Visit Arakawa cycling road in Tokyo|
There is plenty of reasons to enjoy cycling. It could be casually chilling with your loving bike with your friends.
It could be a way to enjoy nature under the shinny sun. Or it could be some serious guys with a nice looking road bike and hitting your body energy limits for a training.
Anyway, for cycling lovers, people who want to get into cycling as a new hobby and want to find a nice comfortable road for cycling in Tokyo.
This article might helpful.
I recommend you to visit Arakawa riverside area to enjoy cycling.
Please do trust me, this endless road by the river of “荒川(Arakawa)” is certainly a great place for cycling!
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It is just endlessly long.. But no traffic light!
You can start at any place and you can decide to finish anywhere as you like.
But as far as google map concerns, this route could last between 75km and 80km.
If you start from Tokyo, the edge of starting route is by the Tokyo bay at 新砂(Shinsuna) and it ends at 熊谷 (Kumagaya) or 武蔵丘陵公園(Musashi Kyuryo Koen) in Saitama prefecture. The distance is about 150-160km.
I recommend trying this route in spring or autumn as the Japanese summer is dreadfully hot. But having said that, it is quite safe to cycle in summer!
I will show why it is still safe along the Arakawa river to cycle in the summer in a coming chapter.
There is a fair amount of toilets and water savers are located on the road.
There are a bunch of water servers and toilets everywhere on the road, therefore, you will not be dying for water and you can just stop and use toilets for any emergencies cases.
What more convenient? you can just go off the cycle road and go to a corner to stores to purchase energy bars, drinks, and foods.
A lack of nutrition often leads to “the hunger knock". That happens quite often if you cycle for a long time….
But you are not cycling in mountains. There are some corner stores around the road.
But do not rely on the corner stores too much and make sure to have some energy bars in your pocket before going for cycling because it is just safer.
Here are photos of a water saver and a toilet. There are many of them on your way.
A recommended training plan on Arakawa road in Tokyo.
You do not have to cycle from the edge to the other end and I do not think many do that anyway.
Well if you starting at the edge of Tokyo Bay, many aim to go to 岩淵水門 (Iwabuchi Suimon) near Akabane Station. “Suimon" means a watergate in Japanese.
You can see it below. Well if you living near Akabane then you do a reverse route, simple as.
Distance between the Tokyo Bay to the Iwabuchi watergate is about 20km or little less. So If you do a return trip, the distance will be around 40km, which is fair good training.
I often cycle around 7 am to avoid the summer heat in Tokyo and I see a bunch of cyclists even this early in the morning in the summer.
But 7 am is still ridiculously hot sometimes….
The end of the road is at beautiful葛西臨海公園 (kasai rinkai koen) next to the sea of “東京湾(Tokyo bay)
There is a huge park where you can see the Tokyo Bay and this park is called 葛西臨海公園(kasai rinkai koen).
Here are the lists of what you can do in the park.
- Resting your legs and enjoy a great view of the ocean.
- Visiting a bird-watching centre.
- Chill with your friends by doing a BBQ: you have to BOOK a table in advance as the BBQ table is limited. You do not have to carry any BBQ equipment or food as they prepare everything for you if you book a meal course. You have to book in advance from the website of the Kasai Rinkai Park.
There are some other things that you can do in the park such as visiting an aquarium and get on to a Ferris wheel.
But you might have to come around next time to get on the Ferris wheel until your next visit without your bike. Because you cannot keep your eyes on your bike if you decide to get on to the Ferris wheel or enter to the aquarium.
Although the crime rate is relatively low in Tokyo comparing to the other capitals such as London, Madrid, Rome, etc.
But bicycle theft does happen in Tokyo. I would not do any activities that I cannot keep my eyes on my bike. But if you are brave enough to take a risk, PLEASE LOCK YOUR BICYCLE PROPERLY!