Kinfolk - Hand Built by Kusaka

I don't know too much about this company, but they sure have some beautiful bicycles!
Visit the Kinfolk Bicycle Co.
All of these bicycles are nice, but some of them are hand built by Kusaka, a master frame builder in Kansai, Japan, who has been building frames for racers in the Keirin for decades. These are elegantly perfected pieces that are all hand crafted. From what I've seen, he has awesome skill.
Read more about it on the Kinfolk page, here & there are some photos in the KINFOLK by Ways&Means flickr gallery of Kusaka's work here.

If there is a way to contact this man, please let me know. I'd really appreciate any information.
It would be an amazing experience and honor to work and learn some of this skill from him.

- RideaBicycle

The Keirin

The Keirin is a track cycling race where the competitors race to the finish in a 2 Kilometers sprint.
The Keirin race started back in 1948 but today it's regulated by the JKA foundation and is part of the Olympics.

There is a Keirin School, that looks super intensive, where cyclists go to train for this race. They train for more than three hours every day on top of other studies. It sounds kind of fun to me, but I'm sure that it's such a challenge.

Check out the book Fixed: Fixed-Gear Bike Culture by Andrew Edwards and Max Leonard. It's a great book if you're interested in a bit of history behind the fixed gear bicycle. I picked mine up here.
You can also read about the book on this website. 

Photo Credit: altalang.com

- RideaBicycle