Cycling around the Imperial Palace

On Tuesday, we took a 3-hour cycling tour with two other couples, one from Long Beach, CA and the other from Mexico City. Unlike yesterday, today was perfect weather for a bike ride. Partly cloudy and a little cool with a slight breeze.

The first part of the tour was around the beautiful grounds of the Imperial Palace, which was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1868. Stones in the protective walls above the moat are 400 years old and are from Mt Fuji.

Currently, only males can be Prime Minister, but the law could soon change to allow females. There are so few males in the family line that if anything should happen to them, Japan could find itself without a leader to succeed the current PM. Apparently the public is very fond of the current PM's daughter, who would be next in line if the law passes.

It's legal to ride on sidewalks here. Our guide scooted ahead pretty quickly. To keep up, we were dodging pedestrians and cyclists alike, and sometimes cars when in the street. But again, they're all so polite and accustomed to massively large crowds (everywhere!), it totally worked.

The bikes we rode were all the same size, electric without gears or power levels, quite comfortable, and very fun. E-bikes suit us. I've decided I'm going to do an electric bike tour in every place possible that I visit.Les mer