Wednesday 20 May 2015

Tour Of Japan 2015, Sakai, Osaka

ToJ merchandise.
Last Sunday we hooked up with F-i-N to head down to Sakai, Osaka for the first stage of the 18th Tour Of Japan. We rode down from Tennoji station at midday, on the hottest day of the year so far. Fun, fun, fun...

F-i-N in the distance.
A little cruise down the Yamato river on the way...


And we made it to Sakai...

Spot the birdie.
 As expected, there were bikes everywhere...

Bicycle parking is not a crime.
 The backstage/pits area were buzzing...



 The Rapha boys were there...

"Glory Through Suffering"
 The occasional pro rode past...


 And the teams were in their pits getting ready for the time trial...





 Out on the course the riders were going round one by one...









Once all the exciting time trail "action" was over we headed into the wonderful Shimano Bicycle Museum ...


A quick pit stop at Cycle Station Speed on the ride back into Tennoji...


 And a final combini stop...


A great day. We have many, many more photos to post from the bike museum and of all the bikes we shot, they'll be posted here soon. Thanks to Fixed-in-Nara for his navigational skills on the day. Check out the F-i-N Instagram for more pictures from the day's action.