Spring is the perfect season to explore Kansai by bicycle. Going with the flow along largely flat cycle routes beside the Yodo, Katsura and Kizu rivers, it's possible to chart a comfortable six-day trip — or, in my case, a rather challenging four-day one — between the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nara.
However fast or slow your pace, though, you'll find much of the journey lit up with blossoms as Kansai's waterways and hidden byways unfurl to reveal unexpected glimpses of wild birds and elegant maiko (trainee geisha).
After picking up a cheap secondhand bicycle from a shop in Osaka, I take it for a preliminary light-hearted evening spin around Osaka Castle Park.