“Doing a season” in Niseko, Japan has become a right of passage for many young skiers and snowboarders. Some might be embarking on a new career, others taking a break from one. Some are in the midst of a personal crisis, hoping that a few months of mountain living will give them clarity on whether they go to uni, go traveling, get a job… Regardless of the reason or the cause, for most, a season in a Japanese ski resort is adventure enough. But what do you do if the lifts have stopped spinning and you still have a desire to explore? For three seasonal workers, Nicholas Rossetti, Freddy Gooch and Mariko ‘Koko’ Davies, the feelings of wanderlust were yet to be satiated so instead of simply waving goodbye to Niseko, they got on their bikes and rode over 1,000kms to Tokyo.
DAY 1
NISEKO TO YAKUMO
105kms
Nicholas: We battled massive head winds that turned into pouring rain for the last ten kilometres. We survived on takoyaki, onigiri, chocolate, ramen, miso and a mystery meat sandwich from Seicomart. Team moral was down to 6.5. To say the least, our first day was brutal.
DAY 2
YAKUMO TO HAKODATE
80kms
After a speedy change over, we rode along the coast in the sunshine and cool breeze; perfect conditions. With a slight tail wind we ventured into the hills and passed through tunnels and over bridges, stopping occasionally to stretch, take photos and chat with locals. Sailed into town with enough time to watch the sunset over the horizon. Team moral was back to 10/10. Fred ate four bananas plus a cliff bar. Koko ate two and a half bananas plus two and a half carrots. Nic ate three and a half bananas and spilt his bag of mixed nuts.
Nicholas: Started the day with a flat tyre at the front of Mr Lawson’s. Bad omen? Think again.
DAY 3
HAKODATE – AOMORI (VIA FERRY)
Sleeping arrangement: Koko big spoon, Nic middle spoon and Fred small spoon. Nic covered me in a blanket as I was shivering in the night and telling him how cold I was in my sleep. In Japanese (chotto samui).
Freddy: Cruised around the town on our bikes checking out the scenery. A quick stop into the local bike shop turned into a good hour, which resulted in us missing the afternoon ferry to Aomori. We managed to get on the ferry by 5.30 and arrived in Aomori to be greeted by a lovely Japanese man who had offered his house to stay. Fortunately the rain stopped as we rode 10kms through town to find his apartment. We all bunked into a Japanese style tatami bedroom where we all managed to sleep. Wasn’t the most pleasant sleep for as it was cold and uncomfortable.
DAY 4
AOMORI – HIROSAKI
60kms
Freddy: A very early start after a rough sleep. Straight to Maxvalu to fill our stomachs and prepare us for the day. Unfortunately my first time in cleats resulted in me examining the Maxvalu pavement. A big breakfast powered us through and we managed to reach Hirosaki in a few hours (60kms). A stock up at the supermarket included lots of pasta and eggs. A leisurely cruise to our accommodation from town proved more difficult than imagined with rain falling and never ending winding hills. We finally made it to our self contained wooden cottage in the hills, which was well worth the uphill battle. An onsen, wine and pasta was exactly what we needed. A quiet night spent organising the days to come made the second half of the trip seem achievable.
DAY 5
HIROSAKI TO MORIOKA
150kms (including train travel)
Koko: We had high hopes for today. After researching accommodation all we came up with was some generous couch surfing potential in Morioka. 150kms away. One team one dream! Weather report was looking good on our check last night with rain easing at 8am and the sun to peak through the clouds soon after. Wrong! On morning inspection, tree tops were swaying around like hair flicks in a Pantene pro-v ad. It was looking hectic.
The ride started as a rewind from yesterday’s uphill trek. Despite the wind, we were sailing downhill through early blooming sakura (cherry blossoms), apple orchids and the ginormous Iwate-San (mountain) on the horizon. This magical scene didn’t last long enough. Soon we were in a forest of never ending vertical squiggles that had us pumping the pedals harder than we had since we started this adventure. We were so far behind schedule at this point. We’d stopped to fix bikes, stretch out some sore muscles and rest injuries as well as performing some intense spin class-esque moves fighting headwinds.
We were wrecked. And this being day five, definitely feeling the effects of the 400kms we’d ridden thus far.
Long story short we ended up on a train. We made it to our host’s house in time to have a warming home cooked meal of okonomoyaki and tacoyaki, beers and good chats. Getting on the train was a tough call to make but with all three team members falling asleep with our garbage bag wrapped bikes at our sides and a list of body parts to sports tape made this a justified surrender.
Tomorrow would be a new day.
DAY 6
MORIOKA TO ICHINOSEKI
112kms
Koko: Our host was lovely enough to want to cycle and show us a local route following the river that would eventually meet up with the state road. For the first part of our journey today, it was the only time we hadn’t used Google maps, so our total ride for the day unintentionally hit 112kms. That’s our longest distance yet. Yesterday’s rest had definitely paid off for the limbs of today.
We felt the season change as we went further on our route, cherry blossoms everywhere and the warm sun on our backs.
The rides are getting all pretty similar and we’ve started to slightly obsess over certain factors of the day’s journey. For example today’s hills weren’t as hard as yesterday’s but definitely harder than the first day and even though we did 112kms today with less hard terrain we aren’t as shattered as we were on day one etc etc. We’ve accepted this is our life now and there’s pretty much only a few things that matter. How hilly is it? How far have we travelled? And do we need more onigiri or bananas? Eat. Sleep. Ride. Repeat.
DAY 7
ICHINOSEKI TO SENDAI
82kms
Nicholas: Started the day with a massacre of the buffet breakfast to replenish the previous day’s 112km body-tax. With sore bums and taped joints, we climbed onto our steeds and continued south. Bam! Sucker punch. Massive hill climb to get out of town, followed by, you guessed it, more hills. Smooth sailing from then? Nope. Headwinds, snow & sem-trailers for the next 60km. Route 4 is a bitch.
Team dinner: Pizza & pasta. Team movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
DAY 8
SENDAI (RECOVERY)
After covering so much ground, we decided to have a rest day in Sendai to hanami (view flowers) and sight-see. Blue skies, clean streets and sakura for days.
Highlights: Sendai Coffee Stand, Sendai Mediateque, Nishi Park Sakura, Beef Tongue, Edamame Thick Shake
DAY 9
SENDAI TO FUKUSHIMA
96km
Nicholas: Addicted to buffet breakfasts. Koko and I snuck in to load up on tamago (Japanese egg roll), cornflakes and croissants while Freddy rode the bus from his host’s apartment to meet us. He held gifted fruit and nuts in his hands. Not a euphemism.
Any joy experienced on the previous day was quickly snuffed away as we continued along the dreaded Route 4. Not even riding through cherry blossoms could keep the spirits up with hills, headwinds and hinjuries starting to take their toll. Adding salt to the wounds, it was confirmed that Mariko would be leaving us to tour as a model for another label (sorry Oyuki). And though the unsubstantiated fears of radiation led the team to consider the unthinkable (stopping), we valiantly pushed on to ride out the 96kms to Fukushima…
Yuta, a Fuk Uni med student, provided accommodation and a brief walking tour that was interrupted by a chance encounter with his lecturer, Dr. Ken, who then shouted dinner for the weary travellers. Bloody legend. Despite our exhaustion, Yuta was keen to get into some drinking games so, having admitted that he was a lightweight, we crushed our host and his pals with a single beer.
DAY 10
FUKUSHIMA TO NASU
107kms
Freddy: As a token of our gratitude, we woke up early to cook banana and strawberries pancakes for Yuta. Having never tried sweet pancakes before, he was stoked!
Despite ambitions for an 8:30 departure, we got out the door just before 11am and farewelled Koko as she made her way to the Shinkansen to Tokyo. After a tough ride the day before we were both sceptical about the 107km ahead.
Not to worry, smooth downhill roads got us off to a quick start as reached the halfway point just two and half hours after leaving. A quick stop at 7/11 saw us smash a few onigiris and bananas as we got back on the road promptly. With Nic’s ankle being his Achilles heel, the remaining 20km seemed impossible. A quick two-up of codeine on the side of the road got him back on track. Besides, what’s a tour without a bit of doping?
We cruised into Nasu at 5pm and arrived at gravel road that led to a guest house and raised questions as to whether or not we were lost. Not so. Out comes a jolly Japanese man who assumed we spoke nihongo after we said daijobu. He quickly called our bluff as we stumbled to negotiate our sleeping arrangements. Simple wooden cabins were more then enough to please us.
As we happened to be the only guests that night Yama offered to make a big dinner for us. 800 yen buy in for an epic three course meal, count us in! Pork loin, a big pasta and fish tempura had our stomachs content as we all shared a bottle of wine in the cosy bar. Keen to share stories, we listened to Yama’s life – living in Kenya, snowboard and hiking. We did our best to stay awake until 9.
Spirits were high as we were only 170km from Tokyo.
DAY 11
NASU TO UTSUNOMIYA
70kms
Freddy: After a big night sleep we woke to howling winds and gloomy clouds. We lay in bed trying to escape the inevitable ride. With sore bodies we slowly arose and began layering up with our Oyuki gear to avoid the cold.
Breakfast started with a bowl of muesli as we desperately tried to start the kerosene single stove top outside. With a bit of help from Yama (our lovely host) we managed to boil some eggs. Warming our bodies inside we shovelled down a few eggs on toast covered in natto (bean paste).
We finally made it on the road by 11 o clock. 35km cross winds were fading our hopes of getting into Utsunomiya at a reasonable time. Following Yama’s recommendation to take the scenic route however turned things in our favour. Smooth and open roads made for great riding as the wind begun to ease off. With epic downhill roads with minimal traffic we began to pick up speed. Head winds started to turn to tall winds as we cruised up hills and flew through the flats.
We caught wind of Utsunomiya being famous for Gyozas so it was only fair that we put it to the test…. Epic! A very big dinner in what felt like a Japanese tatami living room put the both of us in food comas. Well deserved
With Tokyo now only 100km away the spirits are through the roof!
ARRIVAL IN TOKYO
Nicholas: Arriving in Tokyo was surreal. It was gradual and, on the whole, anticlimactic. Our GoPro filled up 1km from the end so 500m down the road we were deleting footage. Then we had to sit in our lycra in the real estate office and pay rent instead of ripping the lid off a beer.
For me, the best moments of the trip were; seeing the ocean at the end of Day 1. Then Day 4: Sitting in the Hirosaki onsen looking to the Mt Iwake after a big day on the bike.
Shittest Moment : Eating pain killers to numb my Achilles. When the team went from 3 to 2.
For anyone else thinking of completing a trip like this I have this advice. Food in = energy out. Bananas and onigiri were our go to. Have cleated shoes and vaseline for the chafe, and good music. The rest just sorts itself out.
Freddy: For me the best part of the trip was the sense of achievement. My first time on a road bike occurred 12 hours before departure. My spirits were shattered half way through day one. I honestly thought I would not get back on that bike. It took me a few days but once I got going I loved it. It was a great way to reflect on the season and all the good times I had.
My advice to anyone wanting to do this would be to reduce your cycling kilometres per day in order to allow you to check out more of the surroundings. Waking up to a 100km + day ahead is a big mental challenge. House stays are a must and I would love to be able to do a trip purely based on staying in people’s homes. It allows you to get a grasp of the local community and really see the true Japan.
