Your Cart is Empty
JAPANESE KEIRIN and SLOW CYCLING hosted by Charlotte Cole-Hossain and Marta Cooper
6:00 pm - Inside Keirin and Japan’s Cycling Subculture with War on Wheels author, Justin McCurry and Duncan Steer
The track cycling sport of keirin was invented in Japan more than 70 years ago to raise money to rebuild the country after World War II. Now, fans bet billions of dollars a year on races, with the top riders earning huge sums.
The story of keirin is also the story of modern Japan – a time of rapid economic development but also social unrest. Today, keirin is at a crossroads. It continues to generate huge sums of money, but is viewed with suspicion by many due to Japanese society’s uneasy relationship with gambling.
Justin McCurry is the Japan and Korea correspondent for the Guardian and Observer. He also writes for publications in Japan and regularly contributes to television and radio. He has lived in Japan for more than 25 years but is yet to compete in a keirin race.
Duncan Steer has written for The Guardian, The Independent and Procycling magazine and runs regular 'In Conversation' events around the UK. He is hosting upciming book tours with ITV commentator Matt Rendell and Eurosport's Carlton Kirby; full details at radiodaysevents.com.
To make a one-off donation to FHHV we are registered with Virgin Money Giving - please click on this logo to donate:
7:00 pm - Slow Cycling with Lost Lanes author, Jack Thurston, Brian Cookson OBE and Ian Cleverly
Jack Thurston has a lifelong passion for exploring the countryside by bike. As presenter of The Bike Show on Resonance FM, he has brought his affable and infectious enthusiasm for cycling to London's airwaves and attracted an audience around the world with more than 1.5 million podcast downloads. Jack is a regular contributor to the critically acclaimed Rouleur magazine and edits the Bicycle Reader. His articles about cycling appear in the Guardian, the Evening Standard, Cycling Plus and Cycle.
Brian Cookson OBE is the former president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
Ian Cleverly is executive editor of Rouleur magazine. He raced his bike to remarkably poor effect from the age of 13, rarely troubling the podium, and recently conceded to time and tide and packed it in. These days, you'll find him bimbling and bumbling around the highways and byways, then enjoying a cheeky beer afterwards.
Buy all the books at the Virtual Velofete bookshop uk.bookshop.org