Jeffrey E.F. Friedl's Blog, page 18

A Visit to Kyoto’s Northern Mountains, This Time By Car

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Honest Life's Work

farmer deep in the mountains of northern Kyoto, Japan

I went out on a leisurely photo-expedition drive the other day with Paul Barr and Anastasiya Bulkavets, whom Paul and I met a
couple of years ago in a story I've been meaning to tell, during this outing
when she happen to recognize Damien and his red hat from having seen them on
my blog. We all occasionally get together since.

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Anastasiya

out of focus, sorry, 'cause I was focusing on what was inside the rusty wheel








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Inside the Rusty Wheel










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Hungry Babies








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Mommy Returns with a Tasty Snack

I've lived in this area for more than a decade and have driven in the mountains many times over the years,
but until I started cycling through them last year, I didn't really have a sense for locations and connecting roads...
all the places in the mountains were just “in the mountains”, and I relied on my having geoencoded photos to
be able to recall where something was or how to get there.

But now that I cycle through these mountains all the time, I'm intimate with the roads and what they connect, and the world is
a much smaller place.

It was interesting to see some of these roads from the car.

To get to this first stop, we drove up through Ohara and onto the small mountain road that goes to Momoi Pass, a heinously-steep route that I first cycled in July. At least it's steep for me...
toward the end of its 7km length it has a 1.2km section at an average of 12%.

It was much easier in the car.

We stopped at a small village with no services of any kind, except for one hidden drink vending machine,
and a very old phone booth:

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“Phone · Telegraph”

There's also a nice field of irises that I hoped would be in bloom, but they weren't. Rather,
here's a photo from this trip to the same place nine years ago...

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Irises In Bloom

9 years ago

Not far away was a small shrine...

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Shikobuchi Shrine

思子淵神社

I go by all the time (this “Entering a Small Village” picture
snapped on the fly during one cycle trip was taken just as we passed the shrine) but I had never stopped to check it out.

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Difficult to Read

“思子淵神社”

even if the paint were fresh, I couldn't read that name








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Modern Construction

beautiful light








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This kind of place can be a mixed bag... it is of relatively recent construction, so it lacks the old feeling that provides a
certain appeal, yet because it's built simply to serve the local community, its has a level of honesty and purity that the big
ostentatious temples and shrines have long abandoned.

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Old Tree In Front

Across the way were active small-plot farms, which certainly have an appeal to me.

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Working the Fields

We continued on up past Momoi Pass, then over Hanase Pass and down into the small village at its northern slope.

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Little Roadside Temple








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Private Footbridge








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Some Building

that I normally pass at a breakneck pace








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Another Shrine Entrance

this one I had seen before

The shrine back in the mountains behind this gate made an appearance in “Visiting the Back-Mountain Hiyoshi Shrine with Jon Van Dalen” six and a half years ago.

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Someone's House

I'm guessing that this is one homestead, with the original house in the center, the storage kura at left, and a (relatively) modern
2nd-generation house for the now-adult oldest son at right.

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Cowbell's New Sign

The letters are made of Styrofoam, so it gets broken easily. Compare with the same sign a year ago. Sometimes I'll stop by Cowbell for coffee
while cycling, such as on this trip last year.
Yet, I'd never noticed the cycle rack they have for road bikes:

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Road-Bike Rack

Road bikes don't have kickstands, so one parks using a rack like this by hooking the seat over the pole, as seen here.

Then the drive brought us deeper into the mountains, where we stopped by a tunnel that I cycle
through every so often...

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Well, Now that You Mention It

yes, this does look a bit familiar

I was shocked recently when I realized that this bridge/tunnel/bridge combo, which I'd been cycling through
without a second thought, is the
“Kyoto’s Road to Nowhere” that I posted
about nine years ago (and then re-connected with four years ago).

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Nine Years Ago

9年前

During both of those visits, the location in my mind was merely “in the mountains somewhere”, so when I started cycling
through it on this ride last May, I never made the connection.

The 600m (⅓ mile) bit of road that it bypasses is still as pleasant as it was the first time I took it, so I still have
no idea why what must have been such a large amount of money was spent.

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Always Lovely

entrance gate to the Joshokoji Temple (常照皇寺)

We then made our way over to the
Joshokoji Temple (常照皇寺), which I first visited four years ago
for photography. I've stopped by a few times while cycling, including during
Bridget and Sarah’s Tour de Kyoto last fall.

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After while we started back to home, stopping by a shrine that has been on my blog
many times...

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Uncharacteristically Green

Iwato Ochiba Shrine (岩戸落葉神社)

The property is dominated with towering ginkgo trees, which are richly yellow in the fall.
Here's a photo from early during last fall's season, from “Cycling to Kyoto’s Ochiba Shrine Amid the Fall Colors”...

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Early Last Fall

去年の秋

My first visit to the shrine had been five years prior to that, with Paul, as chronicled in “Carpet of Yellow at the Iwato Ochiba Shrine, Deep in the Mountains of North-West
Kyoto”. As with all the photos on my blog, the “nearby photos” link under each pictures brings you to other visits to
the same place.

Closer back to Kyoto, I showed Paul and Anastasiya a little natural spring that cyclists often fill their water bottles at (as seen here)...

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When I cycle by, I'll often find folks filling up big jugs in the back of their car, to bring home. I guess the water is
supposed to be very good, or blessed, or something. It is tasty, I know.

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Tasty

This is near the Kyoto Mountain Restaurant “Yama no Ie Hasegawa” that has
also appeared many times on my blog. We would have liked to have stopped in, but time had run short. (I made up the visit by
stopping in a couple of days ago on the end of this 127km ride with Gorm and
Manseki.)

All in all, a relaxing, enjoyable day.

Half-Hearted Welcome For Gorm’s Return to Kyoto

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Gorm Returns

Kumiko, Gorm, Antti, Me

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

Smiling Norwegian Gorm has returned to Kyoto for a month-long visit after a year's absence, and a few of us welcomed him with a
short ride.

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Manseki couldn't join us for the ride, but he saw us off and we'd return to join him for coffee later.

Our plan was to do a clockwise Kyoto Heart Loop, which starts out on a
route that I first did a year ago, that time Gorm having lead the
way.

This time we all knew the route. We took it easy, as Gorm was still suffering jetlag, Kumiko was still coming off an injury,
and Antti was still recovering from having done a 24-hour endurance ride (690km! 430mi!) last weekend.

Apparently my camera skill is suffering as well.... since returning from a long absence in The States, most of my cycling shots
are fatally blurry. I've got to figure this out. Until I do, I'll be forced to try to
recover some semblance of usability via extreme post processing
that can become old quite quickly. )-:

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Heading Up to Kyomi Pass








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If Lightroom had the ability to add “motion blur”, I might be able to overpower the “camera-shake blur”
and produce something vaguely interesting. Instead I present the photo above.

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A Gorm in its Natural Environment








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Stereotypical

Japanese mountain countryside








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Mochikoshi Pass

On a counter-clockwise Heart Loop, this is an inviting place to stop,
just after the crest of Mochikoshi Pass, it offers a lovely view of a small hamlet below.

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Selfie Inception

I take a selfie of myself in Gorm's glasses, as blah blah blah...

(the same glasses as he's always had)








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Kumiko Tries the Same

In the end, most of us abandoned the Heart Loop at the halfway point because time was running
out, and we'd rather return to have time for coffee and chat (and Manseki). Hence, we did only half
of the Heart Loop this time.

(Kumiko, who was feeling fantastic on the bike for the first time since suffering an injury, went on to complete the full Heart
Loop before joining us for coffee.)

Now that Gorm's been re-acclimated to Japan, we'll do a more robust ride next time.

My First Climb up Kobe’s Mt. Rokko

Note: this article may not appear properly in news readers.

This article contains interactive aspects that are likely removed by most news readers. Please see this particular article directly on Jeffrey's blog for full functionality.

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Mt. Rokko Summit

Kobe Japan

六甲山山頂

この間、金光万石さんと一緒に六甲山を登りました、神戸空港から924mの山頂まで。
乗ったルートは距離は長かったので、坂はだいあいマイルドでした。楽しかった。
(ポートアイランドと神戸空港のサイクリングはつまらなかったけれども。)
一番キツイ道は16号線から山頂までの300mの丸形滑り止め道。15%の凸凹坂ですが、行って良かった。山頂からの景色は本当に良かったです。

On Thursday I made my biggest single bicycle climb so far, at least mathematically, by riding from sea level in Kobe Japan, to
924m (3,030') near the summit of Mt. Rokko some 25km (16mi) distant.

Despite its mathematical ranking, the route I
took was apparently the easiest route, and wasn't at all challenging. It was just fun.
Overall, the day saw 78km (48mi) with 1,800m (6,000') of
vertical climb. (Activity at Strava)

But the fun belies how totally stressed and apprehensive I was in the week leading up to it. Mt. Rokko is hundreds of meters higher than the 500m climb of my candlestick Hanase climb, which is a tough climb
for me, so I expected this Mt. Rokko climb to be all the worse.

I was also worried about forgetting something. I was going to be in Kobe to deliver something to
a friend, so took the opportunity to load the bike in the car as well and base my first Kobe ride from
there. For some reason I was ridiculously stressed about forgetting
something.

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Ready To Start

photo by Zak Braverman

It turns out that I didn't forget anything in Kyoto, but I realized later that I
did forget one of my water bottles in the car before heading off. Sigh. I had meticulously
researched the whole route via Google Street View (thank you Google) and had already been worried about a
lack of drink along the way. Now my carrying capacity was cut in half. Sigh.

In leaving Zak's place tucked up at the city/mountain edge overlooking Kobe, I had to descent slope
as steep as 20% to get down to the main part of the city...

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15%-Average Residential Street

Yikes, I'm going to have to return up this hill at the very end of my ride

Manseki and his bike had squished into the car with me on the ride from Kyoto, and he explored Kobe while I
visited with Zak. We met back up at Sannomiya Station in downtown Kobe to start our ride
together. Before heading up to the mountain, we first planned to head out to the far end of Kobe Airport, built out in the ocean
on an artificial island (which itself is beyond another artificial island, Port Island, just off the Kobe City mainland.

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Cycling/Pedestrian Bridgeway

over to Port Island








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Lots of Bridges of Various Kinds








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Crossing Kobe Bridge

神戸大橋

taken while moving at 29 kph (18 mph)








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Stopping for Photos








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Selfie








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Riding Through Port Island

Port Island is a big artificial island with big wide streets that we could ride on, but I wanted to
try the cycling/pedestrian paths. Somehow in my imagination I thought that they might be quaint, but
frankly it would have been nice only if I'd been on a city bicycle with the family.

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This Was Nice

protected from the sun, and those are peoplemovers in the distance!

(sadly, no, we didn't ride the bikes on them)








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Nice Wide Path

and a contender for “World's Ugliest Building”

Once you make the several-kilometer trip through Port Island, you reach the half-as-long Kobe Sky Bridge over to the airport.

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Looking Back at Port Island

from the Kobe Sky Bridge (神戸スカイブリッジ)








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Kobe Airport

神戸空港

taken while moving at 32 kph (20 mph)

Actually reaching the airport was disappointing and anti-climactic, as there were no planes or crowds or really much of anything around.
Other than the sign saying “Kobe Airport”, we might not have realized we were at an airport.

We continued past to the farthest reaches of the island that the public was allowed.

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The End

absolutely nothing to see, except maybe the wind sock in the distance

I'd been thinking that the trek out across the man-made islands and to the airport would somehow be interesting, but it was
a waste of time other than satisfying my curiosity: now I know that it's a boring, tedious ride.

The one saving grace might have been the last section of road that parallels the runway. You can't see the runway and have no
sense that you're near an airport, but it's a perfectly straight 1,000-meter section with no traffic, so
it makes a nice opportunity for a
fast one-kilometer sprint.

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Start Your Engines

Unfortunately, we had a strong headwind, so we didn't even bother.

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Heading Back onto the Mainland









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Our Destination

is the little bump of a tower barely visible on the ridgeline at the far right

While making our way through the city, Manseki noticed a bicycle shop so I
bought another water bottle. Then we headed inland, toward the entrance to the mountains...

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Sloping Up

Of the three main routes out from Kobe City up to the top, we took what turned out to be the easiest, the Oku-Saido Driveway
(奥再度ドライブウェイ). I guess it's easiest because it's longest... the
ascent is spread out over a longer distance.

But it starts out quite sharply at about 14%...

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Here We Go

... and within a minute we're getting an impressive view...

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One Minute In

But there aren't many views from then on, as they're all obscured by mountains or trees. The slopes
are not so steep, so it's just a matter of keeping on, though there are occasional switchbacks that look
impressive, such as this one 12 minutes in...

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This One Looks Fun

taken while moving at 10 kph (6 mph)








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taken while moving at 8 kph (5 mph)

Soon after, I got my first view since the one near the start, so had to stop for a photo:

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First Real View

I wasn't paying attention to the map or the numbers, but looking at it now I see that the elevation
of that photo is 260m, so it's just a bit over a quarter of the way up.

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“Curve #51”

every curve was conveniently numbered








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“Warning: Grooved Pavement”

Though many roads don't seem to have it, by law roads over 7% steepness are apparently
required to have anti-slip technology,
such as groves cut into the pavement, or some kind of stipple pressed into the pavement (like the doughnuts seen
in “Here We Go” above).

The doughnuts like in “Here We Go” are horrible for cyclists
because the bumps actually decrease traction quite a bit. I hate them. The ridges used on this 21% slope make travel by bicycle
almost impossible. The grooved pavement being warned about above, at least, is not a
problem.

The bigger problem on this route are the occasional yellow stripes painted across particularly steep sections, such as seen in
“This One Looks Fun” above. Some of the stripes
are as thick as a plank of wood, so they're super bumpy to go over. I suspect
that's exactly the intention, to grab the attention of the daydreaming driver (though with 100 curves in just a
few miles, I don't see how such drivers would live long enough to get to this point).

The problem is that these are really dangerous and bone-jarringly uncomfortable for cyclists. As a
car driver I never would have given it a thought, but this is the
job of folks that work in highway planning. Shame on them.

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Manseki Arrives at the Summit

六甲山山頂(925m)到着

One thing that makes the climb both easier and harder than it might first appear is that it undulates quite a bit. This means that it has some very nice fast downhill sections on which to have fun and rest, but it also
means that the total amount you have to climb is more than the simple difference from the lowest spot to the highest.

Strava reports that this route has an elevation difference of 922m, but
that's an utterly meaningless thing to report because it ignores the undulation. In this case, it
under-reports more than 200m of vertical climb one must do to reach the top.

Another problem with the undulation is that if you're not familiar with the route (or the mapping app on your phone), you don't
really know when you're near the summit... the start of a nice downhill section may mean you're at the
summit, or may just mean a minute's reprieve before you continue on up again. Manseki found this out all
too well when a few kilometers from the summit he asked someone whether he was at the summit, and was
told yes, he was. So Manseki spent 15 minutes looking for me. But we
eventually got in contact and he came charging up to the real summit.

The main road is Rt 16, and it passes close to the summit, but to get to the top you have to take

a steep bumpy (doughnut-filled)
road for 300m up an average 15% grade (max 23% grade) until the pavement ends, and then you're just a
short stroll to the very top.

image data

Summit of Mt. Rokko

六甲山山頂

I think most cyclists don't know about the road, or don't bother with it. It seems from looking at
the various segments on Strava that most just consider the restaurant near the entrance (the building at right in the screenshot
above) to be “the top”. That's just lazy in my book. I went as far as there was pavement. The restaurant isn't even at the highest point
on Rt. 16... that's a few hundred meters south.

On the plus side, there are drink vending machines at the restaurant, which is nice.

As marked in the map, there's a viewing area just above the end of the paved road, but it's horrible because someone's marched
a bunch of utility wires smack dab in front, destroying and sense of view.

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Typical Japan

facepalm-worthy aesthetics









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Angling To Avoid the Visual Garbage

Ignoring the vast expanse of Osaka, one can get part of Kobe without too many utility wires








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Reverse Angle View

blessedly free from wires, but on this day not from haze

Rather than waste time at the visually-neutered viewing spot, it's better to return a bit down,
to just past a little gazebo. The view from there is not free of utility crap, but it's much better,
and the full vastness of the Osaka Concrete Jungle leaves one in awe. (My photos do not even come close
to capturing the sense of huge that exists.)

Here's a side-to-side scrollable panorama of Osaka and what we can see of Kobe:

←    panorama    パノラマ    →
Osaka and a bit of Kobe, from Mt. Rokko

大阪と神戸、六甲山山頂から

In this picture, the rightmost smudge of land visible in the ocean is the Kobe Airport were had been a
couple of hours earlier, 16km (10mi) as the crow flies. The smudge farther in the background and
slightly left is Kansai International Airport, 37km (23mi) away.

After futzing around for photos, we headed back and explored some of the side roads on the mountain.

One such road provided a nice, more intimate view of Kobe...

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Kobe, Japan

there, again, the background has Port Island and the airport

On the return into Kobe, we took one of the other routes,
the Omote Rokko Driveway (表六甲ドライブウェイ). This was very fun to descend.

Again, Strava mystifies in how they support and encourage wrong data. Their promoted segment for this downhill shows that half the route is a mild climb up followed by a mild descent, averaging out at a 1% descent...

Complete Strava Bullshit

The reality is that the road positively plummets nonstop, shedding 430m of elevation over 4.7km of road,
for an average descent grade of over 9%. That's steep!

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 —
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Super Twisty Descent

Omote Rokko Driveway (表六甲ドライブウェイ)

Just to give you an idea of this "1% decent", here's a video of the slow and easy descent from just after taking the photo above,
to the first stoplight: see video here.

The bigger deal, of course, is if one looks at Strava and thinks "climbing up the slight 1% grade should be easy, so I'll
take this route up!" only to faceplant into the reality that the climb is 9% and continues without respite.

The problem is not that someone made this segment with bad data, but that Strava gives no reasonable way of correcting the
situation other than making redundant (but accurate) segment and hoping folks notice it.

I did exactly that — here's my corrected
segment that shows a proper -9% grade — but it's mostly a wated effort because most cyclists
will never know it exists. Strava explicitly hides a new segment like this from most users. Most
Strava users interact only with the phone app, and this segment is invisible on the phone app. By
default it's invisible on the web site as well, but at least there, the small subset of users who know how to look for
“hidden” segments will at least have the opportunity to see it if they
bother looking, and if they do and somehow magically understand that it's better, they can promote it for their own
view.

It's very frustrating for a cyclist like me who cares about the difference between a 1% climb and a 9% climb. I happen to know that their particular segment in this case is wrong, but it makes me wonder about the
validity of every segment I see, such as while researching routes. Wrong data is worse than no data, and
Strava is full of wrong data.

As much as I love the idea of what Strava purports to offer, the gratuitous way they thumb their nose at any semblance of
accuracy saddens me.

Anyway, enough Strava angst for today. I'm just glad we didn't try to go up this route this time. I'll do it next time.

Manseki and I made our way back toward where we started, ending with that nasty 530 meters of 15.2% average.

Guttons for punishment, we decided to check out the cemetery behind (above) Zak's place,
which involved another punishing short climb.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Manseki Approaching the Top

Nagamine Cemetery (長峰霊園)








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Now We're Done for the Day

We loaded the bikes into the car and made the hour-and-a-half drive home, satisfied with a good day's
adventure, knowing that cold beer awaited us at our respective homes.

My Day of Many Flats

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Fixing a Flat

a recurring theme of the day

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

Manseki and I rode into the mountains of northwest Kyoto to check out some roads I found on the map that we'd never ridden, but
in trying to continue after a rest pause, I found my rear tire was flat. It must have been a slow leak of some sort.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
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Small Puncture

but big enough to cause a weak point for the next tube to fail

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Adding a Tire Boot and a New Tube

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

Once on our way, we came to the first road to check out, which starts here.

Like so many of Kyoto's rural roads, it was lovely.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.1, ISO 400 —
map & image data — nearby photos










Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
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Two Roads Diverged In a ....

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

We tried both. The one toward the left quickly became gravel so we abandoned it.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 58mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
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Checking Ahead

to see whether pavement returns any time soon

The other continued nicely...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Danger Zone

you wouldn't want to hit that gap at any speed








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
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And then I got a flat on the front.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 250 —
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Sigh, This Again

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The road was in good condition, so we don't know what caused the puncture, but there was a hole in the tire similar
to the first one. It, too, would have to be replaced when I got home. For now, I could use a new tube and a tire boot to
protect the tube from the hole.

These “Vittoria Open Pave” tires were disappointing, since they were new just
2,690 km (1,670 mi) ago. I barely got three months of use from them.

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 —
image data

During Better Days

One of the Vittoria Open Pave tires 2,690 km before I had to replace it









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The tires had gotten dirty from the sometimes-wet road, so I had the bright idea to wash them off in the river,
which was right there....

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
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Heading Down to Wash the Tire

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 —
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Manseki Gets All Artsy

with the composition

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

While working on the front tire, the mini bicycle pump I carry just stopped working. It was fine one minute,
seizing up and unpumpable the next. I would have been really stuck if Manseki hadn't been there... he gave it a go
with his pump...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Manseki to the Rescue

While he worked on that, I addressed a different problem I'd just noticed with the rear tire. When replacing
the tube earlier, I hadn't seated the bead fully in one spot, so to fix that I needed to let the air out and refill it.

Unfortunately, I ran into all kinds of trouble. First, his pump doesn't work well with removable-valve stems, which I find out
now is what I have. To have any hope, you've got to tighten the valve into the stem before attaching the pump, but apparently
these valves are made from wet tissue paper, because the first one got completely sheared off when we tried to unscrew the
pump...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/80 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Sheared Clean Off

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

This somehow caused the pump to become attached to the wheel... it took quite a while, and some leverage with a pair
pliers (that Manseki amazingly had) to overcome. Sigh. I cannibalized a valve from one of the old tubes.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Final Top-Off

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

The body count: two tires, two tubes, an extra stem valve, and my tire pump. Then add to that our plans for the day:
with this run of luck, we decided it would be prudent to just turn around and go home, slowly and carefully.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Retracing Our Steps

it's still a lovely road








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
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Ryuta Mitsuhashi

stopped to chat when we came across each other as he headed out of town








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
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Returning To His Ride

Despite the cursed ride, I wasn't in a bad mood, and I was certainly thankful for Manseki's company,
skill, and tools.

But as un-bad as my mood was, it was made infinitely better when we came across a cyclist who looked a bit lost...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 —
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Offering Directions

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

It turns out that she wasn't lost, but she was visiting from overseas and didn't know the area,
so we told her a bit about the “Heart Loop” she was doing. (I wrote about
this popular 50km loop in northern Kyoto last year.)

She was dressed in Strava kit, so I knew she used Strava. We'd be able to see each other
on the Strava “fly-by” feature, which shows cyclists you passed on your route, so as we were leaving, I introduced myself so she'd know which one was me.

And here's where the “infinitely better mood” came in. Her face lit up and she said “I think I know you... it's your blog where I read about the Heart Loop”. It turns out she's following one of my recent activity tracks to lead her on
her ride today.

Manseki introduced himself as well, to which she responded “Yeah, I guess I've seen you on his blog before”.

That was a nice little ego boost.

NORU Group Ride and a Visit to Hiyoshi Dam

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Pausing for Photos

on my first NORU group ride this year

Saturday was a NORU group ride with 14 people, my first big group
ride this year, I think. (The first NORU group ride was this lovely
ride last fall.)

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Vincent's Strange Riding Style

Vincent was doing something that looked quite strange... can you notice it
in the photo?

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Exiting the City

through Arashiyama








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 200 —
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Three Musketeers

Joshua, Vincent, and Neil







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Trusty Steeds








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Another Photo Opportunity

before the day's big climb

L-R: Andy, Vincent, Manseki, Neil, Minobu, Manabu, ?, Naoya, Minami, ?, Joshua, Antti, Ryota

(I don't know two of the guys)







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
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Last Full-Group Shot

45 minutes later, after the climb







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Loco Descent

Andy flies by while I'm futzing with the camera at 35kph

Vincent suggested we take a short alternate to the planned route, down a
lovely descent. I had the camera and so took it slow at first, but still got upwards of a safe 70kph. So fun.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Fast Vibe

if not well composed or well focused







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 200 —
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Perfect Timing

The route brings us past a picturesque lake with a cemetery on the hillside opposite. It was pretty hazy so probably not worth
it to begin with, but it's an area that can make for a nice shot if you get the timing right.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Better This Time

Not long after this, a few of us split off from the main group, to make the short ride over to Hiyoshi Dam, which I'd visited
two days prior on this whim of a ride. That day, Thursday, I'd gotten a
lot of work done so decided on a whim to cycle over to Hiyoshi Dam, which I'd not been to since this trip with the family 7½ years ago. Since I got into cycling I'd seen
that it was a common destination for friends, so I'd been wanting to try it myself.

I'd also heard that the approach to the dam included a long fast downhill section that sounded quite appealing,
and when I'd come across it on Thursday I had fun with it, but was extra careful because it was my first time.
Still, it was great fun and I averaged 65kph (40mph) for the 2.2km section.

Anyway, I wanted to do it again today, so I broke off from the main group. Antti Riikonen and Ryota Misuhashi joined me as
well. Both are much stronger than I, and I ended up drafting behind them on the descent, but it turns out that we made the exact
same time — 2:05 — as I had the first day. Part of the reason for the lack of speed could have been that
Antti's chain popped off near the start, though he was able to get it back on and continue without stopping.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

“Hiyoshi Velodrome”

an elevated walkway near the spillway can function as a mini velodrome

On my trip on Thursday I'd made a segment of four laps around this loop,
which makes almost 1km distance. I was disappointed to find that no one else (who had uploaded to Strava) had ridden around four
times. How can one not?!

Revisiting Last Year’s Young-Adult Archery Ceremony

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 160 —
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Having Fun for the Cameras

Sanjusangendo Temple (三十三間堂)

January 2015

去年の成人の日、「三十三間堂大的全国大会」の撮影。14ヶ月遅いですが、この記事の続きです。

As I seem to do more often than not, I never did follow up on an early-2015 blog post that I intended to be just an
introduction. In January 2015 I posted “The 2015 Young-Adult Archery
Event at the Sanjusangendo Temple” with a few pictures and a “To be continued...” ending. So here we are, 16 months
later, I've come across the event in my photo archives.The event for recently-come-of-age adults is introduced and descried on the
earlier post, so I'll just get into the photos.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/3.5, ISO 220 —
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On My Way to the Event

Lady in kimono walking a dog on an ugly modern street.

A kimono can lend class and style and calm to any scene.









Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 —
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The Closest I Got

to the actual event

As I've mentioned in other posts about this annual event, the crowds are
utterly ridiculous. Having made the effort to get close in previous years, the above photo shows the closest I bothered with this
time.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Waiting Their Turn

toward the end of the 2,000 ladies shooting that day

At one point I did have a view of the board used to indicate to the archers whether they
connected on either of the two arrows they were allowed to shoot. Six archers shoot at once,
so the board shows the results for twelve arrows:

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 110 —
map & image data — nearby photos

All Misses

it's tough to hit the target from that distance

Rather than try to muscle my way through the crowds to see the actual event, I spent more time in the less-crowded areas, using
my big lens to reach across the crowds to zoom in on scenes of
interest...

Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM — 1/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Me

photo by Yuo Kato

who kindly sent me the shots he took of me








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 140 —
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The Shot I Was Taking Above








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Showing His Results

With crowds like we had, and my not being 10 feet tall, I often got unlucky with people caught out of focus in the frame, such
as the big orb at the bottom of the shot above, which I assume is some person's head.

I also had my 70-200 zoom for more-traditional shots.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 155mm — 1/400 sec, f/3.5, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Modern Traditional

When the kids posed, they usually did so without the heavy leather glove worn on the pulling hand while shooting,
and never posed with an actual arrow...

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Posing for Pictures








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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 180 —
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Oops!

These Charlies Angels actually posed with actual arrows!








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 360 —
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Thought Better of It

moments later

With all this color and posing and youthful spirit, there also congregated a lot of cameras...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 125 —
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Mob Scene








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 125 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 900 —
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I'm Guessing that I Ruined His Shot

sorry









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 250 —
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I'm Guessing that I Was His Shot








Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM — 1/800 sec, f/2.2, ISO 100 —
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Me Again

with the Nikkor 300mm f/2.0

photo by Yuo Kato








Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

photo by Yuo Kato










Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 320 —
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Damien and his Red Hat

Damien Douxchamps stopped by as well, and uncharacteristically
smiled (sort of) for my camera.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 180 —
map & image data — nearby photos









Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/3200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Mob-Scene Scene

I tried not to contribute to too much “mob scene” feeling, so would retreat to a quiet distance with my long lens. So while the crowd above continued, I opted for a different approach to the same subjects...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Another thing I could do was just wander and focus on patterns or small details...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 180 —
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Scabbard-esque








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 125 —
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Bold








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 140 —
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Roof-Edge Tiles








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Fletching








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Invisible Arrow








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 160 —
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Stylish

I like the look of that Harris Tweed bag








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2500 sec, f/2, ISO 100 —
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Braids

In looking at that last photo I realized how much work many of the ladies put into their hair.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/3200 sec, f/2, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 100 —
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1000 sec, f/2, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/2000 sec, f/2, ISO 400 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 140mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Group Shot

with their teacher









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Having Fun









Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 280 —
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Top Half

of the lady seen in “Juggling” on the earlier post








Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
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Certificate of Participation

It was hard work to earn the right to be here

Getting Back in the Saddle with a Challenging Ride

iPhone 6+ back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/490 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Yesterday, at Onyu Pass

after 66km or riding, 1,650m of climb, and one flat tire

おにゅう峠。そこまではパンク一つ、距離66km、獲得高度1,650m

Having been back in Kyoto for two weeks after having been away for three months, I finally started to ease back into real cycling with my first challenging ride since January
(probably since doing Sugino Pass three times in a row on Jan 11).

I'd built up slowly with some simple rides, but nothing with a lot of climbing. I was surprised to find during those simple
rides that I was doing much better on short/intense climbs than I did before the three-month break, and I wondered whether this
unexplained fitness would transition to longer climbs.

The answer turned out to be “no”.

For yesterday's route, I more or less retraced the loop seen in last October's
“The New Bike Is Fast; I’m Just Going Along For The Ride”,
but with a different tactic.

First, here's yesterday's ride:

Still too wimpy to try to give full effort on a long climb, I decided to
try a steady pace between Ichihara (the last built-up area before diving into the northern mountains)
and Onyu Pass way up north 20km short of the ocean. The route starts at an elevation of about 150m and
goes over two passes (Hanase at 760m and Nomi at 657m) before ending up at Onyu Pass's 839m. In between
the passes is lots of downhill and/or gently-sloping rises.

It's not a route that folks generally try to do in one shot — there are a lot of inviting
places to stop and relax along the way — so I knew that if I stopped
only occasionally to get drinks, I'd rank near the top on the long 58km
segment. I was slow and lethargic up the climbs, but quite fast down the descents, adopting a super aero position on the downhills (my top speed of the day was 75kph / 46mph). But overall, simply
choosing not to dally gave me the top spot by a wide margin.

Even losing 16 minutes to a puncture near the end (and to having to scramble down a ravine to fetch
the water bottle that rolled away while fixing the flat), I made the top spot by half an hour (3h17m
vs. 3h49m).

I sort of hope some of my friends see this as a challenge and show me what a
real effort might produce. I expect some of them could easily beat 2h45m.

Anyway, the puncture on the way up Onyu took the wind out of my sails, but I was already tired to begin
with. I took a half-hour nap at the summit, and ate a lot of carbs. To avoid
“The Bonk” (running out of energy) I tried
using energy gels every hour. I think they worked, because my fatigue was more basic than just an empty
gas tank... I was just at the edge of my fitness level.

But at $2+ each, and one per hour, those energy gels become pricey! Between those and the carbo cookies and all the drinks I
bought, I probably spent a good $25 on keeping myself going. That's a lot for each ride!

The scenery of Kyoto's mountains was, as usual, just stunning. I didn't bring the camera, but snapped a few photos with
my iPhone, but they just don't do anything justice, even after trying to bring out some oomph in Lightroom.

Case in point: this scene, from a bridge near the start of this lovely secret 8% climb, was in real life just
wonderful...

iPhone 6+ back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/350 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Blah Photo of a Wow Scene

Although the photos shows none of it, the trees near the center of the frame ware just bursting with joyous pink blossoms. It's what the photographer at the bottom of the frame was pointing at. (Didn't notice the photographer? That's okay; he didn't notice
me, either

Back In Japan After Three Months Away

After three months away, I'm now back in Japan.

I'd left suddenly at the start of February because my mom had a stroke, but she'd recovered enough
by the start of May that I could return.

My return was on United Airlines, which over the decades I've flown more than any other. They used to be a good airline, but
have gone stunningly downhill in the last decade (yielding occasional rants from me, such as this and this), so it was
with trepidation that I tried again. The saving grace was paying the extra $250 to bump myself up to the “Economy Plus” seats,
which are the same as normal cattle class except for an extra four inches of leg room.

I appreciated the leg room for the Cleveland → San Francisco leg, though I perhaps would have appreciated it more if the
chubby guy next to me didn't act as if he owned the shared armrest. But the short flight was made an hour shorter due to good
winds, so it ended up being less than five hours.

Better still was the flight to Osaka, Japan, for which I had a row of three seats to myself.

iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/15 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

All Mine

San Francisco International Airport

The non-“Economy Plus” economy section looked to be pretty full, but the “Economy Plus” section had rows of empty seats.
What a difference it makes.

My father-in-law kindly picked me up at the airport and brought me home. It was nice to see Fumie and Anthony again. This was
Wednesday night last week.

Thursday was spent in a level stupor from jetlag. Normally jetlag comes and goes in crushing waves, but I
was worthless all day on Thursday. And that, most surprisingly and thankfully, was the full extent of my jetlag this
time... it was the least I think it's ever been, ever.

Friday I felt just great, though wasted most of the day renewing my driver's license, which otherwise would have soon expired. It was another reason that I had to get back to Japan sooner than later.

Saturday saw nice weather, so I took the opportunity to try cycling again. I hadn't been on a bicycle
since the end of January, so I was fairly nervous
about remembering basic stuff like riding clipped in.

I was also nervous about being in shape, not having done much exercise for three months beyond a “100 Push Up Time Trial” challenge I did several
times a week while in The States. (I was happy to see real progress during the
three months, watching my time reduce from 7m 25s the first time I tried it, to 3m 13s the last time. Of course,
several years ago, I wouldn't have even been able to do 10 pushups, until this humbling event spurred me to get in shape.)

iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus front camera 2.65mm f/2.2 at an effective 31mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Meeting Friends for a Lazy Ride

in front of Sanjo Starbucks, Kyoto Japan

The plan was for a fairly light ride at a slow pace, so it sounded good for a first ride. We ended up
doing about 105km (65mi) of mostly-flat lakeside road.

SC-04E at an effective 31mm — 1/200 sec, f/2.2, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Getting the Hang of It

taken while moving at 24 kph (15 mph)

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

I quickly got the hang of things and felt good. I knew my body was tired from the trip so I didn't want to push, so I was happy
to with the slow group pace.

The ostensible “goal” of the ride was to visit a particular middle-of-nowhere cafe...

SC-04E at an effective 31mm — 1/310 sec, f/2.2, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

at Cafe Chalet Mizu-ga-Oka

喫茶シャーレ水ケ浜

photo by Manseki Kanemitsu

I'm wearing a cycling jersey that Eric and Gigi had sent out of the blue
while I was away. It looks and fits great... thanks E&G!

iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/60 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Reward for the Trip








iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Hamming it Up with Manseki

On the way back we did a fun little climb — 1.3km at 11% — though the stats at Strava are
not very useful because Strava doesn't deal well with super tight switchbacks near the start/end of a segment. In these situations
it often thinks you finish well before you actually do. I understand why their activity-matching algorithm doesn't work well here,
and frankly would be hard pressed to come up with a general suggestion to fix it. It's a tough problem.

I felt just great for the first three or so hours of the ride, but ran out of gas for the last hour. Just dead tired. I don't
think it was the dreaded didn't-get-enough-to-eat “bonk”, but just that I didn't have the physical capacity yet for that long a
ride. My final climbs on the way home were very slow.

On Monday I collected and submitted most of the paperwork needed to renew my visa to live in Japan, which also expires soon.
I needed one paper from the town where Fumie grew up, so on the first non-rainy day this week
(Wednesday), I cycled down to Hirakata to pick it up.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm — 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Not My Favorite Path

Much of the distance between Kyoto and Osaka can be ridden on a wonderful bicycle path seen in “Cycling Along the River from Kyoto To Osaka Castle”, but the first several
kilometers of egress from Kyoto are horrid sections alternating between mud/puddles, and incessant teeth-jarring bumps. I really dislike it, so I spent some time finding an alternate route (which I'll write about another time).

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Sort of Gloomy








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Heavy Overcast

with rain threatening








iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/170 sec, f/2.2, ISO 32 —
map & image data — nearby photos

My Destination

city office in Hirakata City

枚方市北部支所

It took a few minutes to lock up the bike and make myself presentable enough to go in,
and another few minutes to fill out the proper form, but once that was done it took but just a few seconds to
actually get the paper. There was no line, and the guy quickly checked my ID to make sure I was allowed
to have what I was asking. He then pressed a button, it printed, I paid a few bucks, and I was done.

(To keep my paperwork clean and dry during the ride, I carried it all in
a Loksak, which I learned about in this comment on my blog five years ago, in a rear-jersey pocket.)

I was in a good mood, having made it down there without trouble, and more than that, having filled out
the complex (to me) government requisition form properly and completely the first time.

iPhone 6 Plus + iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 at an effective 29mm — 1/60 sec, f/2.2, ISO 40 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Good-Mood Selfie

as I prepare to return, with Loksak filled with my passport and other important paperwork








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Streisand-Effect House

utterly pedestrian, nothing-special house

On the way back I added a
little 100m climb to make things interesting. Prior to making the trip, I checked out the
route on Google Maps, and was surprised to find one house was completely blurred from
every angle. Of course, since I was riding by, I had to check it out to
see what the big deal was.

If there was anything interesting about the house, I couldn't spot it, but it's a
great example of The Streisand Effect, without which I could have ridden by a thousand times without ever noticing the utterly-unremarkable house existed.

Anyway, the short route up a short mountain eventually plunged into bamboo groves, which were much more pretty...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos










Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/80 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

The road ended at a shrine...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 41mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine

石清水八幡宮

With that final piece of paperwork in hand, later that afternoon I completed the application for my visa extension.

The next day I finally got my US taxes done.

These big items (driver's license, visa, taxes) were weighing on me, so having gotten them done, on Thursday afternoon I
treated myself to a ride for no other reason
but to just see whether I could give it some oomph and not kill myself.

The first little segment that I challenged myself on is a
short up-and-back road climb that I like, and the result totally shocked me. Out of the six time I'd done it previously, I'd beat two
minutes only once (1:47), but this time, trying somewhat but certainly not giving it my all, I did it in 1:24, totally shattering
my previous best. I have no way to explain how this could happen.

I also did a counter-clockwise Heart Loop (the
37km opposite-direction version of this ride) in half an hour better than my
previous best (1h34m vs. 2h05m), though this didn't surprise me as much because it's the first time I'd ever done it alone.
Normally I've done it in a social stop-and-chat-often setting. But what does surprise me is that even though I wasn't really
trying, I ended up within 12 minutes of the best time recorded on Strava. Most of my friends are much, much faster,
so maybe their efforts are not getting matched properly to the complex route.

Anyway, it's good to be back. While I was away I didn't have time to write much for my blog, and having
fallen out of that habit, I don't know whether I'll be able to get back into it. I hope I can. We'll see.

Yahoo! Requires a Dancing Pony to Open a New Account, but I Don’t Have a Dancing Pony

Nikon D200 Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 at an effective 51mm — 1/1600 sec, f/4.5, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Isolated and Doomed

this famous tree was cut down in February

(I photographed it in 2007 from the public road)

From the same outing that produced “More Biei Countryside” among others.

I've so many things that I want to write about lately, but just no time as I help my mom recover from a stroke. But I ran into
something so frustrating that I just have to rant a bit....

I worked for Yahoo! from 1997 to 2004, and as such it has a special place in my heart despite how it's deteriorated over the
years. Knowing how it's deteriorated, though, didn't prepare me for what I ran into recently when trying to create
a Yahoo! account for my mom.

Nikon D700 Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/6400 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Entrance This Way

where is everybody?

(from “Not a Petroleum Refinery, Silly, it’s an Aquarium” in 2011)

I recently set my folks up with a new TV,
a TCL smart TV with Roku streaming service. The latter allows you to install apps on the TV, including ones that allow you to access photo-sharing sites like Yahoo's Flikr. I thought I'd set it up so that their kids (me and my siblings) can add photos of their grandkids to the Flickr account,
and my folks would then automatically see them when they put the TV into “Flickr Slideshow” mode.

So, I went to create a Yahoo! account for my mom to use as the Flickr repository for these photos, but I couldn't.
Yahoo! requires a mobile phone to create an account. If you don't have a phone that can receive a
text message, you can't create an account. It's apparently been this way for some time.

Nikon D700 Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 32mm — 1/200 sec, f/5, ISO 6400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Welcome (NOT!)

(from “Kyoto’s Haunted Hua Huan Museum” in 2008)

Now, before you say “that's absolutely asinine!”, let me make a few observations. One is that it's a free service; beggars can't be choosers. Another is that though
we can only speculate on the reason, they must certainly have a specific reason for having
implemented such a draconian hurdle to participation.

What could the reason be? Well, it could be a way to choose their demographic. Maybe they simply don't want users like my mom;
maybe they're looking to skew their audience to the young and technologically hip, or to exclude folks
to don't have the discretionary income to afford a mobile phone (because inability to afford it is the only possible
reason one wouldn't have a mobile phone, you know).

Nikon D700 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/7.1, ISO 4500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Lots of Storage

that apparently people like my mom can't have

(from “Kyoto’s Haunted Hua Huan Museum” in 2008)

It could also be a way to avoid account-creation abuse; if you want to create multiple accounts,
you need multiple phones, and that's a hurdle that spam-bots, for example, can't easily overcome. If you don't have specific experience in the industry, you simply can not imagine the depths that
some people go through to abuse online systems. Really, you're simply not evil enough to even imagine it. So take my word that abuse curtailment is a very big deal.

Or it could be something else. Who knows? Someone at Yahoo!, probably, but not me.

Nikon D200 Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 at an effective 51mm — 1/160 sec, f/8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Nobody's Home

(from “Furano in Hokkaido, Japan” in 2007)

So, given all that it's not reasonable to complain, but as a former Yahoo! I'm compelled to
exclaim:

This is absolutely asinine!

Many folks with mobile phones have no problem with this, obviously, as Yahoo! (at the moment) still seems to exist. But a lot of
folks don't have mobile phones, and a lot of folks who do don't want to reveal that private information to big
corporations like Yahoo!. Yahoo! is proactively excluding these folks, which is perhaps their exact intent,
but I don't see how this can bode well in the long term.

302HW @ 3mm — 1/180 sec, f/2, ISO 50 —
map & image data — nearby photos

It's All Downhill From Here

(from “Kyoto’s Nasty 21% City-Bike Hill Climb” in 2015)

photo by Gorm Kipperberg

I spent considerable time trying to find a way around it, not initially believing that Yahoo! could be so stupid. I eventually abandoned the idea.

Nikon D200 Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 at an effective 82mm — 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Abandoned

(from “Snowy Round Trip to the Heian Shrine” in 2008)

I moved on to try my idea with SmugMug, a non-free photo-sharing site that I've worked with
for many years because I made a plugin for Adobe Lightroom for it.
SmugMug has always kindly provided me with a free account for plugin development, so I used that to test with. Normal users would
have to pay a nominal fee each year, but at least they don't require something that may well not exist.

In Lightroom, I created a Publish Service using my plugin to upload photos to a SmugMug gallery, adding to the pipeline my Crop for iPad plugin to crop photos on the fly to best fit the
1,920×1,080-pixel screen of the TV. (I should probably rename the plugin to remove “iPad” from the title,
since there's nothing iPad specific about it and I actually use it for more other devices than iPads.)

I then installed the SmugMug Roku app onto the TV,
and soon had a gorgeous slideshow of my test photos. It was wonderful.

As wonderful as it was, the free SmugMug Roku app didn't work quite the way I wanted... my folks would have to drill down
a few menu items each time they wanted to see a slideshow, and I wanted an even easier solution, so I bit the bullet and
returned to try Yahoo! again. I had two US phone numbers available on my own cell phone via
my attempts to get a reasonable American number for my Japanese cell phone,
so I thought to use one of them to create my mom's Yahoo! account.

No go: it simply wouldn't accept them, telling me “that's not a valid phone number”.

So I give up on trying to create a Yahoo! account for my mom, and on Yahoo! in general. I divested myself of what little YHOO
stock I still had. It's been a long, slow decline into mediocrity and irrelevance, Yahoo!, but I've been with you every step
of the way, but from now you'll have to continue down to the end without me. Bye.

Nikon D700 Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 120mm — 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 5000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Always Stay Connected

(from “Kyoto’s Haunted Hua Huan Museum” in 2008)

Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

My server is back.

I was down for the better part of the week due to a bit of stupidity on my part.
Much thanks to Peak Hosting for extracting me from my mistakes!