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My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:05 pm
by CodyW
So I've been back from Japan for about a month and I'm finally getting around to editing/posting some of the photos from the trip. For anyone that follows me on Facebook/Instagram, I already posted a lot of these (along with the writeups) but I figured I'd repeat some of my daily blog-style posts here for anyone else to see.
As a quick lead-in, myself, my girlfriend (Chanel) and 2 other good friends I know from cycling (Jerry and Dennis) had been planning this trip since the beginning of the year and finally made our way over there at the end of September for a two week trip. The plan was to see as much as we could while traveling on bikes (with occasional connections to far away towns via train), carrying everything we had to bring on racks/packs that fit on the bikes. Had to be fairly minimal (esp with film/cameras) so I only traveled with my new Ricoh GRIII point-and-shoot digital (which is what most of these are from), and brought a couple of rolls of film for my super compact Ricoh GR1S 90's point-and shoot as well (plus my iPhone).
The trip had some unexpected turns, mainly my gf injuring her knee pretty badly towards the beginning of a race that would serve as the midpoint of our trip
(Grinduro), so we ended up taking a couple of rest days and renting a car to make up time and catch up with our friends. We still saw the same things and dodged a bad day of rain so it turned out to be alright in the end.
I was also able to fit in one day of car enthusiast fun by renting a RHD Lotus Elise (was the only thing available but still fun) from a really cool spot called
Fun2Drive in the town of Hakone but you'll see more about that later. Other than that, we enjoyed so much fun food, amazing hospitality and even got to catch up with one of my old best friends who's been living in Japan for over a decade.
Overall, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I would 1000% recommend a trip there to anyone. Aside from the car culture which I'm sure most of us here would appreciate, the people, scenery, food and just about everything else make up for an incredible place that's unique from anywhere else I've traveled. I could truly see trying to live there one day if things ever go in a different direction, or at the very least traveling there for even longer next time. Anyhow, enough rambling for now, I'll start my posts below. Enjoy!
More detailed Flickr galleries if you want a deeper dive into any of the following subjects:
Overall Favorites
Film Photos
Automotive
Food/Drink/Restaurants
Accomodations
Fun Signs
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:08 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:13 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:27 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:31 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:33 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:34 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:36 pm
by CodyW
Post 7: October 9
Picking back up on Thursday afternoon - we loaded our bikes on the train in Fujiyoshida and headed back to Tokyo, arriving in the extremely busy Shinjuku station where we re-assembled the bikes and rode away. Made a quick stop at THIS Brewing followed by dinner, then called it a night.
Friday turned into souvenir day which started with a random stop at “Hands”, a store that sold everything from cat food to stationary to toy cars, where we purchased way too many of all of these things (and more). Next was Super Autobacs, a Japanese car accessory shop which I’ve been obsessed with for decades (had the chance to visit their Los Angeles store in 2004 and always wanted to go back). We managed to find a location that not only had car parts, but also a book store, outdoor goods, any automotive-related souvenir one could imagine (and even a Starbucks).
After getting enough stuff to over-fill what little space we had in our bike bags, we headed off to the post office to send our new items home as they’d be much too heavy to ride with for the remainder of the trip. Unfortunately, postage was incredibly expensive (and difficult to send without a local address) so I instead purchased a cheap duffel bag from the local department store that the post office happened to be inside, took a cab to the airport and left it with our existing bike carry cases in the extended storage.
Finally, I rode back into Tokyo for a quick stop at Blue Lug followed by a nice dinner with Chanel, Jerry and our local friend Michael.
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Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:38 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:40 pm
by CodyW
Post 9: October 11
After arriving in Hakuba by bus on Saturday afternoon, we put our bikes together and rode over to our home for the next few days, Oomuko Ryokan. We checked in and then rode up to catch the Grinduro festivities before ending the night at the Blizzard Hakuba afterparty with new friends.
We awoke early Sunday morning to start the 60 mile Grinduro race, welcomed with cloudy but beautiful skies and cool temps. The race started with a few miles of paved roads, followed by grass and dirt trails that cut through local farms and eventually onto a long and rocky climb up to the top of a local ski area. Once there, we hit the FOERST of 4 timed sectors, an actual downhill mountain bike trail (even though most of us were on gravel bikes). When it was my turn to start, I was informed my timing chip didn’t scan properly which was initially a bit annoying, but also took away the pressure of going too hard so I leisurely made my way down the steep and bumpy trail.
A few minutes later, Chanel arrived and was unfortunately pretty banged up from a little tumble (although she set some super fast times before that happened). Her knee was in rough shape so we decided to abandon the race and get her some back to the house so she could recover with ibuprofen, snacks and whiskey. This proved to be a good call as we were told the remaining miles stayed extremely rough. Jerry and Dennis did an awesome job and finished it all up however. We finished up Sunday night with a post-race hangout at the awesome bar/restaurant next door (The Clubhouse Hakuba ) where we watched Rugby and made more new friends who were also in town for the race.
At this point, we realized the trip may have to have a slight change as non-stop riding for the next few days wouldn’t be the best thing for knee recovery. Additionally, it started to rain pretty heavily Sunday night and was forecast to continue through Tuesday. We booked another night at our ryokan and enjoyed a lazy rain day on Monday and eventually made our way to Nagano by bus to pick up a rental car to help with the next couple of days.
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Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:42 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:43 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:44 pm
by CodyW
Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:45 pm
by CodyW
Post 13: October 14
Thursday had us rising early to start our quick ride to Kanazawa station where we hopped aboard the Thunderbird, an older yet well-kept train that would take us to Osaka. I was particularly excited for this part of the trip as we were meeting up with one of my oldest friends who moved to Tokyo over a decade ago but recently relocated to Osaka.
We met up at a nearby mega-mall which featured 8 or so stories of just about any store imaginable. We checked out the massive camera shop, bought capsule toys, browsed model cars and had some of the best French toast and pancakes I’d ever had. Chanel even got a new pair of prescription glasses from Jin’s, a local chain that specializes in affordable and fast eyewear (they checked her vision and made custom lenses in under half an our for less than $60). After exhausting ourselves from shopping, we went across the street to another restaurant for a mix of pizza, chicken, fried potatoes and more.
Michael and Rio were so generous and invited us to stay at their beautiful apartment for the night where we enjoyed catching up and relaxing. On Friday morning, we said our goodbyes and started our final long ride of the trip to Kyoto.
So many thanks to Michael and Rio for the incredible hospitality, translation help, dinner, loaner pajamas and everything else. Can’t wait to come back and visit for longer!
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Re: My bikepacking adventure through Japan (photo overload warning)
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:46 pm
by CodyW