Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)

26th January 2006

Number 26 - My trousers are loose

Recently, my trousers, which always seemed to be tight around my thighs, have somewhere along the line become loose without me noticing it.
The cause is clear.

This winter, from about the middle of December last year, it suddenly got cold. Up until that time, I had been travelling the four stations of the Chuo Line[1] between home and work by bicycle, but as the Director I can't afford to catch a cold, so I changed to catching a train.

Riding a bicycle to work was my only form of exercise, and without that, the muscles on my thighs have completely gone away.

The bicycle I used for riding to work (of course I still have it) was a heavy chromoly frame moutain bike, unusual these days, that I bought 10 years ago. The maker was SCOTT of America. The frame has "Made in China" written on it though...

There were no major hills on the way to work, so the front gear was basically left stuck on outer, and the rear one on top. To reduce the weight, I'd like to get it remodelled as a single speed, but recently I haven't had time to go to Cycle House Ishida, the shop in Mitaka that all the anime people[2] use.

As soon as it gets a little warmer, I want to get straight back to riding to work, but whether I'll have the energy left to do so by then is a bit of a worry.

Translator's Notes

[1]: The Chuo line is one of the main arterial railway lines of Tokyo. It runs from the farthest western suburbs to Shinjuku, one of Tokyo's central areas. Studio Ghibli and the Ghibli Museum are both located along this line at Mitaka.

[2]: That is, people involved in the animation industry.