As I have mentioned several times before, there is a ride series hosted by Rie Saito called the Nadaraka Cycling Club. These are leisurely rides that explore the history of streets and neighborhoods using handmade maps, and they have become popular—especially among women—for their attention to detail and thoughtfulness.
Following on from last year, we are pleased to invite you again to this year's anniversary ride.
Once again, we are holding a ride where you can cycle through the city while looking at a map and answering quiz questions that you can only solve by visiting the locations themselves. It’s designed to be thoroughly enjoyable for beginners, so everyone is welcome to join. To enter, send a DM to the Instagram account.
While we usually ride together as a group on our regular tours, the anniversary ride is a stamp rally format where everyone rides individually, so we recommend participating with a group of friends or family.
Nadaraka Anniversary Ride
Date: March 18, 2023 (Sat) *In case of rain, it will be moved to March 19 (Sun)
Meeting point: Around the Hana-no-Sei and Shirakawa Bridge at Shirakawa Park
Meeting time: 13:00–14:00
Registration: Via DM to Nadaraka cycling club *Limited to the first 20–30 participants
Participation fee: Free
Ride schedule:
- Meeting... Handing out maps, quiz sheets, and souvenirs
- Ride starts... Ride on your own *No Nadaraka staff will be accompanying you
- Ride ends... Disperse after your ride
- Quiz answers released... On Instagram in the evening of the same day
*Optional post-ride gathering: 15:30–16:30 at Shirakawa Park for stamp collecting
*We encourage you to share on Instagram using #NadarakaAnniversaryRide #NadarakaStreetRideRide courses:
- Nagoyayama Burial Mound Course: approx. 8 km
- Danpusan Burial Mound Course: approx. 10 km
- Kids' Mini Course: approx. 3 km
*You can choose your preferred course on the day. You can ride the whole thing or just a portion!
◆Contact Information◆
Nadaraka cycling club Rie Saito
Instagram:@nadaraka_cyclingclub
Last time, I went to the starting point to watch everyone head off. It was fun to see such a diverse group of people participating—from a girl who had just bought her bike, to someone riding for the first time on a bike built for them by a cycling-savvy colleague, to others using rental bicycles.
The Nadaraka Street Ride series is born from Rie's desire to share the joy she feels when researching the interesting history behind the places that caught her attention while working as a messenger. It’s an experience that will make you fall in love with cycling through the city. I highly encourage everyone to join.
Nadaraka Maintenance Workshops now available
We are also holding maintenance workshops for absolute beginners, started by Rie—who used to be terrible with machines—out of her desire to learn how to maintain her own bike.
This is a great opportunity to learn the minimum knowledge required for cycling. We are currently accepting participants, so if you consider yourself a beginner, please do join us.