Our bikes

Diana and I bought some bikes a month ago.  We’re practical people, so these bikes were purchased second hand, so we can give a way or sell when we leave.  We paid a very trivial amount for both, so we’re quite happy.  One bike is a foldable, the other, a standard city bike.  Both are made by Bridgestone.  Weird right?  Chevy and Panasonic make bikes in Japan also.

The city bike has been quite useful already with the front basket being used to haul some groceries from the supermarket.  The foldable bike is simply fun.  The wheels are smaller, so you can navigate through the crowded sidewalks, and it’s just feels like adult version of a BMX bike.

We’ve also found that biking is useful, but not terribly convenient for many things besides some larger shopping trips and recreation.  Since we ride the trains, we have no real street knowledge, so it’s iPhone GPS, or my JP cell phone’s limited Yahoo maps (non auto updating).  Bike parking near some train stations are a pain, but doable, which basically means, that I’m not willing to pay for parking so I can shop at the supermarket next to the train station.  It’s certainly a fun way to see the city, as simply adds like 5-20 miles more of street radius from your house.  I’m sure we’ll have some more interesting times, we just need the rainy season to go away!