Please tell us about yourself. What type of child were you?

I liked to play around with machinery when I was a child. Plastic models were very popular at that time. I would race the cars that I made together with friends and build model airplanes, so I was far from being involved in sports during my youth. But I think my love for playing around with machinery led to my current involvement with bicycles. The manufacture of bicycles, especially road bicycles, is very simple. These are machines made with the only intention of pursuing speed. I think that is what is attractive about them.

What got you interested in bicycles?

When I was a child, it was as though bicycles were the only playthings for children. After riding up a high hill, I would naturally ride fast when going down the hill. I would sometimes fall from high places and flip over. Later on I got interested in motorcycles and cars, but the attractiveness of a bicycle is that you are powering it yourself and you can experience the scenery differently. After riding fast downhill on regular bicycles when I was in junior high school, I started riding road bicycles when I was in high school. I started cycling seriously in my second year of university in Kyushu. I created a cycling club there. I would aggressively ask the first year students at my boarding house to join (laughs).

After graduating from university, you joined Shimano Inc. You were the first Japanese person to participate in the “Tour de France,” which will be held for the 100th time this year. Meanwhile, “Mt. Fuji Hill Climb,” one of the biggest hill-climbing competitions in Japan, will be held for the 10th time this year.

I expect that the “Mt. Fuji Hill Climb” will also be held 100 times. It has been getting increasingly popular, and even if you apply now, you won’t be able to enter. I’m very fond of this competition, so I’m hoping that it will continue forever. Meanwhile, the “Tour de France” is in its 100th year. It started in 1903, the same year that the Wright Brothers, who had been running a bicycle shop, started flying airplanes. Ever since that time, the race has had a very difficult course that has included climbing mountains in the Alps and the Pyrenees. The first year the “Tour de France” was held, the race had six sections that went between cities, and each one had a distance of 400 km to 600 km. It was like the “Paris Dakar Rally.” It was a very tough race.

Why did you decide to retire from cycling and establish InterMax in Yamanashi?

My wife is originally from Yamanashi. When I was cycling overseas and realized my body was about to reach its limit, I was wondering what to do and started thinking about opening a shop. I then considered opening an import agency in Yamanashi. I was previously running a training camp in Yamanashi. Road racing involves traveling from one town to another, so I have been to various regions. When I was part of Shimano Racing, I went to various European countries and places in Japan. Even compared to these many different places, Yamanashi has very beautiful scenery, and is attractive because its nature has been preserved. That is why I like Yamanashi and why I came here.

Has your life changed since you came to Yamanashi?

I immediately became busy after starting my company, so I couldn’t even think about riding bicycles. When I was a cyclist, since I was a professional, I of course had to get good results. Then, I started to feel that I wanted to take a break from cycling. I wanted to take it easy. As such, there was a time when I didn’t want to ride bicycles. I started working as hard as possible on my company, but after about a year, I realized that not riding is bad for my body. Then, when I started riding again, it was a lot of fun. It was a process of rediscovery, but it was different from when I was a professional athlete. I am not chasing anyone and I am not being chased, so I can ride freely. This is really enjoyable.

The Taratoge mountain pass in Yamanashi has a steep slope similar to the ones that I would ride on when I was a professional. I sometimes climb this slope and recall my days as a professional. In the spring, there is a famous race in the Flanders region of Belgium in which there are cobblestone pathways. Taratoge enables people to experience something close to this. There is also a course similar to the course in Dolomites, Italy, and a course that has the feel of the European Alps. There are many cycling courses in Yamanashi, ranging from ones in the basin area that beginners can enjoy, to ones that can be used as training slopes by aspiring professionals.

As for Yamanashi’s scenery, I was surprised by the peach blossoms. This type of scenery cannot be created artificially. These flowers bloom for a very short period of time. They gradually start to bloom, and when they are in full bloom, it motivates me to go out for a ride. It makes me happy whenever I can get the timing just right. I also like the Shichiri-iwa Line course, which goes up and down around Katsuyori Takeda’s castle “Shinpu Castle.” It is possible to proceed from there to Nagasaka or Kiyosato. The air has a nice crisp feeling when it is cold, and climbing is pleasant in the springtime. In the summer, it is best to calculate the ideal time to depart, taking into consideration the heat. This course can be enjoyed in different ways in each season.

What do you find attractive about bicycles and hill-climbing?

Bicycles give people freedom. You of course have to obey basic rules, but other than that, you are free to ride how you want. You can ride in a relaxed manner, or you can train seriously as you ride. There is also a sense of freedom emotionally. You cannot slacken your pace when going uphill. You have to continue pedaling. It is tough at first, but as you take on challenges and overcome them, you can feel joy. Riding a bicycle feels like going on a little adventure. As you take rides to various places, these become experiences that make up your life, and these bring you joy.

After taking various trips, completing the “Mt. Fuji Hill Climb,” which rises to an elevation of 1,200 m, might become a major goal for you. Then you are motivated to complete this as fast as possible. Each time you achieve your goal, you get a new one. Improving your time even by a few minutes makes you want to pump your fist in triumph. As you get closer to your goal, you’ll only be able to improve your time by several dozen seconds at a time. Sometimes you fail to get your target time even though you have been working hard for a year. But overcoming these shortcomings is fun. There is no need to get discouraged. You just brush these failures aside. The joy of managing to overcome a failure is different than the joy felt when everything is going well.

What is your advice for people who are starting cycling?

When starting out, a bicycle around 50,000 yen is fine. Even a heavy mountain bike is acceptable. I think the most important thing is being able to ride comfortably. Then, on weekends you should ride on courses that you are somewhat familiar with. It might be tough at first. After riding for a while, you start to gain some confidence. The number of female riders has started to increase in the past five years or so. Women see other women riding road bikes in town, and realize they can also ride. Then after actually riding, they realize how fun it is and form riding groups with other women. This used to be unimaginable.

Pretty much everyone enjoys playing in a reckless manner when they are a child. I think this type of thing decreases when you are an adult. Sometimes famous racing drivers visit us, and they ride their bicycle as fast as they can on the Fruit Line and in the Kofu Basin. They give it their all. They compete against each other and sometimes shout battle cries (laughs). I think the fact that you can do that type of thing even as an adult is what makes this an interesting sport.