top of page

Stay up to date throughout the journey
All Posts


5 Things I Learned Cycling Up Japan
Two weeks have passed since I completed the journey, two weeks of recovery and reflection. My legs are feeling good, my tan lines are...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 207 min read
Â
Â
Â


Hokkaido
The ferry across the Pacific, from Hachinohe to Tomakomai, was a smooth crossing that arrived in the middle of the night. The arrival...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 157 min read
Â
Â
Â


Turning Inland
Having completed the ride up the west coast of Japan, I headed inland. There were subtle shifts in the weather, the terrain and my mood....
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 94 min read
Â
Â
Â


Kyushu's Northwest Coast
The day leading into Niigata was a suffer-fest, but it also marked a turning point in the trip. After a good meal and a night's rest, I...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 73 min read
Â
Â
Â


The Coastal Route
When training, the spaces between workouts, the rest, are as important as the work. Following up great efforts with recovery is a way to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 14 min read
Â
Â
Â


Random Thoughts from the Road
There is a rhythm to the ride, which is starting to fade into the background. The countryside is starting to look similar, as are the...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 253 min read
Â
Â
Â


Turning North
Leaving Kyoto, I felt lighter. Not just because of the weight I was able to remove from my bike by sending it forward, but also because...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 223 min read
Â
Â
Â


The One Thing
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning, a lion...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 204 min read
Â
Â
Â


Shimanami Kaido
In the weeks and months of planning, one place for riding in Japan kept coming up: the Shimanami Kaido. This is the best-marketed cycling...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 173 min read
Â
Â
Â


Shikoku
Shikoku, the least developed of the four major islands, is also where I spent the least amount of time riding. The original plan was to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 163 min read
Â
Â
Â


Kyushu I Hardly Knew You
Four days in and I have already finished riding the first of the four islands of Japan, Kyushu. Since I arrived on Saturday to Nagasaki,...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 113 min read
Â
Â
Â


Grandpa J Roads
One of my strongest memories of my Grandpa J is his love of taking the route less traveled. On trips, he did everything that he could to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 103 min read
Â
Â
Â


Beginnings
I am on my way. The planning, the excitement of the possible, the nervousness of what could go wrong has moved from the theoretical to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 82 min read
Â
Â
Â


The Route
Planning Since the idea of doing this trip came into my mind, the route has come into greater focus. I knew that I wanted to end in...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 54 min read
Â
Â
Â


Japan Journey - the Gear
There is a saying, a mantra in triathlon, that there should be "nothing new on race day". No new gear, no new sources of energy. Race day...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 23 min read
Â
Â
Â


From Bottom to Top
of Japan Will I be able to capture an image like this? This summer, starting in just a few weeks, I will be undertaking a journey from...
Matthew Lautenbach
May 293 min read
Â
Â
Â


Starting
You have to start somewhere and Hello World feels both cheesy and a bit of a by-gone era. Over the years I have started and stopped with...
Matthew Lautenbach
Feb 201 min read
Â
Â
Â
bottom of page