Pete's Chari & Soma

So last month we said goodbye to a friend, Nara biking legend and all round good guy big Pete and his lovely lady returned home to America after three years in Tawaramoto, Nara. He very kindly left his prized Bubba with us which meant during his final few weeks he was riding this rather fine example of the ubiquitous Japanese mama-chari...

That #BasketLyfe thing was happening here well before the Californian yuppies and dentists made it trendy and expensive...

No need for #ShutUpLegs style inspirational top tube quotes, just a few sensible rules to keep oneself alive...

Fully enclosed single speed chain guards are the new 1x11...

Security is important too...

A fine steed, a work horse that will still be rolling the streets of southern Nara long after we've all moved onto the next tyre size gravel bike coffee outsiding trend...

He may be gone but he's still riding. And in style too on his new SomaFab 26er looking pretty pretty good in these two shots...

Bonus cool points for the Bob Mould star...

There will be regular updates posted here soon from the man himself and his bike adventures in Minneapolis.

F-i-N Rides Again

He doesn't blog much but when he does, oh boy is he good. More stunning photography and local flavour over on Fixed In Nara...

Follow F-i-N on Instagram and Twitter for more regular slices of Nara cycling life.

Achieve Ride Pt 5

An early start last Sunday, hooking up with F-i-N to catch the train to Kyoto...

Feeling the benefits of evil globalisation with a much needed coffee stop...

The destination was the Achieve shop who had organised a Sunday morning alley cat/orienteering ride...

The group was split into teams of three and we had two hours to hit as many of six checkpoints around the city as we could...

First stop was the art museum...

Where the Makio Yamaguchi "Bird in Crotch: Saddle" was the required find...

Then back out on the road heading for the second checkpoint, F-i-N setting a puke inducing pace...

As F-i-N and Andrew went on ahead, KCDC took a rest stop, did some map checking (smoked a fag) and took a few photos...

A quick combini stop for pisses, smokes and a Red Bull...

And we were back in the game...

The final point we hit was the railway museum...

And then back to Achieve to wait for everyone to return...

There was a fair amount of #bikeporn around...

After leaving Acheive we took a trip to the superb new Crazy Sheep Farm shop...

Then a gentle cruise through town, taking shots as we went...

A stop at the ever wonderful Cycle Garden...

Hanging out down by the river...

Before catching the train back to little Nara...

OK, here come the thank you's; Massive thanks to Brad and Andrew for being such wonderful team mates (we actually won the alley cat, fuck know's how!!) Huge thanks to everyone at Achieve & Cycle Garden & Deeper's Wear for putting on such a cool ride. And cheers (forgive the Instagram names) to Kiilo Bicycle, Hossica, Michiko, BromnLife, NY.City6813, Kohei and all the Grid boys and everyone else who came out and made it such a fun ride. There will be more from the Crazy Sheep shop and more bike photos from the ride posted here just as soon as we can be arsed to edit all the photos. 

The Oldest Road

A beautiful day last Sunday, perfect conditions for a ride with F-i-N...

Torii stop (1)

We headed south, first passing through the brainwashed creepiness that is Tenri...

Entering Tenri.

Like hitting a timequake and landing in the mid 70's...

Welcome to Pyongyang.

Our destination for the day was the Yamanobe-no-Michi, the "oldest" road in Japan...

Torii stop (2)

As we passed through farmland heading up to the trail we came across this little stall selling cotton seeds. It's run by a local non-profit farming organisation called Hamayuan who offer solace and support for people suffering from depression, anxiety and other problems...

Cotton for sale.

Info about Hamayuan

Cotton.

Roads Like These.

A short ride later and we were on the oldest road in Japan...

This old road.

Beautiful views across southern Nara...

See for miles.

Fruity.

Torii stop (3).

Local produce was on offer all the way along the trail...

Shop. Local.

And some local characters were pleased to see us...

Prisoner.

But it was the scenery that really makes this place special...

Outside...

...Is...

...Free.

We went as far as the tomb of Queen Himiko...

Tomb raiders.

A quick stop at the Oyamoto Shrine on the way back up to Nara city...

Rest stop.

A huge thank you to Brad for being a very good guide and navigator for the day. That boy really knows his Nara history!

Navigator.

Monkey business.