes for four days, so you ride one race a day. You are escorted to the track, you race and you're then escorted back.

"The doors are locked and no one is allowed in, no one is allowed out. There's six to eight large buildings built around the velodromes and they house the riders. It's pretty insane."

And Bayley admits the time spent in the warehouse can test one's sanity . . . and patience.

"You either read magazines or stare at the walls," he said. "There is a television but all the shows are in Japanese, so that's no escape.

"The reason they do it is because the organisers fear races could be set up. What I found hard was it did test your patience because not all the riders get on well with each other."

He also found it amazing at how quickly the Japanese punters can change from loyal admirers to a lynch mob.

"When you win, they love you and shower you with praise in Japanese," he said. "But lose and you find out the Japanese have a tremendous ability to repeat swear words in English."

© 2006 The Sunday Age

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