Up the Slope

Disclaimer: Onoda, Sakamichi is a character from Wataru Watanabe's Yowamushi Pedal.

Onoda, Sakamichi had an unhealthily obsession with anime. He was a typical anime nerd, collecting figurines and exclusives, eager to discuss theories with others.  He never thought himself athletic before he joined the cycling club—he didn’t even know that cycling was a sport; however, Onoda was a man who loved riding his bike.

The boy enjoyed the pure pleasure of experience when riding his bike: he enjoyed watching the scenery change and pass, transitioning from cityscape to nature and back, enjoyed the rhythm of pedaling and moving one foot after another, the revolutions therapeutic, even. He never complained about the journey or how long his trip took, not when he had his destination envisioned clearly and perfectly, resting at the forefront of his mind, the image just before his eyes as though it were reality—as though he were already in Akihabara before he even arrived.

Akihabara. The city is known to be a hub for anime and video games. In order to feed his obsession, Onoda makes a trip to Akihabara every weekend when school is in session and every day during summer vacation. Rather than spend 200 yen on bus fare, Onoda preferred to bike 40 kilometers to Akihabara so he would have more money to buy merchandise. Enthusiastic and one-track-minded about anime as he was, Onoda didn’t even consider the fact that he was training his body like an athlete, much less for cycling.

In a twist of fate, Onoda found himself in the cycling club in high school. In fact, he was a climber—just what the club needed for their Inter High team. He was a valuable asset, and he found himself incredibly thrilled by the prospect of riding bikes with friends.

When training and racing formally, Onoda’s inexperience is clear. His riding is sloppy, inefficient—he wobbles around, takes the outermost route on a turn, and has no concept of pacing himself. He shouldn’t have been able to stand a chance against other cyclists, but he barrels right through the obstacles ahead of him. The time he spent riding to and from Akihabara trained his legs and provided him with an outstanding cadence on a road racer. But Onoda’s true strength comes not from his training but rather his sheer love for bicycling, especially with companions to share the journey.

Onoda is all too eager to chase his teammates or rivals. He’s laughed at and underestimated because he lacks efficiency, but as his rival dances to the top of the slope, grinning, head held high, looking down at him, Onoda is hunched over his handlebars—head down, eyes downcast, tension in his shoulders, arms, and hands visibly tense, his posture like that of a man who has been completely devastated and has given up—preparing himself to roar as his adrenaline rush kicks in, allowing him to raise his cadence thirty revolutions per minute, his breathing labored, lungs struggling, gasping for air, only to look up with a grin spreading from ear to ear, fierce determination burning in his eyes, the light in them dancing with pleasure and excitement, making it known to the world that he had been smiling all along.  Onoda, Sakamichi is a man who smiles when he climbs.

Despite a mountain of unfavorable circumstances, whether it’s his lack of experience or a wall of one-hundred people ahead of him, road racing is fun. As long as road racing is fun, Onoda has the ability to push himself to the peak—literally and figuratively—of the mountain and emerge victorious at the top of the world.

 

Works Cited

Watanabe, Wataru. Yowamushi Pedal. Akita Shoten. 2008-2014. Print.