Greetings from Arabia

Welcome.

I'd be interested in hearing what's it like riding over there.

Traffic? Friendly people? Heat? Do you feel safe? Availability of routes? Hills? That sort of thing.

Welcome Daiho! [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif[/IMG]

Hi, Daiho, and welcome to the forums!

My niece went to Japan and told me it was stunningly beautiful. You will have to take pictures to share with us!

I have to know.... what does 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu' mean?

Thanks!

Sierra

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Yojimbo_ [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Welcome.

I'd be interested in hearing what's it like riding over there.

Traffic? Friendly people? Heat? Do you feel safe? Availability of routes? Hills? That sort of thing.

Traffic: Extremely congested in the urban areas, pretty busy in the residential areas. The island of Hokkaido has less traffic overall of all of the islands. Watch out because they have just discovered what road rage is.

Friendly people: Yes and no. They are very polite, nearly to being condescending. But they are very difficult to get to really know. Most Japanese tend to be slightly intimidated by strangers. Suffice it to say they are nice but painfully shy.

Heat: Hokkaido is pretty cool year round. Sort of like Toronto, but with more wind.

Do you feel safe: Absolutely! Especially if you have riding partners.

Availability of routes: On Hokkaido, anywhere outside of the Urban Areas is great. There are bicycle lanes and a lot of multi-use trails in the cities but they tend to be crowded.

Hills: Yes..Yes...YES! The flattest areas are near the shore. As you move inland, Hokkaido tends to get fairly hilly with some really killer climbs the farther inland that you go.

In general Japan is a bicycle friendly place, and there are a lot of cyclists in Japan. Just be safe and courteous and you will do fine.

Hi, Yojimbo.

By "over there" do you mean the UAE or Japan? Or perhaps both?

Sierraslim, I refer you here: www3.ocn.ne.jpue.htmlOpen ↗

D

Well....thanks KD but I really meant UAE.

I can imagine what it's like in Japan - hugely overpopulated with cars everywhere. Probably worse than Toronto, although the outskirts are pretty good here.

D,

Thank you for the link! I love learning about things like that.

I've never been to Japan, but it's in the top 5 of places I'd like to go next. My niece went, and has such lovely photos of temples and green hills and Mt. Fuji. I know that you will find it beautiful as well.

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Sierra

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Daiho [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Residing now in the UAE and riding both on road and off. I've got a few rides mapped at bikely.com under RAKman. I'm planning a summer 2011 tour of Hokkaido, Japan and look forward to making a few acquaintances here at cyclingforums. As we say in Japan, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Welcome to the Forum.

President Obama faced some difficult choices upon his arrival in Saudi Arabia yesterday for a five-day goodwill tour of the Middle East. During his first meeting with a head of state, he’d be greeted by King Abdullah, the same man he was accused of bowing to when they first met at the G-20 summit in London two months ago. Though White House aides insisted at the time that the president was only stooping to admire the socks of the diminutive autocrat, Obama drew flak from the right for having the nerve to respect a foreign leader.

David Abraham

That's what I thought you meant, Yojimbo.

I suppose one of the more unusual aspects of cycling in Arabia is the lack of rain. No need to worry about clipping on mud guards, a rain-out, having to splash through puddles, or being splashed by cars. The riding season is also limited, from about Oct/Nov to March/April. The other months are far too hot.

I haven't ridden at all in Abu Dhabi and only once in Dubai. I try to avoid the big cities. Traffic is pretty bad and so is some of the driving. Many foreigners (and there are more of them than Emiratis) come from cultures where drivers are used to sharing the road with bicycles, but that is not true of the Emiratis themselves, who seem to be some of the more erratic and dangerous drivers.

I live in a rural area and do most of my riding on country roads or out in the wadis, the mountain valleys and river beds. I've posted some routes here, if you're interested in taking a look.