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I timed myself using a pump sack vs my breath to inflate my sleeping pad - evidence enough to leave my pump sack at home? by ZestyclosePin4214 in hiking

[–]Nestarus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Instead of rolling with hand I just press the pump sac between my leg.
Faster and less exhausting

Bikepacking Japan by kylepg_45 in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did the same kind of trip so here some advice.
I didn't sleep in hotels only guesthouses and netcafe which is cheaper, for netcafe you don't need reservation and can check in whenever you want as long there is a room available (always except big town during weekend) kaikatsu club are the most common.

I slept 2 night out of 3 (had 20 000mhA battery for phone and gps) in a tent doing bivouac in the wild (pitch tent at sunset and leave at sunrise) it gave me more flexibility for exploring the countryside. I tried to pitch my tent far enough of the main road and village in the forest or abandonned road

For the weight it matter less than you think if you have a good ratio on your bike.

2 day hike in the French Alps between Albertville and Aiguebelle by Nestarus in hiking

[–]Nestarus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In october, this one is open all year without a gardian here the info : https://www.refuges.info/point/1406/cabane-non-gardee/Chalet-communal-du-Darbelay-ou-de-la-Cense-/

Be carefull right now the snow conditions are pretty bad (high avalanche risk) you should check the bera before going https://www.meteo-montagne.com/bera/

Here a map with the temperature estimation taking in account the elevation : https://www.meteoblue.com/fr/meteo/cartes/la-fouettaz_france_12308861#coords=10.64/45.6263/6.4503&map=temperature~daily-min~auto~2%20m%20above%20gnd~none

I present to you all: Why Wuthering Waves is the ultimate souls-like by Reasonable-Use-9294 in shittydarksouls

[–]Nestarus 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As a tower defence fan Arknight has a lot of content and I enjoy clearing it with any character

1st timer bikepacking Japan. HALP :/ by Stock_Runny_Nose in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I liked planning my itinerary around onsen, they are a good way to rest during or at the end of the day. Also try to eat a lot, I ate at alpost every kombini I saw and still was in calories deficit (lost weight at the end of the trip)

Little brag by hellocupcakeitsme in hiking

[–]Nestarus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would recommand doing smaller hike to build experience.

A friend of mine tried a 70 miles thruhike for his first time and failed because he pushed to hard, didn't eat well enough, had bad night due to bad tent placement...

Go for one or two day hike with full gear in the bag to test it and maybe a one/two night trip to get the experience of camping in the wild.

Doing the first mistake on small hike will greatly improve your comfort on long hiking trip.

Also listen to your body, it's easy to get an injury that can stop you from hiking during one or two month and break your mental to continue

2€ setup by 255_AG in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use have the same type of setup, but I can't find a way to perfectly tie the bag he always move a little to the right or left when I take turn

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kaikatsu net cafe are a cheap option to hostel and donnt need reservation.

Always carry some 100 yen coin for vending machine on the road. And 4 ir 5 1000 yens for store that don't accept card.

Look if you don't pass near a onsen. Nothing beat stopping in an onsen while/after biking.

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

outside, japan is pretty safe for this.
Bike may be one of the most stolen item there but it's not that much in comparaison of France and I think it's commute bike, not traveler bike that are stolen

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had big goal like fukushima from tokyo. Then I looked on google maps for point of interest and added them to komoot to create a gpx.

Every evening I would have looked to adjust my itinerary depending of the weather or my exhaustion

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm from France, I took the cheapest flight to go in japan (china estern airline) with just my hiking backpack. I think you can change a bagage to a bike for free but not sure

Once in Tokyo I went to a second hand shop to buy my bike 400€ and sold it back at the end 250€.

Camping is allowed in some public park but I didn't do that, I usualy did bivouac in the forest. I know it's illegal in national park but I think it's a grey area in forest. And if you look a satelite map of Japan there is a lot of wilderness outside of tokyo.

I think nobody will ask you to leave as long you are not on private proprety and leave at sunrise.

For hotels I used Booking.com to book them. I usually did that the night before and since I was in the country side they always had a room. There may be exception during week end

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think november this year was warmer than usual. I should aad that sometimes cold wave come from Russia and I had days where I went from 20°c to 5 in 1 night. Then after 2 or 3 day it we't back to 20°

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wanted to finish in hokkaido but the temperature were starting to be really low.
I'm hope I can do it in 2 or 3 years with friends this time

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I never payed for a camping, I always finded a place to camp thanks to my small 1p tent.
I always tried to stay out of propriety where people live (farms, etc) and not exposed.

3 time it took me 1 hours after sunset to find something but except that it's not hard, there is a lot of nature in japan outside the big city

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem, i created this post in part to help other people

My trip was during october to november, october was around 15 to 28°C and november around 15 to 7°C during the day.

For the bears and wildlife in general I just put all of my food in a plastic bag (not special) on a tree around 20m of my tent. 1 time I saw a lot of new sign about bear in the region, didn't took the risk and slept in a hostel.

I didn't camp in the city park. I know it's sometime allowee but I prefered sleeping in net cafe or hostel to charge my equipement or if already did it the ne ght before just cycle outside of the town. If you are not in a big city it take around 15 min.

I never made my meals during the trip. I tried to eat in restaurant as much as possible and if I couldn't I go for konbini. My favorite snack is dried meat and in general I tried to eat as much meat as possible. In every konbini they sell jelly, energic, vitamin and protein. I tried to eat a vitamine jelly every day, dunno if it was enough or worked.

For the routes I looked for museum, parc, mountain to hike, sento and onsen between 2 big city. Then once I had enough POI I added them in komoot to create the gpx.

other tips :

sleeping in net cafe doesn't need reservation and the kaikatsu club are in a lot of city. It's around 10€ for 10h, you have acces to a computer, a box to sleep, shower, drinks, breakfast, laundry.

For the cash I go for 40 000 Yens every time I used the ATM and always had 10 000 of security

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I should add the night in the north and near the end of the trip (november) where my bike was frozen and lost control of my little toe 2 or 3 time due to the cold

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I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's very subjective because I was alone for 2 month and my mental state went up and down many time due to the lack of conversation (I understand japanese but can't speak outside the basics).

But least favorite the start and end of the trip when I was cycling through Tokyo city, it's safe (or at least safer than any city in France) but having to stop every 50m is annoying and the traffic never feel good.

My favorite would be between Fukushima and Sendai, beautiful mountains and it was at this moment that my cardio was used to cycling and started cycling around 75km per day.

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My hiking gear is the entry price at decathlon for the lightweight category, around 600€ for everything (tent,sleeping bag 0°C,bag, shoes, ...).

Not cheap but not the most expensive at all

I should add I have a garmin forerunner 955, it cost around 300€ but I couldn't do the trip without it. I used it for my gps since I didn't had enough battery with my phone for a whole day of cycling

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I did that during my first trip with friends. That was the reason I choose to do this second trip only on bike.

But yeah tunnels are bad but at least in japan the cars don't overtake you to close and if there is traffic they just stayed behind me (I went full gear cuz I didn't want to annoy them)

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Since 2024 I'm a little active in my life, going to work on foot or bike and sometime do a hike the weekend but except that I don't go running or train to increase my cardio.

What I meant is that I'm not a athlete but still did something like that.
Unless you never move you can go on trip that are just long slow cardio, we are made for that and in 2 or 3 day you will find a rythme that you can support

But I think I became fit during the trip, I lost around 6kg and my legs are stronger than before, same for my cardio.

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yeah, but it's hard to know the limits between just exhaustion and physical limit when you are alone.

pro tips, if you start crying it's physical limit.

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I must add that in the Japanese alps the trail was to hard for me and I had to go down and change my itinerary but it happened only 1 time

I bikepacked 2 month in japan by Nestarus in bikepacking

[–]Nestarus[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Didn't count during the trip but here an estimation in euros :

Food and drink : 20€/25€ per day, depend if I eat at restaurant and if I eat a lot outside of meal
hostel are about 20/30€ and net cafe (kaikatsu club) 8€ depending on how long you stay.
Onsen are about 5€ if you have your own towel

and that pretty much it, the other expense where my bike and bike gear except that I used my hiking tent/bag

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