Biking in Japan,
<--Here we have a fine example of what seems like 70-80% Of the bikes here in Kariya. Front Basket, rear rack, Mandatory Light, Bell, Kick through stand, Servo rear brake & Single speed. Which all in all makes up a decent daily commuter/grocery getter.
Here's a photo of one of twelve rows at this side of the train station. Thing is there's also a 2 floor garage and another parking area of similar size on the other side of the tracks. So to say that biking is kinda a norm here would be an understatement. Thankfully the city here is set up with that in mind.
These are a few examples of the normal riding areas you'll see about town. To the left is what you'll see in the more neighborhoodish areas. A lot of times on all the side and smaller roads there won't actually be a sidewalk per say. All you get is this nice white line to separate you from the Cars. Thankfully unlike in the US the cars here actually move away/give you space when passing. On the right is an example of the Bike lanes on the larger roads through town. So if just a white line everything's fair game, bikes, walkers, mopeds, you call it. And then the Blue ones are dedicated to Bikes and such.
Now where there are sidewalks they're normally pretty nice. About 6~8' wide. But here's where things start to get a little sketchy. As far as I've seen there really is no rule for wether riding on them is okay or not. Alot of times even if there is a white line or bike lane that you can ride in on the road you'll see alot of people ride on the side walk instead. And there really is no rhyme or reason to which side of the sidewalk you ride or walk on. Center, Right, Left. So that's been one of the most interesting parts of riding so far. And while the Silver bikes we have here at the Hotel are great for short distances. After riding out to a mall a town over the rather low gearing definitely began to show it's weaknesses, and limited speed. So stay tuned for the next post on my adventure of finding a bike.
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