I was recently assigned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as the head referee at the 2008 edition of the Tour de Okinawa bicycle race [English | 日本]. Held on the weekend of November 8-9, this year was the event’s 20th anniversary and the first time it would be run as a stage race.

This was my first trip ever to Okinawa, a really beautiful sub-tropical island that is Japan’s southernmost outpost. Part of the Ryūkyū island chain that extends southward in an arc from Kyūshū, Okinawa is about mid-way between the southern tip of Kyūshū and Taiwan. [map]

The weather was quite pleasant when I arrived there, with short sleeves being the rule. That was a far cry from Osaka, whose weather had long since turned to long sleeves and jackets by then. However, the good weather was not to last, as the forecast was for rain, sometimes heavy, on both days of the two-day race.

However, despite the gloomy forecast, I thoroughly enjoyed the good weather while it lasted. The race was headquartered in Nago City, about 70 kilometers north of the main international airport at Naha. The trip took about 1-1/2 hours by car each way.

The race consisted of two stages: a criterium stage on Saturday followed by a road race stage on Sunday. The criterium started without a hitch, but quickly fell apart when a brief but heavy burst of rain struck at about 1/3 of the way into the race. As is always the case at criteriums, rain produces crashes, and this event was no exception to that rule.

As a result of the rain, the results team had a difficult time keeping track of which riders were on even laps and which riders had received lap neutralizations.  This kind of confusion, of course, is the very reason why the UCI does not normally permit criteriums to be used as part of a professional road stage race. And I doubt it will be allowed in future editions.

The road race on Sunday, by contrast, was run on a very nice course that wound its way through the mountains on the north end of Okinawa island, effectively making one very large loop before returning to the finish in Nago City. The only blemish on the race was that the rain continued throughout the day and the winds became quite gusty at times — so much so that the locals even remarked that it was highly unusual. However, the occasional unobstructed view of the ocean from the race course was simply breathtaking.