They have many facilities that cater to cyclists, including

• 24/7 guarded bike parking
• bike washing area
• DIY Bike Tools & Mechanic area (open to public)
• rental road bikes

Not to mention, there is a huge community of cyclists staying here, so there are often many group rides.

Bonus points (tons of amazing food options, a giant shopping mall, and a huge 1 hour hill climb within 5 minutes)

More information about Vanilla Residence Chiang Mai http://www.vanilla-residence.com/

Thanks to Vanilla Residence for letting me film this video! Also thanks to Lucas from Bike Aid for the interview!

All bike shop tour videos – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ZfE…

Bike shops in Thailand – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

Bike shops in Japan – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcIEs…

The post Cycling Hotel & BIKE SHOP Tour – Vanilla Residence Chiang Mai Thailand appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

This video is part of a West Japan Cycling Trip series we did in September 2020.

See our full playlist here.

Thanks to Nana-chan for showing us around Osaka!

Japanese channel – English channel

Today’s ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/4095276988

Gopro 4k cycling video

The post Best Cycling in Osaka 【4K】 Japan Cycling Tour appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

今日はモリコロパークのサイクリングコースを紹介したいと思います！

This park is an amazing cycling facility nearby our home in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture Japan, which is just east of Nagoya.

愛知県の長久手市にあります。私たちの自宅からほぼ５キロだけでよくここに遊びに来ます！

The Morikoro Park cycling course is open only to bicycles, and completely closed off to all other pedestrians. It is a very wide path with lots of space for safe cycling, and the course is about 5.1 km in length.

There are distance markers along the course, as well as rest areas and even restrooms, along with many other park attractions that you can stop at. Eventually, this park is also going to turn into a Ghibli theme park of sorts..

One extra thing to be aware of on this course is that you must stop and get off of your bike after each lap and walk back over to the start if you want to do another lap.

More information about the Morikoro Park Cycling Path Usage

This course is free to use if you bring your own bike. There are also lockers that you can use for free to store your valuables.

You can also rent bikes (kids or adult size) for 100 yen ($1) per lap.

You must wear a helmet on the course, and sandals must have an ankle strap.

Once you arrive, make sure to sign your name on the sign in sheet, and write the number of laps you completed next to your name once you finish so they know you are no longer on the course.

Access to Morikoro Park

Most people go by driving over with their bike, or riding over, but there is also a train stop right at the entrance on the LINIMO train line which connects at Fujigaoka (the end of the Higashiyama line).

The post Morikoro Park Cycling Course モリコロパーク サイクリングコース appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

元生徒が私を会いに名古屋まで来てくれました。私は自転車で名駅まで行って彼と一緒に名古屋市内（栄、大須観音）をぐるぐるしました。

The post City Cycling & Mini Tour of Nagoya, Japan | 名古屋 東山通 サイクリング appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

今日のビデオでは愛知池のサイクリングロードへ行ってきます！

It’s rainy season in Japan, which means rain & clouds almost every day. I’ve also been sick with a cold for the last few days, but there was a break in the rain and some daylight remaining after work, so I decided to maximize this time and go out for a quick spin around one of the cycling paths nearby us at Aichi Ike (愛知池).

The course is only a few km ride from our home in Japan, and it is blocked off from the main road, so it is nice and protected from motorized vehicles.

The course follows around Aichi Ike (Aichi pond), and there are a bunch of scenic views along the way.

It is only a few km long, and you also need to be careful with your speed. Fast riding is not allowed on the course, so you should not use it for hard training. Only for casual / recovery rides. It’s also a nice place to come for a cycling date 😉

There’s also a nice roadside cafe along the cycling path, so you can stop for a quick snack.

One of the downsides of the course is that there are 3 barriers that you need to navigate around. In the past, they were not rideable, but currently all three are rideable.

This path is very close to Aichi Bokujo (愛知牧場) or Aichi Farm, which has some pretty great ice cream. Hopefully we’ll come back on a sunny weekend for another ride and get some ice cream then. Unfortunately today we had little time and the rain started to come down, so we were only able to get one lap in.

愛知池 サイクリング Aichi Ike Cycling Video

The post 愛知池 サイクリングロード Aichi Ike Cycling Path, Japan / Rainy Season Has Come appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

I actually bought her these shoes a couple months ago, but we were lacking cleats for her to use, and then she had to go back to Vietnam for a few weeks. After arriving back in Japan, we had some rides already planned, and didn’t want to risk learning on the main roads, so we decided to wait..

Diadora X Trivex Plus II Womens cycling shoes

We also ordered her some new Shimano SPD pedals, which came with some new cleats.

For her first attempt at using the new cycling shoes and SPD pedals, we went to Morikoro Park’s Cycling Course.

This cycling course is a closed off 5km course that is specific for cycling only. This means that we are safe from cars, making this a perfect place to practice out using the new cycling shoes and SPD pedals.

Trying the new shoes on!

Time to try them on!

She actually rode over with her regular shoes, so this was her first time every trying out the new cycling shoes with her new pedals.

Attempting to Clip In

As with any beginner to new cycling shoes, the first time clipping in can be the biggest hurdle. We spent a few minutes fumbling around trying to get her clipped in, and for a while things were looking hopeless..

But after a while, she finally was able to clip in!

I taught her the strategy of holding only a pole/wall and sitting down while clipping in. After a bit of practice, she started to get the hang of it!

Starting to Ride

Now comes the easy part, just pedal!

She instantly felt a big difference and was telling me how light the pedals felt now. She couldn’t believe how big of a difference it made.

After finishing our lap of the 5km course, she was able to clip out (just twist) and stop safely!

For good measure, she practiced clipping in again and we did another lap, but faster this time. She beat her goal of 10 minutes on the course, and was feeling pretty exhausted, but proud and confident with using her new shoes and clipping into the SPD pedals.

All in all, it was a great success and hopefully these new cycling shoes will help take her/us to many new awesome places going forward. See you in the next cycling VLOG!

The post Wife Trying Cycling Shoes With SPD Pedals For the First Time appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Time to get started with today’s ride!

Today is the first big cycling ride with the new TWC Cycling Kit. Looking pretty good if I do say so myself 😉

恵那市 (Ena) is located NE of where I live in 岐阜県 (Gifu prefecture), which is famous for mountains. That means today is gonna be full of climbing..

I love cycling in this direction, as there are a lot of beautiful sights along the way.

This looks like a nice place for a break.

八王子神社 狛犬 (hachiouji jinja koma inu)

This is the front of Hachiouji Shrine with the guardian Shinto dogs known as koma inu.

Here’s hoping they also protect me on my ride today 🙂

Drone Time

As if climbing through the mountains wasn’t already hard enough, I was also carrying a backpack full of camera equipment, and.. my drone!

Completely worth it to be able to get some beautiful shots of this area in 瑞浪市 mizunami city.

小里城大橋

Even more worth it to get this awesome view of 小里城大橋 (orijou oohashi)

This road is crazy high off of the ground and just looks plain awesome! It’s even more fun to ride down, which I did later in the day 🙂

For now though, it’s up up up!

Finally, I arrived at my main destination, 道の駅 おばあちゃん市 山岡 (michi no eki obaachanshi, yamaoka)!

I was pretty hungry, so this was a perfect chance to fuel up on some good food. One of my favorite foods on long rides is 五平餅 (gohei mochi), which is a grilled rice stick covered in salty miso.

200 yen for pure deliciousness.

I also spoiled myself with some ice cream (350 yen).

The End

That’s it for today’s ride. I was pretty cooked by the end, and stopped for some coca cola on my way back for some extra energy.

Today’s ride on Strava

Be sure to watch the full video for all of the awesome views at 恵那市 and 道の駅 おばあちゃん市 in 岐阜県

The post 道の駅 おばあちゃん市 山岡 Cycling to Michi No Eki in Ena Japan appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

The first part of the ride was very cold and cloudy as you can see. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop us from taking some selfies.

After about a 45km ride, we arrived to the race venue at Hirata Riverside Plaza Park. The racers had already been doing time trials in the morning to determine race categories and starting positions. We arrived with good timing, right before the main races were starting.

I quickly went into vlogging mode, and started filming the race action.

I actually participated in this race last year, and won, so coming back this year and not racing was a little bit tough. On the other hand though, it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy watching the race and cheering on my friends who were participating (and suffering).

If you want to read about / watch last year’s race, click here.

Unlimited Class Start (Elite)

The fastest class of the day was “unlimited”, which was limited to the top 15 fastest riders of the morning.

The course here at Hirata for the sfiDARE Crit is half technical with some narrow turns, but also requires power with some very long straights and corners that can be taken at full speed.

This was Thuong’s first ever time seeing a race, and she quickly turned into a super fan with her cowbell.

In the end, Kodama-san, who had the fastest morning TT, also won the unlimited category race by riding solo away from the field with a strong attack halfway through.

The pack riders put in a really hard chase, ultimately shattering the pack, with the sprint for second coming down to a group of 3 who couldn’t quite close the gap to Kodama-san.

All in all, it was a really fun race to watch and it was great to see some big growth and interest in the race compared to the previous year. Kodama-san is actually a professional keirin racer here in Japan and together with his wife, they are making big strides to make fixed gear racing popular in Japan. They’ve even started their own dedicated fixed gear racing time that is racing in fixed gear races throughout the Asian circuit (and even Red Hook Brooklyn).

The Long Way Home, To Ichinomiya Tower!

Rather than going back home the same way we came, we (I) decided to take the long route back, and check out the cycling path along the Kiso river and Ichinomiya Tower 138 Park.

This was my first time coming here up close, and I was really glad we made the extra effort to come here, but I think I pushed Thuong a little bit too hard..

Nothing a quick little nap can’t fix..

We ended up getting over 100km in for the day, and the cold cloudy morning turned into a pretty warm day with some strong sun. I hadn’t prepared for such weather, and ended up getting really sun burned. Was going to happen sooner or later though.

Today’s Ride on Strava

Be sure to check out today’s VLOG as well.

sfiDARE Crit 2018 Cycling VLOG

The post 100km Ride to sfiDARE Crit 2018 Japan’s First Fixed Gear Criterium appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Since getting married and moving into our new apartment here in Japan, our bike count increased to 7 between the two of us.. Things were getting a bit out of hand and it was clear we needed to build some sort of custom bike stand to fit all of our bikes in our apartment.

Fortunately, our new apartment has an extra room. We decided to dedicate this room to be half bike room and half a work/study space. Here is a picture of the room when we first moved in.

As you can see, this didn’t leave much room for other things on the room. Also, getting the bikes out was a bit of a hassle.. Thus begins project DIY Bike Stand!

We didn’t have a super solid plan in mind before building the rack, but we had a pretty rough idea of what materials we needed.

Our first stop was to our local home center, where we bought a bunch of 2×4 wood planks that were about the same length as our ceiling height. The length of these does not matter so much, but it is important that they are a bit longer than the length of your bike (for obvious reasons).

We carried the wood back on our “mama-chari” bicycle, which has proven to be a very useful tool throughout this moving process. The rest of the tools we were mostly able to buy off of amazon.

The wood actually ended up being just a few inches too long for our room, so we had to cut them down a tad bit. Luckily we had bought a fun little handsaw and some clamps to get that job done.

Start Building The Bike Rack

Once we cut the wood down to size, we were able to start assembling the base that would stand against the wall. We did this on the ground first to get everything lined up nicely and the screws drilled in easily. Each vertical plank (front side) is intended to be a single support for each bicycle. The horizontal planks (back side) are just extra support to keep everything locked together.

The spacing between each vertical plank is up to you and your bike sizes. We went with a wider spacing, so it’s easier for us to get the bikes out, but you can go with a more narrow spacing to save more space. Just measure your handlebar width and add a few inches to figure out the spacing you need.

The next step is to attach the hooks to the top of each vertical blank. Make sure to measure the distance from the hook to the ground and check that it is longer than the length of your bicycle from front tire to back tire.

We also added some electric tape to cover the screws that were drilled into the bike rack hooks for extra protection from loose metal punctures.

Things are looking good so far, but we still need some extra support on the sides..

Building Extra Support

The easiest solution for support is triangle style, but I wanted to leave space for a small table on the right side. That way, I could still tuck one more bicycle under the table, and store things on top. Here you can see the first steps for building this.

And the final result for the right table support.

And we went with the simple triangle style on the left side to balance out the rest of the support.

Now that the support is added, all that’s left is to push it into position against the wall and load the bikes up..

Bike Stand Frontal view

Side angle view

Final Thoughts

Overall, I am very happy with the finished product, and I got my wife’s seal of approval, which is a big plus.

We’ve now got a lot of space to spare, and managed to fit a desk for study/work into the room as well. In fact, I’m writing this blog post in this very room, so it’s already being put to good use 🙂

Tools Used

• Handsaw
• Power drill / screwdriver
• Clamp
• Sandpaper
• Measuring tape
• Marker pen

Materials Used

• 2×4 Wood (5 long vertical, 3 support horizontal, 1 support diagonal, extra shorter pieces for building table)
• Screws (65mm)
• Bike Hooks / alternative hooks
• Electric Tape
• Imagination

Check out our video for this project for more in depth detail on our process.

DIY Bike Stand VLOG

The post Custom Bike Stand (Self-Supported & No Wall Drilling) appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

Mama chari’s are the standard bike in Japan. They’re big, sturdy, comfortable to ride, and can carry lots of luggage with big baskets up front and racks in the back.

I bought one myself when I first came to Japan years ago..

Sadly, I only had the bike for about a month before selling it to my coworker since it was a bit too small for my liking. But we finally have a new mama chari bike back in our family, and are already putting it to a lot of good use..

Enjoy today’s VLOG where Thuong and I go hunting at a few different bike shops for the perfect mama chari!

The post Buying a Mama Chari Bicycle in Japan 新ママチャリ appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

We searched for quite a while without any luck, but eventually found a scooter shop that had some old “new” mountain bikes in the back corner collecting dust.

We were able to get 2 bikes for about $300, which was a bit pricier than what I was expecting, but I was desperate to have something to ride. They cleaned up the bikes for us and delivered them back to Thuong’s home, so we were able to go for a quick ride later that day.

Also can’t forget to mention these awesome blue aero spokes on my new bike 😉

Once we were back home, we quickly set out for a ride on our new bikes to explore the nearby Vietnamese countryside.

There were lots of farming nearby, as well as some rivers and pretty interesting bridges.

We decided to ride to Thuong’s old high school, and her commuting path was a pretty bumpy road filled with buffalo poop, watch out!

We ended up having a pretty fun ride, but didn’t have much time remaining as the sun was starting to set.

Very happy to finally get some wheels here in Vietnam, and excited to go on some longer rides from now on 🙂

The post Cycling in Vietnam Countryside With “NEW” Mountain Bikes appeared first on Two Wheel Cruise.

I was really impressed with all of the cycling options in such a large city. There are a bunch of cycling paths, cycling lanes in most major roads, and a bunch of good hills and mountains very close by. It really is a great city for cycling. Just wish the air quality was a little better.

STRAVA Link – https://www.strava.com/activities/932420653.

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