Bike tour in Japan - April 2026

[Alex Kent]

Hello NCC riders:

Alex Kent, from Amherst, new to the group.

I wanted to let members know that I am leading 2-week cycle tour in Japan in early April 2026. 

Japan and the Japanese language have been central to my 35-year career as an interpreter, translator, and TV field producer. I have also been a cyclist since I was six years old. 

I have been offering a series of two-week cycling tours in Japan starting with the first tour in 2016. While these are not intense, long-distance cycle touring expeditions, I have found that folding bikes are perhaps the best way to explore a city and even rural areas. Participants ride high-quality folding bikes like Brompton, Dahon, Tern, Bike Friday, etc.) which can be folded up and carried on trains between destinations (Tokyo, Kyoto, etc.). We then open up our bikes and do mostly urban explorations. A few more miles are racked up on other days, such as a crossing of the Inland Sea on a famous bike route (Shimanami Kaidō), or a ride along Japan's largest lake, Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. At present, I have four riders for the April 2026 tour, and I need at least another two riders to make up a group (which is limited to eight riders). 

If you do not currently own a folding bike, I can advise you on buying one. (Brompton has a low-cost "subscription" service where you effectively rent a bike for a period of a couple of months.) I can also lend you an 8-speed Dahon Mu or a larger-size Bike Friday.

Visit my website for more about the tour. I am also attaching a flyer.

Please let me know as soon as you can if you are interested and want more information about my tour. 

Alex Kent