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Gero is famous for its natural hot springs so the tiny town is filled with onsens and people walking around all day in their post onsen yukatas. Strava: link Start: Gero End: Stealth camping outside Takayama Distance: 74 kms Elevation: 1,171 m  Helpful hint about public outdoor onsens. Make sure you check when the cleaning and emptying time is. Try to get to the onsen before they empty out the water and clean the facility.  And then they said it's impossible to climb Takayama.  We still managed to ride around the cute country side checking out the cute bus stops, wild flowers and rest stops with so much detail. When riding through Japan in October you might be lucky to ride through fields of ripe persimmons (kaki). So despite having to reroute around Takayama at least I got my share of sweet golden persimmons. 
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After a day of rain, waking up to a steamy sunny day was the best. Followed by a closed mountain road for a car-free ride to the town famous for its onsens. Strava: link Distance: 93 kms Elevation: 2,332 m  From a breakfast of tofu and bamboo shoots and banana to a feast of the most amazing agedashi tomato and agedashi tofu. So much transport. Closed roads (that's what I think the sign said). Buses and cycling over cute bridges. Watching even cuter single carriage trains through the mountain valleys. Survived the night of heavy rain and not thinking about being mauled to death by bears. Breakfast of stale donuts, bananas and red bean. Start: Stealth camp End: After what seemed like an endless road to the camp site we were met by the owner of the only camp site open in October about 1 km from the site. It was beautiful location near the river in a valley between the mountains. Strava: link Distance: 86 kms Elevation: 2,402 m  Lunch: All the shops were closed in the morning, messing up our plans to have lunch at the shops. But we managed to find a corner store with some cup noodles which the shop keeper kindly let us eat after he boiled some hot water for us. Sat in the shop to dry off a bit from the rain and to figure. We loaded up with as much food as we could carry and were off again.  Thanks to broken closed roads we were able to ride car-free up the mountains. Sometime we had to walk along the cliff face but that was a tiny price to pay to have the car-free pass.  Start: Nagahama (train ride from Kyoto) End: Stealth camped behind an empty house, after being rejected at a camping site which the staff said was closed. Strava: link Distance: 57 kms Elevation: 1,989 m    Despite all the planning and ideating the weeks prior to the June long weekend the final route wasn't finalised till midnight before the ride. A few hiccups along the way included initially mapping out a route that potentially had no water refills, then accidentally creating a route through the restricted area around Lake Burragorang. In the end it was decided 5:20am train to Lithgow and ride out to Mittagong. Day 1 - Lithgow to Shooters Hill via Jenolan Cave Strava link Distance: 66.87 km Elevation: 1,568 m Riding time: 4h 28m Beautiful bits: the decent into Jenolan Caves, wedges at the cafe at Jenolan, camping in the state forest Shitty bits: the freezing cold chill (the kind where you think your fingers and toes will snap off), big vehicles on the narrow roads, guns shots in the middle of the night (thankfully I didn't actually shit my pants but I was close). Food Breakfast: avo bagels on the train Morning tea: apple pie from the Lithgow cake shop, picked up more rolls for later Lunch: Avo + tuna rolls, Avo + tofu rolls Afternoon snack: Soy chai, coffee and chips at the Jenolan caves kiosk Dinner: Lentil dhal and rice in one pot.  Day 2 - Shooters Hill to Wombeyan Caves through state forests Strava link Distance: 74.93 km Elevation: 1,189 m Rolling time: 5h 8m Ave speed: 14.6km/h Beautiful bits: Morning sunrise in the state forest, lunch by the fire at Werong camp site, decent into Wombeyan Caves, 2 ice-creams at the kiosk Shitty bits: coffee in oats (very, very bad), google navigating onto private roads, drones and dirt bikes on the camp site Tips: If lost, look out for the Bicentennial trail signs Food Breakfast: oats + nuts + coffee Morning tea: Jules' muesli bars Lunch: Avo + tuna wraps, Avo + tofu wraps Afternoon snack: 2 ice creams each from the Wombeyan kiosk Dinner: Coucous with sultanas, fried eggplant, felafel in tomato sauce  Day 3 - Wombeyan Caves to Mittagong via Wollindilly River Strava link Distance: 65.77 km Elevation: 1,049 m Rolling time: 3h 57m Average: 16.6km/h Beautiful bits: breakfast with the roos, slow gentle climbs, lunch at Wollondilly lookout Shitty bits: freezing hands Food Breakfast: oats + nuts, coffee (separately) Morning tea: Jules' muesli bars, trail mix, dried avos Lunch: Avo + tuna wraps, Avo + tofu wraps Afternoon snack: beer from the Mittagong pub  Tips: 1. Check the restricted areas / access with NSW Water 2. Check if hunting is allowed where you're camping, the Department of Primary Industries website 3. Check if google has mapped you onto a private road on six maps  .Cargo bikes can be the solution to the last mile delivery of a package in an urban dense environment.
Read more about the benefits in Aaron's thesis - Planning the last mile: Improving urban freight delivering using cyclelogistics  Photo source: Dixon, 2019. Planning the last mile: Improving urban freight delivering using cyclelogistics I stood on the high line here salivating. Sydney, here is a mega city and even they have managed to go on a road diet. A road diet in NYC looks like a lane for shared bikes, a bicycle lane, pedestrian crossings at each and every leg of the intersection. And signal phases that don't force you to sprint across as soon as the pedestrian light goes green just in case you get stuck a quarter way across and people try to run you over. 
I was on my way to meet my friend in Brooklyn and what do I see when I walk out of the subway station, walking along the pedestrian overpass, over 8 lanes of traffic? A beautiful separated bi directional cycleway and footpath running down the middle of the chaos buffered nicely by trees and parked cars.  That's actually not Penn Station. The station is behind me in the photo and unfortunately the original station was knocked down to make way for Madison Square. This building is actually the post office and was built to complement the station.  
Just blown away by the Bicycle network in this crazy city.
The signal times are long and frequent for pedestrians. The one way streets arranged in a grid pattern with minimal driveways make for an easy bicycle network. |
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