The Tatami Galaxy

Cycling Association "Soleil"

In his freshman year, the main character joined a cycling club, Soleil, in the hope of attracting a girlfriend. He finds himself too frail to bike, and quits the club, but refuses to quit cycling, saving up for a better bike to compensate for his weak stature. The bike is stolen and the main character ends up depressed. Akashi, formerly of Soleil, recruits him to pilot the plane she is designing to be entered in the Birdman contest, wherein human-powered one-person planes are launched out over Lake Biwa until they fall. To please Akashi, he trains himself, believing further pedaling ability to be key to victory in the contest.