I’ll be spending some time in Tokyo and, based on social media, it looks like there is terrific riding outside of the city. I’ve been there and done my loops running around the Palace and seen cyclists getting in their loops in the early morning. For my next trip, I’m thinking about getting some riding in. Any suggestions? The Rapha Clubhouse, where I plan to rent a bike for this trip (later when I’m there for a month plus, I’ll bring a bike), has a group ride that’s above my current (& deeply reduced from too much time off a saddle) power. There are plenty of routes, but if I don’t want to do early morning loops around the Imperial Palace, I’m not sure about midday rides in / near Tokyo. I could take a train out because I can make the time for that, but I’d like to make an informed decision. (No, my Japanese isn’t great, nor good, but it’s not nothing.)
Instead of winging it, I hope I can get some wisdom from this august group.
I’ll start with tagging @OreoCookie who, if I remember correctly, has mentioned living in Japan.
I’ve only done a short tour in Japan (in the Alps region), advise on Tokyo is limited to none but I can share a few ideas on train options (sounds like you might already know about these).
Get into the mountains on the Spacia-X train into Shimo-Imaichi Station (near Nikko) and ride up the steep looking one way road to Lake Chūzenji (this is where my tour finished). Time allowing you can keep going up from the lake to ~1,900m. Did see a lot of road riders out that way.
I’m happy to hear you got to experience riding in Japan. I really miss it (I moved away after 7.5 years that stint, 9.5 years in total)
As you wrote, one of the best things is that you get to ride from close-to sea level to easily 1,600-2,000 m. (In my case the closest proper-proper mountain was above 2,000 m, although the highest you could get was to the ski resort’s parking space at around 1,700 m.)
I was there for work in September last year. I took my bike - I was training for Ironman 70.3 world champs at the time. Tokyo is really tough to ride - so many traffic lights. I don’t see how you could ride around Imperial Palace - I did run around the palace. There is an awesome, wide bike path along the Arakawa river. Here is my 100km ride Log In | Strava . Because I was there for just a week, I did that ride twice.
I was keen to get out of the city, but time didn’t allow for it. The Rides of Japan guy has some links to rides that look awesome just out of the city. Here is one of his routes, you can find his other routes from here Ride with GPS | Bike Route Planner and Cycling Navigation App . You will have to catch a train with a rinko bag to get there.
I want to go back and spend a week riding in the hills!
I’ve been fortunate in getting to bike in amazing places in recent years, Japan is the first place I’ve missed and hope to go back but no plans yet. I think some island hoping around the South with a mix of bike/train/ferry travel is an idea.
From what I’ve seen, including this morning, there are a fair number of cyclists circling the Palace. Groups of riders to solo riders. They begin to disappear by 6:30a, though, so they are (wisely) only there when the traffic is light.
@spinnnout the train options are great. I decided not to ride this trip, but will when I’m back here later this year for a longer stretch (4-6 weeks). I’m ordering a Firemean bag.
