Epic Japan Bike Adventure: Some Assembly Required

I’ve always liked bicycles. You can find them all over the world, and though there might be a few differences, the riding them is familiar in a comfortable, second-nature way. Plus, they’re a great way to see places a bit faster than walking, and they offer a good compromise between speed and green sustainability.

So when my friend Andrew sent me a message from Japan inviting me on an epic, South to North bike tour of the 4 main islands, I really wanted to say yes, and then work out the money and timing after.

So I did. Fast-forward five months, after a bit of work getting funds and time together, I am in Japan with Andrew, and we’re about to set out.

We managed to lure another brave soul with the promise of adventure and Japanese sake, Scott, so it will be the three of us with our bikes and our panniers, taking on Japan.

The first and biggest challenge we faced, when we all committed to the trip, was coordination. This trip has been planned, almost completely, with the three of us living in different countries.

Andrew has been in Japan for the last 2 years, teaching English, Scott lives in Boston, and I was in Montreal. This meant our trip was planned mostly through a hodgepodge of email and Skype and even an attempt at a Google Wave.

Another kink came up in time zones. Andrew was 13 hours ahead of Scott and I, making his 5pm our 4am. To make matters worse, I was working nights and Scott was working days. This meant that, whenever the three of us were chatting or talking in real-time, one or more of us was only half-conscious.

Somehow, we all managed to get to Japan safe and sound, although not without some trouble (and some more trouble and as I write this, we are about 6 hours away from setting out on our pre-trip, 3-day hike on a little island near our start point, called Yakushima.

As for the route we’ll take, much of it will be decided on the road, but the two fixed points are the southernmost and northernmost points of Japan’s main four islands, Cape Sata in the south and Cape Soya in the far north.

However, recent events in Japan have made us reconsider some of the bits in the middle. So far, our plan is to keep abreast of the latest news, and make final decisions as we approach them, perhaps taking a train or ferry to avoid any danger.

Recent events also made us reconsider our own motivations for taking the trip, and what bike-touring Japan right now would mean. We decided that, while we didn’t want to just cancel the trip and ignore the devastation, we could not simply go on as if nothing had happened. Instead, we decided to turn our trip into something to benefit Japan’s needy, in whatever small way we could.

To that end, we have begun a donation campaign for Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse, using our trip as a motivation for others to give. Our goal is to raise $1 per kilometer per person, and since we should each be riding at least 3400km, we have set the bar at $10,000.

I am happy to say that we are almost pennies away from halfway, and considering we haven’t even started yet, that is amazing.

I am even more excited about the idea that we could exceed that goal. If you have thought about giving to relief in Japan, we encourage you to take the plunge and give.

Details about our fundraising are below, or if you just want to see how we’re doing, follow the journey at our trip blog The Unframed World.

[box type="note" border="full" icon="none"]Andrew, Scott and Dylan (the author of this post) are two Americans and one Canadian trying to help as many Japanese people as possible while biking the length of Japan. Their goal is to raise $10,000 of relief aid for victims of the devastation in Japan. To find out how to donate, head to Help us Help Japan, & to find out more – read About The Trip.[/box]