First stop in Asia – Tokyo

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A flight across the international date line had me loose the whole weekend flying from San Francisco to Tokyo.  I had thought of riding on Sunday afternoon in the city, but by the time I arrived at my hotel, I was too fatigued to even think of taking the bike out of its shipping case.  The next morning, Monday, I was unable to ride as I had to be in the office early.  Then Monday night, again too tired.  I thought if I got on the bike , I might just fall asleep.

View from the office

So, Tuesday morning I was up before the sun, and hit the Tokyo streets at 06:00.  I used Brouter to program a route that would take in Shibuya Crossing (made famous by the movie ‘Lost in Translation’), and the Imperial Palace.  It would have been more interesting to do this when the crossing would be crowded, but riding in a new city for the first time is easier when there are less people about.

The fun thing about the picture below is that this location is to Tokyo what Times Square is to New York, so the book-ending seemed like a good plan.

Shibuya crossing – 06:30

From Shibuya I crossed the city riding all on the road.  In Tokyo many people ride their bikes on the pavement (sidewalk), but most streets are actually pretty wide and safe.  Drivers were deferential, and I had no issues.  The ring around the palace is the only place where the traffic picked up, but other than following my gps onto a second time around when I really wanted to head back to the hotel, all went well.

Imperial palace gate house

It was a great ride, and a great way to start the day.  Below is a gps trace of the ride.

 

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