Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 30
Arakita, the Mad Mutterer, spurs on Imaizumi, who wants to be in front where it's quiet. Midousuji may be the spoiler for Kinjou and Fukutomi's podium place.
Heh.
I like all these Hakone guys! Arakita's constant stream of annoyed muttering reminds me very much of myself when I get into a pissed off mood. I will just keep complaining about everything I see in front of me, and even add in a funny or friendly vibe to the stream just to keep it going when I'm not pissed anymore.So, um, how long is Arakita going to borrow Fukutomi's Bianchi? Looks like going on 2 years so far.
Imaizumi had a nice moment reaching back to the old way he used to win races: by being a thoughtless douche who wanted to be in front where he doesn't have to listen to everyone else's road noise. Mix that motivation with Arakita, who keeps complaining about everything in front of him, and wants to go past it so he can stop muttering, and these two may just whip themselves into becoming the fastest leadout men in the front of the bunch. I hope their aces can keep up with them.
Pepsi, no Coke!
"Pepsi not satisfying you anymore? Coke just not tasting right? How about trying something new? What's that? Pocari Sweat. With Ions. The drink of choice for Hakone Academy's cycling club captain Fukutomi. It quenches his thirst. How about yours?"Actually, I'm amazed the Pocari brand hasn't been altered like the others. Calorie Mate survived one episode with an accurate logo. Did Pocari give an endorsement, or is this just more carelessness like Toudou's back and forth between Ridley and Redkey?
Hmm.
Alright, 3.5 kilometers got turned into a 24 minute show, thanks to Arakita the Mad Mutterer's flashback. We'll see how much they stretch 500 meters in the next episode. Normally, that would be about 45 seconds, but we'll probably have a lot of explaining how Midousuji got into position to attack both Kinjou and Fukutomi from behind.I liked how Fukutomi's advice to Arakita on how to handle a road bike, "Face forward, A road bike doesn't move forward if you face down," is actually good advice for our former pitcher with the broken elbow. Which is also good for the Mad Mutterer, because when he faces down, he just keeps complaining about the same thing, but if he faces forward, he'll find new things to complain about. It's not even really complaining at that point anymore, more like growling running commentary. Face forward, Arakita, and keep muttering!
Cycling porn.
We've got more bike brands, pedaling action, pedal scraping, shoes, and intense leaning.
Arakita is still riding Fukutomi's old Bianchi. We haven't seen a closeup of Imaizumi's Scott in quite a while. Kinjou's Trek detailing complements Imazumi's Scott. Fukutomi rocks the Shimano shoes. And there's no way a moped can outcorner a road bike. We also see Arakita scraping his pedals on his lean. In the flashback, we saw how much he liked leaning his moped over, so much that he would scrape is knees, but on a road bike, he can get way down there. Everyone in the anime seems to be using Look style Shimano pedals, which I was told, when I bought my Speedplays, that they have less clearance on cornering, meaning I can lean further over and take turns faster. At the time, I just liked the idea of clicking into pedals from both sides, and never having to worry about the pedal being right side up before I step on top of it. Look style pedals are supposed to be weighted so the top always ends up at the top, but I always see my buddies kicking those pedals anyway. As to the increased lean, my bike handling skills aren't great enough for me test out that clearance. I'll take my turns as confidently as I can, thank you very much.
Well you know what the Velominati say about cornering confidence right? :P I never gave much thought to the issue of clearance, surely stuff like BB height, crankarm length must play a bigger role? I view pedals mainly as a fit variable: stuff like float, adjustability, (lack of) stack height are the most important things IMO, and there Speedplays beat Shimano hands down, no question about that really.
ReplyDeleteI still use SPD-SL though, because a pair of Speedplay cleats costs almost as much as two pair of last-year, on clearance entry-levels Shimano (it does help that their entry-levels are truly 105s with understated looks). Yeah I'm a cheap-ass.
Anyway, thanks for the write-up, I should have checked these posts of yours more often while I was doing my catching up, you obviously put a lot of thought into them and as a result they offer good insights, oftentimes I find them more interesting than the actual episodes! :)
I appreciate the compliments! I love my Speedplays, although I'm on my second pair. It's the cleats that wear out so quick on the one foot you put down for stops and starts. Of course, they don't sell individual cleats, so I have a back log of right cleats.
DeleteThe Rule about cornering is so true. I took a bad spill down Glendora Mountain Road when a truck coming up spooked me on blind curve as I was trying to keep on the yellow line. Locked my back tire and took a tumble. Rode 30 miles home with a cracked helmet and a separated shoulder. Took me a good 6 years to get my confidence back up.
Oh almost forgot: the spring loaded clamp is in the back of SPD-SL pedals while the front is a simple arc that engages the front of the cleat - so yes, they always point up unless the bearings are shot.
ReplyDeleteYou can't just stomp down like you would with speedplays and SPD, and attempts to use them that way will always yield mixed results. The best IMO is to bring the shoe forward toward the pedal while keeping the foot horizontal or slightly heel down, some call this 'fishing' the pedal; it sounds more complicated on paper than it is in reality, it's really nothing practice can't take care of.
Ouch, that must have hurt! Why not call someone ?
ReplyDeleteRight cleats? That makes me curious - I always put my right foot down, only unclipping the left one for longer stops. Now my dominant arm and leg are right, but I think the habit was formed when riding as a kid, i.e. a great many years before I actually even thought about buying my first pair of clipless pedals. With the sidewalk on the right and traffic on the left, it seemed like an obvious choice :)
The crash was really early in the morning, my legs weren't hurt, and the bike wasn't broken, so I shrugged my good shoulder and went downhill. I learned my lesson about those blind curves though.
DeleteAs for the left foot being my push-off foot, I don't know why I picked that one. I learned how to ride a bike really late, only 10 years ago. The bike I have now is the first one I ever bought. But my legs were always switching their dominance. I kick with my right, but hop on my left, and when I did the long jump in gym class it was the left foot I used to jump too, so that one felt like it had the most balance. And I'm right-handed too, so I dunno. It felt the most natural to use my left foot to push off when I learned how to ride on a friend's mountain bike.
So you were not trying to pull off a Magni trick? :)
ReplyDeleteI almost soiled my pants once coming down from a presa on the Montello (it was likely my first or second time there): the road was decently steep and I was pedaling because you know, speed!!!, long story short I'm descending at an average of 55-60 kph and the road is twisting, up comes this wide right hander with full visibility, but I'm pretty close to the centerline, actually too close, a truck's coming up and suddenly I spot a narrow stream of water all the way through, on an otherwise sunny and dry day.
I slide my eyes back to the white truck and think, ok my time's come... at the apex, the tires crosses over the water, and time slows down... I think there's some kind of slight vibration coming from the front, or maybe I imagined it, but then it's past the rivulet, breathing resumes and time picks up again: I had just lived another day to keep bombing down hills!