Several months ago I joined the OGGI Cycling Club (which is located between Azamino あざみ野 and Eda 江田 after being invited out by one of the employees Masa-kun. OGGI is an excellent shop which has a great selection of road bikes at reasonable prices. They gave me an excellent deal on some new wheels for my bike and even serviced them for free after I rode them for a while. Now despite my limited Japanese ability, during the Sunday morning rides I have been able to make some friends and really have a great time going out with the cycling club. There are typically between 10 to 25 cyclists and we ride to Yokohama and go to Tully’s for a snack, then ride around the bay area, but we also change it up and go to the Tama Hills area for some good hill climbing exercise. One of the people I usually ride with is 70 years old man who is an amazing rider. Two days ago we rode from Azamino on an 82 kilometer ride at a pace above 30km/hr for most of the way. It was quite a hot day and a pretty challenging ride. It certainly felt like I was with someone 20-30 years younger! Overall I am very happy I joined, I am making some good friends, I have a trusted shop to service/repair my bike, I am practicing my Japanese, I have lost about 5kg, and the best part is: I am meeting local people who are very happy to show me around Yokohama!!! Oh and I should mention that the Sunday club rides are free, so if you enjoy cycling meet us at OGGI Sunday morning at 8am. I am usually there and pretty easy to see since I am the “only western guy”. So stop by and say hello, I’ll do my best to speak Japanese, or better yet, use what ever English you know. After all, I am an english teacher and would be glad to help you out!
Rob
Owner/Teacher (英語の先生／フランチャイズ店のオーナー経営者)
Smith’s English School (スミス英会話 あざみ野校)
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