So I sat down with the hottest lady rider in these
parts for a little heart to heart. Keiko burst onto the scene about
two years ago and was instantly accepted thanks to her positive gung-ho attitude.
As of late she has stepped it up atop the women's class and I think
good things are in store. Through the course of the interview a few
theories regarding the female psyche were confirmed and I even learned a little
Japanese. (Note: Though at first I thought she was "Major Cool" it was
actually Mecha Cool, meaning very cool).
Justin: "Let's start off, tell us your name, age, what class you ride in,
your height, all that stuff." Keiko: "Ohhh, ok my name is Keiko Tomita... and twenty eight years old,
sport women's class... Five four, like 163 cm (laughs) you can't understand.
Weight is 135."
J: What kind of bike are you riding right now? K: Santa Cruz Super 8... I like it. Before I thought it was very
heavy, and I didn't like it, pedal was so hard. But last year I asked
to make weight lighter, so Sean (T) told me he could change wheels and tires.
So he changed and now weight is forty pounds, easy to pedal.
J: Do you have a coach or a mechanic? K: I have Brian.
J: Do you know what foot you ride forward? K: Right I think. (Brian Enters)
J: What kind of music would you listen to before a race? K: No I don't. Just be quiet. Before I usually stretch.
J: Where were you born? K: Japan
J: What's the name of the city? K: Nara
J: How is it different from here, there? K: ...People are always working, there.
J: How did you get started (riding)? K: My boyfriend was doing it, and he was pro there (Japan). So
I went to races with him, at first I didn't like, looks very scary, most people
got injured, and I always saw ambulance at races so I thought it's not my
type of sport. Every time I went to races and I just wanted to do,
and I started and I got bikes. But I didn't practice a lot. Places
I can ride are far from my house. But here we can go twenty minutes
and we can ride, right. But we can't in Japan, good trail three hours
by highway.
J: Is it flatter there or are there more mountains? K: No trails, private, and no one clean up like we do here. We
cut trees, we clean the trails, but most people (there) don't. So usually
we ride trails already made, like for hikers. So it is different then
here.
J: Did you do your first race there? K: 1999
J: How did you like it? K: Scary, scary, downhill race.
J: How does the riding scene here (rides, races,. organization) differ
from Japan? K: Less riding, people want to ride all the time here. There
they don't have time to ride, so when they can ride that is a race... I
have never built trail in Japan.
J: How has you riding improved in the last year? K: Much, Much better, I think. More riding, faster, secret training.
J: Tell us about your secret training. K: A lot of secret training, the (pull up) bar, I do it sometimes when
I am watching videos. And pedal around here on downhill bike.
J: Do you feel more courage now, less fear? K: Yes, less crashes, much much less.
J: What are some of your strengths or weakness (features)? K: I think I'm not good at anything. I'm always scared and especially
I don't like windy wide, tiny and technical is better. I'm getting better
so I feel confidence.
J: Where do you like to ride (locally)? K: I like Slippery Eel. I helped to build that trail so I can
remember, I can ride more then other places, so I like that trail.
J: Do you feel competitive in regards to the boys? K: Yes, I want to go with them, but I can't, right. Irritated.
J: Any girls around here you feel a close rivalry with? K: Jessica (Niles), and I beat Jason (Reiman) he's faster then me but
I am getting closer.
J: Do you do anything special before a race to prepare yourself, your bike,
or your gear? K: Maybe stretch. If I don't stretch I feel nervous, and if I
stretch I feel relaxed. Everybody's different and I stretch.
J: Where and what will you be riding in five years? K: In April I am going back to Japan, so I wanna race there. I
wanna start cross country.
J: Do think it will be easier to win races there? K: Easier, I think there. I am thinking which bike I should bring
to Japan. I wanna try downhill race there, I'm sure I can win there.
J: Where do you see women's downhill in five years, are they getting faster,
closer to the guys? K: Yes, but still I think there is distance from guys because guys are
more strong, and less fear. Guys push themselves more, but women don't
sometimes. But I think every year women getting faster, that is true
I think.
J: Do you remember a moment that was discouraging, a crash or race, where
you thought maybe I don't want to do this anymore? K: No, even though I had crashes during the race I think I had fun always,
so never I felt (discouraged).
J: When you are in the starting gate where do you try to put yourself mentally? K: Don't crash, no crash.
J: Do you repeat that over and over down the hill? K: Jessica she asked me when I start, but before I tried yeah, to remind
myself don't crash. Once race start I forget and just focus.
J: You won the last race how did you feel in your race runs, focused? K: Yes focused. I think difference, at practice run was kinda fast
run and I was nervous a little bit because I didn't know Jessica's time and
I tried to push myself more. Second run was first race, second time
was more smooth down then practice, I thought because I was going slower and
then I felt smooth. But actually I was using less brakes, that's why
smooth.
J: Your final run down the hill was your fastest run of the day, how was
that different from your first run? K: Less brake, smooth, no crashes. Usually I notice people are
standing by trail, encouraging people and taking picture, this time I didn't
see them usually I look at them and after I get nervous and bobble, but this
time I didn't see them, I saw only trail.
J: What about the course (Slippery Eel) was difficult for you? K: High trees, because I have speed so trees made me nervous more
.
J: Was the steepness of the trail a problem? K: First I was nervous there but I watched everybody, guys, go down and
everybody used the brakes. Now I thought everybody didn't use the brakes,
after that I knew I was right, so that place is fine.
Word Association
Lycra - I will not wear
Free-Ride - Very technical Ski Lift - Mecha Cool Budweiser - Hoopa's People
Fitness - I need Clipless - I want to try Missy Giove - Mecha Cool Gripshift - Someday Dirt Jumps - Mecha Cool, I need, I wanna jump
NORBA (series) - I want to race all Straight Edge - NO
Road - Getting fun, having fun on the road. I can ride curbs (Brian
interjects: "She's been riding all over Eureka on the Super 8, riding ledges")...
Mecha fun.
