Road Adventures
The Great Road Trip
I've always been fascinated with traversing countries on wheels. When I was in college, I did a series of road trips, dubbed the "Great Road Trip." These were often done with partners, but GRT 4 was done solo on a motorcycle. Since that big trip in 2017, I continued motorcycle touring throughout the US and even in Japan with bikes big and small, ranging from my 1992 GSX1100 to my little Yamaha Serow XT250.
My Suzuki GSX1100, nicknamed "Marge," somewhere in the Western US. The road goes on for as long as the eye can see...
My little Honda CB300x on a ferry in Seattle.
Yamaha "Serow" XT250 riding some off-road trails by Mt. Fuji.
After deciding to prioritize getting a Japanese "Car" drivers' license over "Motorcycle" one, I've temporarily put my motorcycle adventures on hold. However, it has opened up the opportunity to focus on other things.
For a long time now, I've wanted to cycle the Pacific Coastal Highway along the West Coast of the USA. However, before getting that opportunity, I moved to Japan. "I guess I'll just start with the coasts here," I thought, so along the coasts I went.
GCT1: The Great Cycling Trip 1, a Man With No Plan
GCT1 was an exciting adventure. Aside from a 7-day trip during Golden Week to Hiroshima and Shimanami Kaido, it was my first extended self-supported bike tour. I bought a ferry ticket from Hokkaido back to the mainland, set for a few days before summer holiday ended. That was my only goal and plan - I otherwise had no routes in mind, so I left my house and started pedaling north.
Made with "Strava Multiple Ride Mapper"
As you can see, I mainly followed the coast of the Sea of Japan, except for a few ventures inland up toward Aomori to catch Lake Tazawa and Towada. They were a bit of a climb for my baby cyclist legs, but the views were super worth it!
I was also lucky enough to catch several famous festivals:
The Akita "Kanto Matsuri," in which huge lantern poles are balanced on the foreheads of performers;
The Hirosaki "Neputa" Matsuri, with huge drums and floats,
The Aomori "Nebuta" festival, the largest festival in Japan, with similar drums, floats, and parades. I was even lucky enough to participate in the Neputa festival!
I made it as far north as Rebun and Rishiri island, on a suggestion from a cyclist I had met during my Golden Week trip, and met some young folks like me at the Rebun Momoiwaso Hostel that was also having its own matsuri that day! We ended up climbing Mt. Rishiri together - about the same amount of elevation gain as climbing Mt. Fuji from the 5th station, but without the altitude sickness.
I have so many memorable stories, including many characters that I met on my rides north. I'll share those stories at another time. Enough reading - enjoy some pictures!
GCT2: Partner Cycling
GCT1 was a an unforgettable experience. After interacting with many interesting people riding a motorcycle across the United States during GRT4, it was so much fun being able to do the same on a bike -- but this time, in a foreign country in which I barely spoke the language.
Then the Covid pandemic turned the world upside-down. I skipped a summer in my "Every Summer Road Trip" pattern, opting instead for more local adventures with my friends over at Bike Tour Japan during the summer of 2020.
Although Covid was still not over in 2021, most of us had gotten vaccines, and the world was slowly returning to what could almost be considered normal. As someone now more experienced with risk (During 2019-2021, I started doing a LOT of backcountry skiing), I decided that I would go on another road adventure avoiding crowded hostels, sleeping in parks, and not meeting so many people. However, for me, going with friends beats going alone - so I called up my good buddy Rick in classic "Khanh" fashion: Nonchalant last-minute invitation to crazy-long adventures.
I met Rick at "Avalanche Camp" (AST-1) a few months prior, and had actually never ridden with him before this trip. However, I think both of us had a feeling that we would get along quite well.
Rick's bicycle was in the shop, and with the world's bicycle manufacturing industry left paralyzed due to Covid, replacement parts were not going to come in anytime soon. However, he went out and BOUGHT ANOTHER BICYCLE and joined me a few days later.
Made with "Strava Multiple Ride Mapper"
This time, I took a more inland route from my home in Gunma through Tochigi, Fukushima, Yamagata, and Miyagi prefectures. I was a more accomplished cyclist now, and felt more confident handling the hills on my bike. They proved to be quite brutal, but I've become quite the masochist since starting mountaineering. My most memorable day was doing the hillclimb from Aizu-Wakamatsu to Mt. Bandai, removing the cleats from my shoes, and then running to the summit. That was quite a day!
Although I didn't have any of my climbing gear with me, I had met up with quite a few climber friends along my route. Joe Mignano, a friend I had met at a crag, and his partner Vickie were kind enough to not only host me for a night but also take me to a local gym! It was fun getting my pump on while on tour. He also directed me to find a woman named Lisa in the hills of Yamagata. Lisa is a climbing juggernaut and honorary overseer of the climbing sanctuary "Yamadera," close to the mountainous temple that shares its name. Her friends were kind enough to give me belays and lend me gear as I took on a few easier routes at the wonderful crag "Yamadera." If you're ever lucky enough to be a climber in Yamagata, this is a crag you need to check out!
I met Rick in Sendai, and we cycled the Pacific Coast together. Rick was on his shiny new road bike and was able ride much faster than me, but was gracious enough to injure himself so that he could keep my pace 🤣
Riding along the Pacific coast, or Sanriku Coastline, was a poignant experience. While we had heard about the Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami of 2011 over news outlets, actually being in the inundation area allowed us to feel the scale of the disaster. We would ride our bikes inland for what seemed like ages before leaving the area which was once underwater. Ruins of high-rise buildings were left as a memorial and a reminder of the destructive power of the tsunami, with water reaching up to the 4th floor of an apartment building.
We decided to skip a decent portion of the coast due to rain, rode north in the dark through typhoon winds to make it to an accommodation before last check-in time, and caught the ferry to Hokkaido where I met up with my partner, Kana.
Rick and I parted ways, and Kana and I were off to explore the parts of Hokkaido that I had not explored on my previous cycling trip. Kana is a bit more picky about lodging than I, which means she prefers a tent to a tarp. We actually stayed in fewer hotels than I did when I was traveling with Rick! It's not often that you find a partner who is willing to sacrifice the comfort of a bed to the freedom and low cost of sleeping outdoors.
Our first stop from Sapporo was Asahikawa, where we ate some excellent Ramen. Next, we took a bus to Kitami to save some time, and headed over to Akan-Mashu National Park. We had a huge day of riding, climbing up to Lake Mashu, visiting many hot springs around Lake Kussharo and Iodake, and finally doing a huge ride in the dark in which Kana somehow lost one of her panniers! Luckily, all the contents were replaceable.
We made our plans day-to-day, with a few major destinations, but tried to optimize for the best riding and lodging conditions due to weather. Due to rain and a strong southerly wind, we decided to go north to Abashiri to spend the night in a hotel, where we caught the reversal of that wind the following day to lake Akan. There, we met another traveler, Zoe, who joined us the next day for a hike up Meakan-Dake. The various colors of the volcanic lakes were fascinating, and it was nice to change gears and gear from cycling to hiking for a good half-day. After our climb, we enjoyed a long descent all the way toward Kushiro, our last stop before catching a bus to Sapporo and a plane back to Tokyo. We were able to ship our bikes from Kushiro back to my house without much hassle using Yamato.
This trip was very enjoyable for the both of us. It truly is a great feeling to have partners with whom you can decide tomorrow's plans over weather forecasts, Google Maps, and drinks. During this trip, I really learned to appreciate having partners with similar goals and interests.
GCT3: A 16-Day Sufferfest
2022 had me in an interesting situation. Although I wanted to visit the USA, Covid restrictions and supporting Kana's recovery from a torn ACL were a few of many factors that prevented me from leaving the country. I decided to do what I do best - suffer on a bicycle.
On this trip, I had several goals:
Visit Lake Biwa
Ride as many scenic/low-traffic routes as possible
Make it as cheap as possible
The third goal was my primary goal. While rough camping/cycle touring is already a moderately inexpensive form of travel, as the cost for transportation is incredibly low, my goal was to limit myself to about 2000 yen per day, making exceptions for local foods and experiences that I could not find elsewhere. Since I was traveling through areas that I'd already visited in the past, or areas I visit often, this proved to be quite an inexpensive trip!
I've included a spreadsheet of my expenses (in JPY) and mileage/elevation gain. Feel free to click the tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet to toggle between the two.
For you TLDR people, that's:
Approximately 60,000yen/16 days = 3750yen/day
Approximately 1533km/16days = 96km/day
Approximately 15809m gained = 988m/day
This was a difficult journey, but I did have some moments of luxury. I stayed at the Youth Hostel Norikura (which I DO NOT recommend for various reasons) because I wanted to get a good nights' rest before the Norikura Hillclimb, and my ski buddy David Perdue was gracious enough to let me stay in the "Canada House," a house owned by the Canadian Government (David works at the Consulate in Nagoya) built to showcase Canadian architecture and wood. I took a bath in an onsen (hot spring) almost every evening after a hard day of riding. That and, oh, descending the other side of the hill you just climbed on a bike is one of the most luxurious feelings in the world.
My 16-day 1500km route from my front door.
Most of the routes that I planned using the Garmin Connect App had very few cars because many ran up steep, narrow mountain passes. I had a few moments along the coast and around Nagoya in which I had to share the road with many cars, but for the most part, I was by myself in the mountains. I only met a few other cycle tourers on this trip, as opposed to my other trips around Hokkaido. Either my timing was off, or Hokkaido seems to be a more common bicycle touring destination than the Japanese Alps.
Overall, due to my frugality and remote route choice, GCT3 was quite lonely. I didn't have nearly as many interactions as I did on GCT1 or 2. The loneliness, in combination with my fatigue and heat exhaustion, led me probably scaring a lot of random Japanese people who I tried to make small-talk with. I'm sure that not a lot of people are used to a smelly, skinny man in tight, red clothing walking up to them and talking about random things.
This trip was a challenge. Don't get me wrong - there were many blissful moments: The adrenaline rush of descending twisty mountain passes at speed, the feeling of relaxing in an Onsen after a long day of exercise, and the amazing taste of local foods (but really, anything) after a hard day of burning many calories. Even simple pleasures, like drinking cold water or walking into an air-conditioned building, were amplified due to the harshness of what I was putting myself through every day. There were some nights when I couldn't sleep well due to noise, rain, or rowdy teenagers in the park (I usually slept in public parks, which is legal in Japan). There were some days where I had to ride through pouring rain. There were some days that were so hot that I was feeling the effects of heat exhaustion despite drenching myself in cool water. However, I pushed through this trip and gave myself more quantitative data of this sport. I trained myself to sleep through unideal conditions, to move my legs when they didn't feel like moving, and finish the crazy adventure that I started. For better or for worse, the GCT has given me more confidence in my self-sufficiency, physical ability, and mental fortitude, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.