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From Ueno to the Countryside?

apxltd

Warming-Up
Nov 30, 2016
2
0
I'll be staying in Tokyo for a few months, and I'm bringing my roadbike^_^.

I'll be in the Taito area, and then Minato, but I'd love to get some 100-150km rides through some less-populated rural areas where I can pace at 30-35kmph I feel the countryside isn't thaaaat far out (Narita seems a bit rural, and it's only what, 50km or so?), but I can't quite tell.

Any suggestions for planning various routes to get outside of Tokyo without having to stop every 50m and constantly dodge pedestrians?
 
Welcome.

I'd suggest buying a bike bag and going directly out to the countryside by train. Otherwise you'll be riding through the city (basically).

Aside from that, you are relatively close to the Arakawa (roughly 8 to 10km) so could just ride out to there (where there is a considerable cycling road leading out to the mountains).
 
Thanks! I'll definitely check out Arakawa, I've jogged it a little before.

One thing I was a bit concerned about with the train was the logistics of like, changing in/out of a kit and riding back sweaty. Though, I suppose I can bring a book bag and use a coin locker at a remote station? An onsen would be a nice post-ride thing as well...

Any tips/tricks for country rides like that?
 
Just get in the train in your kit. No one will care.
 
Ueno is a very easy spin to the Arakawa, only around 5K to the closest point. No need to fuss around with bike bags unless you want to get straight to the hills, or for riding out and rinko back. It's also not that hard to get out to the Tonegawa river, which will give you major uninterrupted miles either out towards Chiba or Saitama/Tochigi. Prepare for a potentially very chilly north wind this time of year.
 
I would get used to carrying a rinko as it's only a matter of time before you get carried away and find yourself miles away needing to train home. As @Cory says it's very easy to get from Ueno, Minato etc to the Arakawa and it's a nice ride but I would get dead bored just riding the river and a rinko opens up loads of options.
 
When are you coming?

Bike bag to get you out there and back. Storing things in a coin locker is a good idea, but if the station is fairly rural anyway then it's also pretty easy to hide your things somewhere nearby. No food inside though or the local wildlife might get interested.

For rural areas, Narita is not that interesting. If you are coming in winter further south of Narita in the Chiba peninsula should be mostly rideable and is very pretty. If not in winter, then look west to where the hills and mountains start out past Hachioji.
 
Use a light bike bag and get a train from a station on the Sobu line eg. Koiwa or Kameido or Ryogoku to Goi on the Boso peninsular(¥700-¥900).Do a loop which returns to Goi or get on an historic train from Goi called the Kominato Tetsudo then get off after about 8 stops and loop back to Goi.This is a beautiful train ride and cycle.Another option I've enjoyed after catching the Kominato train is riding to and taking the Kanaya-Kurihama ferry to the Miura peninsular and riding back to Tokyo from there.
 
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