S9 Ep130: Service Course | Keirin and culture
The Cycling Podcast
The Cycling Podcast
4.7 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 31 July 2021
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For this edition Tom has a long conversation with Justin McCurry, if that name is familiar to you, it's probably because Justin is The Guardian's Japan correspondent and so he's a very busy man right now. Justin is also an author, his new book War On Wheels takes you deep into the strange and thrilling world of Japanese Keirin racing.
It's a fascinating chat that looks into all aspects of Keirin culture, including the design of the bikes which still have to be made from steel. In fact every part of a Keirin bike has to conform to certain standards in order for it to be approved for use and to get the NJS stamp, something that was much coveted by anyone riding around on a fixed gear in London in the noughties. Since speaking to Justin, Tom has come one step closer to starting his own NJS build...
Chris Blomfield-Brown from CORE appears in this episode.
Lizzy Banks and Tom Whalley take a close look at the new HB.T track bike that Team GB will be riding at the Olympics in Tokyo in this episode.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Music |
| 0:07.0 | You are listening to Service Course by the cycling podcast, powered by SuperSapiens, |
| 0:14.0 | Energy Management for committed athletes and coaches. |
| 0:18.0 | Well, I'm back and I'm glad to say that Lizzy Banks is back with us once again, two podcasts |
| 0:25.2 | in a row. |
| 0:26.2 | That must mean that your recovery is going swimmingly from your concussion, Lizzy. |
| 0:29.7 | Yes, I'm back, I'm delighted to be back again. |
| 0:32.7 | Things are getting better. |
| 0:34.7 | Firstly, thank you so much to all of you who got in touch after the last podcast where |
| 0:39.7 | we were really just kind of going through what I've been up to or what I hadn't been |
| 0:44.7 | up to for the last four months. |
| 0:45.7 | And if you haven't had a listen, go back and listen because I think it's fascinating. |
| 0:50.9 | And yeah, I was amazed how many of you guys got in touch to say you've had similar things |
| 0:54.6 | as well because I didn't realise quite how common it was. |
| 0:59.7 | But yeah, I'm getting better all the time. |
| 1:02.4 | The brain recovers at one speed and one speed only. |
| 1:05.8 | So it's still going to take a little bit of time. |
| 1:07.6 | But yeah, I've had periods in the last few days where I've started to feel normal, which |
| 1:14.0 | is really quite an amazing feeling after the last nearly five months now. |
| 1:19.4 | I mean, I wouldn't chase feeling normal because I don't think anyone has felt normal |
| 1:23.2 | in the last year and a half to be honest. |
| 1:25.6 | But if you haven't heard that podcast from last week, from last week, last month, Lizzie |
... |
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