Hi All
Oleg from Houston here - glad to find the forum and hopeful to get some adivice!
My wife and I are planning to go to Japan for 10-days or so late November and hope to do some (credit-card) bike-touring while there. We did it on our two recent vacations in Canada and France and I can't think of a better way to explore the country! I am relatively strong cyclist with a few (flat) centuries behind me, my wife is an intermediate. Recently we got a road tandem which is a great equalizer for us but I understand that may not be an option here. Anyway, here are my questions:
1) Where to go? Due to the weather and promising Natural beauty and foliage I am excited about Kyushu but...
2) Bike rental? I can not find a place in Kyushu that rents bike with panniers or at least pannier racks. Renting quality tandem seems to be out of question and these seems to illegal (why???) in several places. The only place that rents half-decent bike in Kyushu I discovered thus far is Maple Yaba Cycling Road. Not sure if rack is an option there but in the worst case I can bring my own rack and two panniers...
3) If anyone toured around Oita/Maple Yaba Cycling Road, can you suggest a loop with not so much elevation gain per day we can do around there that includes the Maple Yaba and surrounding country-side, perhaps including some nearby onsen hotels as overnight stops
More generally if other suggestions of where to rent a bike and where to ride n late November for a 4-6days (~60km/day) where quality rentals exist -- let me know.
Oleg from Houston here - glad to find the forum and hopeful to get some adivice!
My wife and I are planning to go to Japan for 10-days or so late November and hope to do some (credit-card) bike-touring while there. We did it on our two recent vacations in Canada and France and I can't think of a better way to explore the country! I am relatively strong cyclist with a few (flat) centuries behind me, my wife is an intermediate. Recently we got a road tandem which is a great equalizer for us but I understand that may not be an option here. Anyway, here are my questions:
1) Where to go? Due to the weather and promising Natural beauty and foliage I am excited about Kyushu but...
2) Bike rental? I can not find a place in Kyushu that rents bike with panniers or at least pannier racks. Renting quality tandem seems to be out of question and these seems to illegal (why???) in several places. The only place that rents half-decent bike in Kyushu I discovered thus far is Maple Yaba Cycling Road. Not sure if rack is an option there but in the worst case I can bring my own rack and two panniers...
3) If anyone toured around Oita/Maple Yaba Cycling Road, can you suggest a loop with not so much elevation gain per day we can do around there that includes the Maple Yaba and surrounding country-side, perhaps including some nearby onsen hotels as overnight stops
More generally if other suggestions of where to rent a bike and where to ride n late November for a 4-6days (~60km/day) where quality rentals exist -- let me know.