How I planned a solo cycle tour in Nagano, Japan

How I planned a solo cycle tour in Nagano, Japan

Does your idea of a good time look like 16 
days in Japan? Self-planned and self-organized, all trains, no taxi, all alone with 8 days of 
cycling/cycle touring and traveling to nine different hotels. If you’re new to this channel, 
I’m Min Yi from Singapore. For over 2 weeks in the summer, I visited parts of Japan I had never 
been before, exploring by foot and to cycle 693 km. This video shares my experience and advice 
for planning and riding in the Japan Alps all by yourself. Maybe you’ll think twice about 
organizing your own trip. Or maybe this video will help you with planning what you need. First, 
here’s an overview of my 16 days in Japan. After my first night in Tokyo, I spent the next four 
nights in Nagano City. And then I started moving around Nagano Prefecture, including cycle touring 
for 3 days and two nights from Iida to Lake Suwa, Ueda and then back to Nagano City. I then took 
trains with my bike to Karuizawa, Kiryu City, and then finally back to the outskirts of Tokyo. 
So, when planning your own cycling trip, there are basically three questions you need to answer. One, 
where to cycle. I planned to stick to one region, which is Nagano, instead of bike packing 
across Japan for two reasons. One, I wanted to do lots of climbing with my bike. Climbs are 
honestly really ideal for solo itineraries. Two, I didn’t want to set off on a bike packing journey 
when I wasn’t even sure if my gear and my setup was good enough for it. Once you’ve decided where 
you want to go, look for GPX routes and adapt them if needed. I got many routes from websites like 
Japan Alps Cycling, Bike Tour Japan, and Komoot. I also used Plotaroute to customize them to my exact 
start and end point and took in advice from people who had done similar trips. You can check out 
all of my Strava routes in the description below. Number two, where to stay. This process isn’t too 
different from any normal overseas trip. You could prioritize proximity to your cycling start points. 
Three, how to travel from place to place. I did a lot of online research on whether I could bring 
my bike onto the high-speed or local trains. The answer is yes, as long as you can carry it inside 
a (rinko) bag. For luggage storage and transfers, I used storage lockers at the train stations. 
The fees were 400 yen per day, but this depends on the size of your locker. I also used Ta Q Bin 
to forward my bag while I was bike packing. Most hotels should be able to help you with this. So, I 
sent my bag to a convenience store near the train station because I saw on the Ta Q Bin website that 
this was one of the receiving points. But when I went to pick it up, the staff were quite angry and 
told me to never do this again. I didn’t forward my bag to my next hotel because I needed to 
retrieve and use my rinko bag to take the train to Karuizawa. We’ll answer questions from Instagram 
next. The first one is about tips for solo bike packing. So, what I would say is that if you have 
the chance to do something like this, just go and don’t wait for the perfect moment. Choose your 
destination wisely based on how rugged or isolated you want your trip to be, how comfortable you 
need to be, how familiar you are with the region, etc. Be self-sufficient in basic bike repair. 
Bring tools. Know how to fix common issues such as punctures. And if all else fails, learn to and 
trust that you can adapt to unforeseen mishaps. As with many things in general, Google, YouTube, 
or even Google Maps is your best friend. Next, good gear will be useful. For example, layers for 
changing weather conditions, a bike computer that can route to locations and even reroute 
if you take a wrong turn, and of course, bags on your bike so that you can store stuff, but 
also easily access stuff. Next, be adaptable. Keep researching for better alternatives to what you 
want to do and where you want to go. Google maps proposed certain train journeys for me but they 
all transited at Shinjuku which was not ideal. So then I slightly changed my starting point and 
then it showed me a parallel route to the airport which was so much better. Next question on bike 
choice. Um so I didn’t do anything special to set up my bike for this trip because the 
terrain is generally road tarmac although not all. And also my gear ratio is already a 
semi compact. Gear choice and considerations. Gear choice honestly was what I already had on 
hand. So I had a bar bag from my ex-colagues, saddle bag from Kelvin, a top tube bag and also 
a Rapha stem bag which I was using for the very first time. My considerations were will it hold 
my stuff? Is it waterproof and robust enough for the journey? Hotel rules. I don’t think they have 
any national regulation about bringing bikes into your hotel room. I only slept with my bike with 
me at five hotels. At the four other hotels, from the most secure to the least secure, my 
bike was kept at number one, the store room next to the hotel lobby, the corridor next to 
the lobby counter, a sheltered alleyway outside of the hotel, and this alleyway is accessible by 
a sliding door that is not locked, and lastly, outside the hotel entrance, but the hotel’s on 
the second story. So, those are the four places. Where to park the bike? I just parked my bike 
outside of whatever restaurant I went to where it wouldn’t fall over or obstruct people. If 
I could park it where I could have eyes on it, then great. But if I couldn’t, which was often, 
then I would just bring into the restaurant with me my Wahoo Ace bike computer. I’d have it on the 
table and watch it to see if it suddenly resumes ride. You can generally get away with this in 
Japan. This is a spider, by the way. This this thing that you see right here, this is a spider 
um crossing the lens. Wait, let me take a video. Don’t go away. Don’t go away. Hello little buddy. 
What were the logistics of flying with a bike? So I used a Scicon hard case bike bag to transport 
my bike from Singapore to Japan. And then I kept it at Haneda airport luggage storage for 15 days 
at a cost of 1,100 yen per day. And now to wrap up this video, here are four big things that 
I couldn’t have anticipated. The good surprise was being able to add the Suica card to my Apple 
wallet and it became much easier to pay for stuff at the konbinis or restaurants and to tap into the 
train stations. The bad surprise was actually the weather. I had to cancel two of my rides because 
of the rain. The hardest part was traveling with my bike onto the trains. In Japan, you can bring 
your bike on the train as long as it’s in a bag. You don’t need to reserve any special seat, 
although you could do so, especially on the bullet trains. You also don’t need to pay any 
extra fees. But here are two major things to take note of. First, the physical inconvenience. 
A road bike is a heavy, bulky item. It’s not easy to carry it around, especially if you’re already 
carrying other bags. I also learned the hard way that you have to protect your bike frame against 
your wheels and the disc brake rotors. Second, the crowds. Avoid rush hour at all costs and 
avoid traveling into Tokyo if you can. Even if it is physically possible to board with your 
bag, it would be extremely embarrassing. Okay, so how is a solo trip different from a trip with 
your friends? Besides obvious differences such as company and moral support, when you’re with a 
group, it means that you’re with other people who can point out when you’re doing stupid things. For 
example, why are you leaving your lick warmers in the hotel? And of course, when you’re solo, if 
anything happens to you, nobody is immediately on site. In terms of things that I would do 
differently, I could have stayed in hostels instead if I wanted to save more yen. Second, I 
honestly could have packed even lighter. Finally, if I were in a group, I could have done more bike 
packing than the 3 days, two nights that I did. And here are my final thoughts. I don’t think I 
fully processed the entire trip yet. So, making this video is one way to process it. It was a 
really good trip. I was very happy and I felt like I definitely made the most of every single day. 
Even though along the way, you know, sometimes it was raining, then I would cancel my cycling 
plans and then I would have to find things to do. Is that the spider on my face? Oh my goodness. Oh 
my goodness. The spiders on my face. What? Okay. Ah. Ah. Ah. I feel like it’s multiple spiders 
landing on me. This looks like a different one. I hope it’s not spinning a thread. Okay. Anyway, 
um, so yeah, really fantastic trip. [Music] [Music]

This video is a visual summary of how I approached my self-planned, self-organised solo trip to Nagano, Gunma and Tokyo in May/June 2025.

I was in Japan for more than two weeks and managed to do eight rides, including to Hakuba, Mt Akagi, and Utsukishigahara Highlands. These rides came up to 693km and 11,000m of elevation gain. I absolutely loved the blue-green scenery, the peace of the roads, and the delicious food everywhere you go. It was a wonderful trip, both on and off the bike and I would definitely do something like this again one day.

This video didn’t manage to capture everything, and some things are best relayed in a write-up! So if there’s any topic that I wasn’t clear on, please leave a comment.

Enjoy your travels, solo or otherwise 🎉

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Strava Routes:
Ride 1: Around Nagano City – https://www.strava.com/activities/14628928165
Ride 2: To Hakuba & Back – https://www.strava.com/activities/14638941293
Ride 3: From Matsumoto to Utsukishigahara Highlands and back – https://www.strava.com/activities/14669378553
Ride 4: Bikepacking Iida to Lake Suwa – https://www.strava.com/activities/14691611115
Ride 5: Bikepacking Suwa to Ueda – https://www.strava.com/activities/14703069149
Ride 6: Bikepacking Ueda to Nagano City – https://www.strava.com/activities/14712441922
Ride 7: Kiryu to Mt Akagi – https://www.strava.com/activities/14730200625
Ride 8: Lazy Ride around Chofu – https://www.strava.com/activities/14740732845

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Special thanks to:
💙Entro Cycles Singapore [https://www.entro.com.sg/] for the Wahoo Elemnt Ace, Fizik Vento Argo Adaptive Saddle, Hirzl gloves, Wahoo Tickr FIT HRM
💙Rapha Singapore for the Pro Team kit, jacket, insulated gilet, stem bag, socks
💙The generous individuals who shared their advice and suggestions (and pre-loved supplies) with me!