Gira Gira Chariya and Track Supermarket welcome a new (future) staff member to the family!

Well he can't polish cranksets, or cut spokes quite yet, but I have already put him to work doing a little shop promotion....

Sayaka, thank you so much for sacrificing so much over the last 10 months.....Giracha welcomes a new member to the family! Cal, we all look forward to watching you grow day by day....

Thanks to the family, friends and customers who have supported us, and really, thank you to all of the customers who have been so patient with me during the hectic last couple of weeks!

An exhausted but excited Sayaka, with her new best friend...

After a 3 hour drive in the middle of the night across Japan, I was too late for the birth, but it didn't matter...an indescribable feeling, while I held him in the dark, silent hospital, at 1am.

Sorry, this is terrible, but I couldn't help myself! 

日本全プロ。。。。Japan National Track Championship, in Osaka!

A couple of hours watching the track battles, was a great way to start the day, before heading back to the shop to open up for the day...

It is always helpful to have someone like Mr Nagasawa, the Osakan frame builder, by your side to commentate, and offer insights into everything from TT and keirin strategy, to equipment choice, and a bit of a form-guide on the pro athletes competing!

The paddock, which seemed to have a very relaxed air about it, even though this was the day of the National Championships....maybe that is just easy to say from where I was sitting.

The Girls Keirin was blazing, too! This has been getting a lot of attention recently, in Japan,constantly growing in popularity...

Tsutsumi: Giracha mechanic, takes the zen approach to watching the action, from this perch on the side of the Kishiwada BMX track, which is part of the KEIRIN track complex.

The keirin men explode through the penultimate turn, 300m from the finish line!

GIRACHA staff: Yuchan, Tsutsumi, and Rob and Mr Nagasawa watch on as a rider blasts from the top of the bank, ready to cross the line at top speed, and make a 200m flying time trial time good enough to see him into the Sprint Finals. The noise is just awesome, and Mr Nagasawa knew the best vantage point!

Tsutsumi uses the opportunity to milk Mr Nagasawa for information while he can!