I live in Nagano and this is great advice. There's tarmac everywhere. I ride lots of little roads mostly on 25c on an aluminum bike, a 7kg Canyon that absolutely flies, and manage fine. As RoJ says, the road surfaces are great and the biggest problems are tree debris after storms and the odd landslide. Big tyres are fun to ride and good for all-day comfort, but I think someone coming to central Japan would actually need to be guided to find any significant amount of gravel that could be ridden in a loop. Gravel roads aren't going to be marked on Google Maps. I'd also like to say that if the country roads look deserted in these videos, that's because most of them are deserted most of the time. RoJ is not filming at 6am or cherry picking footage to make it look good. This is what its like.
As someone who rides that Ome and Okutama area every day and Tomin-no-mori sometimes, this video really makes me feel thankful to be where I am and motivates me to explore more and hit more of those climbs! Thank you! (I just hate the tunnels here!)
To avoid all the hassle of Tokyo I recommend riding in Kyushu - it’s great. Hita is my favourite base town - it’s in Oita prefecture and just an hour on the highway bus from Fukuoka airport. Roads and scenery are superb, drivers well behaved and the town has lots of bars and eating places. Route planning there is a little trickier but heatmaps still give you many options as a base. But mostly I just go exploring and I keep finding great roads in every direction. Springtime is beautiful and so is October/November.
John - One of the rides I am planning for this fall (2021) is from Buppu - Yabakei -Yanagaw -Onzen - Nagasaki - Fukuoka. Got any advice for me. Suggested duration, places to stay (Minsuku or Ryokan). I will have a tent / camping equipment, so I can do both. Thanks in advance - Brad
Thanks. I’m going to be there on April 17th 2020 until 31 April. My mate and I are bike packing from Tokyo to Kyoto. We have days at each end to explore and you video is really helpful. Love your channel too.
Jorge Cuenca I used the map for cycling length of Japan. For the accommodation I had to take a bit of a guess while searching on places to stay at the end of each section. It’s Tokyo to Lake Yamanaka, then Lake Yamanaka to Fuji River, Fuji River to Kakegawa, kakegawa to Irago Cape, get the ferry next day then Toba to Kyoto.
Parfootery no sadly we had to cancel. Was really disappointed but there will be another time. I’m having to keep it local in NZ for now. Got a five day ride later in October.
You find some gravel at Tama River both sides. South side of the river from Futako-Tamagawa to the Shinkansen rail. From there, return on the north side and you will find segments of gravel all the way up until Koremasa metro station. All these segments are parallel to the runners - pedestrians - cyclists route. I estimate around 20-30km of gravel, which is not bad. After the typhoon, many of these segments are in bad conditions but still you can enjoy them with a gravel bike. Cheers!
Jaime Villasana Dávila Arakawa has a few gravel roads you can patch together as well... never found them super interesting to ride though. Sounds like Tamagawa is better in that regard. I have few gravel monster climbs in the bank... but I would like find some long flat:ish gravel as well though.
Thanks for sharing RoJ! The last typhoon really kicked butt and there’s a lot of debris and affected roads. Be careful along the Arakawa as some segments are washed away but the rice fields after the bamboo alley (from Tokyo) is now a gravel road due to dried mud. Probably a cyclocross road after the rain. For map routing I also give thumbs up for a mix of google maps & Strava heatmaps. Also google street view & satellite view can help as heat map may sometimes be on a major road through a built up area but there are often perpendicular roads. If an owner of a big bike be sure the bike bag will fit as I struggled to get something to fit my 60cm Emonda for ages.
This might be a little out of the way, and it's also the least densely populated place in Japan, but the Tsurugi Super Forest road (鶴来スパー林道）is an amazing route for those looking for gravel. Whilst some parts of it have been made into proper road, there's still over 65 kilometers of unbroken gravel roads. It's down here in Tokushima. Oh, and you'd better like climbing :)
I believe the road in this commercial is the UFO line on the Kochi side of Shikoku th-cam.com/video/K-jFyohmX8Q/w-d-xo.html It wets my appetite more than those bridges to Shikoku the tourism people keep hyping as the "world's best cycling".
You continue to out do yourself. I wondered how you could fill this video after you started with so many disclaimers. But your video was full of it! Great tips I mean. Love every one of them. Thanks
PS I thought I was the only person on the planet who would check whether roads were open in a Strava segment by looking at whether or not it had been ridden in the last few days. Now I know I am not alone and so probably not insane. I feel better already.
God I miss those roads. Never realized how much I love pavement until I moved elsewhere around the world. Might as well be riding on gravel everywhere else in the world.
Escape Tokyo to the East! The Boso Peninsula (Chiba) right across Tokyo Bay is a great place to ride bikes. Lot of big guy friendly hill (400 meter max elevations), coastal Pacific options, and even lower peninsula ferry connection to Yokosuka and back into the Kanto (Tokyo) plain area. Very quite, scenic, nice road riding.
Haha, "Tsuukou kinshi!" That drone sequence was superdope, JTB oughtta be buying that off you!! Might have commented this on one of your videos before but... man i really gotta get off my ass, buy a damn rinko bag and get on the train into the mountains! I'm always like "fuck that, i'll just ride there" then also "ughhh but it's 70km urban nightmare!" Thanks for all the info!
WOW Brilliant. I lived in Japan 1976 -1980 then 1985-1990 then again 1992-1994.. Cycled and toured all over from tip to tip Hokkaido, to Kagoshima and Kochi too.I even lived a short time in Okinawa . I wish I had the digital maps /Strava, back then. But it seems the country side has not changed that much. Japan has some of the best cycling in the world period. You are very lucky to be there now I will be following your page.. Question is Blue Wheat Bicycle shop still in Yokohama?
Great video as usual - one interesting point I got out of this video too was being able to use the Strava Segment Explorer to check times etc for "this week"/"this month" etc - very helpful.
I know this is an older video and you might not see this comment but I have to ask - you mention getting the train to and from the ride start/finish. I completely get that for heading to the ride start (I live in the UK but I don't have a car myself either) - but surely at the end of a ride you don't want to sit in sweaty dirty bibshorts on a trainseat for an hour to travel back home?? As soon as I finish a ride I'm always headed straight for shower and getting out of bibs right away - the only times I haven't done this i've developed saddle sores! Do you not find this a problem??
Such a helpful video, thank you! I'll be bikepacking from Horishima to Tokyo via Shikoku and have been trying to figure out the best route, but that heat map hint will mean I can just connect all of the best cycling roads along the way!
Hi! Sweet video and thanks for the tip! I'm planning a ride from fukuoka to osaka in spring 2020 and have been try to get OSMs on my Garmin 520 plus. Garmin doesn't sell the maps and even after following the info online (download file, paste in garmin as a "storage"...) to get OSMs on my garmin, it doesn't show up in the routes or navigation on the device. I've read somewhere that I have to actually be in Japan and the device will automatically pull the data. Its too much of a risk for me as I'd rather not get lost. May I find out how you get the maps or verify that the overlay is actually in the device and how I can confirm it without a lap top? Thanks in advance and keep it rubber side down.
Charnho Siew hi, I put a map of Japan in my Garmin, then disabled all the other maps and the Japan map popped right up. I live in Osaka but my Garmin is from the US and for some reason Garmin doesn’t sell maps of Japan. Worse comes or worst, if u load a route into the Garmin it will show up and you can navigate with it, there just won’t be a map. You can use google maps on your phone to double check your location. I also use Ride with GPS and view my location on the route with that. You just need a Japanese SIM card... good luck!
Oh for a good ride, i went from my home in north Tokyo, down to Higashi-Izu via Enoshima and Odawara in a day. (and back in two days, fuggin 170km each way, i was fucked!) It was cool to come out of the urban jungle, through a couple lumps to the beautiful coast, glide along the flats to Odawara (had a nice little chat with a random chappie riding the same way) and enter the mountain roads on the Izu peninsula (my first proper mountain ride, i was singing and giggling to myself like a lunatic). Having your surroundings evolve like that was a nice little wake up call to "shit dude, you should get out here more often!". Especially on the ride home, blissful until you get back into Tokyo and realise "Holy fuck people can't drive for shit round here!"
I will be living in the Osaka area soon. Have been thinking of getting a bicycle there. With all the good roads, even around the mountain villages, a road bike seems like the choice to go with. But I would like to go as high as I can on tires, would like to be able to reach 32mm. Sounds good? It is going to be mostly used for riding through the cities, but also definitely will aim to ride as often as I can outside of them too. I am not going to be driving offroad through the mountains, but hope to be able to take some light gravel roads without being scared of them (for the views and whatever). And as you have said, they are would usually be short too. Just my observations from street viewing on random places.
Most disc brake road bikes can handle pretty wide tires these days, so 32 should not be a problem, but definitely make sure it can take what you plan on using.
Probably an overkill for the daily commute and exploring through the cities, which is what is going to be used the most for, but also maybe because of that I would like to avoid punctures. That said sidewalks are not always the flattest and the nicest. And yeah, definitely disc brakes for that rainy weather.
Why did you recommend a gravel bike with slick tires (heavier, but maybe better gearing?) over a road bike for “optimal” choice for Japan? If I bring a road bike, would you think that 50/34 up front and 11/34 in rear would be adequate for most situations?
Like your vids, was wondering if you used a lot of tie bolts on your bike, and if so where did you buy them. Any help will be deeply appreciated, cheers 🍻
Randy Hale cheers mate! I have extralite ti bolts for the brake rotors (bought from r2-bike.com) On my old Uno stem I got eBay ti bolts to replace the stock ones, but other than that noting.
So first off i want to really thank you for this video - my only regret is that you didnt make it 2.5 years ago when i arrived in Japan :-) Not speaking the language so well, I’ve always been intimidated by taking on riding beyond my usual Arakawa route but your videos have inspired me to look beyond and now this one has made it so much clearer how I can achieve that. So seriously, thanks. Much appreciated. PS looking forward to the Gravel video - been looking for the right justification to buy the Grail 🤪
If you get a chance, try Gifu prefecture. Too many great courses to begin to list them. You can ride hours and hours without traffic lights. Not many convenience stores so you need to take food though!
Absolutely gobsmacked. I assume a climbing bike is better than an aero bike. Also, how much of Japan have you seen? Have you mostly been riding around Tokyo, or have you been around most of Japan? I spent two weeks in Japan with my mum in 2016, mostly in Kyoto, but we also made a stop to explore Ise Shima National Park (without bikes) and I have a feeling that there could be some riding there. Apart from that, have you ever encountered those famous giant hornets? Or any other intreresting critters I may or may not have heard of?
Rasmus Wiman I would say climbing bike, but I’m extremely biased 😜 Aero bike will work fine of course though, it’s all in the head hehe. My main riding area is Saitama, but I’ve ridden most of the connecting prefectures as well. I haven’t ridden anything in west Japan though, but I know it’s just amazing over there.
Oh, giant hornets are around here and there but never particularly aggressive. The land is filled with bugs that’s one of the reasons I prefer a tent over bivy when bike packing.
@@ridesofjapan my first attempt at googling Saitama gave me something very flat, and mostly densely urban. Then I realized that I had to google the prefecture, after that it made sense. October 2016 made it very clear to me that Tokyo is closer to the equator than any part of mainland Europe, sweat was pouring from me all the time despite me never doing anything at above walking pace. Is that kind of weather normal for Japan during late fall? Those hornets seem a lot like our Swedish hornets then. That said, I actually collided with one (it bounced off my shoulder, then landed just above my knee) on a descent this summer, and it made it VERY clear to me that it did NOT like that...
Rasmus Wiman Jag cyklade i kort/kort och 20 graders värme idag :) Det hör till ovanligheterna dock. Har du problem med värmen undvik juli till september. Oktober kan fortfarande vara varm men inte lika fuktigt. Slutet på Mars till början av juni är den bästa tiden enligt mig, tätt följt av Oktober första delen av november.
I lived in Kagoshima (city) for almost 2 years a few years back. It is easy to get out of the city and into excellent cycling, be it coastal or interior.
Mimi Sheean Strava was useless in Japan for a long time... haven’t tried it recently though. RWGPS has been solid since 2012 when I started using it. Switching map sets on the fly is a big deal as well.
Just choose roads where are less tunnels. Some are pretty long - going up and up and have no lights. Had a few times where I needed to duck from my bike into tunnel corner between wall and floor to avoid passing trucks.
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm hoping/plotting to persuade Beautiful Wife to let me take my bike when we visit my in-laws next time. They're in Ise, on the edge of the Shima-Hanto park and there seems to be a lot of possible cycling, maybe even a mini-tour over the mountains from Osaka Airport, we shall see. I'll be riding my usual bike, a light chromoly steel 26" wheel drop handlebar tourer with wide semi-slicks and old style gear levers on the main bar. I appreciate the words "Lightweight" and "steel" don't compute for a carbon rider, but I get on well with the bike and it feels lightweight to me. Of course the fact my other 'main' bike is a 40kg (65 pound) Dutch behemoth with a plywood cargo box may have something to do with this; everything is relative. You'll have realised from the above I'm not really a tech fan, so you won't be surprised I don't want to use a cell phone based navigation system. Is there a map/atlas range that are useful for cyclists?
Korschtal whatever make to enjoy riding to the fullest is the best bike you can have 👌 Sorry I can help you with the paper maps though.... but I know they make touring maps for motorcycle touring, that could be a good place to start.
Touring Mapple was the go when I lived there 15 years ago. Used by bike riders and a good resource for rider houses ( cheap accommodation for two wheeled tourists). www.amazon.com/Touring-Maple-Hokkaido-touring-mapple/dp/4398656332
Great advice. Garmin 530, Garmin IQ, RWGPS is a great combination I have just found thanks to you. Some of the scenic places you ride seem idyllic for cycling and would be compared to some of the best. This is why you get so many questions about it. Thank you again.
Btw shoot me. I built my dream Bianchi infinito and it’s a thing of beauty and engineering excellence. However, my daily driver. What I take on the roads when I cycle the hills ( on the road in the bike lane ) every time I think about going for a spin ?? is my Canyon Strive. A serious fully suspended enduro bike. I have no idea why. Clearly I’m insane and not in possession of my faculties. I’m also clearly doing it all wrong and I should stop now and give up. But I just love my canyon. It’s a 30lb beast. 🤦🏼♂️ yet 🤷🏼♂️. Anyway I’d love to take my canyon all over your lovely local routes 🥰
I agree with Mark Chauvin Bezinque about starting a Japan Cycling company. We would sell your tours! I am actually in contact with Ride Japan and they have some very nice tours.
@@detroitgagt SRAM are for sure more expensive. There's not much bargains in the stores either on the higher end stuff, then you're better of being online if you have the ability to wrench yourself.
I cycled the healthy green road in Saitama when I was in Japan last. When I was mapping I had a lot of trouble with Ride with GPS and Strava. I ended up using Kamoot. Maybe its because I didnt have a premium membership to Ride With GPS.
I won’t... but it it’s so generic and I didn’t really have this channel in mind as it is today when I named it hehe. I kinda like the abbreviated “RoJ” though :)
really good. The onus in Japan is on vehicle drivers to protect other road users, regardless of "right of way". This makes drivers very risk averse. I very rarely feel threatened by drivers.
HGZ drivers are really never out “to get you” but mistakes can be made of course and the roads out in the mountain are narrow so you still need to pay attention. That being said, I never felt threaten by a car out in the country side, just try to give them space and not ride in the middle of the road when they are around.
Another good video with great tips, thanks man! And can definitely recommend Adam @ ride japan, he helped us last year with a bespoke Tokyo-Kyoto bike packing tour int he Fall.. just amazing!
chrikim67 I’m kinda remodeling the bike room to make it easier to record videos. Work in progress though, don’t know where it’s going or when it will be finished 😅
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Takes me back to years ago when I wrote around Kofu, Yamanashi. Keep posting!
The drone videos are beautiful. That was plenty enough to show what the roads are like. I really want to go!!!
I live in Nagano and this is great advice. There's tarmac everywhere. I ride lots of little roads mostly on 25c on an aluminum bike, a 7kg Canyon that absolutely flies, and manage fine. As RoJ says, the road surfaces are great and the biggest problems are tree debris after storms and the odd landslide. Big tyres are fun to ride and good for all-day comfort, but I think someone coming to central Japan would actually need to be guided to find any significant amount of gravel that could be ridden in a loop. Gravel roads aren't going to be marked on Google Maps. I'd also like to say that if the country roads look deserted in these videos, that's because most of them are deserted most of the time. RoJ is not filming at 6am or cherry picking footage to make it look good. This is what its like.
Thank you so much for this video.
Ill be planning a Japan trip from Scotland next year and hope to do some cycling
Tobias, that combination/compilation of drone footage and music was fantastic. Thanks.
Cheers! 🙏
As someone who rides that Ome and Okutama area every day and Tomin-no-mori sometimes, this video really makes me feel thankful to be where I am and motivates me to explore more and hit more of those climbs! Thank you! (I just hate the tunnels here!)
The Okutama tunnels are super fun going down though ;)
th-cam.com/video/bt7J8xzM8ag/w-d-xo.html
Those drones shots looked stunning, glorious scenery.👍
Fantastic job matching the awesomely beautiful video and audio. I probably will never make it to Japan, but thanks for allowing me to be a voyeur.
Excellent video, particularly like the drone footage!
Hello i follow you from Germany. I really like the cycling scenes and the drone few from the beautiful landscape. Please more from that ;-) thx
Excellent tips and excellent areas to ride. When I think of Japan I think of Shibuya crossing......😉....A japan tour is still on my bucket list....
Exactly what a meant by "please more Japan!". Nice! :)
If ever in Japan, I'll get back to this video...
Thanks!
Another excellent video!! Thanks.
Absolutely superb video! Your content just keeps getting better and better.
Living in Japan and someone who is getting into cycling again, this vid was excellent. Ty 😊
To avoid all the hassle of Tokyo I recommend riding in Kyushu - it’s great. Hita is my favourite base town - it’s in Oita prefecture and just an hour on the highway bus from Fukuoka airport. Roads and scenery are superb, drivers well behaved and the town has lots of bars and eating places. Route planning there is a little trickier but heatmaps still give you many options as a base. But mostly I just go exploring and I keep finding great roads in every direction. Springtime is beautiful and so is October/November.
John - One of the rides I am planning for this fall (2021) is from Buppu - Yabakei -Yanagaw -Onzen - Nagasaki - Fukuoka. Got any advice for me. Suggested duration, places to stay (Minsuku or Ryokan). I will have a tent / camping equipment, so I can do both. Thanks in advance - Brad
Many thanks RoJ for this inspiring video!! So, that does it ... Japan it is ;-)!! Thinking about bringing my CX bike and 35mm semi-slicks.
Sounds like a plan 👍
Thanks. I’m going to be there on April 17th 2020 until 31 April. My mate and I are bike packing from Tokyo to Kyoto. We have days at each end to explore and you video is really helpful. Love your channel too.
Andrew Bryan sounds like an awesome trip, Enjoy!
Cheers!
wow! I'm planning something similar too, but the other way around. Have you decided to route already? hostels?
Jorge Cuenca I used the map for cycling length of Japan. For the accommodation I had to take a bit of a guess while searching on places to stay at the end of each section. It’s Tokyo to Lake Yamanaka, then Lake Yamanaka to Fuji River, Fuji River to Kakegawa, kakegawa to Irago Cape, get the ferry next day then Toba to Kyoto.
@@andrewbryan4935 thanks, I will have a look at it.
Parfootery no sadly we had to cancel. Was really disappointed but there will be another time. I’m having to keep it local in NZ for now. Got a five day ride later in October.
You find some gravel at Tama River both sides. South side of the river from Futako-Tamagawa to the Shinkansen rail. From there, return on the north side and you will find segments of gravel all the way up until Koremasa metro station. All these segments are parallel to the runners - pedestrians - cyclists route. I estimate around 20-30km of gravel, which is not bad. After the typhoon, many of these segments are in bad conditions but still you can enjoy them with a gravel bike. Cheers!
Jaime Villasana Dávila Arakawa has a few gravel roads you can patch together as well... never found them super interesting to ride though. Sounds like Tamagawa is better in that regard.
I have few gravel monster climbs in the bank... but I would like find some long flat:ish gravel as well though.
Wonderful landscapes!!!
Thanks for sharing RoJ! The last typhoon really kicked butt and there’s a lot of debris and affected roads.
Be careful along the Arakawa as some segments are washed away but the rice fields after the bamboo alley (from Tokyo) is now a gravel road due to dried mud. Probably a cyclocross road after the rain.
For map routing I also give thumbs up for a mix of google maps & Strava heatmaps. Also google street view & satellite view can help as heat map may sometimes be on a major road through a built up area but there are often perpendicular roads.
If an owner of a big bike be sure the bike bag will fit as I struggled to get something to fit my 60cm Emonda for ages.
thanks RoJ, this video looks made on purpose for me. I'll be back in town after Xmas for a while, obviously I will bring my bike once again
Jorge Cuenca 👍
What beauty places!! Mountain, asphalt, no cars... Around here, all the roads are busy all the time, day and night
Really beautiful place
This might be a little out of the way, and it's also the least densely populated place in Japan, but the Tsurugi Super Forest road (鶴来スパー林道）is an amazing route for those looking for gravel. Whilst some parts of it have been made into proper road, there's still over 65 kilometers of unbroken gravel roads. It's down here in Tokushima. Oh, and you'd better like climbing :)
I believe the road in this commercial is the UFO line on the Kochi side of Shikoku th-cam.com/video/K-jFyohmX8Q/w-d-xo.html It wets my appetite more than those bridges to Shikoku the tourism people keep hyping as the "world's best cycling".
Love ya guy!! Enjoy every production. And I’m a discerning kind of guy!!
Paul M 🙏
This is why I watch your channel! More! More! More!
You continue to out do yourself. I wondered how you could fill this video after you started with so many disclaimers. But your video was full of it! Great tips I mean. Love every one of them. Thanks
Excellent video thanks!
Yay! Such eye candy video, well done, worth the weight! 😉
how heavy was the weight?
@@cleggycyclist "a whole season of weighing stuff and not riding" heavy
PS I thought I was the only person on the planet who would check whether roads were open in a Strava segment by looking at whether or not it had been ridden in the last few days. Now I know I am not alone and so probably not insane. I feel better already.
Looks like road cycling paradise
Beautiful scenery
God I miss those roads. Never realized how much I love pavement until I moved elsewhere around the world. Might as well be riding on gravel everywhere else in the world.
Seriously epic montage! Great video!
Escape Tokyo to the East! The Boso Peninsula (Chiba) right across Tokyo Bay is a great place to ride bikes. Lot of big guy friendly hill (400 meter max elevations), coastal Pacific options, and even lower peninsula ferry connection to Yokosuka and back into the Kanto (Tokyo) plain area. Very quite, scenic, nice road riding.
Agree, very nice place to ride, especially during the winter months.
I prefer the big mountains though ;)
Awesome vid mate. I just moved here and following you has helped heaps. Keep it coming. Thank you.
Looks like it is climbers paradise!
Haha, "Tsuukou kinshi!" That drone sequence was superdope, JTB oughtta be buying that off you!! Might have commented this on one of your videos before but... man i really gotta get off my ass, buy a damn rinko bag and get on the train into the mountains! I'm always like "fuck that, i'll just ride there" then also "ughhh but it's 70km urban nightmare!" Thanks for all the info!
WOW Brilliant. I lived in Japan 1976 -1980 then 1985-1990 then again 1992-1994.. Cycled and toured all over from tip to tip Hokkaido, to Kagoshima and Kochi too.I even lived a short time in Okinawa . I wish I had the digital maps /Strava, back then. But it seems the country side has not changed that much. Japan has some of the best cycling in the world period. You are very lucky to be there now I will be following your page..
Question is Blue Wheat Bicycle shop still in Yokohama?
Cheers mate!
Unfortunately I can't help you on the bike shop as I live up in north Saitama
Holy subscriptions Batman ! Where were you carrying that camera in the opening shots Torvig. 😱 LOL 😂🥰❤️😍
CF O'Sullivan 😬👈
Rides of Japan I knew it !! 😂
Great video as usual - one interesting point I got out of this video too was being able to use the Strava Segment Explorer to check times etc for "this week"/"this month" etc - very helpful.
beautiful country, japan
I know this is an older video and you might not see this comment but I have to ask - you mention getting the train to and from the ride start/finish. I completely get that for heading to the ride start (I live in the UK but I don't have a car myself either) - but surely at the end of a ride you don't want to sit in sweaty dirty bibshorts on a trainseat for an hour to travel back home?? As soon as I finish a ride I'm always headed straight for shower and getting out of bibs right away - the only times I haven't done this i've developed saddle sores! Do you not find this a problem??
Awesome drone footage!
Made me remember I ride for the views.
Hehe, and the clicks. ;)
Thanks for your tips and tricks
Im guessing this time of the year is best? Those roads and those colors!! ❤️
Yeah, October is what you should aim for in the Kanto area
Such a helpful video, thank you! I'll be bikepacking from Horishima to Tokyo via Shikoku and have been trying to figure out the best route, but that heat map hint will mean I can just connect all of the best cycling roads along the way!
jonasbayh awesome mate! Sounds like you have a nice adventure on you hands 👌
Hi! Sweet video and thanks for the tip! I'm planning a ride from fukuoka to osaka in spring 2020 and have been try to get OSMs on my Garmin 520 plus. Garmin doesn't sell the maps and even after following the info online (download file, paste in garmin as a "storage"...) to get OSMs on my garmin, it doesn't show up in the routes or navigation on the device. I've read somewhere that I have to actually be in Japan and the device will automatically pull the data. Its too much of a risk for me as I'd rather not get lost. May I find out how you get the maps or verify that the overlay is actually in the device and how I can confirm it without a lap top? Thanks in advance and keep it rubber side down.
Charnho Siew hi, I put a map of Japan in my Garmin, then disabled all the other maps and the Japan map popped right up. I live in Osaka but my Garmin is from the US and for some reason Garmin doesn’t sell maps of Japan. Worse comes or worst, if u load a route into the Garmin it will show up and you can navigate with it, there just won’t be a map. You can use google maps on your phone to double check your location. I also use Ride with GPS and view my location on the route with that. You just need a Japanese SIM card... good luck!
@@mimisheean6648 Thank you! I'll give that a shot and remove all other maps from the device!
Charnho Siew I used OSM on my old garmin 520... I followed DC Rainmakers how-to guide, but I don’t think you can do it without a PC 🤔
Charnho Siew disabling is enough, no need to remove! 🙂
Oh for a good ride, i went from my home in north Tokyo, down to Higashi-Izu via Enoshima and Odawara in a day. (and back in two days, fuggin 170km each way, i was fucked!) It was cool to come out of the urban jungle, through a couple lumps to the beautiful coast, glide along the flats to Odawara (had a nice little chat with a random chappie riding the same way) and enter the mountain roads on the Izu peninsula (my first proper mountain ride, i was singing and giggling to myself like a lunatic). Having your surroundings evolve like that was a nice little wake up call to "shit dude, you should get out here more often!". Especially on the ride home, blissful until you get back into Tokyo and realise "Holy fuck people can't drive for shit round here!"
Very nice video! Thank you, danke sehr! ありがとうございました!
I will be living in the Osaka area soon. Have been thinking of getting a bicycle there. With all the good roads, even around the mountain villages, a road bike seems like the choice to go with. But I would like to go as high as I can on tires, would like to be able to reach 32mm. Sounds good? It is going to be mostly used for riding through the cities, but also definitely will aim to ride as often as I can outside of them too. I am not going to be driving offroad through the mountains, but hope to be able to take some light gravel roads without being scared of them (for the views and whatever). And as you have said, they are would usually be short too. Just my observations from street viewing on random places.
Most disc brake road bikes can handle pretty wide tires these days, so 32 should not be a problem, but definitely make sure it can take what you plan on using.
Probably an overkill for the daily commute and exploring through the cities, which is what is going to be used the most for, but also maybe because of that I would like to avoid punctures. That said sidewalks are not always the flattest and the nicest.
And yeah, definitely disc brakes for that rainy weather.
Why did you recommend a gravel bike with slick tires (heavier, but maybe better gearing?) over a road bike for “optimal” choice for Japan? If I bring a road bike, would you think that 50/34 up front and 11/34 in rear would be adequate for most situations?
Brillant aerial shops and fantastic colours of the surrounding area.
Hezké video super bike trek hezká příroda 🏔🚵♂️💚💚💚👍👍👍👍
I’m a Japanese and still learn from you. Good job!
Like your vids, was wondering if you used a lot of tie bolts on your bike, and if so where did you buy them. Any help will be deeply appreciated, cheers 🍻
Randy Hale cheers mate!
I have extralite ti bolts for the brake rotors (bought from r2-bike.com)
On my old Uno stem I got eBay ti bolts to replace the stock ones, but other than that noting.
Rides of Japan thank you I will take a look.
So first off i want to really thank you for this video - my only regret is that you didnt make it 2.5 years ago when i arrived in Japan :-)
Not speaking the language so well, I’ve always been intimidated by taking on riding beyond my usual Arakawa route but your videos have inspired me to look beyond and now this one has made it so much clearer how I can achieve that. So seriously, thanks. Much appreciated.
PS looking forward to the Gravel video - been looking for the right justification to buy the Grail 🤪
interesting and very useful
Nice vids!
Do I have to get the subscription for Ride with GPS to create the rout and upload it on my Garmin?
Nope, route creation and file downloads are free, including the RWGPS garmin Connect IQ app 👍
@@ridesofjapan thank you. Very good info! I will figure out the RWGPS garmin connect IQ app.
New subscriber here! I love your cycling caps! Where do you get them?
Erin Nunez voidcycling.com
Cheers!
Yeah, you're gonna have to start a bicycle tour company.
I'll leave that to ridejapan.cc :P
If you get a chance, try Gifu prefecture. Too many great courses to begin to list them. You can ride hours and hours without traffic lights. Not many convenience stores so you need to take food though!
Absolutely gobsmacked. I assume a climbing bike is better than an aero bike. Also, how much of Japan have you seen? Have you mostly been riding around Tokyo, or have you been around most of Japan? I spent two weeks in Japan with my mum in 2016, mostly in Kyoto, but we also made a stop to explore Ise Shima National Park (without bikes) and I have a feeling that there could be some riding there. Apart from that, have you ever encountered those famous giant hornets? Or any other intreresting critters I may or may not have heard of?
Rasmus Wiman I would say climbing bike, but I’m extremely biased 😜
Aero bike will work fine of course though, it’s all in the head hehe.
My main riding area is Saitama, but I’ve ridden most of the connecting prefectures as well. I haven’t ridden anything in west Japan though, but I know it’s just amazing over there.
Oh, giant hornets are around here and there but never particularly aggressive. The land is filled with bugs that’s one of the reasons I prefer a tent over bivy when bike packing.
@@ridesofjapan my first attempt at googling Saitama gave me something very flat, and mostly densely urban. Then I realized that I had to google the prefecture, after that it made sense.
October 2016 made it very clear to me that Tokyo is closer to the equator than any part of mainland Europe, sweat was pouring from me all the time despite me never doing anything at above walking pace. Is that kind of weather normal for Japan during late fall?
Those hornets seem a lot like our Swedish hornets then. That said, I actually collided with one (it bounced off my shoulder, then landed just above my knee) on a descent this summer, and it made it VERY clear to me that it did NOT like that...
Rasmus Wiman Jag cyklade i kort/kort och 20 graders värme idag :)
Det hör till ovanligheterna dock.
Har du problem med värmen undvik juli till september. Oktober kan fortfarande vara varm men inte lika fuktigt.
Slutet på Mars till början av juni är den bästa tiden enligt mig, tätt följt av Oktober första delen av november.
@@ridesofjapan låter som jag skulle prova att åka typ april/maj, det är dessutom då körsbären blommar va?
I lived in Kagoshima (city) for almost 2 years a few years back. It is easy to get out of the city and into excellent cycling, be it coastal or interior.
nice drone shots! Any restrictions for drone flying in japan?
Yep, a lot of no fly zones and such... but no license requirements at least (as far as I know)
3:35 Best cycling b-roll ever made. Are those painted red lines standard on the corners of Japan? Are they slippery?
Rich Cole nope on the contrary, they are extra grippy.
I wouldn’t say that are standard, but you’ll find them here and there.
Cheers!
My brother lives in Japan. One day I'm going to get there with my road bike and cycle around!
I’m curious why you prefer to make the route with RWGPS and not the Strava route creation function...?
Mimi Sheean Strava was useless in Japan for a long time... haven’t tried it recently though.
RWGPS has been solid since 2012 when I started using it. Switching map sets on the fly is a big deal as well.
Rides of Japan Strava has its glitches but works 98% of the time. That 2% can be annoying though! I will give RWPS a try to see the difference.
Lovely video! Out of curiosity, how do I bring a bike on a train in Japan?
I thought I explained it in the video 🤔
brettgo1 ah, sorry got the video mixed up, I explained the train thing in this video: th-cam.com/video/vUMLkrjXT08/w-d-xo.html
Looks so great. Here in Austria we have also hills on mass. Just the problem that i dont realy like climbing because its so hard
MOT0 s you might want to skip Japan on the bike then ;)
Epic! Nice one for sharing!
Would you mind sharing the location where the water dam and the red bridge was shot? So surreal…
Sort the comments by recent and you can find a google map link to the bridge on the comment before yours
Thank you!
Great, I think I asked if you could do a montage of scenery and you have. Awesome but we need more crows.
tewaewae 🦅
Amazing rides 😍
Where's your accent from? Seems familiar
Just choose roads where are less tunnels. Some are pretty long - going up and up and have no lights. Had a few times where I needed to duck from my bike into tunnel corner between wall and floor to avoid passing trucks.
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm hoping/plotting to persuade Beautiful Wife to let me take my bike when we visit my in-laws next time. They're in Ise, on the edge of the Shima-Hanto park and there seems to be a lot of possible cycling, maybe even a mini-tour over the mountains from Osaka Airport, we shall see.
I'll be riding my usual bike, a light chromoly steel 26" wheel drop handlebar tourer with wide semi-slicks and old style gear levers on the main bar. I appreciate the words "Lightweight" and "steel" don't compute for a carbon rider, but I get on well with the bike and it feels lightweight to me. Of course the fact my other 'main' bike is a 40kg (65 pound) Dutch behemoth with a plywood cargo box may have something to do with this; everything is relative.
You'll have realised from the above I'm not really a tech fan, so you won't be surprised I don't want to use a cell phone based navigation system. Is there a map/atlas range that are useful for cyclists?
Korschtal whatever make to enjoy riding to the fullest is the best bike you can have 👌
Sorry I can help you with the paper maps though.... but I know they make touring maps for motorcycle touring, that could be a good place to start.
Touring Mapple was the go when I lived there 15 years ago. Used by bike riders and a good resource for rider houses ( cheap accommodation for two wheeled tourists).
www.amazon.com/Touring-Maple-Hokkaido-touring-mapple/dp/4398656332
Cycling is one of the few good things about living in Japan
Great advice. Garmin 530, Garmin IQ, RWGPS is a great combination I have just found thanks to you.
Some of the scenic places you ride seem idyllic for cycling and would be compared to some of the best. This is why you get so many questions about it.
Thank you again.
por Dios que ermozos lugares para salir a rodar saludos de la cd de mexico
Btw shoot me. I built my dream Bianchi infinito and it’s a thing of beauty and engineering excellence. However, my daily driver. What I take on the roads when I cycle the hills ( on the road in the bike lane ) every time I think about going for a spin ?? is my Canyon Strive. A serious fully suspended enduro bike. I have no idea why. Clearly I’m insane and not in possession of my faculties. I’m also clearly doing it all wrong and I should stop now and give up. But I just love my canyon. It’s a 30lb beast. 🤦🏼♂️ yet 🤷🏼♂️. Anyway I’d love to take my canyon all over your lovely local routes 🥰
How often do you have flat tires?
Once in the last 2 years
I really like your sunglasses. What is the model?
Jamie Turley amzn.to/2PskBNp
I agree with Mark Chauvin Bezinque about starting a Japan Cycling company. We would sell your tours! I am actually in contact with Ride Japan and they have some very nice tours.
Good evening, im a us sailor on my way to Yokosuka, wondering wheres some good shops? Really hoping to learn the way i appreciate your channel
No idea about Yokozuka area, but if you head in to the Tokyo area checkout Above Bike, crown gears, Ys road custom etc
Thanks for the reply do you feel like bike parts are more expensive than the us/Europe?
@@detroitgagt SRAM are for sure more expensive. There's not much bargains in the stores either on the higher end stuff, then you're better of being online if you have the ability to wrench yourself.
Ah ok thanks yes ill stay getting stuff Amazon before i leave, hopefully i can find a cannondale supersix over there ha
Ah ok thanks yes ill stay getting stuff Amazon before i leave, hopefully i can find a cannondale supersix over there ha
China is the same - the government is just too damn good at building nice roads, so no gravel to ride :(
China Cycling 1st world problems 😅
@@ridesofjapan It's just nice to find something China and Japan can agree about. ^_^
😂
I cycled the healthy green road in Saitama when I was in Japan last. When I was mapping I had a lot of trouble with Ride with GPS and Strava. I ended up using Kamoot. Maybe its because I didnt have a premium membership to Ride With GPS.
I’m not using premium either, some times I need to switch between the maps to make it go where I want though.
Whats wrong with ROJ? That name is pretty good. Don't change it!
I won’t... but it it’s so generic and I didn’t really have this channel in mind as it is today when I named it hehe.
I kinda like the abbreviated “RoJ” though :)
How are drivers outside of the city when it comes to cyclists?
really good. The onus in Japan is on vehicle drivers to protect other road users, regardless of "right of way". This makes drivers very risk averse. I very rarely feel threatened by drivers.
HGZ drivers are really never out “to get you” but mistakes can be made of course and the roads out in the mountain are narrow so you still need to pay attention.
That being said, I never felt threaten by a car out in the country side, just try to give them space and not ride in the middle of the road when they are around.
@@ridesofjapan That sounds great and similar to here in NL where road rage incidents (against cyclists specifically) are virtually non-existent
1:33 Sorry, sir. You're high on happy hormones. Busted!
Just wondered where you come from originally?
TamTamster sweden
Ah cool! Have been trying to place your accent. What took you to Japan?
are bears ever an issue?
Have not been for me (10 Years)
Another good video with great tips, thanks man!
And can definitely recommend Adam @ ride japan, he helped us last year with a bespoke Tokyo-Kyoto bike packing tour int he Fall.. just amazing!
Stefano Girolimetto awesome to hear! Adam know his stuff!
what helmet is that?
Chris H Met Trenta
@@ridesofjapan TY! Those are some epic drone shots!! Cant get enough of those!!!
New background, new workshop?
chrikim67 I’m kinda remodeling the bike room to make it easier to record videos. Work in progress though, don’t know where it’s going or when it will be finished 😅
@@ridesofjapan Looks good so far :-D
15min in duration, I was expecting the light version .
Where is your Mavic Mini 🙄
No 4k, no go ;)
Resolution before weight 😱
orci77 I’m a complicated man 😜
hmmmm... I know all the road-scences starting at 3:37. So the question I should ask myself: Do I spend to much time on your channel?
swampymaan haha, sounds like it, but thanks for that 😉
100km of riding - not too long :)
Don’t need to be fast ;)
Hybrid. Just ride n no excuses.