On 29 September, the Third Maebashi Mt. Akagi Hill Climb was held in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture. It’s a grueling 20.8km (12.9mi) bicycle course climbing Mt. Akagi for a vertical difference of 1.3km (0.8mi) from start to finish.
This year 2,811 people participated and the fastest time was set by Kenichi Miyamoto, completing the course in an impressive 56 minutes and 23 seconds. However, the attention of many locals was grabbed by a rider bearing an uncanny resemblance to the virtual songstress Hatsune Miku. So just who was this turquoise-locked ita-bike rider?
Here are a few of the shots taken on the morning of the hill climb:
▼ “Hatsune Miku pushing it at the Akagi Hill Climb.”
▼ “Akagi Miku”
▼ “Lil’ Miku is zooming up the Gunma Prefecture Akagi Hill Climb lololololololol It’s about a quarter of the way through, I hope she’s alright. lolololol”
▼ “Bumped into an Akagi Hill Climb Hatsune Miku waiting at the stoplight!”
Although the exact identity of this rider is unknown, they go by the name Kikumimi Motors and appear to be equal parts bike-geek and Hatsune Miku fan. They’ve participated in a number of bike races and events and use a variety of bikes, however, it appears that their moe-decorated and customized mamachyari (mom bike) is their most-preferred ride.
There was no word on Kikumimi Motors’ blog or Twitter account about their official time for the event, but considering they were on a mom-bike and wearing a huge Hatsune Miku helmet, we’re guessing that speed records were probably not shattered.
Source: My Game News Flash, Mainichi.jp (Japanese)
Kikumimi Motors: Twitter, Yahoo! Blog (Japanese)
Video: YouTube – golgolsan
▼ A video from the Mamachyari Gran Prix 2010 with a someone suspiciously resembling Kikumimi Motors.