Newbie help!

[jc1762]

Hey Everyone,

I'm currently planning to do a 5-6 week (July-August) bike trip, if possible, across all of Japan.

I'm completely new to tour cycling/biking, but I am in good fitness shape (I exercise 3-6 times a weight - yoga, boxing, weight lifting). I speak and read Japanese. I have also lived in Japan for about 3 years. Money should not be an issue, however I have concerns regarding the bicycle (see below).

Currently, I live and work in Shanghai but plan to fly over for the trip.

I'd like to visit the following cities (This may be adjusted):

- Sapporo
- Tohoku Area (Anywhere)
- Tokyo
- Yokohama
- Nagano/Gunma (Anywhere)
- Shizuoka/Mount Fuji
- Mie, (I'd like to skip Nagoya as I've lived there before) .
- Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji
- Okayama
- Hiroshima
- Fukuoka
- Nagasaki
- Kagoshima
- Okinawa (I plan to sell the bike before)

I have numerous questions, so I'll just number them:

1.) How doable is this trip ? I am in good shape and am aware of the summer heat. I do not plan on camping outdoors.
2) Is 5-6 weeks enough time for this trip? I would like to keep it as relaxed as possible.
3.) What kind of bike is recommended? Are rentals possible? I'm about 194 cm and 95 kilos (6'4.5 about 207 lbs). I need to sell the bike afterwards as I do not plan on keeping it.
4.) What route can I take? Terrain is probably the biggest issue for me. If needed, I can ride the train and use the "seishun 18" ticket.
5.) What basic knowledge do I need to do this trip? ie. How to repair a bike tire, etc.
6.) If you notice, any concerns or problems please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for any and all help,

Jon

[katakanadian]

Sounds like an awesome trip!

If you plan to do the whole Souya- to Sata-misaki thing then I would say 5-6 weeks is too rushed especially if you are new to bike touring. I did almost the whole thing in 2005 in 6 weeks and it felt very rushed. We were trying to fit the schedule of someone who didn't have a lot of time available and then she dropped out after a week because of knee pain due to lack of cycling experience (she was young and reasonably fit too but her only biking experience was 5km to school and back each day). We had a lot of days over 100km and we did virtually no sightseeing, just riding. Using the 18 kippu will help a lot but remember they aren't valid until about July 20th.

Rentals are essentially non-existant for touring in Japan. I've only heard of rentals being available to people on expensive guided tours. You may find it difficult to buy a bike for your size in any store in Japan without special ordering it. You'd have a pretty tough time selling it afterwards as well but I would guess your best bet is to connect with US bases in Okinawa.

Minimal basic bike knowledge would be patching an inner tube, changing a set of brakes (you'll probably need to do that twice), and doing the breakdown for putting your bike into a rinkou when taking the train.

Get a touring bike not a mountain bike or a racing style bike. SPD pedals and bike shoes will increase efficiency but if you aren't used to them you will likely have an accident.

The Japan Sea coast of Touhoku is much flatter but I would recommend doing the Pacific Coast to see the tsunami zone and help rebuilding efforts by patronizing local ryokan/minshuku (and I'd recommend volunteering a few days). Shikoku doesn't appear on your list but I would highly recommend it. I've heard the ferry from Atsumi-hantou to Toba is running again so it's easy to skip Nagoya.

You can see my Touhoku tour journals here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/katakanadian

[jc1762]

Thanks for the insight. All the info is greatly appreciated.

According to your suggestion, I can revise it to about 8-10 weeks. Would that work better?

I'll look into the bike tips you mentioned.

As to a bike, what do you recommend? I used to ride a 27", would that be possible? How about a recumbent tricycle/bicycle?

Secondly, for large sections of the trip, I'll just use the JR if that's the case:

Sapporo
(JR)
Hakodate
(Ferry)
Aomori
(Bike)
Akita
(Bike/JR)
Sendai/Matsushima Bay
(Bike)
Chiba/Ibaraki
(Bike)
Tokyo
(Bike)
Yokohama
(Bike)
Mt. Fuji
(JR)
Biwa Lake
(Bike)
Kyoto
(Bike)
Osaka
(Bike)
Kobe
(Bike)
Himeji

How does that look so far?