KCTC
Kochi Cyclist’s Touring Club. About 25 members strong, fifteen or so will show up at the Bike Shop on Sunday mornings to go on long rides through the Kochi countryside.
the Bike Shop
The best and most famous bike shop in Kochi and KCTC HQ. When other bike shops don’t have a part, or a bike, or an answer to a question, they point to THE Bike Shop on Highway 56.
Mr. Bike Shop
Short Japanese man in his late fifties. Rarely clean-shaven, disheveled salt-and-pepper hair, bulbous nose, and dark skin. Enormous calves and thighs. Proprietor of the Bike Shop. Passable English, sometimes surprisingly fitting to the occasion. Earnest, yet sly.
Mrs. Bike Shop
Japanese woman in her mid-fifties, short dark hair, hawk nose, and tan, weathered skin. A professional bicycle racer renowned in Japan once upon a time, now a bike expert and co-owner of the Bike Shop. She is to cycling in Shikoku what Kathy Gregory is to volleyball in Santa Barbara. Great sense of humor and an infectious laugh that borders on being a cackle but for its warmth.
Larry
The fastest biker in KCTC and the unspoken leader of the group, so named for his uncanny resemblance to an American family friend and biker extraordinaire. About 50 years old with short graying hair and a chiseled, square face. He wins races in and out of his age bracket and rides about 150 miles per week.
Pretty Guy
Bank manager by day, Kochi’s most stylish biker by Sunday morning. He’s got a pristine bike and all of the latest clothing and gear - matching, of course. He’s a good-looking guy and has a sharp, clean family with three private school-attending kids.
He hangs back with me quite often, but I suspect that he just doesn’t like being toward the front and exerting himself. Still, he’s quite friendly and, with Mr. Bike Shop, is usually the guy who waits to tell me that the group has turned.
