Miho Museum - a perfect day 最高

Bicycle: 53 km

Train: 150 km

Route: Minami Kusatsu - Miho Museum - Moriyama

Total riding time: 3:35 h

Total ascent: 480 m 

Weather: sunny, but not too hot,  21C

My ride today did bring to a very special place, Miho Museum. I had heard about this museum already quite some time ago, but always only knew that it was hard to reach... which kind of is true. But today I gathered my determination and set out to ride up (!) to it.

And actually it wasn't as hard as I thought, it was a steady climb up, well, with a few a bit more flat patches, but really only between the lower and the upper parking lot at the museum, the road became too steep... so I parked at the lower one.

The museum is superbly integrated in the nature plus has a very selected collection (which I actually didn't see), but more on that later.

Breathtaking view like a paravent from the museum

Entrance way to the museum 

The setting of the museum is unique and in koyo season it must also be spectacular, but today with the hanami it was incredible.

Approach to the museum

The museum in form of a shrine

View from the lobby

The museum itself does not seem to be very large, but actually I only saw about half of it, a special  temporary exhibition about Zen art with the main treasures of Daitokuji temple in Kyoto. One had to stand in a queue for a bit, but I used the time to listen to the audio guide. The exhibition itself was really worth it.

The rest of the museum seems to house selected art works from different ancient cultures, e.g. egyptien, roman... I didn't have time nor strength to see these parts today as well. So I can come back to the museum in the future.

This was now the 4th weekend in a row with Hanami!

• 31/Mar: Kyoto with colleagues and blossoms still nearly closed
• 6 & 7/April: ride to Daigoji
• 13/April: trip to Yoshino
• 20/April: weeping cherries at Miho museum

Kyoto, Yoshino, Daiguji, Miho Museum

Both on the way up as well as the way down, I passed through, what I think is the nicest small village in Japan I have seen so far. Totally un-touristic, actually a totally anonymous village, not too small, not too big, but still in its vast majority it has maintained (and lived in) the traditional houses: Kamitanakami.

And the day finished perfectly in an onsen (super-sento) in Moriyama.

A perfect day!


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Map: 

Along Yodogawa - fastest 40 km ever 淀川沿って走るレコード

Bicycle: 50.6 km

Route: Along Yodogawa and back at exactly 25 km

Total riding time: 2:46 h

Total ascent: 51 m 
Average speed: 18.2 km/h

Weather: sunny later on dark, 16 C

I escaped early from work (but had to attend a TC later tonight) and just wanted to get some movement. So I just cycled up on Yodogawa along the route I found 2 weeks ago which starts very close to my hotel along one river and then links up to Yodogawa cycling route. One long cycling road, only interrupted by those barriers against motorcyclists, which however stop everyone from just riding through.

Weather was perfect and I was energetic riding along up the river at quite some speed. So I decided to turn back at exactly 25 km to get a full 50 km.

What I hadn't considered, that coming back - downstream - might actually be more exhausting than riding up... because of the wind. It was one of those rides that seemed perfectly windstill... well, only when you have the wind in your back. But still thanks to racing up the river and not slowing down too much on the way back, I made my fastest 40 km ever at only 2:08 h (okay, I know, a lot of other people wont be impressed by that, but hey, it was 17 min faster than the previous record (which was only a few days ago. Which in turn only was very slightly faster than one ride I did about a year ago in the Netherlands. 

What was rather surprising is how far I came on the left side of the river towards Kyoto. I had asked the other day some cyclists at the merger of Yodogawa river and Uji river, if there was a cycling lane on both sides of the river, and they told me, no. Only on the right side was there such a cycling lane. But as a matter of fact on the left side there is also one at least until the point where I reached today, which is only about 4 km from the joining of those rivers... And by all that I can see on Strava maps and in 3 D reality this cycling road also should arrive until that confluence. Not sure why they were convinced it wouldn't.

It is true though that the cycling road on the other side of the river especially in the upper part (seen from Kyoto) is easier to ride, as it has way less obstacles. 

Hanami at Kyoto temples - 京都のお寺で花見を

Bicycle: 59 km

Train: 54 km

Route: From Yamashina to Shin-Osaka

Total riding time: 3:49 h

Total ascent: 176 m 
Average speed: 15.6 km/h

Weather: sunny and quite warm, 20 C

I followed through on the decision taken yesterday, to go back to Yamashina and complete the sightseeing of Hanami there and then ride back to Osaka.

This was definitely the better way to address this route. First sightseeing and then riding back. And in retrospect, it was great that I had not arrived yesterday in time at Daigoji temple. The complex is huge and with all the cherry blossoms invites for a lot of pictures. I think I spent probably about 2 h (including lunch) there today.

My day started at Bishamon-do temple, close to Yamashina station. Today it was the turn of their Hanami festival. They didn't only have the obligatory flowers but also various spectacles. When I arrived it was the turn of a group of elderly, very formal ladies playing the shamisen.

And more flowers creating a very nice atmosphere at that temple. 

Yesterday in Google maps, I had seen that there is also an other hanami spot close to Daigoji, Kaijuji:

Google maps functionality is definitely a great invention!

So when I had seen all the flowers at my first temple of the day, I took the same river as yesterday versus Kaijuji. Again a very nice temple with cherry blossoms just at their peak and as this place probably is less known by tourists, also in comparison much emptier... but nice nevertheless (or maybe because of lack of too many tourists).

And then off to the most famous of the 3 temples of the day for cherry blossoms, Daigoji. Garmin had found me a slightly better route than yesterday (without a hill in between). This time there was enough time to buy the ticket and see everything. The temple consists of 3 large areas that are only accessible with a ticket. 2 of them are temple buildings and spots for hanami (and in autumn for koyo), one seems to be a museum only (which I didn't visit as I wanted to ride on and didn't really have such an interest into buddhistic art today.

Gate to the main temple area

The oldest wooden building in Kyoto... but Cherry blossoms take precedence

Cherry blossom petals floating on a pond 

Very romantic. Some areas of the temple were quite crowded, but actually around the temples themselves, there is enough space to enjoy it.

There is even a hike up a hill to the inner temples, which I didn't do, but must be nice at koyo times.

In my Garmin plan of yesterday I had also mapped in Mampukuji in Uji - actually not too far away - but it was shortly after 15:00 when I left Daigoji and I had already seen 3 magnificent temples and not so much time before sunset to get back home in Shin-Osaka, so I left it for an upcoming ride. Actually there are even more things already on my "to-do list" for that region, as there is a reconstructed castle close to Fushimi Inari and the mausoleum of the Meiji emperor.

Very close to this mausoleum I did however one more sightseeing today, by pure chance. I was riding and passed Momoyama-Minamiguchi station, when I saw a strangely shaped building right besides the station, which I had seen before while searching for modern architecture. It is a dental clinic build by Shin Takamatsu, build to resemble a steam engine.

Riding further along, I passed by this Showa era sluice with a very small but nearly interactive museum:

Returning I took the same river combination - Ujigawa and then Yodogawa as yesterday, but today it was in descent. I didn't really notice it yesterday that I was riding up all the time (although it is logical looking at the map), but riding downwards really made a difference. I even got a laurel wreath from Garmin for my fastest 40 km. Which must be completely due to a very fast ride from where Ujigawa joins Yodogawa. When I had arrived at the confluence it was already around 17:00 and from there it is still about 30 km to Shin-Osaka with a sunset coming up at 18:23! While riding to that point I had decided to try to ask some fellow cyclists (well, some race cycle cyclists) if there is a bike lane on the Ibaraki side of the Yodogawa river. At the confluence I found a group of cyclists that were taking a break there, asked and was informed that there is only one cyclelane on the other side (i.e. the same side I rode up yesterday or back in January when riding to Arashiyama). So now it was already a bit after 17:00 and I had 30 km in front of me, or a ride on a Keihan train to downtown Osaka, which was a back-up solution, but not my preferred choice. I didn't really expect to make it to Shin-Osaka when I set off at that junction, but thought that well, there were sufficient train stations not too far from the river, that I could try. The slight, but steady downhill combined with the good cycling lane helped me to speed along at about 27 km/h for 15 km or so:

Every now and then, however one has to stop, step off the bicycle and get through one of those annoying cycling obstacles. But well...

And last, but not least, thanks to Garmin, I finally found a good access road from where I am staying in Shin-Osaka to Yodogawa-river. I had tried in the past, and made it to the river (e.g. yesterday), but the access is a bit complicated. However taking the Kanzaki river was the solution. There is a perfect, small cycling lane along it, that brings me extremely close to temporary-home. Very convenient!

So overall an extremely successful day:

• 3 Hanami spots
• Fastest 40 km so far
• Modern architecture by surprise 
• New cycling lane discovery

Perfect end for this weekend. Next weekend more. 

From Osaka to Daigoji in Kyoto, but... 大阪から京都の醍醐寺へ、が...

Bicycle: 56 km

Train: 54 km

Route: From Shin-Osaka to Daigoji and further to Yamashina

Total riding time: 3:59 h

Total ascent: 190 m 

Weather: sunny and quite warm, but the air still cold, 21 C

Back in Japan, for business as always. 

In February I had stored my faithful brompton under my office desk in Tokyo and yesterday I recovered it from there, rode to Shinagawa station and then with the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, where I will be staying until end April. Today Saturday, thus the first possibility for a ride. 

Originally I had planned to go this weekend to Yoshino to see the cherry blossoms there, but current blossom report has it that the blossoms are just about to open, so clearly to early. While in Kyoto blossoms are at its best (or slightly after best already) ... but last weekend they were still just about opening. So I looked up nice cherry blossom places in Kyoto and Japan Guide suggested, among others, Daigoji. A temple which isn't in the main spots for temples and actually a bit hard to reach (well, for the average tourist), but quite nicely reachable by bicycle. 

However, surprise, surprise, I didn't have an early start. Today's excuse was that I wanted to buy Sumo tickets for Tokyo in May, but although I was ready at precisely 10:00 the web page selling the tickets broke down immediately. When it worked again (a few minutes later) all tickets for the 2 days we have availability were sold out. I even tried in the conbini around the corner... but with the same result. Then shower, breakfast... so finally I didn't start until 11:30. 

The weather was really fine today and I had a great ride along the river connecting Kyoto and Osaka. Specially the part after crossing the bridge became quite nice after a while. It is your typical cycling lane along a heavily regulated river... so don't expect nature in all its splendor, but a good ride. When I came to the bridge towards Arashiyama (where I rode back in January this year), there was a huge Hanami party ongoing between two joining rivers:

I got some Maki-Sushi at a stand, ate it in the shadows of one of the cherry trees looking over the river and onto the mountains around Kyoto. 

Nice rest. And then I continued onwards now along Uji river, which has a reliable and partially not very much used cycling lane attached to it. As so often in Japan. While along Yodogawa river there were no cherry trees (until the Hanami spot above), along Uji river there were long stretches of shimmering trees:

By error I drove a bit too far (not too much), so needed to return to the Daigoji temple. Unfortunately by the time I arrived there it was probably around 16:20. I took my time to park the bicycle (close to another brompton!) and by the time I arrived at the first temple building, I realized that I needed a ticket... by the time I arrived at the ticket booth (50 m away), it was 16:32 and ticket sales had stopped at 16:30 sharp... So no way to get into the temple. But also true that 30 minutes would never have been enough. So - at least today - I could only take a few pictures of cherries and temples:

Still I took my time to walk through the parts of the temple that are generally open and took the pictures I could. I decided however also to return there tomorrow. 

At around 17:00 everything was closing and I recovered my bicycle and rode back down to the Uji river and onwards to Yamashina station, where I had come already last Sunday with some colleagues from Spain and Germany in the pursuit of Kyoto tourism. I considered there for quite some time, if I should park the bicycle there at the station... but finally decided against it, just in case that I do NOT got to Yamashina tomorrow. Probably a stupid, but also the safer decision. 

Wakayama - possible routes

Wakayama prefecture definitely never made it on my short (nor long) list of cycling destinations in Japan due to all those mountains... However I found that Wakayama seems to be very enthusiastic about building a cycling network and has also some (few) easier rides:

http://wave.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/cycling/

... and downloadable strava maps, which is really unique.

There are also some more routes connecting with Nara:

http://nara-cycling.com/map/nara-wakayama/pdf/2015_nara-wakayama-map.pdf

Giant has probably somewhere a rental location, and provides some suggested tours: https://bicyclerental.jp/en/course/

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:

Hatsumode Ride - 2019

Also this year I participated in the traditional Hatsumode ride of the Night Pedal Cruising team in Tokyo. Happy New Year! 

Bicycle: 26 km 
Riding time: 2:23 min
Total ascent: 56 m

Route: Shibuya - Asakusa - Minato

Weather: After sunset, cold but not too cold

As last year and the year before, also this year, I was here for the 3rd Saturday of January, ready for the Hatsumode ride of the Night Pedal Cruising (NPC) team.

We were a relatively small group this year, but still we paid our visits to two shrines, the Toyokawa Inari shrine, where we handed back to the goods the 10 yen piece we got last year, doubled it up with an other 10 yen and then received a new envelop with a shiny new 10 yen piece to be carried around for the rest of this year.

After that visit we continued cruising through Tokyo to the Senso-ji in Asakusa, where was our official end point of the ride.

We paid a visit to that shrine as well, and then went to a bar in Ueno that one of the riders knew. The only condition in that bar was to drink, they had food (and I took soba), but actually the owner was totally fine if one wanted to bring ones own food from the conbini next door. So we got some snacks there as well.

Back towards my temporary home most of us did ride together as many need to go to Roppongi, so it is perfectly under way. 

Before the ride I had gone in the morning from Minato-ku to Shimokitazawa to my good old hairdresser. Always a ritual in Japan. 

On the way I passed by Y-road in Shibuya to get some extra air into my tiers where they detected that some of the spokes in the front wheel were quite loose. I was actually surprised by that, as the bicycle was just for reparation at a brompton dealer in Leiden. How could they have overlooked this? They even changed the tires. So on Sunday before going to Ghibli museum I raced to the brompton shop in Daikanyama, handed over the bicycle and a few hours later, after a nice visit to Ghibli, got it back, now with all spokes fixed. 

Back to Japan - Jan 2019

So, I decided to bring my good old brompton back to Japan, although I am coming here only for a few months every year... 

Bicycle:  0 km 
Taxi: 30 km
Plane: 9342 km
Courier: 75 km
Riding time: 0 min
Total ascent: 0 m

Route: Leiden to Tokyo

Weather: Sunny in Tokyo, cloudy in Leiden

Last time (summer 2018) when I was in Japan especially in Osaka I was missing my bicycle. In Tokyo, there are rental bicycles available at many points in central (and not so central) Tokyo, so it was kind of okay. One can't really ride outside of Tokyo as one cannot bring the bicycle on a train, but at least within Tokyo it is possible. One has to add though that while electric these bicycles are VERY small. In Osaka the same bicycle rental system exists, but - at least currently - with much less rental points, and none close to Shin-Osaka where I would normally stay. So in Osaka I was often thinking in the evening that now for some stress release an excursion in bicycle would be ideal, but that wasn't possible. 

So finally I decided to bring my good, well-travelled brompton back to Japan ... and buy a new one in The Netherlands. 

This is how the new one will look like... just ordered it two days before leaving for Japan so it should be freshly baked when I come back. 

This time I had also two luggages included in my flight ticket (thanks to flying too often with KLM) so I could bring the box with my brompton along for free:

KLM on the phone when I enquired if I could really check in two baggages, said that bicycles needed to be paid extra, but at the airport no one asked for any money, probably because the box is right inside the maximum allowed size and weight isn't a problem with a brompton either. 

So 11 hours later we arrived in Narita, where I handed the box and the big suitcase over to Yamato Kuroneko, for transporting it the last few kilometer to my weekly apartment in the center of Tokyo. The guy at the reception desk of Yamato Kuroneko first said that they would not transport bicycles... but after assuring him that I had transported this very same box already with them to the airport he got convinced. And well, I didn't technically lie. It wasn't the exactly same box, but when I moved from Japan to The Netherlands at end of 2017 I sent such a box to the airport, only that obviously the guy who was tasked in picking it up, didn't ask any questions about the content. So better not to say anything probably. 

Next day in the evening it arrived to my apartment hand delivered and since then is parked outside in the bicycle parking lot of the apartment building (semi illegally as I would need to ask the house administration for a permission, but I figured that there were still so many bicycle parking slots free that probably no one will say anything... and so far so good.