10 Second Anime - Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu - Episode 11

The girls make their way down the coast making new friends and seeing new things.

Episode 11 - "Bicycles Are a Wonder"

Heh.

I wish I understood Japanese a little bit better, because Hiromi's little monologue at the end of the episode sounded like a great poem with its refrain of so many things being "a wonder," mainly because you could also see these things while riding that wondrous machine the bicycle.

Part of riding a long way is encountering the curious, the miraculous, the wondrous, the strange. It sometimes happens when you get lost. It sometimes happens when you get lost on purpose. Obviously, the conveyance bringing these wondrous things to your eyes must be the most wondrous of all. The bicycle. Aw.

Anyway, I was wrong about those ladies being from the swim team in the Preview Card from last week. They were actually employees of an FM radio station and their main girl was the MC at the race. I didn't even recognize her.

You can take Mr. Kuma out of the suit, but you can't take Mr. Kuma out of Sandy's competitive nature! It's too bad she didn't reveal that to Kano the MC.

I keep wondering what Mori-sensei was telling these girls as they rode around. The radio station girls' riding lessons should have been covered a long time ago. Also, Korone should have instructed Hiromi on her position on the bike, otherwise the adjustments to the handlebars and the seat height and setback wouldn't make any sense. Ah well. This show is almost over.

The less said about Unico the flying unicorn, the better.

I got a kick out of how mad Sandy was she got passed and how she wanted to take advantage of a real road bike.

Hiromi got so mad at her speedometer. I do that too, but I know it's because I can't go any faster.

At least the ladies recognized Hiromi. That was a fun coincidence.

How long were they riding with the Radio girls before Sandy and Hiromi noticed the other girls were left behind? Man, talk about living in their own little worlds.

Leave it to Tomoe to follow Mori-Sensei's instructions to "get lost." Oh. Well, we found out that Tomoe doesn't know how to read a map. It's actually a common mistake to make after I looked at that map. Since the Japanese ride on the left side of the road and that one road forked into two, they just veered left. Trying to stay straight may have felt dangerous because they might have had to cross several lanes of traffic.

Riding a ferry with your bike really does feel like an adventure. Yes. They did teleport, Sandy.

I knew at some point in this show they would talk about the hunger knock, bonk, sugar crash. Whatever they want to call it. For me, I know it's coming on when I start feeling a strange ticklish tingling in my elbows. They kept blaming it on not eating breakfast, but that's horseshit. Or unicorn shit... The problem was that they didn't eat at all during the several hours of riding around after lunch. You don't need to eat as much as the pros, but you have to have some calories per hour of exertion.

Kano introduced the other ladies Rinko and Riri. One of my old workplaces formed our own cycling club too.

I don't know why, but Hiromi's little sigh of exhaustion in the bonk meter sequence really made me laugh.

This was done in Long Riders! too, but girls who are used to Japanese sweets, which aren't all that sweet, always have to have that big reaction to how sweet energy gels taste.

Now that everyone was reunited and the radio station ladies went back to Chiba, it was time for the Cycling Club's own adventure.

I keep mentioning this, but what has Mori-sensei been telling these girls during their rides? Maybe she's taking this concept of learning things on their own too literally. The girls' back pockets should be stuffed with bars, gels and extra drink mix. Their saddle bags should have spare inner tubes, tire levers, and tools. There should be a pump strapped to their bike or in their back pocket. Maybe I got spoiled in my own learning experience riding with great guys when I was starting out, but this seems like a poorly written scenario just to put these little scenes of drama in. Whoever got to Natsumi first, probably her parents, did a good enough job.

Getting lost trying to get to somewhere off your route, that's not poorly written. That happens all the time.

The girls should learn from this trip to give the map to Natsumi and take it away from Tomoe.

Natsumi should also learn to keep her gloves on when she changes a flat tire. Some dirt is going to get on the fingers, but at least some parts of your hands will stay clean. Also, learn to wipe your hands on the dark parts of your shorts.

Sad to say, I am now that Cycling Uncle saying hi to pretty young things in hopes they wave back. Also sad to say, and I cannot stress this enough, only one in a thousand girls look like any of the girls riding bikes in this show. Triathlete girls however...

Hiromi's poem really captured the sense of wonder a bicycle ride through gorgeous scenery can evoke. Bicycles are a wonder!

Man, high school girls are so loud when they get excited. I know they were happy to see Mori-sensei again, but turn the volume down.

I'm really curious where Mori-sensei went. Maybe she went to that lighthouse on purpose?

Cycling Porn.

This week, we got lots of peeks at the girls' Anchor, Specialized, Liv, Pinarello and Cannondale. Thankfully, no sparking gear change when Sandy wanted to go for it. The radio ladies all rode Specialized with deep dish wheels in Bianchi green, which would never happen in real life. Bianchi has that color trademarked. Learning how to ride uphill while seated is very important to find a comfortable rhythm so you can recover from the hard exertion of attacking out of the saddle.

Next time, season finale. The title, "The Road Keeps Going," hopefully refers to the cycling club becoming official. Like Principal Grandma was going to turn them down. But most schools have the student council president approving this kind of stuff. I suppose it wasn't that kind of show.

The season's coming to a close, so while I enjoy seeing Sandy coming my way, watching her leave is also a sight to behold. It's a wonder!