cycling from tokyo to saitama

last week i did something i've been meaning to for a while - cycling from tokyo into saitama! the weather was cloudy & only 30 degrees (practically pleasant compared to all the sun-blazing 35+ days there've been lately...) & this week there's going to be a bit of a typhoon apparently, so i figured it was as good a time as ever.

my e-bike had been at the shop for repairs so it was a good opportunity to check that everything was a-ok, & it was a very uneventful ride! (a good thing haha.)

normally i only use my bicycle for just daily riding, so like going shopping & nearby restaurants & stuff, so it was much longer than i'm normally used to.

i also have never properly cycled in tokyo before. while i go there often by train & walk around on my feet, it was completely different traversing it by cycle!

the route i took was as follows (roughly):

• shibuya
• harajuku
• shinjuku
• ikebukuro
• ouji
• akabane
• kawaguchi

& wow while i generally enjoy walking through shibuya, harajuku & shinjuku, they were a huge pain to cycle through! it may be different on different roads, but it was generally a stressful experience for me.

• even where there are bicycle lanes, the roads are so narrow that the bicycle lanes are really close to the cars!
• cars are parked all through the bicycle lanes too so you can't even use them...
• roads were actually generally fairly bumpy so the ride was uncomfortable??? (i would have thought road conditions would be better in central tokyo)
• car & motorcycle traffic was also more unpredictable than i'm used to (it was the weekend so perhaps that was also a factor) & then you mix in people on scooters too & it's really scary!

all of this got generally better once i was out of shinjuku for some reason (though roads were still bumpy in spots) & i got to see a lot of tokyo that i normally didn't since i usually only go to areas that are within walking distance of train stations. i took breaks in some parks i've never been to & got to see some new scenery!

because i was going very leisurely a route that should have taken around one & a half hours ended up taking almost three, but it was a really lovely little trip.

the cycling road along the arakawa river between akabane & kawaguchi was a definite highlight too - i'd like to cycle there & have a picnic or something where the weather is a little cooler!

there were a couple of other cycling roads i spotted in saitama too that i want to check out in the future.

i absolutely wouldn't have been able to go as far on a regular bicycle so i'm really happy with my e-bike. it's made cycling a lot more fun for me because i don't find myself overexerting myself & i generally look forward to getting on my bicycle & even make excuses to just take little rides out! if you've ever thought you wanted to get more into cycling but find it a bit daunting, maybe see if you can find an e-bike rental & try it out 🚲