Friday 18 September 2025

I have not missed a day of posting, we lost half a day due to the time difference. We left Canada on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon.

After a good night’s sleep, we were awake and ready to go at about 8:00. We had a few things to do today: put bikes back together, check on keeping the boxes at the hotel, and finding the rules about taking the bikes on the train when we return from Hiroshima.

After breakfast in the restaurant at the hotel, we (o.k. Ralf) proceeded to put the bikes back together. It only took him a few hours and we were ready for lunch. Unfortunately, during the packing we (again Ralf) forgot to put a bike pump into the bag.  We discussed whether we needed one as we could pop into a bike shop to pump the tires back up to the correct pressure. However, if we get a flat on the road, we will need a pump. We found a bike shop only 80 metres from our hotel.  OMG I think we died and went to heaven. What a shop – two floors the first floor had the bikes, everything from a Brompton to a Pinarello and everything in between, the second floor had every bike tool and bike accessory you could ever want and some you really don’t need. Awesome bike store. We did buy a pump.

We asked at the reception of the hotel if they would save the bike boxes for us, and we would stay here on our return. Unfortunately, they said they couldn’t keep the boxes, so we trashed them. We will look at a hotel in Tokyo for our return to Tokyo at the end of October. Hopefully we can find a hotel with airport services.

We wandered over to the train station and found out we could bring our bikes on the train so long as they are in a bag, and we will need to book the bikes in advance. As soon as we get into Hiroshima, we will book the train tickets and the bikes. Ralf will get to ride on the Shinkansen (bullet train).

View from Lazona Kawasaki Plaza near the train station

A successful day, finishing with a drink on the rooftop terrace.

Rooftop terrace