I had a hunch before I even left, but the three months I spent based in Portland flew by in the blink of an eye.
The construction site that was still just an empty lot when I first arrived in the US—where the foundation was finally starting to go up—had already risen three stories by the time I headed home, transforming into a residential building with retail space. It’s said that 3,000 people are still moving to this city every month; during weekday rush hours, traffic jams are an everyday occurrence around the freeways leading into and out of downtown. I thought it was crazy when I first arrived, but humans have a way of getting used to things after three months. That’s common in any city.
Perhaps I feel that way even more because Portland is a small city.
I spent three months in this city, getting around every day by bicycle and playing with bicycles as my tool of choice. I even thought that every day was passing in a flash, but I think to myself that it was just that fulfilling. While Portland has a long rainy season, I know how comfortable it is in the summer, when the days are long and the climate is crisp, so there is no doubt that people choose to live here for that reason. If you drive a little ways out of the city, Oregon offers plenty of opportunities to throw yourself into the great outdoors and get moving, and the food, of course, is delicious.
That’s not all. During my stay, I met so many people. And so many people helped me.
In a compact city, you can really make the most of a bicycle; heading out into town on one leads to all sorts of encounters. Everyone I met was so kind and offered me so much information, so despite diving into this alone, I never felt lonely. Though, I must admit I was terrified when I accidentally wandered into a ghetto block while riding alone at night.
It has been six months since SimWorks USA was able to rent office space inside Chris King this spring, and thanks to the support of cyclists all over the U.S., as well as all the wonderful local dealer shops—each with its own distinct character—we are carrying out our daily operations.
Just before returning to Japan, we were also able to exhibit at a handmade bike show held locally in Portland. Unlike larger showcases like NAHBS, this show was closely tied to the local community, which allowed me to speak more directly with local cyclists. Of course, some already knew who we were, but I was able to meet even more people who hadn't heard of us, making it a show that helped me realize we still have a lot of work to do.
Living in the U.S. for three months reaffirmed that what we are doing is not wrong, and I also found new homework to tackle. The road ahead is long, and there is no such thing as being finished. I passed the SimWorks baton to the next runner, Gishi-kun, and returned to Japan, but I’ve been able to face each day since I got back in order to properly shape the image of the future of how we want to grow.
The night before the day before I returned home, Jeremy Dunn of The Athletic and I held a dumpling party, something we had joked about doing since my previous visit to the US, in the form of the GYOZA RUN CLUB. It was a simple affair—serving dumplings after an Ekiden-style running race—but once we decided to do it, we went all out.
With Jeremy at the center, we worked with volunteer friends who gathered to help make the event a success, and looking back, grilling and serving 500 dumplings is a good memory. Seeing them think about what they could do and get actively involved was inspiring even for me as I worked alongside them to accomplish our goal, and new ideas and interesting things happen naturally through that kind of engagement.
Nothing starts if you just wait around. The future can change in any way if you take initiative yourself. That is what I learned firsthand during this trip to the U.S.
Because even with a bicycle, you won't move forward if you don't pedal.
