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Help Looking for advise for a bike trip in November

Hendi

Warming-Up
Oct 5, 2017
9
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Hi guys,

This is my first entry in this forum.
My friend and I are planning for a bike trip to Japan this coming November for about a week.
I went to Japan last October but this will be my friend first trip there. None of us speak a single word of Japanese.
We like to cycle about 80-100 kms a day so around 700 kms in 7 days.
It doesn't have to be that long, we can always take it easy and enjoy the scenery and nice food.

We will be flying from Perth Australia and will be taking our bikes.
I believe they are places at most train stations to leave our bike cases.

We were thinking about Hokkaido but it could be a bit too cold.
Could you recommend us an area for a nice ride please?
I've been looking at the Tokyo to Osaka but I wonder if it will be too busy.
I noticed most of the streets in Japan are quite narrow.

We were tossing between New Zealand and Japan. I like the food better in Japan.
We did a Giant Taiwan island tour last year but that was a guided tour.
This time we will do it ourselves. The guided tours seem expensive.

Would really appreciate it if you could give us some suggestions.
Thanks.
 
I'd go South... warmer and the typhoon season should be over by then. Kyoto to Hiroshima??? May as well start and finish in nice places or do a loop. Tokyo to Osaka is a pretty pointless ride except for the possible view of My Fuji...
 
Yeah stay in the mountains. Hokkaido I will be no go then. Tokyo to Osaka could be ok but I would say a loop would probably be better with only 700km on the agenda.
You could ride right out of narita and right back! Leave your bags in storage there.
You will have trouble finding a place to keep your bike cases especially if they are hard cases.
 
13627030_10154876942049918_6908284589040868496_n.jpg


Get in touch with @Adam Cobain who will be able to give you lots of ideas for routes, places to stay etc.

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Hi, and its great you want to ride in Japan. I set up RideJapan to showcase to best that Japan has to offer in terms of cycling tours. We run professional tours to make your cycling easy and have done several bespoke tours for crew from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne. If you are open to a tour contact me at [email protected], if you are doing it solo, Gambatte.
Best.
Adam
 
Hi Adam,

Thanks for the info but we are looking for a cheaper option.
So will be self guided.
 
Hard to give you many options until you post up a few tentative plans. Where are you staying your first and last nights in JPN as they should be able to store your bikes for you. If not riding from the airport or a hotel close by, the case storage might be a little more problematic. Are you planning on riding a 700KM loop or out by bike and back by train? Places at stations to leave your cases? only for about 12 hrs, maybe 24 at max. Taking a train south and back again will basically mean shortening your cycling by a day, possibly more by the time you sort out case storage and stuff. Why not just spend the price of the trains on accommodation? I'd look at doing Boso Peninsular, take the ferry across Tokyo Bay to Yokosuka and then do Izu Peninsular and if the weather is good see how close you can get to Mt Fuji. Scenery should be pretty epic in November. Crazy guy on a bike will be a good resource but I thought you were arriving into Narita. Make a plan and then try for some feedback as you didn't give us a lot to steer you towards. How are your fitness levels? Re: narrow streets, as long as you avoid major arterial roads (high speeds and lots of trucks) you should be fine. AirBNB is a good source for places to stay, read the reviews however. Keep asking questions. Good luck.
 
Our flight will be either to Osaka or Tokyo (or Narita).
The first and last nights we will be staying in a (same) hotel close to a railway.
We can either do a loop or one way and catch a train back as long we can take the bikes with us. I know we can put the bike in a bike bag on the train and stay on the last carriage for storage.

We can ride 100 kms per day comfortably as long it's not over 1,000 meter ascend.
It's not about the distance but also enjoying the scenery.

Time could be running out for us and we might just do a New Zealand since it's a lot easier logistically.
Maybe do Japan next year after I do more research.

I'd look at doing Boso Peninsular, take the ferry across Tokyo Bay to Yokosuka and then do Izu Peninsular and if the weather is good see how close you can get to Mt Fuji. Scenery should be pretty epic in November.
I will look into this.

Thank you.
 
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If you land in Osaka, why not just head over the bridge and do a lap of Shikoku. That is a nice tour. Lots of nice scenery, good seafood, Plenty of accommodation options, especially at that time of year. You could head up some mountains if you want or just stay near the coast. Plenty of business hotels or pensions all over he place.
 
If you land in Osaka, why not just head over the bridge and do a lap of Shikoku. That is a nice tour. Lots of nice scenery, good seafood, Plenty of accommodation options, especially at that time of year. You could head up some mountains if you want or just stay near the coast. Plenty of business hotels or pensions all over he place.
If it were me I'd fly to Osaka and go from there. This should help.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/search.php?searchid=1562205
 
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Hi Kiwisimon,
Thank you for the suggestion.
The link above doesn't work for me. Could I have the search keywords that you used please?

Thank you.
It was Blob's idea.
This screen shot should help. Good info here.
Roadbikereview.com advanced search..
 

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Shikoku sounds good. Another option is to fly into Fukuoka, and to ride from there to Aso, Oguni and Oita. So many choices...
 
Don't get out nearly as much as I'd like nowadays and been ages since I posted but I still manage an annual golden week trip somewhere. Seeing this, I though what I did this spring might suit you. First trip I've done without camping and I found plenty of towns on the way with hotels which I just turned up to with no booking. Starting point is way up in Shimane-ken - you can skip the first day and start from Matsue, ending up in Kyoto five days later. Rural countryside, ocean, mountains, old towns – everything. Would be really nice in Autumn. The garmin tracks are at the bottom:
https://stantopia.wordpress.com/2017/05/14/from-the-land-of-the-gods-izumo-to-kyoto/

You might find some other ideas here as well:
http://www.japancycling.org/v2/
http://kancycling.com/KANcycling/Welcome_to_KANcycling!.html

If you can get hold of them, I recommend the "Touring Mapple", A3 book size, and gives you a good idea of the minor roads available (sometimes not so obvious from google maps), eg.
Amazon product ASIN 4398656383
 
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