10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Glory Line - Episode 2

Naruko surprises Kuroda with his new technique. Sohoku has two aces, but only one can take the line as they fight against Hakone and Midousuji.

Line.02 - "The Two Aces"

Heh.

Let me start off by saying that in professional cycling, any team that lets the road decide the leader has already lost and is only fighting for a podium spot. There has not been a single Grand Tour winner in the last 20 years who hasn't been a team's designated leader before the race started. You've had some surprise winners, but only when a dominant team collapsed in the last week. But any team playing the two leaders card is doomed.

As an aside, there have been teams with designated leaders where another rider tried to usurp a leadership role during the course of the race, Lemond-Hinault and Contador-Armstrong are good examples, but the designated leader still won the overall.

My point is, Teshima made a bad decision to let Naruko and Imaizumi decide among themselves who the leader is. It doesn't matter anyway. We all know that Onoda is going to win this thing. He'll be the surprise winner again, because that's just how these things play out, and the fact is he's THE NATIONAL CHAMPION OF JAPAN. Winners win. Period.

But let's get back to this episode and put aside the real life consequences of not deciding who number 1 and number 2 are. Sohoku rides together and their only goal is getting that yellow jersey across the finish line first. It doesn't matter who's wearing it.

I've always loved the banter between Naruko and Imaizumi. Their barbs are so sharp! Naruko has fans, but they're all dudes! We need to recall how Imaizumi drew a whole bunch of girls to his hill-climb race against Onoda in the first season. Hey, bros like the flash.

Ha! I love how Ashikiba is making that worried sound as Naruko and Imaizumi bicker.

Naruko has a nickname for Kuroda - "Squinty."

Naruko became a climber after Midousuji beat him in a sprint last season. He then became an all-rounder before the training camp. He mentions a "master" telling him to not limit his imagination while trying out new things. Who is that?

I'm still chuckling at this "Armstrong Climb." It was obviously coined before Lance's doping conviction and ban, but it is still a reference to how a sprinter needs upper body strength to handle the front of the bike while standing out of the saddle.

Har. Naruko's hair in that bathtub makes him look like the ace of Kumamoto from that movie.

Naruko's naming sense hasn't changed. "Tip-toe Advance!"

I'll have to see this Flashy Smug Climb for myself. Someone needs to take over that role from Toudou.

Those Naruko bros are calling him "so flashy." Of course!

Kuroda is being hoodwinked. He should ask Izumida if Teshima has ever "hastily" thrown a team together. It's still not a good strategy to have two aces, but at least you can't question Naruko's and Imaizumi's loyalty to the team. They absolutely buried themselves on that last climb last year for Onoda to win.

Kuroda has a switch. He's saving it though.

Haha! Naruko unleashed his Imaizumi impression. In Imaizumi's face!

Oh. There's that feed zone sub plot. Kouga got to "race" the inter-high in his last year and "win."

The point of the feed zone sub plot was to make everybody brag on Kyoto's team doing the same thing they did last year - ignore the Sprint and Mountain points and just attack the finish line. Too bad Teshima was still so out of it from his climbing match up against Manami.

No wonder Midousuji likes Komori. He has no ambitions in the race other than sniffing out muscles and hopefully touching them. Ew.

Hoh. Imaizumi has friends. Onoda and... he stopped himself from calling Naruko a friend. I love it!

And here comes Attack on Midousuji!

The omake took place before the Senior Farewell Race. Izumida may laugh, but Kuroda captured his and Arakita's most recognizable parts - their eyes.

Aw. We're doing variations on the end card instead of new ones each week. I guess we'll have to wait for the Spring season to see a new one.

Cycling Porn.

This week we got to see a lot of Naruko's Pinarello and his Campagnolo components, Kuroda's Kuota, Ashikiba's Willier, Onoda's BMC, and Teshima's Cannondale. Everybody is still wearing SiDi shoes from almost 10 years ago. And they finally did the feed zone hand-off right! Just stand there! Don't do any of this running crap. Too bad it took Sugimoto and Kouga being too tired and out of breath to run to actually do it correctly.

A quick word on Naruko's new pedaling technique. He's correct that power is applied almost exclusively on that first quadrant at the beginning of the downstroke. What he doesn't tell you is that pro cyclists, who really are freaks of nature, have naturally flexible and strong ankles which lets them apply power through the bottom of the pedal stroke and a little bit before the top of the stroke. The only dead zone for a pro is between 3 o'clock and 1 o'clock on the full revolution.

Some pros started using an ovoid crank face to even minimize that, but extensive testing has shown that it's mainly psychological for them to recruit their calf muscles a little bit earlier in the dead zone. Naruko's toe exercises were good neuromuscular training for flexing the calf muscles to press on the pedals before the thigh muscles drive the knee over the pedals. He didn't really need to squeeze the ball between his toes though.