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Cross Japan in 24 hours

ch33zer

Warming-Up
May 24, 2023
4
9
Hello! I'm new here so I thought I'd start by posting a stupid idea I've had for a while. Inspired by Geowizards Straight line across Wales series, I've been thinking it'd be awesome to try and cross Japan in 24 hours. Obviously this would be hard:
  • The distance would be long 300km or so
  • Plenty of climbing
  • Little or no sleep
  • You'd need to go lightweight so no camping gear or probably even dry clothes
If I were to do this id start in Tokyo and go through Nagano to Joetsu. I expect these roads would be busy.

So, what do you all think? If you were to do it what route would you take? How would you do it logistically? How would you train.

I'm thinking of giving this a shot in the next few days (but no promises). If I do I'll report back here!

PS Obviously there are shorter paths across Japan (northern Honshu e.g). For this let's assume starting in Tokyo and going West to the sea of Japan.
 
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The first thing to note about any plan involving Nagano is that Nagano is mountainous (which of course you already knew) and many of its tunnels, so convenient on the map, are closed to bicycles. You can choose to go through them anyway, but I don't, ahem, my reliable informant doesn't recommend this: the lanes may be narrow they can be heavily travelled, and there is of course no provision for bikes or pedestrians.
 
Super good info, thanks. If you don't go through, are there alternates? From the previous riding I've done in the mountains it seems like if there is a tunnel then USUALLY there is a super steep windy alternate that you can opt for instead. So either a bunch of 'extra' climbing or braving the tunnels. Hmm tough choice. Are there alternate routes that are more bike friendly?
 

Not all the way, just not the tokyo metro area.

Easier crossings might be Ishinomaki<>Sakata, or hiroshima<>hamada.

And I don't like tunnels here even when driving, let alone on a bike.
 
 
 
If you head out of Takao station, take R20 through Kofu, Fujimi Pass, take the left side of Lake Suwa, Shiori Pass, R19 through Matsumoto, on to Nagano city, Sakanaka Pass, Shinanomachi, R18 downhill to Naoetsu.

Kofu and Matsumoto can be busy with cars so work your schedule so you pass through off-peak if you can.

Pretty straightforward route. Scenery is great after Matsumoto.

Andy
 
Super good info, thanks. If you don't go through, are there alternates? From the previous riding I've done in the mountains it seems like if there is a tunnel then USUALLY there is a super steep windy alternate that you can opt for instead. So either a bunch of 'extra' climbing or braving the tunnels. Hmm tough choice. Are there alternate routes that are more bike friendly?
You can always "get there from here"; so in that sense, yes, there's always an alternative route. But if you're not clued in about the prohibition of bikes in a tunnel, no signpost is going to tell you until you see the signpost right in front of the tunnel. And then "Uh, seems we're expected to make a U-turn, descend 500m, then climb 1000m to a pass. So that's a 30 km detour. Or we could just go through this tunnel; it's only 4 km long."

Above, WhiteGiant is quoted as saying "And Rte.17 is the chosen method of making one contemplate ending it all." I haven't found it so bad that I contemplated suicide, but yes, much of it is dire. Driving a car from Maebashi to Tokyo I was daydreaming and missed the Maebashi interchange and had to go down 17 to the Takasaki interchange. Horrible, and that was a very short distance. Simply, it's a car dealership and drive-in wasteland till beyond Maebashi. From lake Akaya if not earlier (I forget) to the top (Shin Mikuni tunnel) it's rather pleasant. Shin Mikuni tunnel is OK; the next tunnel (Futai) is horrible. You're now in ski-vacation high-rise wasteland, but anyway the road is good. My own journey ended in Yuzawa (as had been planned) so I can't tell you about Niigata-ken.
 
I think I'm going to take the Coast to Coast route posted by kiwisimon (there's another writeup of a guy who did it in one day here: https://joewein.net/blog/2015/08/11/japan-coast-to-coast-adventure-ride/). Seems much less trafficy than other options, following paths as much as possible.

Thanks for all the info everyone, I've only done one tour and a few day rides outside of Tokyo so all this info is crucial!
 
A few years ago I did Nishinomiya (between Kobe and Osaka) to Kyoto Tango. Pacific to the Japan Sea.
I believe it was about 190km and 2800-3000m of climbing.

The route I took only had about 4-5km of busy roads, the rest were single lane backroads with few cars.

The negative about starting in Tokyo is that you are going to be in traffic/slow going for the first few hours of the ride. Would be better to start either north of, or south of Tokyo.
 
A few years ago I did Nishinomiya (between Kobe and Osaka) to Kyoto Tango. Pacific to the Japan Sea.
I believe it was about 190km and 2800-3000m of climbing.

The route I took only had about 4-5km of busy roads, the rest were single lane backroads with few cars.

The negative about starting in Tokyo is that you are going to be in traffic/slow going for the first few hours of the ride. Would be better to start either north of, or south of Tokyo.
Do you have that route somewhere? Sounds like a good one.
 
Definitely not possible in a single day, but just for some inspiration here's a backroad coast to coast idea I've been tossing around in my head for a few years.

 
I just finished this ride. Total time was about 22 hours, total distance 220 miles for an average speed of about 10 mph including stops. I left at 4:30 am and pulled up to the beach in Joetsu around 2:30 am the next day. It was absolutely amazing but difficult (for me). More experienced long distance riders may have found it easier but man not sleeping gets old fast. No mechanical issues and perfect weather made for a great time where I could just focus on riding. The route was fantastic and mostly bike paths though there were certainly long stretches of road riding. Depending on when you leave different sections will be more or less busy I'm sure so that would probably change your perception of the safety of the route. I slept in the sand on the beach and loved it :D

Strava: https://strava.app.link/jDAGOJQv9zb
 
Here is the Kansai to Kyoto Tango ride, I can send a GPX via email if needed.
I started my computer mid ride as I knew the first 20-30km of the ride and was worried about GPS battery life.
 

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