I Love Riding in the City
NAME: Rie Sawada
LOCATION: Nagoya, Japan
OCCUPATION: Sunday Coffee Girl
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
Nagoya has a huge car population. It’s like Japan’s Detroit because it’s home to Toyota. We didn’t have much bike culture, so we created our own (bike and music festival, alleycat races, keirin, cyclocross races) in the past few years. I created the Love Wheels Nagoya calendar to promote our city to people all over the world. I hope many people see our calendar and see that Nagoya is great and a fun place to cycle in.
Why do you love riding the city?
Cycling has made a huge improvement in the quality of my life. The bicycle has helped me to meet inspiring people like my friend Crankee, who had a BBQ grill on the rear of his bike. It inspired me to start my portable bike café!
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
I brought my bike café to the 2010 European Cycling Messenger Championship in Budapest. It took a lot of courage to do it for the first time outside of Japan, but bike people always warmly welcome me and enjoy my coffee.
Or just say whatever you want about riding in the city…
I’ve made so many great friends who enjoy riding and drinking good beer and coffee. Bicycles unite people all over the world!
Check out charriescafe.blogspot.com
