Sengkang Babies

Cycling Kyushu Japan 5D4N

This post shared our cycling Kyushu Japan 5D4N adventure in 2026 April. Cycling in Japan has always been on my bucket list.

*Quick summary of our 5D4N fun ride in our Instagram stories -> link .
The full photos and videos links are added at the end of this blog post.

~~~ 5D4N Kyushu cycling IG Stories ~~~

Day0 Touchdown Fukuoka (Sakura and Gundam)
Day1 Aso to Kumamoto (OnePiece, Fresh air, climb)
Day2 Kumamoto to Amakusa (Rain, bridges. FUN!)
Day3 Amakusa to Nagasaki (Ferry, KOM Mt Unzen)
Day4 Nagasaki to Sasebo (Old train tracks, farm lands)
Day5 Sasebo to Itoshima Fukuoka (Coldest day, strongest headwinds, finale)
Day6 R&R. Keep bike see flower (Maizuru and Nishi park, Sakura blooms)
~~~ ~~~

Our Japan 5D4N trip brought us clockwise in Kyushu (九州).
From Aso to Kumamoto, Amakusa to Nagasaki, and Sasebo to Itoshima.

“Aso Kuju Cycle Tour” promised volcano, islands, coastal views and bridges!

What a BLAST! The experience went beyond our expectations.
Food, hotel, sights and culture!

Our vendor treated us like VIPs, and we trust their recommendations. Most importantly, we got solid company.
Chill, easy going, minimum snores :p

As a BONUS, we cycled through peak Sakura blossoms!

Kyushu is not on most folks’ top choice, when they visit destination Japan. This was my third trip to Kyushu, and I still love the laid-back countryside, green mountains and pastures.

These are our 5D4N hotels, 4 nights Onsen.

Day 0 Aso (Aso Hakuun Sansou)
Day 1 Kumamoto (Ana Crowne Plaza)
Day 2 Amakusa (Hotel Algeria Gardens Amakusa)
Day 3 Obama Nagasaki (Iseya Ryokan)
Day 4 Sasebo (Yumihari no Oka Hotel)
Day 5 Fukuoka (Ana Crowne Plaza)
Day 6 R&R (Hotel Hokke Club)

Do drop me an email or comment if you are curious to explore Japan on two wheels too. Below image is our 5D4N itinerary.

Day 0 – Arrival Singapore to Fukuoka (福岡)

Connected with vendor “AsoKuju” and our bicycle boxes. We proceeded to bike shop to assemble our bikes.

Sakura blossoms were already waiting for us!

Before we drove down to Mount Aso area (our staging area), we stopover at Lalaport for Gundam pose! This is Epic, especially with my bike.

Day 1 – Cycle Aso to Kumamoto. & One Piece statues!

We found seven One Piece status for Day 1. There are total 10 statues in Aso (阿蘇) and Kumamoto (熊本). Do check out the rest of the statues in my Facebook album (end of page).

Fyi, I never follow One Piece anime, but had fun posing silly 🙂

One Piece Nami is very popular with guys

Zoro

Day 2 – Kumamoto to Amakusa

Day 2 was wet, thunderstorm has covered the whole of Kyushu overnight!

Nevermind, just bring out the umbrellas, and take the train 30km SouthWest to Misumi station. Wet weather shall not spoil our mood.

Amakusa (天草) is famous for the “islands” and the bridges. Some might say the bridges here are as scenic as Shimanami Kaido (Onomichi to Imabari).

Take note Amakusa roads and pavements are very narrow, and there are minimum stops for you to take photos. But the views of the “mini islands” are still spectacular.

打卡 at famous Ariake Octopus pitstop.

Kaiseki dinner at Hotel Algeria Gardens Amakusa

Day 3 Amakusa to Nagasaki (via Shimabara and Unzen)

Perfect weather on Day 3! We ferry from Amakusa hotel to Shimabara (Nagasaki 長崎).

Do checkout a traditional bakery “松田屋カステラ本舗駅前店“, their castella cake is delicious (not too sweet).

As we headed North towards Shimabara castle, blue sky and scenic coastal views greeted us. Only FRESH air here.

Perfect blue sky and white clouds, take more photos!

Unzen buried houses (exhibition)

Mochi lunch, interesting texture.

After lunch, we had to climb over Mount Unzen to reach Obama town (our Iseya Ryokan).

15km 800m elevation, just chill and engage small chain ring.
Remember to look at the scenery too.

The town of Unzen Jigoku (雲仙地獄) is at the top. Japanese love to call their hot springs town 地獄 (literally Hells ). You may research Beppu hells too

Switchback 9km down! Locals call these hairpins Dragon’s road!
Plenty of adrenalin and excitement, brakes have to work overtime too.

Mount Unzen Dragon road (image credit Google Map)

Day 4 Nagasaki to Sasebo

From Obama, we rode North to Sasebo (佐世保) via Omura (Nagasaki airport) . This meant we skip Nagasaki’s famous Atomic museum.( You can catch some reviews from my 2023 trip)

Photo above is Route 201, known locally as Green Tunnel or old railway path (Kishamichi Railway Path). Winding circuit next to trees, hills and seas. There are some tunnels too.

Highlight for the day was this “soft serve” from one of our pitstops (Roadside station Sonogi-no-sho). One brother manage to convince all 7 of us to buy ice creams 🙂

It was nice!

The last 6km to hotel was a steep 6km climb! Road bikes UP the van, as we were running late. (Lucky us).

View of Sasebo city from Yumihari no Oka Hotel.

Day 5 cycle Sasebo to Itoshima (Finale!)

When you are having FUN, time really flies.
We all remembered Day 5 as the coldest day of our trip!

In Japan’s coastal towns, Tsunamis are a real risk.

Wind was hitting us at 30kmh+ from all directions.
We experience the worst wobbling downhills, and the freezing Head wind along Itoshima’s coast.

Relentless. Tired. We could not even cycle faster than 25kmh.
Leave no one behind!

We brought so many Happy memories back to Singapore!
Thank you Kota san and Yoshimi for the best coordination.

We will bring you Round Island in tiny Singapore when you visit.

Day 6 – my own R&R itinerary

Nanzoin, more sakuras and good food. Fukuoka is spoiled for choices when it comes to bakeries and cafes.

Visited Maizuru park and Nishi park for the best blooms (last few days before wilt). Normal bloom window is 10 to 14 days.

Tips.

1)The No1. question from most road bike cyclists are storage and transport.
The SOP for bike transfer are pretty much grey area in Japan.

1a) How do I transport my road bikes from A to B?
Use Sagawa or Yamato TA-Q-BIN. If taking train, ensure bike is fully covered up (many will recommend Ringo bags). If all fails, book a Jumbo cab ( I am not sure whether it can hold one or two bike boxes)

1b) Where do I keep my bike boxes?
Hotels might agree to keep the bike boxes (not guarantee). Sagawa or Yamato at Fukuoka airport can keep the boxes too, but first come first serve. Per piece is 1000Y per night. (space is limited)

1c) Take note most hotels do not allow bicycles to roll into their lobby or rooms.

2a) Fyi, it is not straightforward to diy book hotels in Japan.
We normally use hotel apps (Agoda, Trip, Airbnb).

This is all good if you do not have any changes.

When you have changes, example extension or room upgrades, the response normally takes days. If you walk-in or even do internet bookings via hotel website, the experience can be very cumbersome (even with Google Translate).

2b)It is always helpful to have a local to settle the logistics administrations.
Locals can help you RSVP popular restaurants too!

(we had our fair share of rejections from F&B outlets. Yes, sometimes Japanese still prefer to serve locals or Japanese-speaking customers)

3) New bicycle rules, effective from 01 Apr 2026 (this is not April’s Fool joke).
Using a phone while cycling can make you 12,000Y poorer!

This is a struggle for me! How can I go holiday, and not take photos and videos!

More details from this blog -> https://blog.gaijinpot.com

Image credit https://blog.gaijinpot.com

My cycling Audax experience

Sharing my cycling Audax experience in this blog post.
Completed 2×200, 300 and 400km in 2025.

These Audax rides help to build up my base and endurance, for a new milestone. We were planning to attempt Taiwan’s 四極燈塔 620km in November! (Read our epic experience here)

(I am still an amateur cyclist, whatever I am sharing here is through my own learning journey. Please correct me if I should have some misinformation.)

We all start from somewhere.

From foldies to road bikes, from PCN (Park connectors) to the roads.
From 50km to 100, then Round Island (Singapore RI is only 120km)
(My first RI in 2021, Crius Master foldie)

My first audax was in Feb 2025, 200km.

YouTube : My virgin Audax 200km

But if we want to build up our endurance, cycling in Malaysia would be one of the best ways.

2025 cycling events leading up to Taiwan epic event.

Difference between Cycling in Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore based cyclists are not used to cycling 40, 50km non-stop, as we have too many traffic lights!

In Malaysia, we can cycle longer distances non-stop.
Longer rides will improve our consistency and endurance.
More importantly, longer rides train us to condition our hydration and nutrition needs (intake).

However, with less traffic lights (stops) in Johor, some of us forget to hydrate or load up :p

I estimated that the effort needed to cycle 200km in Singapore, might only cover 150km or less in Malaysia.

Malaysia’s heat and elevations will really stretch and sap our energy.
The weather is never under our control, no U-turn (can only go forward).
In fact, expect to get frequent rain showers.

The slopes and hills in Malaysia will prepare you for longer overseas touring trips. Cycling in Johor and Malaysia will push you beyond your comfort zone.

Having say so much, you much be confident on Singapore’s roads and be reasonably fit before you cycle over the causeway (video link).

Thus Audax is not only testing your limits.
It is validating our equipment.

You need to have a proper nutrition plan, and even a plan to charge your battery devices (lights, power meter, sports watch, rear camera etc)

Seasoned Audax cyclists will pack all their nutritional needs on their bikes (Picnic!)
They do not even need proper food like rice or noodles (which I still crave).

Once you gain confidence and volume, you would cover more multiday trips, maybe 100km to 200km back to back.

(no matter how fit you are, you will feel soreness by the third or fourth day of a bike event)

I completed four Audax rides in 2025!

The difference between a normal ride and Audax would be the time duration and checkpoints. You must finish within the time limit.

For those who cycle regularly, you should have enough buffer to complete your ride, even if you roll at average speed of 25-28kmh.

Virgin Audax 200km, 2025 Feb

Malaysia’s rural area is total pitch dark, so you need minimum 800, 1000 lumens to shine infront. For longer distance, we will bring a spare light too (front and back).

Well done to myself, Achievement unlocked.

2nd Audax ride 200km, 2025 Mar

Many folks turn up for this ride.

There was even a gravel section! Hello!

Hulk and Kiera are my Audax companions!

3rd Audax ride 400km, 2025 May ( I chose 400km before 300km)

What do I remember from Audax 400km?

– Endless climbs!
– GoogleMap is not accurate, most 7×24 petrol stations were shut after midnight!
– Torture. Any distance above 300km is no longer enjoyable :p
– I used up both powerbanks
– I lost 2.5kg after ride
– In pitch dark rural roads, the tree branches will SWAY without any wind! (Just CYCLE ON.)