Text by Shinya Tanaka Photo by Rie Sawada
I said I wasn't gay, but I can fall for someone.
There's nothing wrong with falling for another human being.
This is a story about a person who "is" there.
It's a road I've traveled many times.
A road I'll likely continue to travel.
Heading south on the highway from SFO, through the winding roads,
I arrive at Route 1 once again.
And this scenery always gets my heart racing.
The sea, the sky, and the greenery.
Hunter Cycles
This Route 1, continuing from Northern California,
is a road with spectacular scenery that any cyclist living in Oregon or California will surely travel at least once.
Many American state highways are often marked with "Bike Route" signs,
as seen in the photo above,
so that they can be ridden by bicycles.
Over the ups and downs, many tourers aim for,
is it Monterey far away or Santa Barbara?
Ignoring those people, I aim for the usual mountain road.
That is Bonny Doon Road, which has been the stage for the Tour of California many times.
And I turn the handlebars to the left.
As usual, there is no one there.
No, Woody was there.
But knowing my own selfishness, I just have to quietly do my work
and wait for him to come home.
Taking a photo…
Checking how far I've come…
Guessing what kind of project it is…
Examining it carefully………… I just have to wait for him to come back.
Rick Hunter doesn't say much.
He is the type who determines what is necessary and unnecessary, checks once more,
and only then speaks.
When I think about how much that has influenced me,
it feels like he is a huge presence, proportional to his body.
Yes, he is incredibly big.
And yet, his welding marks are very simple and very beautiful,
and they seem to tell me that he is focused on not doing anything unnecessary.
Yes, the bikes he makes are wonderful.
What is the standard by which people perceive something as good?
I don't know what other people's standards are,
but I fell for him and the things he makes.
Clearly and distinctly.
I thought I liked it.
Seeing it, and getting on it, it hit me hard in the head,
and it became the standard for everything to me, that "this is what a bicycle is,"
and I entrusted the center position of my heart to him.
If you have even a little playfulness that comes from your own will and imagination,
wanting to play with a bicycle like this or use it like this,
his playfulness and desire to let you play
will surely understand you perfectly and give it form.
(Perhaps this is when the meaning of why Hunter and other frame builders
are still needed and continue to make frames today
is beginning to be properly understood.)
And there is nothing difficult about bicycles.
The desire to play, the desire to ride, the desire to make it move forward yourself,
I think it is completely nonsense to say that because you are a beginner or a child,
or because you are a woman or a professional.
Looking at them, I always think that enjoying it is what is truly important.
I will say the good thing about the steel he uses.
It boils down to the fact that it is "easy to work with".
Being able to offer "something made to fit people" at a low price with materials that are easy to work with,
that is the wonderful appeal of steel in my opinion, and I think it is an unchanging fact.
It also unexpectedly leads to being "easy to take responsibility for",
(or easy to repair.)
I think there is also the advantage that "new relationships can be easily built" within that responsibility.
(Cities with many good builders and good cyclists almost always have large and wonderful
bike communities.)
I hope that based on such examples,
our creative thinking will become increasingly refined, and more and more new people will be born.
And surely, the world where new people firmly build a new world for themselves
will be a wonderful one.
Sometimes, that is called culture.
Rick and I have been talking about such boring things all this time.
But that is my main reason for coming here.
Hunter Cycles – Hunter Cycles
( http://www.huntercycles.com/)
Hunter Cycles, made by Rick Hunter, is designed and manufactured based on the experience of a man who has ridden the land of California to his fullest. Without being bound by so-called categories such as genre and vehicle type,
he explores his own and the rider's sensations to create the best product. From the moment you get on a Hunter,
your bicycle life will surely change for the better.
Please see the product samples [Flickr HunterCycles Set below.
