Cycling Hokkaido

In life we are all still on our way. Some of the rides we do are such perfect metaphors for life. This episode has some things that I hope resonate with you all. This week Hokkaido sure is playing hardball, eh? Follow Cycling Hokkaido on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/ Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/cyclinghokkaido

So last year, our New Year's holiday in Thailand was pretty much destroyed by mechanical problems, this year the holiday was awesome! Bangkok and Koh Phangan are amazing places. In Bangkok we saw some beautiful places and ate some excellent food. On Koh Phangan we chilled out during the day and partied like New Year's deserves. Not only that but there was a lot of life lessons learned alon...

Happy New Year!! Up here in Hokkaido New Year's is a bit different than in other places in Japan. The feasting goes on for a few days and starts on December 31st. In much of the rest of Japan, people don't start chowing down until January 1st. In this episode of the Cycling Hokkaido podcast I give you a little glimpse into how New Year's is celebrated up here —what people eat and what...

2025 was a great year, eh! New places were explored, new limits were tested, and I got to meet a whole lot of excellent new people. This year also gave me a much greater appreciation for Ainu culture and history and Hokkaido's history in general. All of that adds so much more meaning to the rides. Through all the rain and over all the hills, it's all of you that keeps me going. Thank you!...

Small Podcast, Real Listeners! Folks, thank you all so much for tuning in to the show in 2025. I can't believe the numbers the Cycling Hokkaido podcast's Wrapped 2025 put up. Woo!! We are definitely heading in the right direction. In this episode I'm going to talk about what those numbers actually mean, how the show has grown and why it feels bigger than I ever expected. Thank you all...

So much happened this week! Life in Japan can be absolutely wild. One minute you might be going along, happy as a clam, the next you're worried if your ceiling is gonna collapse in on you. That's unfortunately a part of life in a country that's prone to earthquakes. But then you have all the great stuff that comes along with living in Sapporo, and one of those things is the annual Sapp...

Cycling is obviously coming to an end, is the storm of December 3rd it!? We shall see. I'm seriously hoping for a few more riding days but it looks like this could be it. Having said that, cycling isn't the be all and end all of life here in Hokkaido. There is a ton of great food to be eaten and ton of great people for that food to be shared with! We had some of the best yakitori ever the...

I can't believe I never knew crows were such stone cold killers! That was a brutal scene we came across in Asari the other day, but at least it was a learning experience. The season is most definitely winding down but we should be able to get a couple more rides in. And according to the study I talk about in this episode, cycling as often as possible could have some very important benefits bey...

Winter is upon us! Ishikari got slammed pretty hard, actually really hard for November 18th. I know we have to shovel a lot of snow up here in Ishikari but on November 18th!?!? It seems we're in for a long winter but so be it, let's go! And it looks like many, many of you know about this already, but did you know that chocolate milk might be the best recovery drink out there? I didn't....

In this episode Marty talks about an injury that took a while to manifest but it's here. You can still ride with biker's elbow but you gotta be careful to not make the injury worse. Like all injured body parts, you have to rest. Also in this episode Marty gets into the topic of why are Japanese bears are so aggressive. Follow Cycling Hokkaido on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaid...

Ain't no doubt about it, up here in Hokkaido, fall is my favourite time of year. The temperature is very comfortable, the food is delicious and the colours on the trees are gorgeous. Every year there are a few places I like to get out to see the autumn colours and this year I got to hit them all. Makomanai Park, Jozankei and the Kobayashi Sake Brewery in Kuriyama are the best. Over the past co...

Yo folks! This episode is a little bit different. I had 3 guests. Texas Doug, who was my guest on Ep.69 of the Cycling Hokkaido podcast and his lovely wife Hazuki, who was my guest on Ep.77, became the first 2nd timers on the Cycling Hokkaido podcast. Awesome! But what was really cool is that their friend Bryce, Bryce Benton, was back in Japan for a second time this year. His first time in Japan w...

The ride to Yakumo is turning into an annual thing. Yay! This year I decided to take on the hills and ride through the middle of Hokkaido. I rode from Ishikari to Jozankei, over the Nakayama Pass, down to Kimobetsu, through to Makkari, over to Niseko, a jaunt to Rankoshi then down to Yakumo. A most excellent ride with a HELLUVA lotta climbing. The scenery was great but even better than that was th...

The other week I set off on another Drive'n'Ride but this time the cycling kind of played second fiddle to the learning. I wanted to learn more about the Ainu, Hokkaido's indigenous people. So I started in Biratori's Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum and I learned a lot more than I was expecting. I learned some of the story of the great man, Shigeru Kayano, and what a story that is. I t...

My time on the Mikuni Pass in Daisetsuzan National Park was so much fun and the way I did it deserved 2 episodes of the show. Episode 2 is about me cycling up to the Mikuni Pass from the Kamishihoro side of the mountain. This was also a most excellent ride but was very different from riding up from the Kamikawa side. This side of the mountain was covered in old, priveval forest. There is a lot of...

At 1,139m the Mikuni Pass is the highest national road in Hokkaido and last weekend I finally got a chance to ride it. I spent 2 days riding the pass and it was excellent. On the first day, which is what this episode is about, I rode up to the pass along route 273 from Kamikawa. The whole experience was much better than I was expecting. The mountains, rivers, and cliffs were spectacular. The Sounk...

This is a really fun episode. There are sound effects. Hahaha!! I just kind of ring a bell a couple of times. But what I did find really interesting was how ineffective bear bells might be. I'm not sure where I fall on that scale but it is a legit discussion. I'm also interested to hear if you're a morning person or a leave me alone until noon person. Hahaha! As always, you can see the...

Every year, I want to make my way to Mt. Yotei to say hello. I don't know what it is, but there is something so healing about seeing that mountain. It is such a beautiful area of Hokkaido and I'm always stoked any time I get a chance to see it. Not only was Mt. Yotei gorgeous but my campsite in Fugoppe was amazing. This episode is the story of my 2-day ride to see Ezo Fuji. I left kind of...

First off, sorry folks, I made a little mistake in this. Hojicha is not a wheat tea. It's a kind of green tea. My bad. Right, let's get down to business......... I'm super lucky I got the chance to sit down and have a conversation with Kyrre Havik. Kyrre is on a 3 month tour of Japan and has been riding around Hokkaido checking out all kinds of cool stuff. He's been up in Wakkanai,...

I'm stoked I got to do this ride again. From Sea to Shining Sea is my ride where I start out the day with my feet in the Sea of Japan here in Ishikari and I ride down to Atsuma and have my feet in the Pacific Ocean. I just think there's something really cool about have my feet in both those bodies of water in the one day. Plus it's a 'super ride' for me which is always a fun th...

For this episode I was super lucky to sit down in Otaru and have a chat with Vera & Carsten of The Cyclists of Oz Instagram page. They are on a most excellent 6 month cycling tour of Japan on a kind of an unconventional route from Cape Soya to Cape Sata. I love following people's adventures like this and our conversation just 3 weeks into their tour was a lot of fun. We discussed things li...

This episode celebrates a full 2 years of the Cycling Hokkaido podcast. Thank you all VERY much for coming along on this journey. In this episode you'll find a real hodge podge of topics from what new countries are listening to the show to how to properly cook Hokkaido brown bear meat. There are also some really cool people out there doing some really cool things. As always, I hope you find va...

This week has been great! There were trips to Noboribetsu to see family and Jigokudani, Hell Valley, and the boys are home. Doing a little sightseeing in the place you are actually from is always a good idea, eh!? Then there was also Otaru this week and a surprise in seeing the Japanese training boat the Kaiwo Maru. One of my favourite rides, that I make sure to do every year, the Gokibiru bike&#3...

This is a beautiful place that is well worth a visit. By bicycle it's super easy to get to from Sapporo, it's just straight up rte.275, sure it's about 100km up rte.275 but it's a great ride and a great destination if you're looking to do a big ride from Sapporo. Of course, you can always drive it if you're with the family. I'm always very impressed how beautiful the pl...

Oh man, oh man...my Scottish family are the best! They are wild, adventurous and unhinged. This episode of the podcast features my cousin Deborah, who is an absolute wonderful person...somebody I wish I could spend more time with. Honestly, my Scottish cousins being in Japan this year has made me a VERY happy person. Jim, you are an absolute legend of a man!! Thank you for the laughs!! Scotland, t...