Good food, rides, beautiful scenery, simple conversation. And the friends who love all of that.
That is, in a nutshell, what our "life" is. But we became so obsessed with it—and so selfishly driven by the desire to share this lifestyle with others—that we spent 2022 exploring ideas for an event.
Once the idea took root, there was no turning back.
Alongside our respective day jobs, Keita-kun from Earlybirds Breakfast and I met frequently, eventually deciding to base the event at VISON in Taki Town, Mie Prefecture, followed by site visits and test runs.
We chose a course that explores the inland area of the Ise region, known as Oku-Ise, where riders can fully enjoy the scenery.
We named the event “WONDER HOPPER.”
The meaning is nice, but it also has a great ring to it. We decided on it together.
WONDER HOPPER is a community event centered on food and cycling.
It’s a day spent enjoying the scenery and local ingredients of the areas we ride through.
Keita-kun produces the food, while I handle the route and the operational structure.
Neither of us does this for a living, and with our different business hours, it was quite a challenge for us to find time to meet.
We were committed to creating a ride course that would be accessible for beginners yet enjoyable for experienced riders.
We aimed for a course profile of about 60km and 900m of elevation gain. Experience told me this was the sweet spot for a broad range of people to enjoy.
It’s a world where skills and speed don't matter, and everyone can purely enjoy the ride. Beginners, those returning to the sport, and seasoned cyclists can all enjoy it together—then talk about the day’s experience over dinner later.
That is exactly the kind of ride event we wanted to bring to life.
Memorable scenery, scents, and textures.
And, a meal prepared by local chefs using local ingredients.
Since you’ve gone all the way to visit a place, you should savor it with all five senses.
To make that possible, we decided to host it as an invitation-only event limited to 25 people.
In reality, it might have been better to open it up to more people, but we wanted to prioritize the intensity of the atmosphere and the depth of the experience.
Because of that, keeping the group size to a number where we could see everyone's faces was essential, and we pushed forward by focusing on the world view we wanted to realize.
We were aiming for a small start, and it was also a desperate measure to achieve the best quality with a minimal staff consisting of Keita-kun and me, along with Yanack, Shige, and Mako-san for rescue and mechanical support.
And so, after inviting people quietly, we held our test event, WONDER HOPPER vol.0, on Wednesday, April 5th.
Witnessing everyone’s amazing smiles and hearing their animated conversations...
I’ll never forget the moment I shook hands with Keita-kun, seeing what we had imagined unfold right before our eyes.
Feeling that it was a success, we headed into Vol. 1.
Despite the positive feedback from before, I still felt nervous before the actual event.
But seeing the participants' faces made me realize that was just the pressure of a host.
The atmosphere of an event isn't created by the staff; it’s created by the guests who participate.
We just had to do the bare minimum and not break the fun vibes everyone brought with them.
There was no need for any extra pressure.
The participants, regardless of their experience level, were all creative people capable of finding their own enjoyment. Once they hopped on their bikes, they were naturally drawn together by the conversations that emerged and the values they shared.
Perhaps, as long as the weather stays clear, WONDER HOPPER is as good as successful.
And there is one other thing we treasure about this event.
It’s that the hosts, too, must have fun.
We, too, hop on our bikes and ride with everyone. We laugh while chatting and share in the struggles and joys of the ride.
And then we all cross the finish line together.
That is our super important job as hosts.
Maybe we even had the most fun of all.
For lunch and dinner this time, we enlisted the Matsukaze Company, which operates Ageki Shokudo and Nord in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture.
Local vegetables, local chefs.
A meal with a deep, earthy flavor that only those who know Mie inside and out could provide.
Thanks to my relationship with Keita-kun, I was moved by the dedication Kouta Matsumoto put into his work. I witnessed the earnestness of a true professional. I am so glad we asked him.
When you have delicious food and great-natured people gathered together, there’s no way it won’t be the best.
As it got darker, the conversations grew deeper.
People who sat next to each other as strangers found their conversations flowing easily.
At twilight, we looked outside and saw a beautiful sunset.
We wanted to share this scenery with everyone.
We were able to use this space thanks to Sachie-san of Honzo Institute RINNNE.
It is no exaggeration to say that WONDER HOPPER only came to be thanks to my chance reunion with Sachie-san last year. Thank you so much for this incredible space.
Beyond Matsumoto-san and Sachie-san, this event relies on the contributions of everyone involved behind the scenes.
Ken-poro, a photographer, former Aliba/Circles staff member, and now a studio owner.
Tsuyoshi Sato-kun, a filmmaker who has become indispensable to Circles’ creative work.
Their photos and movies will be released soon. Thanks to everyone, WONDER HOPPER is complete.
This post was written from my perspective as an organizer, reflecting on my personal motivations, and features mostly my own photos, but I look forward to sharing more about WONDER HOPPER vol.1 through the works of these two in the future.
WONDER HOPPER vol.2
WONDER HOPPER vol.2 is planned for early next year.
We are still in the planning stages, but next time we hope to create a public application process to make it an event that even more people can enjoy.
Please stay tuned.