Morning Ride to Tokyo Station and Beyond

Time in motion: 1 hour 50 minutes 17 seconds

…Max speed: 24.4 mph

This was my first real daytime ride. I had read online that around the Imperial Palace was a decent place to ride, and having walked it before, I could see how it would. I checked a map about how to get to Tokyo Station which is right next to the Imperial Palace. I basically had to head due east to get there from here in Shinjuku. I had a choice of two major roads to take, and of course I took the wrong one that lead me too far north. It would have worked had I known where to branch south, but of course signage in Japan is piss-poor and not a single sign said Tokyo station or Tokyo Tower or Imperial Palace or anything. I was wandering around for at least 30 minutes trying to find it after having already ridden 45 minutes. I was about to give up and just head back, as I was on a bit of a time schedule, but finally I came across a sign saying “Tokyo Station 300m” and sprinted on down seeing the European styled station building.

…I hadn’t come all that way to not ride the loop around the Imperial Palace, so even though not really having the time I did it anyway and indeed the wide, smooth sidewalk surrounding the palace and its moat made for the best riding by far I’ve yet to find in the city. I definitely go back in the future.

…I had another hard time finding a good road to take back to Shinjuku before finding a sign to Yotsuya (the midpoint city) and it turned out to be the second road I could have taken. It was much faster and easier.

…The sun was pretty hot out today. I took water with me for the first time, and it was definitely needed.

…My next ride might not be until next week as there isn’t much time tomorrow and Saturday will be skimboarding and Sunday will be frisbee.

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