Bike Packing the Tokai Nature Trail

I am sore. S-O-R-E. Previously thinking I was getting fit, I've just come back from a twenty-four hour long wakeup call, aka the Billy's Boot Camp of mountain biking.

There is this kind of bike-assisted travel that has been around for a while but is slowly picking up momentum - particularly in America - which has come to be known as 'bikepacking' and should be viewed as hiking on a bike. That is what I did this weekend. Basically you take an ultralight hiking setup and distribute all the bits and pieces over the bike and yourself and then go and ride the longest offorad trail you can find. I went with the 'make do with gear you already own' school of thought, and here is my setup:


The long piece of dirt I was heading for is know as the Tokai Nature Trail. A long favourite of mine, it is a hiking trail that runs from Tokyo to Osaka, and has over the years consistently delivered both great riding and fantastic views. A few months ago (In post Mountain biking in Real Mountains) I talked about my discovery of the local section, and it has been a lot of fun on a lot of weekends since then, but there was always something that kept berckoning and calling to me.

The bit of trail I had been riding starts at the top of a mountain called NEBISO and runs west, roughly in the direction of home, but the Tokai Nature Trail also heads roughly east from the top of NEBISO, away from home, but the map shows it has a roughly 20km stretch before it arrives in the mountain town of Shitara, and half of this is alongside a river (and moving in the downstream direction). Everytime I looked at the map, this stretch of trail would leap out and taunt me, tease me and dare me to go and ride it. It is too far for a day trip, hoewever, and so the idea of a bikepacking trip started to grow.

I've been meaning to do this since about May, but finally all the stars aligned and allowed me to give it a shot. I got the bike set up, bought the food, photocopied my maps, and even snuch in a quick (stupid) 50km road ride on Saturday morning before I departed. I actually left mid-afternoon as my chosen campsite (the summit of Nebiso) was only around 3 hours ride away. Turns out it's have been better to have left an hour earlier...


The first hour and a half were all on road, out past Asuke where I teach, and then a grind up into the hills on incredibly scenic country backroads, where I there were unmistakeable signs of Autumn's advance.