Eight
AUGUST 26, 2006 • IN A SEASIDE TOWN IN KANAGAWA PREFECTURE
18 Til I Die
Right now I’m training for a triathlon. Recently I’ve been focusing on bicycle training, pedaling
hard one or two hours a day down a bicycle path along the seaside at Oiso called the Pacific Oceanside
Bicycle Path, the wind whipping at me from the side. (Belying its wonderful name, the path is narrow
and even cut off at various points, and not easy to ride on.) Thanks to all this perilous training, my
muscles from my thighs to my lower back are tight and strong.
The bike I use in races is the kind with toe straps that let you push down on the pedals and lift.
Doing both increases your speed. In order to keep the motion of your legs smooth, it’s important to
focus on the lifting part, especially when you’re going up a long slope. The problem is, the muscles
you use for lifting those pedals are hardly ever used in daily life, so when I really get into bike
training these muscles inevitably get stiff and exhausted. But if I train on the bike in the morning, I
can run in the evening, even though my leg muscles are stiff. I wouldn’t call this kind of practice fun,
but I’m not complaining. This is exactly what I’ll be facing in the triathlon.
Running and swimming I like to do anyway, even if I’m not training for a race. They’re a natural
part of my daily routine, but bicycling isn’t. One reason I’m reluctant when it comes to bicycling is
that a bike’s a kind of tool. You need a helmet, bike shoes, and all sorts of other accoutrements, and
you have to maintain all the parts and equipment. I’m just not very good at taking care of tools. Plus,
you have to find a safe course where you can pedal as fast as you want. It always seems like too much
of a hassle.
The other factor is fear. To get to a decent bike path I have to ride through town, and the fear I feel
when I weave in and out of traffic on my sports bike with its skinny tires and my bike shoes strapped
tight in the straps is something you can’t understand unless you’ve gone through it. As I’ve gotten
more experienced I’ve gotten used to it, or at least learned how to survive, but there have been many
moments startling enough to put me in a cold sweat.
Even when I’m practicing, whenever I go into a tight curve fast my heart starts pounding. Unless I
keep the right trajectory and lean my body at exactly the correct angle as I go into the curve, I’ll fall
over or crash into a fence. Experientially I’ve had to find the limits I can take my speed to. It’s pretty
scary, too, to be going down a slope at a good clip when the road’s wet from the rain. In a race one
little mistake is all it takes to cause a massive pileup.
I’m basically not a very nimble person and don’t like sports that rely on speed combined with