My Biking Misadventure

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take advantage of the bikes that can be borrowed from the dorms. I thought that since I ride my bike pretty often in summer in Calgary, I could manage to ride a bike in Japan. I wasn’t sure about whether or not helmets were required but there weren’t any provided with the bike so I assumed I would be ok.

The bike rental was fairly simple. You just need to sign your name on a list and have a RA co-sign. The bikes are only rented out for 3 hours at a time so you can’t ride them to school or to the train station to take a train. They’re really convenient if you want to go somewhere close like out for groceries or dinner. There is bike parking in front of most stores, so you can safely leave your bikes when eating or shopping.

For my bike ride I just wanted to test out the differences between Calgary and Japan so I decided to just stick close to the dorms. I chose to just ride to the station and back, just to get the feel of things. At 4 PM I left the Kenshukan, which was not a very good idea. The already-skinny road was packed with people making their ways home and I had to weave in and out trying to avoid them.

The ride was mostly fine until I faced my next obstacle; the bars that prevent cars from driving on the pedestrian path. All of the other cyclists seemed to be navigating them with ease so I decided it couldn’t be that hard. However, looks can be very deceiving. I was having so much trouble getting through the gates, I had to dismount from the bike. I ended up doing a lot of apologizing in Japanese. Luckily the guy directing traffic looked sympathetic.

Cycling in Japan is a very good idea. Public transportation can be very expensive and with all the delicious food in Japan you’ll need some form of exercise. However, there is some advice I would like to pass on. Don’t go biking when all the schools are getting out, especially for your first bike ride. Choose a path that’s not on the way to a train station. Have a bike with a bell attached, to warn people you’re behind them. This might seem a little intimidating, but it really was a good experience.

- Alex