Biking in Tokyo

I've been to Japan a few times, but this was the first time I decided to rent a bike while there.

The setup

I ended up renting from CycleTrip in Akihabara. Their site was in english, was relatively close, and had a large selection of bikes on their website. Other places that I looked at would deliver the bike to public bike parking near your hotel, but that seemed more complex.

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Reservations can be made on the website, but I decided to wait and to do it in person. My wife (who speaks some Japanese) and I went to CycleTrip to make a reservation the day before I planned to rent. The clerk who helped us spoke english, so the process was straight-forward. I knew I wanted a road bike, but didn't have other specific requirements. I ended up with a carbon fiber Cannondale Synapse, 2x11 with Shimano 105 drivetrain. The bike looked a little beat up which was fine by me - I didn't have to worry as much about scratching it. The rental included only the bike and any add-ons came with an additional cost. I found this a little nickle-and-dime. Lights where included. I also asked for a Garmin mount, which they happened to have and also included for free.

The ride

The following morning I arrived shortly after the shop opened at 9:30. It took about 20 mins to get everything set up, and then I set out.

I created a route the night before using Ride with GPS, 90km up the Arakawa River, across to Tama Lake, and back.

The first section was mostly through residential suburbs, and past Tokyo Skytree. After 7km I got onto the Arakawa River trail, but I only lasted 1.5km - there was a +20mph headwind and I was wearing a loose-fitting windbreaker. I bailed on my original plan, did a 180, and sailed down the trail in the opposite direction toward to bay.

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Once I reached the bay I had a short rest and thought about the rest of my ride. I searched for vegan ramen options and headed to Vegan UZU. It was a short ride, and once in sight I realized I'd been there a few years prior when we went to teamLab Planets (a remarkable light and sound installation).

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After lunch I randomly chose Kawasaki as a destination and headed out. As I got closer to Kawasaki I found a temple - Kawasaki Daishi. This was my turn around point, and after taking a few pics I headed back to CycleTrip. The shop closed at 5:30, and I timed things well arriving just after 5:00. It was a fairly quick check-in process and that was it!

The ride is split into 2 because Garmin is a pita when deviating from a preplanned route.

Takeaways

Biking in Tokyo is different than what I'm used to in many ways. Primarily riding on the left side of the road. I was initially apprehensive about this when headed to Japan. I had visions of ending up on the wrong side of the road, crashing into a vehicle or person. In the end this was a non-issue. It quickly became very natural, to the point where my thinking changed. I would see an upcoming left-hand turn on my Garmin and would mentally process it as a right.

I'm very comfortable biking on the road with traffic in Seattle, but Japan is different. Many roads in Tokyo do have marked bike lanes, but they were bike lanes in name only. It was rare to get 100' clear of parked cars or trucks loading goods in and out. Many people bike on the sidewalk in Tokyo, but that comes with it's own problems: pedestrians. Initially I mainly bikes on the road and then would hop onto the sidewalk when the bike lane was blocked. Until I saw how locals biking on the road then blindly dipping into the next lane when the bike lane was blocked. I swear I never once saw a local look over their shoulder when swerving around a parked car. Cars for the most part are much smaller in Japan than the US, so there's actually a reasonable amount of space between parked cars and cars in the adjacent lane.

The scariest part were scooters (vespas). They would veer between me and cars when I was already trying to squeeze past a parked car. It was hectic.

The demographics of cyclist in Japan are quite different thank in Seattle as well. The majority were probably over 70. The second largest group was moms with young kids. There were also many business people in suits commuting. None wore helmets.

Next time

This was the first time biking in another country like this, and next time I'll do a couple things differently.

• Bring my own bike accessories. The extra cost wasn't a big deal, but I'm all in on QuadLock and the phone mount from CycleTrip wasn't good.
• I also wish I'd brought my cycling jacket. The loose fitting wind breaker I brought was a hinderance with the wind.