Your one stop shop for cycling links in and around Iwakuni,
Yamaguchi and Beyond
Shops
Ueki Sport Cycle, Otake- I'm sure there are other cycle shops in the Iwakuni area. I can't imagine needing to go to any other shop, though. Ueki's shop is small on the inside, but anything I've needed to order has always come in a matter of days. He works quick, speaks great English and is absolutely the best LBS I've ever dealt with. Highend Bike- A Tokyo cycle shop, the only approved Dean distributor in Japan. Their focus is to serve for true bike riders, providing quality bike - namely "Dean" Titanium framesets and Italian pro racing parts "Extralite". Beside these core products, they sell American handmade bikes Klein and Cannondale. Address and phone information is listed on their site. (This site is in Japanese) Hirosige Cycle Shop- A cycle shop in Yanai, about 30-45 minutes from Iwakuni via Rte 188. They offer a wide selection of goods and services. They also sponsor a handful of events each year which are listed on their calendar on their page. Their site is easy to navigate - though it is in Japanese. They are listed in the Cycle Shops navigation tab, Chugoku/Shikoku Region, 山口 prefecture, first title.
Rides
Japan Brevet Organization- I've done at least one of their 200KM rides. They have rides all the way up to 1000KM for the die hard randonneurs. The 200KM ride in Sakai was through some rather rough traffic, so it was long. This year I'll also do their Otsu 200KM brevet, hoping there will be a lot less stop/start. Iwami Fun Ride- Not sure exactly how fun this is. It's a 2-day, 300km ride in the middle of May. 160KM the first day, and 140km the second. Fully SAG'd ride though and some decent climbing to boot. Tour de Kunisaki- This appears to be the first century of the season in this part of Japan. It happens near Oita airport. There are campgrounds in the area, so from Iwakuni you can take a ferry or the expressway down and stay over the day before. It has ride lengths start at 60km up to 160km Tour de Noto- 400km Ride, 3 day event. For 2006 it runs on September 17-19th. It's in Toyama prefecture, about 7 hours drive from Iwakuni. One Day Run- The "One Day Run" is a 140km race on Japan Sea Side near Izumo in the first week of October. It's a ride around a large lake so it's a mostly flat route. It's been described as the equivalent of the second day of the "Iwami Fun Ride," for those that have looked there. Okayama Int'l Circuit Race- Endurance race which includes 2, 3 and 6 hour races around the Okayama Int'l Race Circuit. It's a 3.7km Formula race course and it's all about going the furthest in the registered time limit. Fast paced and a great course. Shimonoseki 120KM- 120KM fun ride starting in Shimonoseki. The course travels up the coastline with some fantastic views and returns to Shimonoseki through the mountains. Fun ride only.
Maps
GPS Maps of Japan- For Garmin users, these are the necessary *.img files to get GPS Maps of Japan. The placenames aren't in there because the Garmin won't take Kanji. I'm working on retrieving maps with that info too, but for now you can use the program "sendmap" (google for it) and these img files to get everything. My GPSMAP60CS can hold all of the maps. More info to follow soon on this link. Mapion- This is by far the best maps I've found for Japan. The roads are spot on and are very helpful. Once you've learned your way around a bit, you can navigate and find places to stop, tourist locations, onsens and anything else you're looking for. Mapple.net- These are the same folks that make the map book that is listed on the front page of CycleIwakuni.com The web site is a lot less intuitive for a non-Japanese speaker. I also find that it tends to not translate with any of the normal web translators as well as many other Japanese sites. I have used it to find hotel locations when I traveled to Osaka for the Sakai Brevet Google Maps- If all you want is barebones, looking at maps, Google Maps will do the trick. Magnalox- This isn't really a map site on its own, but it is a cool place to take your GPS stuff and make moving maps and be able to share completed rides if you have tracked it using a GPS. I log my centuries here for the UMCA Year-Rounder Challenge Even Better Garmin GPS Maps- For 9000yen these maps include placenames and a whole lot of enhancements. These still do not provide routable roads or trails, but they are a much better set of maps than what CycleIwakuni.com has put together. These are also workable with Mapsource. The shopping site is available in English.
General
Bike Forums- If you need help and can't find someone to do it, there's plenty of information mixed amongst the bikeforums.net archives. Don't mind all the attitude and posturing that seems to go on from some of the folks. The majority of the people on these forums can provide you with all the detail info you need when you need to tweak your riding or training. Bike Journal- From their own description - "Bikejournal is designed to provide you, the avid or recreational biker, with a convenient and fun way to track your rides and meet other cyclists for camaraderie, motivation, and even competition" Indoor Trainer Support Group- For those long winter months where you might spend a lot of time on the indoor trainer, this group gives support in a number of ways. It has database logging for logging all of your distances/times on the trainer - a way to stay accountable to someone else. There are also files and a message list that provide information on training indoors. Ｔ田＠の 自転車バンザイ- Japanese personal web page and information about cycling in the area. Has route information and a bulletin board for discussion. Some of his route information has pictures and altitude profiles.
Organizations
Japan Cycling Association- Japan's version of USA Cycling. They sponsor races throughout the country and are advocates for cycling in Japan. Japan Brevet Organization- Japanese branch of the Randonneur's organization. They sponsor rides primarily in the Osaka area, so far. Kumamoto Prefecture Cycling Association- Looks like at least 3 races per year! Need to find these on the map.
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