People Of 2024: Taiki Sakamoto

In my travels and life during the year, I have been blessed to be supported, befriended, and on occasion visited by some pretty awesome folks. Sometimes I visited them. (Hopefully they were equally blessed!) I wanted to take some extra space to recognize and celebrate these people at the end of the year. I hope you gain some insight and appreciation for what these people mean to me this year and beyond. 

Taiki Sakamoto, editor of "Bicycle Club" and I in Emporia Kansas. Image by Otaki-san

Late in 2023 I received a message from Taiki Sakamoto, a Japanese journalist, who wanted to do a story on the history of gravel cycling. He told me then that he was referred to me by Kai Takashita, the woman who had won her category at the very last gravel event I helped promote called the C.O.G. 100. 

Now, I get occasional requests for interviews and opinions from all over concerning gravel cycling, so this wasn't anything unusual with the exception of Sakamoto-san's request that I help write the story. He also wanted to meet me at the Unbound Gravel event, which he had signed up to participate in and write about for his publication's future issue with a section on gravel cycling.

My part of the article appeared in this issue of "Bicycle Club"

This was exciting for me because it was an international publication in the Japanese language. So, I would not know exactly how it would read translated, but I did get an edited copy of my part of the article in English. 

I did a detailed look at the experience which you can read HERE. 

The day I met Sakamoto-san I was so impressed by his  character and with his efforts to be kind and polite to me. It was apparent every second of our encounter. An example of this was shown at the very end of our meeting.

I thought that Sakamoto-san had left and our meeting was over. Mrs. Guitar Ted and I were kind of spending a bit of time goofing off and then she noted that Sakamoto-san was across the street waving furiously at me. Turns out he had forgotten to give me a gift he had intended to give me. He sheepishly requested that I wait a moment as he wanted to run and fetch whatever it was he had intended to gift to me. Off he ran like a rabbit down a trail!

It wasn't long and he returned with a copy of "Bicycle Club" that I could have to see what kind of publication I was going to be contributing to. It was a thoughtful and incredibly kind gesture, and an unnecessary one, but I was duly impressed.  

Meeting Sakamoto-san was a highlight of 2024 and was eye-opening for me because of the interest that Sakamoto-san said there was in Japan for gravel riding and gravel culture, That Sakamoto-san wanted to get the story from me was an honor. I will cherish the opportunity he gave me and the magazines he sent in August of this year with my contribution in them. 

Published in Japan! I never would have thought that would happen.