Japanese flock to bicycle ride

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

A local bicycling event this weekend has drawn a record 1,500 cyclists from Japan, making up about half of the expected riders.

The Japanese participants in Sunday's Honolulu Century Ride are expected to generate an estimated $2.2 million in visitor spending, a welcome infusion of revenues during the typically slow fall season.

Japan Airlines, a supporting sponsor of the event, marketed the Century Ride in Japan and organized travel for participants, said John B. Kelley, board member of the nonprofit Hawaii Bicycling League. Japan Airlines helped sponsor the annual event for the first time last year, and about 600 Japanese visitors flew to Hawai'i to participate, he said.

Previously, getting about 75 riders from Japan was a good year, he said.

"It's great fun because first, it's a family activity," Kelley said. "Secondly, to use the cold hard way of looking at it, this is incremental business because these folks presumably would not have chosen to travel here now for any other reason than to do it."

Japanese visitors also come in droves — albeit to a larger degree — to the Honolulu Marathon, which is held in December. About 14,000 of the 25,000 runners in last year's Honolulu Marathon were from Japan.

Kelley said the league is just starting to reach out to the Mainland. About 100 participants are from the Mainland and Europe, he said.

The Honolulu Century Ride, established by the Hawaii Bicycling League more than 20 years ago, was listed one of the "50 Best Rides in the USA" by Bicycling Magazine. Riders choose distances of 20 to 100 miles along a route from Kapi'olani Park to East Honolulu, through Waimanalo, Kailua and Kane'ohe.

The event also has increased business for local bicycle shops, Kelley said.

"We've been really busy, extraordinarily busy," said Bikefactory Sportshop owner Wally Parcels. Parcels attributed the increased business to the event as well as a growing trend to ride bikes for fitness. "I can't say that it's doubled because of the event, but it's substantial."

The event raises money to support the league's "BikeEd Program," a partnership with the city to teach bicycling safety to O'ahu's fourth-grade students.

For more information about the Honolulu Century Ride, call the Hawaii Bicycling League at 735-5756 or visit www.hbl.org.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 535-2470.