Tokyo - Kansai
Shorter blog post as i’m typing with one hand. You’ll find out why if you read the whole post.
Distance: 675km
Days riding: 7
Highest Point: 875m
Highest speed (downhill): 58km/h
Highest speed (on flats): 48km/h
Day 1 Tokyo - Hakone
Flat not so interesting ride along route 1. We got a glimpse of Fuji when we hit Odawara and the scenery became more interesting. The uphill climb to Hakone started at about 100km in. Lush forrest but legs felt the pain. Stayed at a cheap onsen hotel about 600m up the mountain. Met a Japanese guy doing the same ride as we were approaching the hotel.
Day 2 Hakone - Shimizu
Finished the remaining 300m in the morning and had a 15km descent in the rain. We couldn’t see Fuji due to the conditions but ventured on. We hit the coast and found a bike path running almost the entire way. Pure bliss, no more rain, ocean, no cars. We stopped in Shimizu and had a great time in the local bars. Very friendly people.
Day 3 Shimizu - Omaezaki
Continued along the coast, sunny weather, through small villages, mountains looming behind. We had a nice uphill climb by the sea, but was hit by wind as we went round a corner. The wind didn’t leave us for another 2 days. Constant headwind, dropped our speeds by about 10km/h. We soldiered on and were taking a short short rest in Omaezaki when Joe’s tire suddenly exploded. We booked into a hotel and fixed the bike in the morning.
Day 4 Omaezaki - Iragosaki
Damn you wind!! We cycled 50km before having lunch in a deadend town around 2pm. We were already fatigued when I looked at the GPS to find we still had 80km to go to our destination. Luckily as soon as we hit Aichi the scenery became a lot more appealing and rolling hills gave us a bit of relief from constant headwind on the flats. We stopped at a local izakaya a few km’s out of town then rolled in to town in pure blackness, bright stars, mountains to the right, ocean to the left and that damn headwind.
Day 5 Iragosaki - Ueno
Crossed over to Toba by ferry, again a nice small village only to find the wind was still there. We stopped off for curry for lunch and were given 3 levels of spiciness to taste test before they would let us eat our level 4 curries. After about 50km going north along the coast we turned inland for the most scenic riding of the trip through Mie. We love you Mie. Hills, farmland, villages, rivers. We had a nice uphill climb and stopped at a local izakaya before continuing on with the downhill. Again such nice hospitality by the woman and daughter who run the izakaya. We stayed in Ueno, home of the ninja, met a company president at dinner who ordered us ‘dancing shrimp’, dancing because it isn’t quite dead yet. He took us to a karaoke ’snack’ bar and paid for the night.
Day 6 Ueno - Osaka
Cycled on through what I think was Nara prefecture, again amazing countryside. Our lunch was a picnic by a river. From there it was about 50km to Osaka. We went over a few hills, then suddenly the huge sprawling city emerged. We had a beer as we rolled into town and found a hotel downtown. Naturally we had takoyaki and booze by the river before going clubbing osaka style.
Day 7 Osaka
Rest! Explored south Osaka on foot and fell in love with the city more and more. Totally different vibe to Tokyo in my opinion. We had more booze, relaxing outside and meeting strangers.
Day 8 Osaka - Kyoto
Rode up to Osaka castle and hung around a bit before the ride into Kyoto. Flat, not very far and after being well rested it was the easiest day on the bike by far. We rode around looking for hotels and it is here I crashed. Wasn’t a particularly bad fall, so continued on for another 10 mins until we got our hotel sorted. Iced up my wrist as I thought it was sprained, walked around Kyoto and ate outside by the small river.
Day 9 Kyoto
Pain in my wrist didn’t stop all night so went to a local clinic, who then sent me on to a hospital. Turned out I broke my wrist. After that ordeal we chilled more on the streets and by the river.
Day 10 Kyoto - Tokyo by shinkansen
2 days in Kyoto and we hadn’t visited one temple, shrine or any other touristy area. I think we both found we loved Kyoto already as it was, but decided to go to Kiyomizu temple as it’d be silly not to see something traditional. After lunch I sent my bags back to Tokyo and we took our bikes home by train. Rinko bags rule.
All up an amazing trip, I haven’t even touched on all the cool people we met along the way. Thanks also to Joe for coming along and making it a blast.
5 Responses to 'Tokyo - Kansai'
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Awesome! Best way to see a country
Rohan 20 May 10 at 6:44 pm
Nice one boys. Sweet trip.
Oli 20 May 10 at 7:30 pm
Mate, sounds (and looks) like an awesome trip! As a Japan virgin, would be really curious your rough budget for the week? Also, are there any guides to cycling routes in Japan you’d recommend?
Dave 26 May 10 at 3:07 pm
budget - between ¥3,000 to ¥6,000 for hotels
¥2,000 for meals and another ¥500 or so for snacks + drinks
way too much ¥¥ on booze
check bikely.com for routes
tim 1 Jun 10 at 8:48 pm
Hi Tim,
This is Tommy from Singapore. Really inspired by your trip
I am looking to do Tokyo to Osaka alone end August and I will be grateful with some advice.
1) Do you get around with a map or a GPS?
2) Which route do I take to get out of Tokyo to Osaka? Which would be the most convenient area to stay in Tokyo for next day ride towards Osaka?
3) Is the route dotted with civilisation/villages, don’t want to get lost in some places
Any other advice will be great. Thanks!
Regards
Tommy
Tommy 6 Jul 10 at 8:12 pm