3rd January beckons early, up at first light, it's mid winter right now so the sun was coming up as we hopped into the van. Ryozo and Akemi live in a typical small apartment in urban Japan. They are west of Osaka in a sprawling concrete jungle of apartments, bridges, ports, railways and industry. With all four of us, a bike, all the cooking gear for the trial and our packs, room was very tight. We emerged from the urban area after twenty minutes or so and started to climb into the hills heading up to Kameoka. Once you clear the burbs the real Japan opens up. Small wooden houses, temples, terraced farming and rice plantations wherever there is space. We climbed higher and began to peer down into deep valleys with snow capped mountains in the distance and warning signs of ice on the road.
Kameoka is quite a large area but a relatively small town. The trials venue is on the outskirts of the area and in a beautiful valley. After parking up and warming up around a fire, we were introduced to the organisers and it was agreed that I would act as observer on section 12 whilst Robyn would help with the admin duties, rider sign-on and then help cook the lunch. It was very cold, just below freezing and as we were down in the valley, the sun was yet to work it's magic.
Riders were all around, unloading bikes, warming themselves up, hitting the rocks and practising.
After a little while a couple of bikes came down to the fire to sign on. I got a nudge from Ryozo....."this man very good....number one in japan....let's meet". The rider was no other than Kenichi "kenny" Kuroyama, ex team mate of Dougie Lampkin in his Beta years. I was introduced to him and as he had spent some time in Europe he had pretty good English. I'm originally from Yorkshire and the funny thing was that when Kenny spoke, he did so with a Yorkshire accent. Later in the day I would see just what this bloke is capable of and it is incredible. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures as I was observing all day but just google his name and check out some video.
Scrutineering and the riders briefing were done with lots of laughter and smiles, we were the only westerners and so everyone wanted to say hello and try out what little English they knew. Robyn was especially popular and got loads of attention. Here she is with Tuchihashi San (Hiro Tuchihashi) choosing a rice cookie.
The format for the day was a 12 section course to be completed twice with a time deadline of 3.30pm. Mokoto (Makka) Morita was the official and he got things underway. 107 riders were competing, the grades from complete beginners, two ladies who were on their first event, to Internationals such as Kenny. My section was on the side of a very steep hill. It was probably the longest section of the day and I was at the end area which had four lines. The beginners coming down an easy incline into a sharp turn and then making a steep ascent to the 'out' flags. They had to cross a deep erosion gully half way up and the majority were caught out in this area. The national A and B grades had more severe rock sections to negotiate whilst the international A and B grades were on a crazy almost verical stepped section with a nasty drop off and a 180 degree turn right up against the boundary tapes. When Kenny came through he made it look easy. On the back wheel, pivoting on rocks with sheer drops on three side, to see it on video is good but to be three feet away is awesome. My respect for their ability has increased ten fold.
I was scoring the cards at the end of the section and everyone was smiling whether they fived or cleaned. In the afternoon I gave out a smiley face if they got double cleans which brought high fives and seemed to relax some of the more tired riders.
My day finished with a drink and some new year rice dumplings at the Mori house. A huge stone bowl was on a stand and grains of rice were being thrown into the bowl to be smashed using a giant pestle. This turns the rice into a fine powder which ultimately gets mixed into a kind of soup with stringy, gum like texture. When eating this the idea is to stretch the rice into a long lengths. The longer you can stretch the better your chances for the coming year (I think ??)
Here's Kenny smashing the rice.
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After the trial finished we were taking a train journey for six hours up to Nagano for a spot of skiing. It was typical of the hospitality we received that rather than just drop us at the station, Ryozo and Akemi came with us on the first leg between Kameoka and Kyoto as they were concerned that we would struggle to find our way around the station. Well, when we arrived in Kyoto I could see why. It was PACKED..we only had a few minutes between arriving and catching the next train. We made it, said our goodbye's and finally made it to the snow with four other train changes. We would meet Ryozo, Akemi and 'Makka' again prior to leaving Japan as they came back to the airport on our day of departure.
Our hosts were the nicest people you could wish to meet. The Mori family are true enthusiasts and are extremely welcoming. I am going to send this link to my friends in japan so I would like to thank Ryozo and Akemi Aoyama, The Mori family and my mate 'Makka' for a terrific experience. (Plus everyone else whether you got a clean
or a five 
Anyone with a week or two holidays and wondering where to go.....get a flight to Japan....it's brill'
I'll put up a few more pics on seperate posts.
Regards
A
