Cycling Hokkaido

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 pics of the rides in this episode on the Cycling Hokkaido podcast page at......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

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 on Sunday afternoon and spent the night on the beach in Fugoppe, which was amazing, left early in the morning and rode all kinds of hills! With that route, I knew the climbing I was in for and was mentally well prepared, so no problem! So, from a camp at a beautiful spot on the beach, to one of the most iconic images of Hokkaido, I hope you enjoy this episode. Have fun out there, folks!! Here's the Ride with GPS link....https://ridewithgps.com/trips/332453638Here's the Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.instagram/

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, ridden down the eastern coast of Hokkaido, seen the Taushubetsu River Bridge, ridden the Mikuni Pass, been to Mukawa, ridden from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan up in Ishikari and has been camping and enjoying the onsens. He'd been riding a LOT of gravel roads until he came across 2 bear cubs. Yikes!!! He tells his stories of life on the road by bike up here in Hokkaido. Here is a link to his Plog (Photo log).......https://kyrreman.no/plog/This was a really fun conversation and again, I'm stoked I got the chance to sit down and have a chat with Kyrre. As always, I hope you like this episode and are having fun out there!Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

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 thing to do. Along the way I had some gorgeous scenery as I rode through the horse ranches in Abira. A horse ranch always makes for beautiful scenery when you're on your bike, eh!? As always folks, I hope you like this episode. Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/My RideWithGPS account is at .......https://ridewithgps.com/users/8995030Here are the Star Wars videos from Escon Field.....https://youtu.be/zFMjAH9NPAA?feature=sharedhttps://youtu.be/tyW2O6suYJ4?feature=shared

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 like Hokkaido campsites, convenience store food, onsens, tunnels, bikepacking and all kinds of things that make the cycling experience what it is. As always, I hope you find value in this episode. The Cyclists of Oz Instagram page is at .........www.instagram.com/the_cyclists_of_oz/The Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page is at......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

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 value in this episode and are having fun out there! The Cycling Hokkaido podcast Instagram page is at.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

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'n'hike got done as well. Being out in nature is the best. Cycling aside, one of my favourite things to do during summer vacation is to get a summer movie in with my boys. F1 on ScreenX did NOT disappoint....that was AWESOME!! We've still got a bit of time left in summer holidays. Have fun out there, folks. Summer on!!Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/And I stopped in at Debbie's cycling rest house on the Ororonline as well and enjoyed some delicious snacks and air conditioning. You can find Debbie at.....www.instagram.com/ororoncliffhouse/

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 place is but I was even more impressed with it when I dug into it's history a little bit more. And Texas Doug and I had another hike up Mt.Moiwa. This summer is shaping up to be one of the greats! I hope you're having fun out there and I hope you like this episode. Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

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, thank you for coming to Japan this year! We ate the Hokkaido food, saw Furano, Biei, Lake Toya, Sapporo and all of it....an amazing trip. Thank you! As always, I hope you all enjoy this episode of the podcast. Have fun out there. Scotland rules!! Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram page.......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

I can't believe I've made it to episode 100. 100 straight weeks of doing the Cycling Hokkaido podcast has been a lot of fun. In this episode I talk about the show hitting 80th in the rankings for sports podcasts in all Japan, a new milestone, new places that have tuned in to the show, a new account on 'Ride with GPS', the Sapporo Odori Park Beer Gardens and give thanks to all who have been a part of or tuned in to the show. Thank you all very much for being a part of 100 episodes!! There will be more!! Have fun out there. Cycling Hokkaido podcast Instagram page is at......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

Furano has so much to offer for cycling, hiking and sightseeing. It's no wonder it's one of the most popular tourist spots in Hokkaido. I am super stoked I got to see it by bike with Bradley Paul Bennet. Brad is a professional/licensed guide who is based in both Furano and Tokyo. He is also the founder/owner/operator of the guiding company Freewheeling.jp. We'd been trying to get together for a ride for about a year and finally the stars aligned and we had an epic ride all over Furano, Biei, Nakafurano and more. On our ride we saw Farm Tomita, Hinode Park, cycled the Roller Coaster Road and Panorama Road, ate some great food at Chiyoda Farm and Kaneko Coffee Farm......what can I say it was a most excellent day. There was a lot of climbing, beautiful weather and gorgeous scenery. Brad knows his way around Furano!! Folks, if your thinking of visiting the area for cycling, hiking or winter sports get in touch with Freewheeling.jp you will not be disappointed. I hope you all enjoy this conversation I had with Brad shortly after our ride around Furano. And folks, this is episode 99......the Gretzky episode! IYKYK You can find Freewheeling.jp at......https://freewheeling.jp/Freewheeling.jp's Instagram page is at......www.instagram.com/freewheeling.jp/Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram page is at.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

I can't believe it has taken me all this time before I hiked up Mt.Moiwa. It's a beautiful place with a much richer history than I could have imagined. Who knew it was a 'Natural Monument of Extraordinary Academic Value'?? If you've spent any time at all in Sapporo you have seen Mt.Moiwa, but did you take a minute to delve into it's history? Well, just in case you didn't, have a listen to this episode. As always, I hope you like it. Have fun out there, folks!Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/Cycling Hokkaido YouTube Mt.Moiwa video.....https://youtt.be/Ce710GkEo5s?feature=shared

A Super Ride to my friends and I is a ride over 200km in a day. A Super Ride to Shakotan is always a great day. That was the first time the Englishman or I had ever done a Super Ride with another person, usually they're lone wolf type adventures, sure it took longer but it was an awesome day! From Sapporo, Teine to Otaru to Yoichi to Furubira to Shakotan and all the amazing sights along the way that is an amazing ride to do. Coastal scenes to forest greens, that is an awesome ride. Plus I had to get some new tires and went about a new way of getting them. As always, I hope you enjoy this episode. Have fun out there, folks! Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/Cycling Hokkaido YouTube page.....https://www.youtube.com/@martinlangford53

What a weekend! From the very serious history of Yasukuni Shrine to the much more playful history of pro-wrestling in Japan, this episode has a lot to offer. And we've now been in the stomping grounds of wrestlers the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena, The Road Warriors and Bruiser Brody. Not only them but fighters like Mike Tyson, Murata and Badr Hari....Ribera is an amazing steakhouse to visit. And sightseeing places like Mt.Takao was amazing. So much of that place feels like you're hiking through a Ghibli movie. Awesome! As always, when we're in Tokyo, I feel we do a mighty fine job of sightseeing around. Love it. As always, I hope you enjoy this episode. Have fun out there, folks!Cycling Hokkaido Instagram account.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

I met a whole bunch of new people this week and it was great fun. Hirokazu Fukunami is a very interesting guy who's been walking around Japan giving free rickshaw rides to all who'd like one for the past 3 years. He's now 3 months into his Hokkaido adventure. The Ororon Line is full of interesting people. I also joined a group ride last week which was great. Next time I hope I can be there for the pizza and coffee. I hope you like this episode. The Cycling Hokkaido podcast Instagram page......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/Debbie's Ororon Cliff House rest stop Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/ororoncliffhouse/Hirokazu Fukunami's Instagram page..............www.instagram.com/getakozo2973/

This was a place I'd wanted to get to for a long, long time and it finally happened. I rode the biggest ride of my life, a one day total of 253.38km, out to Canadian World in Ashibetsu. This is a place with a very interesting history and it's still a cool looking place. And if you're looking for a big ride destination from Sapporo, this is the place for you! The history just along Rte.12, the coal mining history of Hokkaido, white elephants along the way, this could be Cycling Hokkaido's most interesting episode to date. And now that the season is finally in full swing, there's a lot more to come! I was super happy to meet a few more people out there and am looking forward to meeting more of you awesome travelers. Have fun out there, folks!Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

Marty hiked up Mt. Eniwadake and it was quite the adventure! That was the first time he's ever done a hike like that and stoked on the new experience. The Shikotsu-Toya National park in Hokkaido is a beautiful place and getting a bird's eye view of it from the top of Mt. Eniwadake was amazing. The forests and volcanic activity in that area never disappoints. And the cycling curse of 2025 is still on.....or is it? Has this year's cycling finally taken a turn for the better? The jury is still out on that one but things might have taken a turn for the better. Hope you like this episode!Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/YouTube links....https://youtube.com/shorts/7XDSoycOTE?si=MO7k1xY97m2IXek8https://youtube.com/shorts/-XPh0sUWcN8?feature=shared

I learned some new Japanese this week, as I usually do, and I thought this one was worth an episode's title. Always make sure you ain't flying low. Also in this episode Marty talks about cycling route 231, the Sea of Japan and a new really cool idea. Sorry, folks! This is amendment to episode 92. Debbie just got in touch with me a few days after this episode came out and something came up that won't allow her to open up her rest stop so soon. I'll keep you posted on how her progress moves along. And yeah, I think it's awesome meeting strangers out there, people have some great stories to tell, but also promise me that you're using your common sense and intuition. As always, have fun out there and I hope to meet you out on the road.Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/

Who knew there was a Great Buddha statue in Otaru!?!? I sure didn't, but I'm sure happy I went to check Muryoju-ji Temple. There were some cool sights of Otaru from up there. I was also happy I went to check out Ryugu Shrine and Sumiyoshi Shrine, also located in Otaru. All three were beautiful places and are definitely excellent cycling destinations but be warned, there is some climbing involved if you go to check out the Great Buddha. And the Cycling Hokkaido podcast has a new look. What do you think, folks!? I'll include for some links of video I took while on my Otaru ride. Hope you're having fun out there folks. Cycling Hokkaido Instagram page......www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.instagram/Ryugu Shrine YouTube video......https://youtube.com/shorts/5isviZWN5RI?si=fChJQpE2s6mRNFXaOtaru Sakaemachi street YouTube video....https://youtube.com/shorts/BszPuw6Fr2I?si=Zh_Ju5RFMPkKHw5G

This week it really feels like the season is actually on. Yay! And what a week it was, night riding up to the Ishikari lighthouse is back on, riding in between jobs is back on and even 100km rides to my Fortress of Solitude in Atsuta are back on and all of it thanks to my American friend. A mix up between Lake Shikotsu and Shinshinotsu led to a bit of overeating but who cares. Folks, I hope you're all having fun out there. Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram.....www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/