Zenbird Editorial TeamA mountain biking event is coming to Naganohara Town in Gunma Prefecture next month. The “Nidoageyama Forestry Road MTB Tour Dig & Ride” event will integrateswoodland conservation with recreational cycling. The event is scheduled for 20 to 22 November.
The two day programme takes place within a 234 hectare private forest named Nidoageyama. The area previously served as a vital source of firewood and charcoal and currently functions as a site for commercial forestry and beekeeping. The organisers aim to build a regenerative relationship with the environment, promoting the concept of developing a forest that improves through human interaction.
Participants learn fundamental mountain biking skills on the first day at the Kitakaru Bike Park 100 facility under the guidance of professional instructors. Attendees then spend the night at TAKIVIVA, an accommodation site where they prepare meals over open flames and engage in communal discussions. The event encourages guests to “maintain the roads by hand, ride through them, and gather around a fire.”
On the second day, participants enter the Nidoageyama forest, a location normally closed to the public. Riders use hand tools such as pickaxes and hoes to repair the active forestry roads. Following the maintenance work, attendees ride their bicycles along the newly restored routes, experiencing the direct physical results of their labour.
This initiative introduces a practical method for managing private woodlands while addressing the persistent labour shortages affecting regional forestry sectors in Japan.
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