>>Tour de Fukuoka<<
FUKUOKA
A cycling event is being scheduled for late November in Fukuoka City, with about 300 riders from South Korea expected to participate to promote friendly relations between Japan and the country.
Tour de Fukuoka 2010, to be held Nov 28, is the first event of its kind. The Korean riders will come from the port city of Busan, which is linked with Fukuoka via high-speed ferries. Event organizers are calling on more people to participate to enjoy late fall in Fukuoka.
The event offers two categories—‘‘cityride’’ in which participants freely ride through various sightseeing spots and checkpoints to finish on an artificial island in Higashi Ward, and ‘‘criterium’’ in which participants race through a loop of about 1.5 kilometers around the island.
The criterium category has six divisions, including those for professionals, kids and people who ride the so-called ‘‘mamachari’’ bicycles often used by mothers in Japan for quick grocery shopping and for picking up kids.
The event’s action committee members say they are hoping that the event will bring in ‘‘Asian vitality’’ to the southwestern Japan city.
‘‘Fukuoka is a very pretty city. I’m looking forward to it,’’ said Kang Sung Min, who heads a women’s bicycle club in Busan.
