10 Second Anime - Long Riders! - Episode 7

Team Fortuna goes on their first ride together in their matching team kits.

Episode 7 - "Team Bonds"

Heh.

When Ami gets motivated, she doesn't waste any time.

Finish the sketch, send the email, get confirmations, place the order. Done. All that was left was all the waiting.

While Ami was waiting, it was a good excuse for cute girls do bike maintenance. Ami gave us the clumsy-moe version of washing a bike.

Ami's Focus bike still doesn't have a name. She talks to it like Ponta-kun, but no name yet.

Pro tip: close the nozzle again before hunting for that kink in the hose.

I don't remember if Ami's little sister's name had been mentioned before, but we heard it loud and clear this week. Emi is her name.

Why did Emi wait outside the house while Ami changed into dry clothes? To watch the bikes?

This is not Aoi's first time seeing Ami get clumsy. All she needed to know was that Ami was washing her bikes and she got soaked. She figured out the rest.

Yes, even cycling maintenance can be expensive!

That whole scene in the bike shop was like a bicycle maintenance public service announcement.

Ah! The big moment has arrived. Team Fortuna Jerseys!

Ami's mom gives good advice. Sometimes you just have to pretend you didn't see anything if you catch your sister doing something weird. Emi accepted that advice, justlikethat.

So, Ami Mama is the tallest, most beautiful one in the house. Good to know.

Yay! First ride in new kit!

Nice blatant connection with that light fixture to the Goddess Fortuna's Wheel of Fortune.

This whole first mid ride meal in team kit would have had more impact if the team name didn't keep disappearing. Maybe we should have had another week long delay...

Saki was on her 4th or 5th plate of curry when the other girls ran into her!

Saki's good fortune name saved her life in that flashback of her spectacular crash.

Like a good cyclist, she was more concerned about the bike than herself.

Good first ride together. Now, let's do an event ride with a metric century!

That Saki girl is crazy! Riding everywhere, sleeping overnight somewhere and then doing it again the next day. Aoi asked the right question: Does she go to class?

Cycling Porn.

This week, we saw cycling product brands Finish Line and Park Tool, a maintenance clinic from the local bike shop-paca, rolling behind a shorty and through tunnels and a cautionary tale about using brakes properly on a steep descent.

I used to break out all that crap to clean my bike. Brushes, a bucket of soapy water, sponges and degreasers. Nowadays, all I need is a can of WD-40, dishwashing detergent for the soapy water and Simple Green for the degreaser. The hose with a nozzle takes care of the rest. The secret is knowing the order in which to apply the chemicals. First, hose the bike down to knock off the big bits of dirt and debris. Second, spray the WD-40 on all the moving metal parts where grit accumulates while avoiding the brake surface on your wheels. Third, spray down the bike again. Then wash every surface with your sponge and soapy water. Rinse the bike. Apply the degreaser to any spots you missed. Rinse again. Air dry. No brushes necessary unless you want to get in deep into your cogs.

Ami isn't going to get much pace line relief riding behind Hinako.

Riding through tunnels is scary because of pupil dilation. When it's bright outside and you enter a tunnel, you don't have a lot of time for your eyes to adjust before you're out the other end. It's always a good idea to call out that a rider is passing through a dark tunnel or underpass on a bike path too.

Does that bib short have a bunny tail on it?

The Alpaca girl gave way too much information about adjusting the rear derailleur. However, she was right about how to apply lube to the chain. Only the roller on the inside of the chain need lube. It makes things quiet and makes the teeth on the cogs and chain rings last way longer by making shifting much smoother too.

One thing Alpaca girl didn't mention about the caliper brake pads is that the grooves in the rubber part tell you how much pad you have left before you need to change them. When the "teeth" disappear or there's no grooves left, it's time to replace the pads.

Yayoi is definitely a gear head. That chain cleaner from Park Tool is certainly popular, but it's much better to get old lube and grit off a chain by using WD-40, rinsing thoroughly and then running the chain through a folded soapy sponge. Rinse again. Air dry. Also, unless you run a bike shop, or it's just your thing, you do not need that big huge toolbox and work stand.

Saki's downhill clinic missed some important nuances for why handling the brake levers in the drops is important. First, you get more leverage from grasping the levers (duh) near their bottoms. They're designed for that kind of grip. The second thing is that cyclists should learn to use their front brakes to modulate their speed while taking curves. It takes practice because it's easy to grip too hard and lock up the front tire. If that happens, you're flying off your bike just the same as if you hit a guardrail. Most people are used to braking mainly with their rear wheels, but the front brake gives you way more control and stopping power. You just need to practice not squeezing as hard as your rear brake. When you get the practice and experience in, you'll start taking winding turns way faster than cars down those mountain roads.