Use 'em or lose 'em. That's what the letter from the airline company said about the airmiles my wife - Debbie - and I had clocked up on our frequent-flyer cards.

After a quick count up and a look at a map, we opt to jet over to neighboring Japan, just a couple of hours away to the north. (We live in Taiwan)

Japan is huge.

We only have a week or so spare.

The best bet seems to be to ride around the most scenic part - the northern island of Hokkaido - which seems less vast compared to the rest of the country. However, you could easily - as we found out - spend a month or two just on this island.

Okay, so April in Hokkaido won't be as balmy like most of Asia, but as Debbie majored in Japanese language at uni, it seems about time she went to the country itself. 

We're using the locally made Touring Mapple map book (1) which details all the minor roads in Hokkaido.

Our flight had a stop-over in Nagoya, where are un-boxed bikes were carefully covered in layers of bubblewrap by the ground staff. It seems that Japanese don't often take bicycles on planes, and if they do, they have always got to be boxed.

It's quite a way from Nagoya to Sapparo - over 2 hours by plane - and as we were to arrive late in the day, we'd pre-booked a hotel room there for our first night. 

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We ride away from Chitose airport, on a bike path next to a pretty busy road. It's not too far to our hotel, which turns out to be a 'business hotel'. 

It's clean and quite cheap. Our bikes are stored in a basement garage and they seem safe enough, even though there's no door to the place.

At night we wander the deserted streets of the town. The few people we see are wrapped up against the chilly air. The only place open seems to be a burger joint .

Closer to Vladivostok than Tokyo, this northern island has an otherworldly feel. It somehow sidestepped Japan's industrial boom and none of Japan's world-famous industrial conglomerates are based here. Also conspicuously absent are crowd-pulling theme parks and recognizable landmarks. Instead, Hokkaido boasts space.

Lots of space.

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The county's largest prefecture is the combined size of Holland and Belgium and although the island accounts for a whopping fifth of Japan's vast territory, only 5 percent of its citizens live there. With a delightful rural ambiance and stunning beauty, the other 95 per cent of the population - around 127 million - simply regard Hokkaido as a must-see destination. 

Unfortunately, it can often seem as though they all simultaneously converge.

In summer, hoards flock to the acres of blooming lavender fields, while autumn - when the wooded countryside looks like one giant red and gold arboretum - attracts an even greater volume. Throughout freezing winter months, the island's slopes lure skiers and snowboarders from around the world, especially to premier resorts like Furano and Niseko. Then during Golden Week - linking April and May - another huge influx of Japanese vacationers arrives en masse - not only in tour buses, but also on big-cc motorcycles. 

Which leaves early spring, when wrapped-up cyclists have a unique chance to sample its chilled-out milieu in peace and a certain amount of rare solitude.