Beginners guide for cycling in, and near to Tokyo

There are some very good places to ride in and around the city. You might be pleasantly pleased how good the riding can be. Here is an overview of some of the the most popular routes, starting with the 5km loop around the Imperial Palace. Best in the early mornings before 7:00 AM when the traffic builds up, but you still need to take care. Of taxis especially. And there is one hill to ride up that will help with your leg strength.

And from 10:00 to 15:00 on Sundays there is a 3km closed course that is perfect for beginners to ride on. You can even borrow city bike for free if you don't have a bike. But it is closed on rainy days, and days when there are events happening. See the map above for details.

Two other good routes are the Arakawa and Tamagawa Rivers cycling paths. I find the Arakawa better than the Tamagawa as the path is wider and less crowded. But both of the river cycling paths have barriers etc that slow you down. And you need to be careful of pedestrians, runners, sports people, kids, old people on bikes, dogs etc etc. But all in all, they are safer places to ride than on the roads. And you can use the river routes as starting points for long rides in to the mountains outside of Tokyo.

The Oifuto Wharf area near Shinagawa on Sunday mornings is very popular as well. There are scores of cyclists there every week riding the circuits. Three main circuits that you can ride: the standard 9.1km loop, a longer 12km loop or a big 22km loop that takes you close to Haneda Airport. The roads are quiet with light traffic, but there are some traffic lights and sharp turns. Public holidays are also okay, but regular week days are out due to the heavy truck traffic. Many "Triathlon in Tokyo" members ride at Oifuto on Sunday mornings for their triathlon training.

You can hop into a train and in an hour so be in the countryside where there are a lot of great places to ride with minimal traffic. Or you can ride out to the hills from the city in a couple of hours. The mountains around Takao, Ome, Okutama and Chichibu are all great places to ride. There are some big, and not so big mountains to ride up. And some spectacular scenery. You just need a rinko bike bag to take your bike onto a train.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to know about specific routes as I am very familiar with most of the best cycling routes around Tokyo.

Plus you can also ride indoors on a bike trainer at home. Of course it's safer than on the road, and you can ride before work, at night or during bad weather. This is a great way to work on your bike fitness, strength and technique. Probably the best way to get in good and effective work outs. One of my future posts will cover indoor cycling in more detail. Perfect as we get closer to the colder months.

Next up I will cover some of the best places for running in the city and countryside.