Oli's guide to cycling in Tokyo
Tokyo is a very cycle-friendly city. If you have a Japanese bike that is. What is a Japanese bike, you might ask? A super-cool keirin monster? A Shimano ultralight techno marvel? Errr, no. It's a giant wrought-iron framed monstrosity worthy only of the name bicycle by a hideous etymology. I am weeping as I write this, but most bikes here have kickstands - often the big ones that go round both sides a bit like a moto's. Baskets on the front are also commonplace - and the only time those are excusable is when a dog is riding on them, cause that's funny. But dogs here ride in bags. There's nary a sign of a decent set of wheels, all are rusted and gone to ruin. Chains creak and brakes squeal all night long. It's enough to drive me to drink. But not all bikes are terrible.
Like many things in Tokyo, things are One or The Other. Such a cliche, but rooted in truth. If One is a crappy old Mama-chari, then The Other is a supercool tricked out fixie. Plenty of people do really love bikes here. It can be fakenger heaven, that's for sure. This is reflected in the fact that a bike shop here sells everything one could ever want - except for some reason forks. A 3/16th Chain? No worries, pick your colour. Rows upon rows of spares, in all different sizes and colours till your head spins and you panic through analysis paralysis. Until your wallet makes the decision for you, that is. Shimano gear made up the road costs more here than when it's sold on the other side of the world in Rip-off BritainTM. The cost on anything designated as cool messenger style is tripled or quadrupled. I have found a couple of decent enough stores, but most are comically expensive. It seems here, though, that people will pay for things like that. I've seen plenty of all-the-gear-no-idea folk here.
And what of riding one's bike in Tokyo? Riding on the pavement is the norm here. The police do it, women carrying children do it and if you're over 65 it actually is 100% legal. Those old folk really are a menace here. Many bigger pavements have cycle zones on them for you to ignore and merrily weave around like a drunkard. Locking your bike seems to be unheard of here. I've seen a full carbon, dura-ace road bike locked with one of those locks from a pound shop. In the same location, day after day. I've not seen anyone with a lock like mine. Largely bikes are left unlocked - there are no cycle racks. None. There are areas to leave your bike in. Of course, there's not so many places to balance your bike - they expect you to have a kickstand.
Despite the ease with which one can ride on the pavement, it's a waste, given that the drivers here are largely wonderful. They pass close (like in London) but they respect your right to be on the road and often hang back to give you space and time. It's confusing. There aren't a great deal of drivers, thanks to the decentralised layout and world-best mass transit. This means no jams, often one can cycle down a road not seeing any cars until a burst of 5 go past. Like on country roads, but in the middle of a megalopolis. Pedestrians are good here too. Very rare that anyone crosses on a red man, let alone away from a crossing. As is common in Europe, it's legal to make an offside turn through red.
Roads essentially split into three categories - Backstreet, Main Road and Artery. Backstreets have no pavement but a little line painted on the ground to kind of tell pedestrians where to walk. These are typically traffic free, very narrow and with lots of casual cyclists (shudder) and pedestrians infesting them. Main Roads have proper pavements and actually go to another place rather than the end of the block. They have lots of crossings and general road furniture, but you can get through them pretty quick when you need to. Arterial roads are great. Few crossings (often just bridges over the road), few turnings and lots of lanes. You can really motor on these roads. As long as one avoids the expressway turns, these roads are sweeet.
The single best thing about riding here though, is Tokyo itself. The name itself conjures up such an image still, despite months of living here. It's like being in Akira. The best expression of that feeling is found in shooting through the streets at night on your bike. Neon blazes above you and people teem in their thousands (literally) around you. When the road starts melting into a cavalcade of ramps, tunnels, bridges, joins, junctions, roads criss-crossing at different angles, trains and monorails and whatnot all seemingly sharing the same space...it's mad. Fun but quite, quite mad. Night's fun, but the day's none too shabby. It's a great way to tool around and see the ever-interesting jumble of buildings that comprise Tokyo. Of course, our swish central location means that we can get anywhere worth being very soon. So all in all, life is good for cycling here. |
