The closest thing cycling has to rollerball — or at least roller derby — cycle speedway involves an oval dirt track, singlespeed bikes with no brakes, spectacular sliding turns and lots of rider-to-rider contact. This video from Japan show how speedway has even spead to the far east, and is just as daft and fun there too.
It also has one of the best bits of skullduggery we've seen as a rider prevents a pass on the inside of a turn by sticking his foot into his challenger's wheel. Skip to 0:55 if you can't wait, but the whole thing's worth two minutes of your time.
Cycle Speedway started in the UK between the wars, but really boomed after WW2 as bombsites provided instant race tracks; by 1950 there were 200 clubs in East London alone. If you fancy go, it now comes under the umbrella of British Cycling, with about 40 clubs.





















6 thoughts on “Video: Full-contact brakeless skullduggery in Japanese cycle speedway racing”
The bikes have changed a
The bikes have changed a bit.
The local track where I grew up was on the site of a former piggery. It was redeveloped for housing years ago.
Surely that’s not the best
Surely that’s not the best they can do? Not a patch on UK cycle speedway 🙂
Some great looking bikes
Some great looking bikes there. Grass (sand) roots right there. Having fun and nothing too serious – as it should be. Like.
Is sticking your foot into a
Is sticking your foot into a rival’s wheel a good idea? Surely you’re likely to go down as well?
Very tame. Most disciplinary
Very tame. Most disciplinary suspensions in British Cycling are from Cycle Speedway – almost all for fighting…
I find cycle speedway very
I find cycle speedway very appealing, if the race calendar didn’t clash with BMX I’d be tempted to have a go.