Jeffrey E.F. Friedl's Blog, page 9

Disgusted with Apple’s Deceptive Marketing for Their “Beats” Headphones

This is just disgusting... “Beats”, Apple's ultra-pricey line of
headphones, uses marketing that's so deceitful that one can only imagine it's done to purposefully trick and deceive.

Some of their headphone models are not “wireless”, which means like headphones of yesteryear, when in use they must be
physically tethered to your audio device by a cable. That's fine, but their marketing photos don't show the headphones with a
cable, only without.

As an example, here's a search at Amazon for “beats studio wireless”:

On the page for the NOT wireless product, we have these product images:

Nary a cable in sight. Remember, this is for a product that requires a cable.

To be clear, the cable can be removed for storage, or to let you swap out a different cable or whatnot, so it's
reasonable to illustrate that by including a photo of the headphones without the cable.
But nevertheless, the product is totally useless without a cable, so to show
only photos of it without a cable seems deceptive.

These photos are almost exactly the same as those for their wireless models (models that can be used
without a cable); they have the same six views of the ever-so-slightly-different look of the different model.

Furthermore, there's nothing in the product description that indicates a cable is required. There's not even a hint. If you didn't already know to be wary of this company's marketing and to look for the absence of an explicit “wireless” mention, you'd be
forgiven for thinking these were, as shown, wireless headphones.

Now, you might think that one shouldn't need to mention every feature a product doesn't have; the headphones are
not glow-in-the-dark, and I don't feel it's a problem that they don't say “not glow in the dark”... unless they
showed a photo of them glowing in the dark. Then I'd expect clarification.

It's not just Amazon.... the product page at Apple.com is equally deceptive, with nothing at all to indicate that a cable is required.
Even worse, their product page for the wireless model does show an image of a cable, even though the cable is not required for their use.

So, they show a cable where it's not required, but don't show one where it is. Super sleazy.

At least on Amazon, the reviews can clue you in, with review titles like
“有線なので注意” (“These require a cable, so take care”).

I've been an Apple shareholder for a long time, and by looking at the stock price one knows they're doing a lot of things
right, but it's still so disappointing to see them so clearly lose their way in some areas, such as the now-moronic design of iTunes,
the lack of family-oriented iPhone features, or this kind of trick-you marketing. Sigh.

Looking for Cycling Wear With a Little Protection Built In

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV + EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 73mm — 1/200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 —
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My Cycling Style as of Late

me plodding along at 46 kph (28 mph) during a race last month

photo by FABtroni+camera; used with permission

The photo above was kindly provided on Flickr by someone going by the
name “FABtroni+camera”. I appreciate it.

The sport of racquetball
involves a high-speed ball in a confined space, so when I started playing in college, I stopped by a sporting-goods store for a
pair of racquetball safety goggles. The clerk commented that I was the first person he'd sold a pair to who didn't already have a
black eye.

Long-term readers of my blog will know that I've gone through phases in my choice of cycling wear, from jeans on my first ride to hiking/gym wear that I already had, then to visually outlandish (but visually safe) gym wear, eventually morphing to the
more-traditional cycling style seen above. That photo is from my first race last month (where I performed pathetically, but that's a story for another time).

(The mask that my apparently-sensitive tonsils forces me to wear is definitely not traditional; the UnderArmour long-sleeve base layer that I wore to avoid sunburn on the 100+km
round trip to/from the race is also not traditional.)

Anyway, I'm ready to move to the next step, if I can find it. I'm looking for apparel that provides some semblance of
protection in case of a crash. The most common issues with a minor crash are road rash and/or a broken collarbone, so clothes that
provide some passive protection in these areas would be good to wear as a matter of habit.

Unlike with the racquetball story, I'm not quite shutting the barn doors before the horses have escaped. I had a wake-up-call
crash a few weeks ago that was apparently horrific to wittiness, but caused relatively little damage. I'd like to tilt
the odds next time in the same direction by incorporating a bit of extra protection in my clothes.

With all the middle-aged men like me with disposable income and a newly-found sense of mortality, you'd think that the market
would be an attractive one to enter, but it seems there's very little out there. I'll describe the best I've found so far,
but I'd love to hear more ideas...

Dainese Trailknit Pro Armor Tee

For the upper body, I'm thinking of an abrasion-resistant jersey, such as a
Scott RC ProTec
or a Pegasus Wear Manifesto,
over a baselayer Dainese Trailknit Pro Armor Tee. The latter provides some light (and removable) impact protection, while the abrasion-resistant jersey would
help reduce road rash.

They're quite pricey, but less so than new skin.

Things are a bit more difficult for the lower body, because I don't like the padding in standard cycling wear. It makes people
look like they're wearing a diaper embroidered with “HEY, DON'T NOTICE MY CROTCH! THIS CROTCH RIGHT HERE... DON'T LOOK AT IT”.

Apparently my butt is sufficiently strong that I don't need the padding, so normally I just wear Speedo trunks. Even seasoned
cyclists I ride with all the time don't notice I'm not wearing cycling-specific shorts until it happens to come up in
conversation, and then they're shocked. They're shocked both because I can ride long distances without any padding (for example,
this 290km ride), and shocked that I would make such an affront to the
Cycling Style Gods. They're like little kids who skin their knee but don't start crying until you point out that they're
bleeding.

I'm wearing Speedo trunks in the photo above.

Anyway, I don't need padding between me and the bicycle seat, but I do want padding where cyclists are often injured in
a crash: over the tailbone, over the outside edges of the butt/hip, and over the sides of the thighs.

The three companies mentioned above do make lower-body versions of their products
(Dainese TrailKnit Shorts,
Scott ProTec Bibshorts, and
Pegasus Wear Manifesto Bib Shorts), so I could try
the same kind of combination, but here I'm more worried about the bulk.

The Dainese TrailKnit padded shorts seem to provide really minimal padding, so instead I could try something with a bit more
protection, such as Shock Doctor Shockskin 5-Pad Impact Shorts or Fox Racing Titan Race Liner Short. They provide more coverage with the padding,
but the padding just foam pads, so still protection is still minimal.

I'd much rather see padding made from one of the amazing force-distribution materials developed in the last decade, such as ArmourGel and SofShell. They look like they'd be perfect when sewn
into an abrasion-resistant set of shorts, but sadly, as best as I can tell, neither product has actually made it to market yet.

Kyoto’s “Happy Bicycle” Craft Shop

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image data

The other day in “March’s Higashiyama Hanatoro Lightup”, I mentioned a business called “Happy Bicycle” (web site /
Facebook) near the Yasaka pagoda.

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Entrance

to Happy Bicycle








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Lots of Tiny Bicycles

The shop is run by a guy from Chile who chats amiably with customers as he crafts a wire into the shape of a bicycle.
Other than the pedals, he uses just one piece of wire for the whole bike.

He's got all the different styles... mamachari city bikes, kids' bikes, mountain bikes,
race bikes... I even noticed a pennyfarthing.

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Lots of Detail

tire pumps, bottles, baskets, mirrors, derailleurs, brake calipers, fenders...









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Tandem








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Happy Earrings Too

I had a nice chat with the proprietor, but unfortunately didn't take all that many pictures during this visit,
figuring I'd stop in again later when I had more time. I hope I do.

March’s Higashiyama Hanatoro Lightup, 2017 Edition

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some little temple in Kyoto

Sorry for the recent dearth of new content... I've been feeling remarkably unmotivated. At
least I'm finally getting around to writing this post, which I've been wanting to do for the last three months.

Every year in March, just before cherry-blossom season, the Higashiyama area of Kyoto has a light-up
event. I first blogged about it nine years ago, and
again three years ago. This year I took a lazy stroll with some friends and a tripod, snapping some photos along the
way.

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Big Gate

at the Chion-in Temple (知恩院), prior to the best light







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Slowly-Encroaching Dusk

Maruyama Park (円山公園)







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Nene-no-Michi Street

lined with lanterns for the event







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Art Installation

and a lady wearing a shopping bag on her head







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Photo Op







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Restaurant Entrance







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Temple Entrance

Entoku-in Temple (圓徳院)







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Kyoto Night View

my photos of this view always look so much worse than reality







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Road To the Kiyomizu Temple

so much nicer than when the view was filled with utility cables







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Delicate Flower Sconces

on the wall on the left









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It was dark so I was taking these with a tripod, and the light would change considerably as cars and people moved by,
so the shot above and below have a different feel due to the different color light.

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Flowing Crowd

gets blurred a bit during a 2.5-second exposure







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Happy Bicycle

I'll write about this place in a follow-up







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Rich Light








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Road To the Chion-in Temple

looks much nicer in real life than this photo

The photo would have been improved marginally if the big gate seen in this post's second photo was
lit up, as it is sometimes.

Pulling Out Your Own Hair, and Other Joys Of Cell-Phone Contracts

Nikon D4 Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/4, ISO 2200 —
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What an ordeal. I spent almost eight hours at a SoftBank mobile-phone store today, trying to get some
new phones set up. I have the phones in hand, but I'm still only halfway there.

The two-year contract for my and my son's iPhones is up for renewal this month. We've been with provider Docomo, and if we
stick with them for a two-year renewal, our thanks is a 60% price increase(!) So, I'm moving to SoftBank, where for the same price
we would have had for our two old phones, we get upgraded to the latest iPhones, and also add in another iPhone for my wife for
essentially free.

And as another bonus, the SIM-lock can be removed after half a year, as opposed to Docomo, which refused to remove the SIM-lock
on the new phone I'd paid full-price cash for.

So, that's the good news. The bad news is that it took almost eight hours to get the purchase done. It was ridiculous.
Much of the problem came from the SoftBank store manager, who was either too sloppy about things, or perhaps purposefully
over-promising early on in the hopes that once committed I'd not hold him to his word later on. I dunno.

Part of the problem may not be SoftBank's (or the manager's) fault, but whatever organization they use for credit checks.
They entered umpteen permutations of my name in English and Japanese, along with various supporting documentation
(passport, residency card, utility bill, etc.), and had to wait 15~20 minutes each time for the answer to come back. And wait we did, as the manager literally just sat there pressing “refresh” on his order-entry iPad, over and over and over
again until the result (rejection) came in.

At one point he'd run out of ideas with what I had on me, so I ran home to get my passport and some utility bills. He neglected to say that the utility bills had to display my home address on them, which almost killed things, but
luckily one of the ones I happened to bring did have my address on it.

After so many failures, he even suggested that maybe my 14-year-old son could be the owner of record. This was just
ridiculous. But luckily, after about five hours, the approval came through and he quickly set up my new phone, as well
as my son's.

When I asked about my wife's new phone, he said “Oh, that's in Uji”. Uji is a city to the south, perhaps an hour's drive
away during an off-season rush-hour like today. Early on he'd said there's be no problem getting all the phones today,
and now that he had confessed that it was so far away, he suggested to set up a temporary phone for her and have it swapped
to the real one another day.

I got a bit testy and said I expected him to do what he said. There was some thought that he'd personally go to pick it up,
which would take hours. In the end, someone from that store brought it via the train, so that saved half of a round trip. It still took more than 90 minutes.

Finally, it shows up and I'm about ready to sign the final contract and suddenly the price is $20/month more than he'd
told me earlier. He casually explains about how they weren't able to get such-and-such a discount to stick for one of the three
phones, so the price is higher. NO! More than a bit testy, I told him that I expected him to honor the price he told me,
and that any issues about how to arrive at it is not my problem.

All that settled, I return home, but my problems were just beginning.

I hooked up my wife's new phone to her computer so that I could restore it from an iTunes backup,
and was told that the phone requires a newer version of iTunes. Unfortunately, there is no newer version
of iTunes for the version of OSX on her computer.

So, that means that we have to upgrade her operating system, but her computer is so old that it's probably not
supported by Apple, which means we probably have to get a new computer for her. Such fun.

Not wanting to deal with any of that now, I just backed up her old phone to my modern computer, and then restored
her new phone from that backup. It all seemed to work fine, except I guess music is not part of an iPhone backup,
so all her music is gone.

Sigh. Modern smartphones are super convenient, but when things don't go smoothly, it's a special little slice of hell.

Volunteering at the Tour of Japan Pro Cycling Race

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Peloton Flying By

Stage 2 (Kyoto) of the Tour of Japan

The second stage of the eight-stage Tour of Japan was held yesterday in southern Kyoto
Prefecture, a ways south of Kyoto City. I was a volunteer to help in crowd management, as part of an effort to supplement the
various civic and government groups with cycling-specific knowledge (e.g. to be able to foresee what lines the cyclists would
take, to predict where spectators would be especially dangerous, etc.)

I wasn't there to spectate or take photos, but I could do both when I
wasn't otherwise occupied. It's my second cycling race to see live, the first having been amateur races in March. This time the racers were professional.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
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Preparation








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Starting Area

quiet, an hour and a half before the start








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Chance Meeting

Noriko Okabe, whom we last saw on this post, rode by








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Practicing Their Routine

their shirts spell “Allez!” (cycling for “Go!”)

There's a preschool right next to the start line, and the kids were to perform for the racers just prior to the start.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
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“Welcome to the TOJ Kyoto Stage”

Among the various cars and motorcycles lining up for the start ahead of the athletes is this signboard motorcycle. If a cyclist or a small group breaks away ahead of the pack, she lets them know how
far ahead they are (in seconds) via the signboard.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Celebrity

this UCI staff with a German accent was popular








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Photo Op








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Pre-Start Performance

the cyclists are all lined up in front of the kids

The race was 6½ times around a 15km (9mi) loop, though actual racing didn't start until a few miles
after they left the starting area. Prior to that, everyone just rolls along behind the race-commissioner's car,
until he replaces a red flag with a green one and zooms ahead out of the way.

Eventually the cyclists completed the loop and raced by for the first of six times they would pass the general area where I was stationed.

Where I was stationed was at the end of a long, lovely descent
during which they fly at impressive speeds, but that's petered out quite a bit by the time they get to where I was standing,
just before a sharp 90° bend.

The first time they came by, I took a short video via “Facebook
Live”, but it came out sideways because I held the camera properly and
Facebook requires it to be held in the wrong orientation. Converting to YouTube, I could rotate the
low-quality Facebook video:

low-quality video (30 seconds)

I'd expected to be blown away by their speed, but at this flat-ish area just before a 90-degree bend,
they seemed positively pedestrian. The video above matches the “lack of
zoom” feeling I had. Heck, I felt that I
had gone just as fast when I test-rode
the course last month. I suppose it makes sense, since safety dictates slowing considerably for the
turn.

How silly of me. The data tells a different story.

These guys passed the camera at 50kph (31mph),
while I had passed that spot at 30kph (19mph). The sense of
speed is quite different on the bike vs. off, I guess, and my own sense of grandeur differs
substantially from reality.

Century of Wazuka Climbs, Part 2

This post picks up on last month's “Century of Wazuka Climbs, Part
1”, about what was for me an epic day of beauty and climbing, and some trials and tribulations.
“Part 1” ended with a delicious lunch,
so this part picks up from just after.

So, after lunch, I made my way south to the deeper, even-less populated mountains of the Wazuka region of
southern Kyoto Prefecture.

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Last Sign of Civilization for a While







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Selfie

at the top of a small climb








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Defenders of the Traffic Rules!

I thought that I had posted these guys before, but it seems that I didn't. It's the same intersection
as this photo from
“Tea Tour with Manseki and Gorm” last year.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 60mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 —
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Lovely, Little-Used Road

This mild climb was really pleasant, but it seems to be little
used, as only 30 Strava users have ever ridden it in the direction I went
(300 have used it in the other direction, which still seems like a small number for
such a lovely road).

Perhaps so few folks use this road because a nearby alternate route goes near a scenic spot.

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Just Lovely







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“Road Narrows”

The nice wide road just stops, with a narrow road that looks like an afterthought trailing away to the right.
This kind of thing is seen every so often, when modern repair work is done to a very old, narrow road. The thought,
I'm assuming, is that if they're going to redo the road for whatever reason, they may as well put in a modern two-lane
road while they're at it. Over the decades, after enough of the road needs attention of some sort or another, they'll
have gotten around to making the full length nice and wide. Until then, it comes in little spurts.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 43mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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“Bicycles”

“Let's be Careful!!”

It's not clear to me whether “Bicycles” is the subject or a direct object
(that is, it's not clear whether this is admonishing cyclists to take general care, or cautioning
drivers to watch out for bicycles). Actually, the way it's written is clearly directed at children,
so perhaps it's warning children to watch out for bicycles, or maybe a clever way to get (Japanese-native) cyclists
to subconsciously worry that children might be present. I dunno.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Skirting the Top

of a green-tea field








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 29mm — 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
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Roundish

Green-tea bushes are always this roundish shape. I don't know why, but I suspect it's to increase the surface area, and hence
the yield. Some years ago I made my first visit to a great-tea field while working with Lake Biwa Tours as they considered a tea-themed tour. During that visit, the bushes were
being trimmed...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100 —
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Trimming







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Curved Blade







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Lots to Do

Back to my ride, after a lot of undulation the road finally pitches down down down at roughly 8%, in two thrilling parts
of three and two kilometers, respectively. The first part, the Dosenbo Descent,
breaks out of the forest and into sweeping vistas of gorgeous tea fields. Unfortunately, the camera on my bike is lower to the road,
so it doesn't catch the lovely vistas, but for what it's worth, here's the descent:

After a short break with a little climb, the road again plummets down toward sea level via the Kiya Descent. It's a more-standard twisty mountain descent:

I had fun with both, not pushing too hard but hoping to do well. Ended up getting the KOM on both.

Fall-Foliage Wigglegram from Kyoto’s Flower Temple

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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Animatable Wigglegram (13 frames) — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view 3D effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすと「３D」な感じが出ます。
Fall Colors at the Flower Temple

花の寺
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My, how time flies. I took this wigglegram
in 2014, which surprises me because it doesn't feel like I've been doing them nearly that long.
Last year I posted another wigglegram from the same outing, in
“A Couple of Autumn Wigglegrams for My Niece Jena”.

I had briefly touched on the outing in
“A Quick Peek at Kyoto’s Hanadera Temple”,
which itself has a wigglegram, so I guess I was in the mood that day.

This temple is wonderful to visit, but it's difficult to get to by public transport. I'm more likely to
bicycle by, as it's near the base of this brutal climb in southern Kyoto.

Anyway, I'm posting this on the occasion of Paul Barr's impending return to Kyoto. He's the focal point of the wigglegram above.

A FIT-to-GPX Converter that Understands FIT Version 2

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 —
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That Face

when you realize that Garmin has screwed you yet again

( statue at the Ushio Kannon Temple — 牛尾観音 — described here )

I've complained for more than a decade about what a horrible company Garmin is (such as here in 2006, here in 2013,
and here last year, among others). The only thing worse than their hardware
design is their software design, but it's a strong competition to the bottom, backed by an apparent company-wide disdain for their
customers.

The latest evidence of this disdain is new firmware for some of their cycling computers that renders them utterly incompatible
with Garmin's own desktop software, and, for good measure, almost all other track-processing software in existence. Of
course, this “feature” is not even hinted at in the release notes. In my case, they got me via a firmware update for the Garmin
Edge 820 that I cycle with.

The problem is manifest in the “FIT” file that the unit produces
after an activity, containing info about the activity (the route you took, the status of the sensors such as your heart rate along
the course, etc.). Since the “FIT” file format was created by Garmin
more than half a decade ago, it's been at “Version 1”, but this new firmware update bumped the FIT file format to “Version 2”. And that's the problem, because
Garmin's own software can't handle Version 2 FIT files. If your workflow with Garmin's product
relied on Garmin's products, you are screwed.

(If you relied on other, non-Garmin software, you're almost certainly screwed there as well, because almost nothing handles
FIT Version 2.
The only saving grace here is that Strava can handle a
Version 2 FIT file, so a riot has been averted.)

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Garmin

( taken during this ride )

My after-ride processing requires a GPX file, which I used to convert to
via the most-excellent GPS Babel, but like most other software, GPS
Babel doesn't work with the new FIT files. So, I came up with a cheap
substitute “fit2gpx” script that invokes the ANT+
consortium's “FIT to CVS” java utility under the hood. That utility
does handle both Versions 1 and 2 FIT files, and perhaps will be kept up-to-date going forward, so even
if Garmin decides to screw everyone again with a surprise-and-unsupported move to “Version 3”, perhaps we'll be covered.

Here's the script at GitHub:

“FIT to GPX” at GitHub

It's my first project to try GitHub with.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Calm Thoughts

( from this ride )

As I mentioned, the script is cheap and kludgy; it does exactly what I need, but not much more. The GPX file it produces is not
even standards compliant, because it uses simple Strava extensions not published as a DTD. This is why I'm trying GitHub, to allow
others to make these changes if they like.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.1, ISO 2500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Life With Garmin

down a black hole

( from this ride )

Lovely Century Ride Into Hyogo

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 60mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Nice View of the Day

number 772

I went out the other day for a ride with Salvo, that turned out to be a nice Century (100+ mile) ride.
Here is the ride at Strava:

There was nothing particularly “epic” or any special goal of the ride. It was just an all-around pleasant day.
Salvo had ridden the route in strong wind the previous week,
and thought it'd be nice to do again.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Making Our Way

out of Kyoto







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Meeting Up with Joshua

who fist-pumps his victory at not being late







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Chillin'







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

Typical Mountain Scene







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

“All Lanes Closed”

We took a road that I had passed by many times. I had heard that it was gravel, yet ridable, so I'd been wanting to try,
and today was that day.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Paved at First







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Still Paved

but with some debris, as is common on many small mountain roads

I was surprised to find that so much of the road (all so far) was paved. I was also surprised to find that it
had such a steep climb
(830m @ 10%).

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Summit







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Nice Descent







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Cars!?

the road is officially closed, but locals still apparently use it







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Criss-Crossing Rail Lines

a line along the far bank is crossed by one emerging from the mountain







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

End of the Paved Section







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Sort of Rough Gravel







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Nice Hardpacked Gravel







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Lovely Wisteria







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Boat on the River







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Back to Civilization







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Still Fairly Remote







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Open Farmland







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

“Salvo's Road”

We returned up the mountain via a different road that Salvo had shown me last year, and that I also taken on the ride blogged
about in “Cycling Through Bamboo Groves and Up Steep Mountain
Slopes”. Joshua hadn't known about, so was pleased to learn of a new lovely
climb.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Once we reached the top, Joshua went his own way to return home, as Salvo and I stopped for coffee and bread.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Mini Market

at a cafe that I first stopped at nine years ago with the family

This cafe is at the top of a very fast descent, so I enjoyed that to get moving after the break. I just had fun, ending up with only my third-fastest time,
though it would have been a KOM (“King of the Mountain” — the fastest registered time) had the KOM not already been mine.