Tokyo update numero 2.

Well. I'm amazed they're even thinking of us back home. I've come to think of it damn near as a compliment. Can't say I blame 'em if they get busy with the next coupla days of festivities. Get 'em in while you can. Without further ado, here's the latest update from Ben and Al: -------------

by Ben

Day 2 recap: I started out the day with a walk to try to find a bikeshop, buy a map with English street names, and find an ATM that would take my card. I got a cup of coffee at a breakfast place, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Japanese people love eating hot dogs for breakfast. When in Rome... I ended up getting completely lost, not finding a bike shop, and every store I went to had maps that were only in Japanese. Tokyo is an incredibly confusing city. After about two hours of being totally lost, I ran into Al, Molly, Christina, and the rest of the Chicago crew who were also out trying to find maps and an ATM. Within an hour we found a big book store which had english maps and we even found a bike shop which sold qr squwers. I could finally put my wheels on my bike.

We ended up riding as a big group to registration, which was a blast! I am having a tough time with the traffic being reversed. Every right turn is an adventure. Registration was laid-back and cool. People from all over the world would roll up in small groups and hang out. Chicago definately had the biggest crew. We hung out on a corner for a while drinking beer and eating rice balls while a monkey screeched at us and flipped us off.

After that we rode around for a while hitting up bike shops so Molly could get a brake for her Fuji. After we accomplished that, we got some beers and went to a park to drink them. It was very peaceful and nice.

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by Al

We had a traffic cop who seemed to be assigned to the alley we were registering at jsut because we were there and made sure to blow his whistle at anyone standing in the middle of the alley. I met a pro keirin racer there and tried to find out if I could do any track racing while I was here, but they don't have any amateur races.

The food scares me.