I hear you on the logistical nightmare. Travelling with the Scicon is quite difficult in Japan! You have to book oversized space on the shinkansens, and pre-book Sagawa transport if you want to use luggage forwarding. It is about twice the cost of regular Yamato service due to the dimensional size. Regardless, I am really loving my time cycling Japan... The autumn colours are spectacular and the food is out of this world. Loved watching this video. Did not think about Hokkaido cycling at all, good to see an on-the-ground experience.
For my experience the scicon was ok, we had a car and we fit 2x scicon and 3 luggages in so no issues. It was just inconvenient staying in hotels esp with the automated lift - every time you want the car you have to validate a parking coupon and get the guy to bring the car down, just a bad personal experience!
Another Singapore (resident) here. If you do this again get a rinko bag, a soft cloth bike cover for riding trains there, and then you can take your bike into the hotel room.
Greatt video! Welcome to Japan cycling hahaha. Good thing you were not in Tokyo. There is much more traffic and the roads are much more narrow. I've been hit by a car 3 times. At least you can ride the 3 rivers here. Lots of kms on nice closed road!
Certain parts of Japan are just not very familiar with road cyclists. I am in Japan now -- Shimanami Kaido everyone knows about, and drivers are very conscious. Even a few islands over, car behavior is quite different. On a descent in a construction zone, the car behind me kept trying to push me off the road because I wasn't riding in the gutter. On a climb up to an observatory on a narrow (essentially one lane) road, another car was right on my rear wheel and would've bumped me if I slowed at all. I stopped on the 9% gradient to allow him to pass and I'm sure you know starting on a hill is hard! When I met the driver at the observatory, he was very nice and we had a good conversation. Turns out, he just was totally oblivious that I would need some space behind me as a cyclist.
This validates what I felt as a cyclist in Japan! I was surprised as well because I thought they were known to be very courteous, but I felt like they were trying to run me off the road many times
Great video. I am currently riding through Kyushu and I do agree with how intimidating the traffic can be. Trucks are what intimidate me more on Japanese roads and It does not help that the combination of narrow tunnels and trucks make for a really uncomfortable and nerve wrecking ride. Nevertheless I do think theres the allure of the Japanese countryside that would warrant a repeated visit.
Your friend really needs to check the bike fit; seems his balance is a bit off. Could be due to the wind but still, his posture seems to be struggling.
