Hanamigawa to Narita Yukawa 花見川沿ってのサイクリングロードで成田湯川へ

Bicycle: 45 km

Train: 100 km

Route: From Makuhari to Narita Yugawa

Total riding time: 2:40 h

Total ascent: 122 m 

Weather: sunny, windy at about 9C

Yesterday riding back from the NPC Onsen ride, the rider who accompanied me until Shinbashi, suggested a ride out of Tokyo to Makuhari and then following Hanamigawa to Narita. Although he mentioned that the cycling road ends around Murakami, when I looked it up yesterday night, it seemed that there is a cycling road all along the river straight through to Tone river. And well, at least until the lake Inba-Numa there is a cycling road.

The first stretch along the Hanamigawa was for sure the most scenic one.

A nearly natural river! in Japan!

And many kilometer later, but not as many as would be reasonable to assume, I was in the Netherlands:

At the feet of the windmill there is also a bicycle rental station.

While riding I was thinking from where it would be best to return back to Tokyo... and found a station called Narita Yukawa (成田湯川). Reading湯川 I immediately thought of onsen... and yes, there was actually one quite close to the station. Actually VERY close to the station, only that there is not yet a direct road between the station and the onsen. There are big works in progress though.

Then onsen was your typical supersento, with a large parking lot which was quite full (but the baths were not) and a very small bicycle parking lot (well, it is in the middle of nearly nothing... so I guess they expect that their guests normally come by car). From the rotenburo I had a nice view of the full moon and also a view into the forest nearby, so actually a much better view than from many other onsen.

The cycling road at a certain point becomes a gravel road, but I did ride through it only to find that the cycling road then ends officially...

Which was a bit surprising, as the internet page promised something else. So I checked google maps and there definitely seemed to be a continuation of at least some kind of road along the river. I thus road on (on more gravel) and after actually not that much a new, but differently named cycling road, which clearly must be administered by a different town hall started along a continuation of the river (which also changes name...).

This cycling road was actually of excellent quality. No bollards (like recently in Osaka), well asphalted and used. Even this picture above is not the whole story, the cycling road continue without interruptions towards the last lake from where I then took a deviation on to my onsen of the day. It seems that only the last piece of the cycling road connecting it to Tone river is not yet ready (or at least wasn't when this sign was printed):

The strange form of the ride is obviously due to the bending river:

Chiba - possible routes

Route along Hanamigawa to Narita

A friend from the NPC recommended a ride along the river from Makuhari station towards Narita. He actually rides out from Tokyo all the way along the highway that runs along Tokyo bay and then once in Makuhari takes the river up to Narita. The bicycle road at some point ends, but by then one is in the middle of the countryside and can ride through small backcountry roads to Narita, from where there are obviously frequent trains back to Tokyo.

https://www.city.chiba.jp/toshi/koenryokuchi/kanri/hanamigawasaikurinngukosururu.html

Chiba Rin-Rin

https://www.ringringroad.com/course/

Onsen ride with NPC 温泉ライド

Bicycle: 26 km 
Riding time: 1:40 h
Total ascent: 62 m

Route: Shibuya - Sento in Shinagawa - Shinbashi

Weather: After sunset, cold but not too cold

After already riding in the afternoon hunting for ume, in the evening it was time for the 2019 onsen ride with the Night Pedal Cruising team.

As always we met in Shibuya in front of the United Nations university chatted for a long time and versus 18:00 departed with a small round through Shibuya towards a sento in Shinagawa, which was the goal of our onsen rides already for several of the previous years. The special point about this sento is that it has a rotenburo area. Small, but hey, it's a sento (not a super-sento).

As so often in the ride we are only a few women (mostly 3) and much more men, but still our side of he sento was pretty busy with a lot of local customers as well.

After the nice soak we all went to a really down to earth Chinese restaurant just around the corner, had dinner... then off to a MacDonalds close by to get something sweet before riding all back home, well after mid night.

One of the riders, who needed to go to Ueno, brought me safely back to Shinbashi. He crosses the city every day by bicycle from Ueno to somewhere in Shinagawa and he knew a very good road from Shinagawa to the center, as you can see in the second map below. Straight, but with few traffic (at least at mid night), on a relatively small road, but not too small either. And I even got some good suggestions for a ride on the next day, out by Narita. 

Nice group ride as always. 

Hunting for plums 梅を見に

Bicycle: 30 km

Route: Shinbashi - Shiba Koen - Kameido Tenjin - Shibuya 

Total riding time: 2:22 h

Total ascent: 106 m 

Weather: sunny and some clouds, fresh but not cold, 10C

Weekend... and February... so Ume season (ume = plum), or so I thought. I had seen a bit of Ume flowers already, but thought that it would be a nice topic for a ride through Tokyo. I planned out a route to see actually a number of ume spots, including some around Koishikawa Korakuen, but finally I made it only to two:

• Shiba Koen
• Kameido Tenjin

At both places actual Ume festivals were in marche, but actually not that many ume flowering. Which was a bit surprising as we had seen the first ume back at end of January in Koishikawa Korakuen (just the yellow ume though) and I had thought that by mid February it should be fuller in bloom, but it was still just a bit too early.

But before heading out to see any ume, I tried to find a a bicycle parking lot for my poor brompton while I am not in Japan. I tried in one very close to Shinbashi, which is an automatic subterraneous parking lot, but the attending guards told me that my wheels were too small for their system. Then I tried a public bicycle garage at Hamamatsucho, but there is a application period, which only opens for a few days at the end of each month, and I was there too early. So finally I did what I had intended anyway, I just left my brompton with its cover under my desk in Tokyo office before departing back to Europe.

Heading out of the hotel, I had a perfect bicycle lane... but only for a few hundred meters:

The shop on the left, is actually also a brompton shop, so next time I have any brompton incidence, I will go directly there. How convenient!

My first Ume spot was Shiba Koen, a place where I have been often with the friends from NPC (but always at night). A small Ume festival was in full swing, including a tea ceremony organized by the local council (which I did not attend to), but well, more photographers than flowers I would say:

From there I continued along my planned course. I didn't plan it too well, so partially it was along a major street, but that street had on the side walk a bike lane. These aren't very comfortable, as they get invaded by pedestrians, parking bicycles, bus stops etc continuously, but probably still better than riding on the busy road. After a while I decided for smaller slightly less busy roads. And finally arrived at my second destination: Kameido Tenjin shrine, which is known for its Ume flowers (among other flowers blooming in a different period of the year).

Really only one tree was in full bloom, for the others it was still too early. But there was a girl with a monkey to amuse the visitors ...

It was getting late, so I had to drop all other destinations and ride directly to Shibuya to my appointment with the friends from NPC. However I hadn't planned a direct route back from Koto-ku to Shibuya-ku at all... So with the help of google maps and some general understanding of Tokyo I found my way... but as you can see the palace somehow came in the middle and I definitely added some extra km there.

Actually I was quite surprised that this afternoon ride just around Tokyo became a 30 km ride, but here it is: 

Osaka - possible routes

Osaka wasn't on my original list of places to visit during my 2 months trip in 2017. However as I am spending often extended business trips in Osaka I have been researching the region more in detail and found some suggestions.

In and around Osaka

This rental place for more upscale bicycles apart from offering guided cycling tours also puts out the strava data of the rides they offer:  https://globalwheels-japan.com/

• Osaka - Lake Biwa: https://www.strava.com/routes/10347606
• Osaka - Nara: https://www.strava.com/routes/8717732
• Osaka - Minoh: https://www.strava.com/routes/11610963
• Osaka - Kyoto: https://www.strava.com/routes/11287184 
• Hanami cycling road: https://www.strava.com/activities/2090561195
• Other cycling ideas around Osaka: https://globalwheels-japan.com/blogs/resources/one-day-rides-in-and-around-osaka 
• Osaka - Naniwa cycling road: https://www.cyclesports.jp/courseguide/jitenshado/013/index
• Bampaku Kinen Park: https://www.cyclesports.jp/courseguide/jitenshado/007/index#
• This rental place for more upscale bicycles apart from offering guided cycling tours also puts out the strava data of the rides they offer:  https://globalwheels-japan.com/

This bicycle shop (specialized among others in bromptons) seems also to organize monthly cycling events. https://bicitermini.com/xo_event_cat/event/ Although from their webpage it is not really clear to me how much cycling there is compared to the time spent eating. I guess I'll need to go and find out. 

Around Sakai

I haven't really planned any of this out, but when I went to Sakai the other day, I found some information on possible interesting cycling routes around, so this is simply a reminder, where to find those pages.

• Access: Train or bicycle from Osaka 

• Sakai
• See on these web pages:
• http://welcome-to-senshu.jp/cyclingmap/cyclingmap_s.pdf
• http://welcome-to-senshu.jp/cyclingmap/cyclingmap_n.pdf
• Also the bicycle museum in Sakai organizes rides: http://www.bikemuse.jp/event/
• Attractions
• Sakai
• Accomodation
• Sakai or Osaka 

Along Yodogawa 淀川沿ってサイクリングロード

Bicycle: 33.5 km

Route: Up and down along Yodogawa river

Total riding time: 2:28 h

Total ascent: 107 m 

Weather: cold (3C) and grey

I hadn't planned any ride for today and as a result (?) got up quite late today, then lost nearly an hour looking and responding to work emails before finally after a nice strawberry breakfast make it out of my door.

I had thought initially to go somewhere where plums are on flower, and actually they should be in the '70 Expo park in Osaka, but the way until there seemed to be hilly and not so straightforward. So after a while (before departing) I decided to just ride along the river, where I knew a cycling road existed. Simply riding.

Now the way to the Yodogawa from here is a bit complicated, there is no really good entrance, that I have found. The entrance I took went through a major construction site, so coming back I decided to ride a little bit longer along the river but then ended up in a huge road.

Well, the river itself is also not the nicest of places... but it was about riding, which is definitely possible along the cycling roads on both sides of the Yodogawa.

If there wouldn't be those annoying motorcycle stops, it would be even better.

I am really wondering if Japanese car and motorcycle drivers are so eager to infringe the law as to break through barriers everywhere possible. I know that Japanese cyclists are definitely the least law abiding Japanese around (riding on the wrong side of the street, going over red, parking where it is not allowed...), but are car drivers made out of the same stock?

The sign says: Please don't park your bicycle here

During the ride I decided that at around 10 km in, I would look out for a bridge to cross back over the river and ride down the other side. And yes, at about 13 km a bridge came along that looked like it was crossable by bicycle. I pushed my brompton up, but then looked at google maps and thought, why not ride back along Ai kawa, so I let my bicycle down from the bridge again and went to that other river, which seemed to have a small road along nicely put there for bicycle riding... well, Google maps didn't show me all the industry that was also along that river:

So I came back to my more reliable Yodogawa, crossed over the bridge and then road down back towards Osaka.

Today I was riding in my new cycling base and jacket and as long as I am on the bicycle and riding, it is nicely warm (it also wasn't very windy today, but cold at about 3 C), but don't stop. But there is a Japanese solution to it, hot drinks from a vending machine:

After all the grey, this colourful, redish image was really welcome, and the Lemon-honey drink was quickly drunk. Before struggling on to find my way back to the apartment. 

To Sakai and it's bicycle museum 堺のCycle Centerへ

Bicycle: 52 km

Route: Shin-Osaka to Sakai and back

Total riding time: 3:55 h

Total ascent: 150 m 

Weather: cold (5C) and cloudy sometimes a bit of sun

When a few months ago on the forum of Japan-guide I asked what to do in Osaka, one of the posters suggested Sakai and mentioned even a bicycle museum. So today was my turn to cycle over from Shin-Osaka to Sakai. 

But as I had suffered from cold on my head during my ride yesterday to Kyoto, I first stopped at a Y-Roads in Osaka and got a cap. But not only, I hadn't had time to buy winter cycling clothes back in the Netherlands, so I did today. It was fine while ON the bicycle, but once arrived in Sakai, I did too much sightseeing and not sufficient cycling and it got REALLY cold. 

When I planned out the ride on Garmin the other night, I only planned in detail the part in Sakai in order to visit as many temples/shrines as possible, but left the Osaka piece essentially to the default. That is never a good decision in cities, because somehow the roads selected are big main roads, not nice to cycle on. But actually there are often parallel small streets that are very nice to ride. It can be a huge contrast. On one hand side a huge, 4, 6 lane road, and just a few meters parallel a small one where a one car can just pass and that is really taken up by cyclists and pedestrians. 

Sakai is a city known for its metal works, which per the official story of the city started over 1500 years ago with the construction of tumuli and then went on to production of knifes and in the 16th century to production of guns. With the invention of the bicycle, the metal production moved to bicycle parts. Per the museum the one and only bicycle company in Japan is Shimano... founded, where else, in Sakai. 

Actually from all the other sights in Sakai, a LOT of temples and shrines, a landscape park, the tumuli, I only visited a small gun blacksmith exposition and a old house.

As so often, I started my day too late and didn't have enough time in Sakai. But well, that means I can go back in April, then the weather should also be warmer and the park greener.

It also seems that the museum organizes bicycle tours: http://www.bikemuse.jp/

As I was feeling so cold, I was tempted to come back by train, but I was also tempted to actually ride a bit more... and my will to ride did win. But wearing my heavy winter jacket on top. This way I made my way back through Osaka, partially on small nice streets, but also again, specially closer to the center on big streets and to an onsen on Kanazaki river. 

Osaka to Kyoto and up to Yoshiminedera 大阪から善峯寺経由で京都へ

Bicycle: 63  km

Train: 40 km 

Route: Shin-Osaka to Arashiyama and up to Yoshiminedera

Total riding time: 4:47 h

Total ascent: 519 m 

Weather: cold (4C) and cloudy at the end in Arashiyama a bit of rain

For this long weekend I had originally planned to go to Matsue and Izumo... but the weather forecast did only get worse and worse over there for the long weekend, so I cancelled my bookings, and rebooked for Golden Week and decided instead to just stay in Osaka and head out from here.

Today was the turn of Yoshiminedera. A temple in Kyoto I would swear that I have never been to. 

But before leaving Osaka, I passed by a bicycle shop and bought a new helmet. Unfortunately they didn't have a cap for below the helmet, so it was sometimes a bit cold at the head, because it was only about 4C today. 

The ride from Osaka to Kyoto is the typical Japanese ride along a river. Nothing spectacular, but a good bicycle highway, wouldn't it be for these really annoying "traps" to avoid motorcyclists (and wheelchair users as a matter of fact) access the off limit path: 

Riding into Kyoto before getting to nice areas, I also had to pass an area that was totally dedicated to cars. Not sure how many bridges, tunnels, roads crossed there within a few hundred meters. 

Riding on, on the course I had planned on Garmin, by total surprise I came through a big shrine complex in Nagaokakyo. 

After visiting the shrine I had lunch in a typical place geared to middle aged women, right at the foot of the shrine. Then I continued my ride towards Yoshiminedera coming through a real bamboo grove. Not a touristic one as in Arashiyama, but a real one, where bamboo are grown in order to be harvested. 

Continuing on to the temple, the road got steeper and steeper (not that I was surprised, Garmin and google maps did tell me as much). And well, at a certain point there wasn't anything else but to push the bicycle up. Sometimes even only pushing the bicycle was hard work. But I made it, and was rewarded by a view over the plain of Kyoto: 

The temple itself is nicely on the mountains and quite large with many different buildings. 

It must be spectacular with the autumn colours, but now, the mountains around were still kind of grayish, as no leaves have yet grow. 

The temple also houses the largest pine tree of Japan, or so they claim. At least it must be the broadest. This picture shows the tree from left to right: 

Obviously well supported, so that all needles point upwards and no branch it as risk of falling. 

After a thorough visit, it was time to head to Arashiyama and my onsen of the day. Last time I went to Arashiyama, I went to a small and tranquil onsen close to Arashiyama station, but this time I had selected an other onsen, Tenzan no yu and it was a good choice. Although the rotenburo area isn't very large (squarmeter wise) it is well used, with 2 different pools, two tubs and water to lye in. All very enjoyable. Also the architecture, specially of the rotenburo area is very nice. It imitates a shrine, with the typical lamps you see at so many shrines and even with this thick cord you see so often between a torii. The onsen seems to be quite popular with foreigners as well, probably because Arashiyama is popular with foreigners. And I can imagine that it could become too crowded. But today was okay.

As I had time I got my Akasuri scrub done. The lady, Korean as always, was very gentle, but still a lot of old skin particles were cleaned away. Then dinner in the onsen. Perfect plan!

After dinner I just had 2 km to Arashiyama station, from where I got a train back to Osaka and then rode to my temporary home from Awaji station. In Kyoto it was raining a bit, not too bad, but not nice. In Osaka luckily it didn't. And the weather forecast for tomorrow looks great: Sunny... but we will see tomorrow.

Here the maps of today's rides: