Around Town

We heard about a track not too far away that you can go run on in the city. We went to it one morning, but it ended up being closed. The area had several sports facilities that were very nice, but they all seemed a bit old. We found out later that it was the site of the 1964 Olympic Games. Detroit was the runner up. I guess 1964 was a LONG time ago. Don't worry Detroit, nobody's perfect. Below is a little "village" I saw next to the track.

It's nice to know that if things get a little too expensive in Tokyo, we always have a backup. I don't know though, there didn't seem to be much room. I'm guessing the waiting list is pretty long. As you can see, some of those tents are pretty big. I'm sure some of them have close to or more than the square footage of our apartment.

The next search was for a bike helmet. I looked online for a bike store and found a place called Map Sports. I tried to memorize the map, but was prepared to get lost, which I did. I rode all around for a couple hours. I ran into a tiny outdoor bike shop/stand, but they had no helmets. Not everything in Tokyo is big and grand, as you can see in the picture to the right at the top. However, as you can see in the picture below it, there is no place an American franchise can't work it's way into. The picture below the ampm is a traditional looking building I found right there as well. All three pictures were taken within 50 feet of each other.

Tokyo has little treats like this scattered about. My view is probably skewed by the fact that we live next to the biggest parks in the city. I have yet to travel more than 5-10 miles from our apartment, which I did on my search for this bike store.

I ended up going home and looking at the map again, now that I knew the area better. I found it immediately the second time. Unfortunately, I didn't find any helmets under $80 or $100 or something. This was beginning to be a real pain.

As in this case of Map Sports, many places will be generically labeled with the word "sports", but they rarely contain sporting goods from more than one sport. Some may not actually even be sporting goods stores. I assumed the store called Sports Land would be a good place to shop, but it turned out to be an arcade. Another little piece of info, golf seems to be the most popular sport, although, I have no idea where everyone plays. I'll have to find a course one of these days.

To conclude this rambling story, I ended up asking some guy on a bike the next time I went looking for a bike store. It was only 6 blocks away with no turns, but he went with me. People are very nice and go out of their way to help you. The store he showed me was great, and had a cheap helment.