I shipped my bike to Tokyo, and as with many things I realized it's not exactly suited to my new lifestyle, but I'm managing to make it work. My apartment is less than two miles from work, with some hills in between, and I ride my bike to work 3 times a week or so. I tried to add a kickstand to the bike but the first one is really lame, so I have to find a place to lean it up against something and this is my first choice spot that I can get when I leave early enough.
I tend to leave home early when I'm riding because on the way to work I ride on the sidewalk (against the road traffic) and there are ukumillion pedestrians on the sidewalks later in the morning when everyone is rushing to get to work. But the effort to get across Roppongi Dori, a major street under an expressway, and then back across near work is just too much. So the sidewalk it is. With some practice, riding along with the pedestrians is getting easier.
On the way home, I ride in the street with the traffic, and I've discovered that drivers in Tokyo are much more used to having a chaotic mix of cars buses, scooters, bike messengers, and motorcycles all sharing the road, so things feel safer than in the U.S. But I still wear my helmet, unlike most bicyclists in Tokyo.
Now that summer is upon us, I may have to cut back my bicycling or make sure I bring a change of clothes. The heat and humidity are tough.
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