Hi. I'm the new staff member here at CoolBike. It's been about 3 weeks since I started this job and I just want to share with you the experience I had riding the bike myself, along with my friend who came to Japan a couple days ago.
So this friend of mine whom I rode the bike with.. She had to come to Japan to take the GRE..from Korea. For some reason computer based tests aren't offered there. Anyways I asked my boss to lend me 2 bikes for the 2 of us and I picked her up at the station. Our shop is located near Iidabashi Station which is right next to the Kagurazaka Street. Kagurazaka is known as the haven of traditional Japan, right admist central Tokyo. After hopping on the bike I started showing her around on Kagurazaka. She had told me that she is a big fan of traditional Japanese art and buildings, so during the bike ride she was looking in all directions, amazed by the shops, shrines and the buildings. She felt hungry after a couple minutes so we stopped for some tsuke-men at this obscure shop. It was service day and female customers got free toppings.
Then I decided to show her to the Yasukuni Shrine, which all informed tourists should know. She was definitely excited at hearing the name because it was big news in asia when the Koizumi visited the shrine a couple years back. Anyways I'm not going to bog everyone down with the details. It was a thrilling ride from the uphill side of Kagurazaka toward the Yasukuni, and along the way she told me that the streets looked exactly the same like the ones she used to see in Japanese dramas. So the ride felt shorter than it looked on the map and we arrived in a wink. Not readin the sign properly we rode our bikes inside but got kicked out by the security
. We entered again on foot and she was just awed athow pretty the shrine and the buildings were. Like a typical tourist she was taking pictures here and there. We then found a Japanese garden to the side where she of course took out her camera again and started zapping everywhere
We crossed the little bridge to the other side and found a fishfood vending machine. I took out my 100 yen coin and bought a pack of fishfood and handed it over to her. She of course started sprinkling right away over the pond full of I guess trouts and she asked me to take a picture of her with all the fishes. Damn it was hard job.
So the time was short until our shop closes so we rushed back the same way we came. Arriving the shop I was already soaked in sweat and she kept apologizing for how much trouble she has caused me. I of course said it was my pleasure, quickly folding the bikes and storing them away. It was one of the best experiences for the both of us, cruising through central tokyo on bikes. As a staff member and as someone who's actually ridden the bike, I urge you to give our bikes a try. Cooler days are coming and Coolbike will definitely make your day.
Kai
Hey.. wait a sec.. That means the weather is cooler now and what is best on a cool day? Cycling! That's right. We here at coolbike have been seeing an increase in the number of rentals, compared to in scorching July and August. Interestingly, a lot of foreigner tourists have found us on google and been coming to our shops to rent bikes. They usually come back with a smile on their face because its just that thrilling to zoom through the walking crowd on the busy streets of Tokyo.
