I'm Riding Hokkaido in May — Join If You Want

In May 2026, I'm riding Hokkaido.

I've been working through a list of routes I want to do before I feel like I've actually done Japan properly. The Mae Hong Son Loop is done. Gifu and the Japanese Alps are done. Hokkaido — the big northern island, late spring, routes that don't show up on the standard Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto itinerary — has been on the list for a while. May is the window: the snow is gone, the roads are clear, the tourists haven't fully arrived yet.

What the route looks like

The rough plan: fly into Sapporo, rent a bike, and do a loop through the interior and coast over 10–12 days. Key stops on the radar — Furano and Biei for the rolling hills and farmland (the kind of landscape that makes you understand why Japanese people take a lot of photos), the Shiretoko Peninsula on the eastern coast (UNESCO, genuinely remote, brown bears), down through Kushiro Wetlands, and back west along the coast.

Hokkaido roads are different from the rest of Japan — straighter, longer, more open. Less mountain switchback, more horizon. The bikes are bigger. The pace is slower. It's a different kind of riding.

If you'll be in Japan around the same time

I'm open to making this a small private group trip — 2 to 4 people, moving at a pace that works for the group. If you're planning to be in Japan in May 2026 and want to join some or all of it, or if you just want to know more about the route, send a message.

No pressure, no commitment at this stage — just trying to figure out if there's interest before I finalize dates.

If you're not a rider

Hokkaido also works as a non-moto trip. The food alone is worth going — the dairy, the seafood (Hokkaido sea urchin is not the same thing as sea urchin everywhere else), ramen that's different from anything you'll eat in Tokyo. If you want help planning a Hokkaido trip independently, that's also something we can do.

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Questions about the route, gear, or whether May actually makes sense timing-wise — contact form or just email directly.