November 2025 – Jay and Deb's Joy Ride

Day 23 Miyanoura to Onoma 44kms 1187m
Day 24 Onoma to Miyamora 65 km 1939m
Day 25 Naze to Koniya. 93 kms 2332m
Day 26 Koniya to Sasari 87 kms 1715 m
Day 27 Sasari to Naze 85 kms 1312m
Day 28 Motobu to Ada 90kms 872m
Day 29 Ada to Onna 104 kms 1561 m
Day 30. Onna to Naha 56 kms 644 m
TOTAL TODATE. 2359kms 36,434m

2500 kms in 31 days of riding; 25 or more different islands (we lost count); several ferry rides but two (very) long ones; 9 rest days; and 36 kms of climbing (the most vertical per km of riding of our other long haul rides in Canada, New Zealand, Tasmania or SE Asia).

Our assessment? A wild success! Loved it.

Our bikes faired well. We needed the low gearing on this one to be certain. Other bikes on the tour needed frequent repairs. The route, though hard topped, was rough at times and often had menacing debris. There were broken rims, broken chains, broken derailers, many flat tires and many, many changes of break pads. For riders, there was one broken shoulder, one broken wrist and one rather impressive road rash incident. Out of 30 riders. Not bad – considering the terrain, length and considerable grade.

The weather was excellent for the most part. Still, at one time or another we used all of the gear we brought with us, even long underwear base layers, rain pants, heavy weather Arc’teryx jackets, rain booties, hoodies, toques and winter mitts. Our local Japanese expert, Kazu, kept telling us how “lucky we’ve been with weather”. Well, that changed. The weather forecast for the Island of Okinawa looked daunting to say the least with a typhoon expecting to come through about the same time we were. But first:

Yakushima Island – more monkeys than people

We circled Yakushima Island over two days and 130 kms. 90% of the island is covered in subtropical rainforest. It rains so much on this island it is said it rains 35 days a month. And yet we continued to avoid the weather with only a few showers. The island has mountains peaking over 1800 m high and despite being subtropical, they can get snow in the winter. A quote from a tourist brochure states: “Yakushima will have clear blue skies and beautiful autumn days ……. but for occasional typhoons”. A foreshadowing to be sure.

Yakusugi Cedars live over 1000 years on this island. Due to the harsh environment, poor soil and high humidity, the cedar trees grow slowly storing resin, which makes them resistant to decay and insects. This prolongs their life spans much longer than ordinary cedars. The Jomonsugi Cedar – “the lord of the forest” has a trunk circumference of 16.4 meters and is estimated to be anywhere from 2000 – 7200 years old! This reminded us of the mighty Kauri Trees of New Zealand.

Oh, and the monkeys! Everywhere! We found ourselves dodging and weaving around them at every turn. We were warned: “Don’t look at them directly and don’t engage them or stop in the middle of them. Keep riding by, “or else.” We did as advised and luckily never found out what “or else” meant. You would too if you saw their cute but decidedly menacing look.

Amami Island and TDA’s Motto – Hardship and Suffering

Hardship and suffering, we came to learn, is a badge of honor for TDA riders. The TDA alumni all talked about it and lived it and loved it. Our TDA hardship came in a couple of ways. One was our overnight ferry crossing to get to Amami Island. The ferry left at 6pm and arrived at 5am. There’s no other way to put it, this overnight ferry was inhumanely brutal. Think submarine bunks. No restaurant. No seats. Just the submarine bunks. The only way to eat dinner (we brought sushi) was to sit on deck in the dark in the wind and rain. Gear Guy longed for the comfort of our never set up, MSR Hubba Hubba tent.

We got off the ferry with little sleep (even after a good portion of Japanese whiskey) and got in the saddle while stuffing down some buns and peanut butter in the ferry parking lot, in the dark. Our ride that day was 98kms with 2,400 meters of vertical. Hardship and suffering; badge of honor with TDA. It’s part of the gig. But it’s not all like that. Some days are like a Backroads tour, 5 star. And some days are like an Outward Bound – Basic Training.

The 3 day ride around Amami was stunning. Fantastic route with no traffic, amazing landscapes and picturesque beaches. Well worth the ferry ride over. But really, we’d fly next time. Or swim. But not ferry.

Okinawa Island

We got to Okinawa via a 10 hour ferry. It was a rough sail. It was so rough for the ferry that the Captain even cancelled one of the three scheduled stops due to unsafe docking weather. Needless to say, the ferry ride was a bit sporty. Ergo … suffering. Gravol pills went for a premium.

That said, Okinawa is simply extraordinary; known for its unique culture, subtropical climate, beautiful beaches, and complex history. It’s the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, a chain of about 150 islands stretches from southern Japan towards Taiwan. Okinawa was an independent maritime kingdom with strong trade ties to China, Korea, and Southeast Asia until the late 1800’s when Japan formally and forcibly incorporated the islands.

On April 1, 1945, Allied Forces launched the Battle of Okinawa in order to establish military bases as a launching pad to defeat the Japanese Empire. The invasion force consisted of 82,000 personnel; more than the number that invaded Normandy. The Battle of Okinawa was fierce, resulting in a quarter of a million civilian and military casualties. There were more casualties from the Battle of Okinawa than there were from both Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings combined. Historians say that this battle was a key factor leading to the use of atomic weapons.

After the war, Okinawa remained under U.S. control until its return to Japan in 1972. Today, Okinawa still hosts 31 US military bases and a 32nd was under construction, resulting in recent public demonstrations. We cycled by one military base which had a wall of armed guards to block its entrance. We whisked by uneventfully and even solicited a smile from one guard. Maybe he was a cyclist. Or maybe he wondered if we thought that the show of force seemed a little over the top? We did. But hey, we’re Canadian. Eh?

We visited the site where the initial landings of the Allied fleet took place. It consists mainly of a Memorial Museum; the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters; and the Urasoe Castle Ruins nicknamed Hacksaw Ridge, popularized by the movie. Interestingly, it was more balanced than the Memorials of Hiroshima. But then, it needs to be said, the Okinawans were a different society to the Japanese before and during the war years and even still to some degree. Okinawans were not only forced as civilians to bear arms and fight for the Emperor but also were prohibited from speaking their native Okinawan language. If an Okinawan was heard speaking Okinawan, he would be executed as a spy. On top of this, there were reportedly mass executions and forced suicides of Okinawans during the battle. As you can imagine, there remains a residue of how the Okinawans were treated by the Japanese during the war. A complicating backdrop to the apparently increasing US military presence.

Nevertheless, Okinawan captivates. There is an energy and spirit different than the other islands. It is the birthplace of Karate. In the 1600’s when Okinawa’s rulers imposed weapons prohibitions, Okinawans developed empty-hand combat methods inspiring the name karate, “empty hand”. Okinawa is a Blue Zone with some of the highest life expectancies and lowest rates of age-related diseases in the world.

The riding there was, well, wet. We travelled into the edge of the typhoon which devastated the Philippines. We have cycled in rain before including the tail end of a hurricane in Newfoundland and a cyclone on the South Island of New Zealand but we don’t recall being as wet as were on Okinawa. The constant menacing drizzle was frequently interrupted with crazy, blinding squalls that felt like someone was dumping buckets of water on you from all directions. This was compounded by a violent wind gusting to 80 mph at times. This continued for a full day and a half before the typhoon left us with clearing skies. Through this we learned a new hack on how to keep iPhone navigation operating during typhoons – a shower cap and hair elastic. Magic.

TDA Report Card

TDA likes to ask newbies like us to describe the tour in just one word. Deb’s word was “wabi-sabi” – beauty in imperfection and balance in asymmetry. Gear Guy’s word was “odyssey”; a long and eventful adventurous journey or experience. It was both.

The route was amazing and, frankly, not discoverable by visitors not familiar with Japan. The TDA routes alone are worth the price of admission. The vertical climbing – well that was gratuitous hardship.

The food was fantastic – varied and authentic. Sometimes a bit TOO authentic for one of us – culinary hardship.

Accommodations were better, on the whole, than we expected. There were a couple that, well, we would have preferred our tent. But really, this is something we encountered on every long haul ride we have done. It’s unavoidable – hardship, that is.

The riders were all amazing and, as we’ve said, “Kindred Spirits”. Each one had an impressive story and history of adventures and of course, hardships. We are amateurs compared with this group.

In the successful TDA model, they preserve the raw adventure while still providing significant structure and organization, a safety net and opportunity for kinship. As our first long haul “guided trip” we’d say they over-delivered in almost every category. We will do another. Can’t get enough hardship.

And now to answer the most frequent question, which ride did we enjoy the most – Canada, New Zealand, Tasmania, SE Asia or Japan? Japan was a tough ride to be sure. It had the toughest vertical per km in all of our long haul rides by a long margin.

The distinct culture and language of Japan was captivating and entertaining at times. It is a land of contrasts – busy modern cities, yet deserted ghost towns; efficiency to the minute, but paper tickets for everything; clean cities, but no garbage cans; a slim and fit population in spite of stores filled with candy; quiet, shy people who simply go wild over karaoke; and maybe best of all, toilets that automatically open rather than solving the true household problem of closing the lid.

It’s a lot to take in.

But when we are asked what ride we liked the most, the answer must be – the ride we happen to be on at the time, because there is always another ride….

Thanks for riding along.

Here’s a comparison of our long haul rides:

2025 Japan – 2259 kms and 36,000 m over 31 days of cycling 16.1 vm per km
2024 SE Asia – 1712 kms and 8500 m over 30 days of cycling 5.0 vm per km
2023 Tasmania – 1540 kms and 19,600 m over 23 days of cycling 12.7 vm per km
2022 New Zealand – 3000 kms and 25, 700 m over 45 days of cycling 8.6vm per km
2019 Canada – 9000 kms and 49,000 m over 100 days of cycling 5.6vm per km

Day 15 Onomichi to Osaka Kamizima 68km 566 m
Day 16 Osaki to Kure 66km 1000m
Day 17 Kure to Hiroshima 53km 427 m
Day 18 Oita to Takachiho 111kms 2593m
Day 19 Takachiho to Shiba 78km 2368 m
Day 20. Shiba to Hitoyoshi 82km 2061m
Day 21 Hitoyoshi to Kirishima 68km 2109 m
Day 22 Kirishima to Kagoshima 97km 1425 m
TOTAL TODATE. 1635 kms 33,260m

The riding continues to be amazing here. But there’s more. If you are into WWII history, this leg of the tour is rife with WWII history. The city of Kure houses one of the largest shipyards of Japan. It was here that the Yamato was built during WWII. The Yamato was (and still is) the largest battleship ever built in the world. To put it in perspective, the Yamato had 50% more displacement than the Bismarck. A massive ship with overwhelming firepower. It was sunk by Allied forces near the end of the war in the Pacific. Historians have said that the Yamato was en route to Okinawa in what was believed to be a suicide mission when it was sunk without ever firing its cannons. Not once. There is an impressive “to scale” monument of the Yamato in Kure. You can stand on the actual recovered Bridge of the Yamato and look down to the Bow section where there is a recovered Anchor. Colored cobblestones mark the impressive Cannon turrets as you peer out at the Bow of the ship. Even if you are not a WWII buff, the site is awe inspiring.

It is noteworthy that Kure is also the home of a large and apparently growing Naval base. The open and obvious impressive collection of Submarines (we counted eight) that are nestled among other Naval war ships is impossible to escape your attention. As we continued our bike travels we observed surface submarines patrolling bay areas and also helicopters flying in formation from time to time. You can’t observe this activity without turning thought to the proximity of Taiwan and the South China Sea. Clearly, these islands are the center of important military and naval bases.

Hiroshima

We all know about Hiroshima. We weren’t sure what to anticipate. Like many folks, we’ve visited memorials, museums and sites of WWII. Auschwitz, for example, can leave you feeling void of soul for days or even weeks afterward. But cycling into Hiroshima was different. It is a sparkling clean city with a bustling, active, young feel. To be sure, the Peace Park and accompanying memorials have an appropriately solemn feel. The park is highlighted by the Atomic Dome, one of the few buildings left standing following the atomic blast in 1945 and left as a memorial. The focus is decidedly on the lives lost and the total devastation left. The theme of the area is a world without atomic weapons. But some might say that there is insufficient acknowledgement of the complexity of the circumstances leading up to the use of the ultimate weapon. Through our full tour of the Peace Park there was just one line in a scarcely visited exhibit about the “questionable National Policy of Japan” at the time. Missing, it is said by some, is any account of the millions of lives lost due to the apparent insatiable appetite of the Emperor for expansion of Japanese territory; which begs the mention of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour which provoked the war ending attack on Japan. To this much has been written. That is all to say, some might leave the Peace Park perhaps a little unfulfilled, maybe even bewildered. But perhaps that is the point.

Japan is one of the most volcanically active countries in the world, with more than 100 active volcanoes and thousands of hot springs (onsen). These geothermal zones are used for bathing, heating and even power generation. The city of Kagoshima treats ashfall almost as a fact of daily life, sweeping streets, collecting ash, warning of “ash rain.” Some downtown areas have roofs covering their retail areas! Cycling through many of these areas felt like playing hopscotch in Yellowstone. Spooky to be sure but just daily life in these parts. Since the Fukushima disaster (2011), Japan has increased efforts to expand geothermal energy for sustainable power.

People

Our interactions with locals have been meaningful and unforgettable. We had a young baseball team doing an English chant for the Blue Jays (alas to no avail); the shy lady working at one of the small ryokans where we stayed; the saki store owner who was SO excited we were from Canada; the young children who put on a fantastic drum program for us; the many shy passerbys that cheer us on, but don’t want their photos taken; the patient restaurant staff who slowly explain (AGAIN) in Japanese what it is we can order. Google translate app is indispensable – sometimes a slow process, but it has avoided us ordering horse meat sashimi.

Gear Guy attempting to be Translate Guy