Aso is full of superb nature and delicious foods. You can go on a cycling tour where you can feel such fascination with your whole body. With Gourmet Cycling Eat and Pedal, you can enjoy the Aso Shrine area or the Uchinomaki area on a 4-hour bike ride. Feel the scenery Aso has to offer more intimately than on a drive, taste numerous flavors from Aso, and even if you eat a little too much, you won’t feel guilty because you will exercise along the way! I actually experienced such a fantastic tour.

・Make reservations online for the Gourmet Cycling Eat and Pedal!
・The meeting point is at Aso Station. Depart to Aso Gourmet Cycling
・A cycling tour where you can feel the magnificent nature of Aso with your whole body
・Relish in delicious foods with the Eat and Pedal ticket!
・Uchinomaki also has lots of amazing spots and stores 

If you’re planning to go somewhere, book this tour ASAP. Reservations for Gourmet Cycling Eat and Pedal can be made on the Kumamoto Tourism Reservation Website on Kumamotto Travel Agency. Reservations are accepted up to three days before the departure date. Reservations are available from one person. You can enjoy this experience whether you’re travelling alone or in groups.

Go to the Experiences page on Kumamotto Travel Agency. Select the date and time from the calendar and fill out the required fields

Make reservations for the Experience Aso Gourmet Cycling Pedal and Eat here

Tour day. The meeting point is at the Aso Tourism Information Center at JR Aso Station. Get your bicycle and seven gourmet tickets here. “Would you like the Aso Shrine course? Or would you like the Uchinomaki course?” I was asked, and this time, I chose the Aso Shrine course. You can get a detailed map and pamphlet with information about the stores where you can use the tickets. You can ride the bike for four hours. How far can you ride?

The tour reception is at this counter in the station

Get the helmet, the tickets, and the course map

Memorize the three points of Eat and Pedal!

Let’s go!　Rent an authentic road bike

Let’s go towards Aso Shrine! It is approximately 6km to Aso Shrine. Ride through the rural scenes while looking at the map. The weather was lovely on this day, and the excitement of paddling with your feet in the quiet and peaceful air was simply irresistible. If you get a little tired, take a break and enjoy the scenery... Bicycles are perfect for enjoying at your own pace.

Peaceful rural sceneries and the outer rim of a crater behind. Feels great!

Stop a few times and listen to nature breathe.

You will also be enticed to small wayside shrines you often miss in everyday life.

Arrived at Aso Shrine after cycling for 20 minutes.

First, I visited Aso Shrine. It is still under reconstruction (March 2019 at the time)

I’m starving. I’m going to stuff myself with Aso foods using the tickets. First, I went to Aso Torimiya. Try the  local specialty Umarokke (horse meat croquette) (one ticket).

Look for the retro style. There are plenty of places where you can eat inside

Hand in the first ticket. Feeling a little excited

Freshly fried croquette served. “Thank you for coming!”, says the shop manager.

You can drink spring water in the shop. Delicious taste for a body tired from cycling

Umarokke is the shop’s specialty. It is made of fluffy potato and sweet and spicy horse meat. Crisp and fluffy. Delicious! 

What can you eat at the Italian restaurant La Luce?

Irresistible fresh homemade lemonade (two tickets)! Orange also available

"Get refreshed with this!", says the owner

Arrived at Tashiroya after walking straight up the horizontal road approaching the shrine.

Got a freshly baked Kaiten-Manju (Japanese round-shaped pancake  with bean paste) (one ticket). You can get one with white or black bean paste. The owner says that it has a unique round shape so that it can have lots of bean paste. 

Eating on the bench, There really is so much bean paste! I feel reenergized!

Cyclist-friendly town. There’s a parking space for bicycles here. Leave it here and go for a short walk.

Got to a former girl’s school’s ruins where you can see a retro scenery from the Showa era.

**Yuzumi Kanzarashi Shop Yui - A nostalgic introspection. Spring water flows in the shop

Kanzarashi made from Aso spring water (three tickets). Poured kinako (roasted soybean flour) and brown sugar syrup. Homemade pickled vegetables are also delicious!
 

Eat, arrive, eat, use up the tickets and bike through the countryside again
 

Ran into the source of river in a rice field
 

Aiming for Aso while being encouraged by horses
 

Got back! The staff welcomed me with a smile. That was fun! After returning the bicycle, buy souvenirs at Michinoeki Aso

Uchinomaki, the other course, is another enjoyable course that has a different feel from Aso Shrine. After riding through the countryside, you can feel the retro atmosphere of a classic hot spring and a vibrant shopping atmosphere. Enjoy the scenery with a creative design can all around, full of charm enticing you to explore deep into the alley. Of course, you can find delicious foods.

Enjoy cycling while observing the outer rim of the crater and Aso-Gotake with the Uchinomaki course.
 

Bakery Genki is located on the road to Uchinomaki Onsen town. A popular shop for bread rich in wheat
 

Choose curry bread, cream bread, or bear bread (with chocolate cream) (one ticket). They all look so good I can7t make up my mind!
 

Order a drink (additional charge) to eat in the eat-in space. Take a nice break at the counter seat with a magnificent view of the scenery
 

Riding towards Uchinomaki Onsen town...

A retro townscape appears

The narrow roads also spark curiosity. If anything catches your eye, just drop the bicycle.

Creative designs everywhere in the shopping street

Visited Oshima-ya KAGU Cafe located in Uchinomaki shopping street. Large cafe at the back of the general store.

Special smoothie made by a vegetable sommelier (three tickets). Choose from around five kinds of smoothies
 

The shop also sells other foods and drinks using ingredients from Aso gentle to the body. Get your souvenirs at the general store
 

Things you can only get here! This is why I dropped by Aso Okamoto liquor store
 

Got Kumamon Cider, a local cider made from spring water from the Aso Shrine Gate (two tickets). Choose from plain or shiso (Japanese basil) taste. Drink it outside or take it back as a souvenir.

Ride and eat in Aso. This was a cycling tour where I could feel and enjoy different sceneries closely. I was delighted to check out sceneries that I don’t often see, have conversations with the locals I ran into, and taste the delicious ingredients one can only feel only after a good workout. I was glad to be able to use my smart phone so I wouldn’t get lost. If you want to experience something a little different from the norm and enjoy a unique tour in Aso, be sure to take the Gourmet Cycling Eat and Pedal tour.