Hey guys, I was at Seibuen Velodrome yesterday. I trained with keirin guys on my keirin bike. I was spinning 50/16 and they said that it's recommended for a novice. The guy said he's warming up on 46/14 for 20 laps (each lap is 400m). At the end of the day I said that I still have a lot of stamina, so he stopped me, took out a a large truck tire from the middle of the track, attached it via a rope to my seat post and said "ride then". I managed to do 2 laps with it. He said that the tire is 10 kg (22lbs) and people train 20 laps with it. Some attach even 2 tires. He told me lots about training. He suggested that I go to mountains and train climbing (in high gear!). He suggested that I put some heavy stuff in my backpack and ride with it and so on. So, I guess this is the Japanese way of training. Anyway, in 3 days there will be kind of teaching seminar at the other velodrome, aimed at novices who want to become keirin racers. I'll attend it and they'll teach me basics and all. This stuff is gonna be hard.
So, on topic. I saw cycle computers on some of the bikes. But now I don't see the point of it. If I'm gonna climb steep hills in high gear, pull truck tires, ride with barbells in my backback and torture myself in other ways, then the cadence is not important.