18. Ride a Tandem Bike

Completed: 05/26/2013

 Cycling in Kyoto

Riding a tandem bicycle was one of those things that I just thought would be cool to try. I remember observing some friends on one of my trips to China renting a bike in one of Beijing's parks and riding it around. They looked like they were having a blast, and since then, I had yearned to have a try at it some point in my lifetime. That chance came on our family trip to Japan.

Taking a ride on a bike through a park is a nice, relaxing way to soak in your experience in a new city. Our family took a bike tour through Central Park on our family trip to New York, and thoroughly enjoyed it. For Japan, I wanted to incorporate a similar experience. I was very excited to come across some info on the web about a free service provided by the city from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Sundays, where a 3-mile route is closed off solely for bike riders. The course goes through a park that borders the Imperial Palace. Activities that are fun and free are always winners for me!

 

Happily cruising in the city park

We made our way to the park from the JR Tokyo Station, and filled out some short applications to get our bikes. My parents and sister had no knowledge about this awesome activity, so they were very pleasantly surprised with the experience, and it being free to boot. We arrived around 10:30, when all the tandem bikes had gone out for use. My parents were worried that they would have to wait long to get a tandem and considered to just settle for single-rider bikes, but I'm super glad I was able to convince them to wait it out (fortunately for us, it wasn't long before a pair on a tandem headed back to free up a bike for my parents to use), so they were able to get the tandem. 

Imperial Palace

 

The park was very well-maintained and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. We were also able to see views of the bordering Imperial Palace, which we later explored for a bit after our bike ride. After about half the bike ride, my parents switched with me and my sister to give us a chance to try out the tandem. It is not as easy as it looks, since both people have to balance. It was funny trying to get used to it in the beginning. The leisure bike ride was a nice break from all the rush of the city and our busy schedule trying to cram in so many activities in the week we had in Japan. We certainly all had a blast, a 10/10 experience!

Can tell my parents were having lots of fun :)