Cycling to Miyama with Gorm

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

Leaving Kyoto via Arashiyama

7:31 AM (+1h 8m) - 13 km (8 miles)

taken while cycling at 8 kph (5 mph)

On Wednesday Gorm and I did a 140km (88 mile)
cycling ride to Miyama. It had 2,350m (7,800') of vertical climb, and
though just a few days prior I had done a much tougher ride,
this is the one that wiped me out.

The “7:31 AM (+1h 8m) - 13 km (8 miles)”
note under the photo above means that it was taken at 7:31am, an hour and 8 minutes
of rest and travel (and 13km of travel) after I'd left my house; this kind of note is under
each photo to help give a sense of travel.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 27mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Slight Detour

our main route goes to the left; a surprise awaits to the right

7:32 AM (+1h 9m) - 13 km (8 miles)

taken while cycling at 10 kph (6 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 30mm — 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Quick Peek

at the delightfully-whimsical Otaginenbutsuji Temple (愛宕念仏寺)

7:35 AM (+1h 12m) - 13 km (8.3 miles)

Our route took us over a road that I'd not been on since this trip six years ago. It was my first time by bike, and though the climb was long, it wasn't
particularly steep. Going down afterwards is always nice...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Heading Down

8:44 AM (+2h 21m) - 29 km (18 miles)

taken while cycling at 29 kph (18 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 52mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Nice Scenery

8:47 AM (+2h 24m) - 31 km (19 miles)

taken while cycling at 28 kph (18 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/1.7, ISO 800 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Re-Entering the Forest

for the most lovely downhill segment I've seen yet

8:56 AM (+2h 33m) - 33 km (20.5 miles)

taken while cycling at 18 kph (11 mph)

Sadly, some time soon after taking the photo above, I somehow bumped my
camera from its normal raw-format mode to low-quality JPEG mode, and I
didn't notice for the rest of the trip. )-:

But this segment of road was just gorgeous, and I probably couldn't capture it well reagardless of camera settings.

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

8:58 AM (+2h 35m) - 34 km (21 miles)

taken while cycling at 20 kph (13 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 116mm — 1/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 —
map & image data — nearby photos

9:01 AM (+2h 38m) - 36 km (22 miles)

taken while cycling at 25 kph (16 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 56mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

I Never Get Tired

of taking selfies in Gorm's sunglasses

( but perhaps this is the first one I've posted )

9:10 AM (+2h 47m) - 39 km (24 miles)

taken while cycling at 24 kph (15 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 31mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Driveway

to someone's house

9:26 AM (+3h 3m) - 44 km (27 miles)

We made a brief stop at the pretty
farmstead I'd flown by on a ride two weeks prior. I really like the
look.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 27mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/125 sec, f/5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Cute Bus Stop

right next door










Panasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Precarious Parking

not an inch to spare

9:37 AM (+3h 14m) - 45 km (28 miles)

taken while cycling at 19 kph (12 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Abandoned House

9:38 AM (+3h 15m) - 46 km (28.4 miles)

taken while cycling at 9 kph (6 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 41mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

“No Guardrail” Road

now has a guardrail

9:43 AM (+3h 20m) - 47 km (30 miles)

taken while cycling at 21 kph (13 mph)








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

Revisiting This Spot

that lead this post two weeks ago

10:20 AM (+3h 57m) - 54 km (34 miles)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/8000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Manual Labor

in a rice field

11:10 AM (+4h 47m) - 63 km (39 miles)

taken while cycling at 29 kph (18 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 25mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Even More Manual

11:42 AM (+5h 19m) - 71 km (44 miles)

taken while cycling at 28 kph (18 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Arriving in Miyama

11:53 AM (+5h 30m) - 75 km (46 miles)

Miyama

We finally arrived in Miyama, the small picturesque village at the midpoint of our trip. A trio of other cyclists had arrived at the same time.

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

Painter

he has a wide variety of... esoteric... stuff

11:54 AM (+5h 31m) - 75 km (46 miles)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 26mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Snack Time!

Miyama cafe “Saika” (美山にあるカフェ「彩花」)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Bifurated Seating

our seats were half in, half out, all perfect

(I realize that this is not the proper use of the word “bifurcate”, but I claim artistic license.)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/3.2, ISO 320 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Coffee and Ice Cream

both were good








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/2500 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Thatch with Thick Moss Layer

across from the cafe









Panasonic LX100 at an effective 44mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Continuing Through Town

12:28 PM (+6h 5m) - 75 km (47 miles)

taken while cycling at 11 kph (7 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 56mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Wimping Out

walking down a 30% slope

showing his can of Coke as an excuse

(because he'd need two hands for the handlebars and one for the Coke)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 31mm — 1/1600 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

View from the Top

At Gorm's suggestion, I rode up it so that I could create a segment on Strava for it,
which I dubbed Miyama Mini “Nasty”
in reference to the “Nasty” 21% slope shown here.

This segment is steeper, but much shorter.... way too short to be a
practically-usable segment, but if someone's got an accurate 1Hz GPS unit,
they can have some fun trying to register a fast time.

The road surface of the slope is white concrete, which stands out
against the black asphalt of the road leading to and from the slope, so I
made the white concrete section the limits of the segment boundaries. This
extends the length of the segment to include a flat area at the top, so the
overall average slope goes down to 20% (10.8m rise over 55m length), but
the main part of the slope is much steeper.

I did it twice (once in 19 seconds, then again in 23 seconds), but
Strava noticed only one attempt and credited me with 17 seconds for some
reason. Anyway, that was a bit of fun.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Leaving Miyama

12:41 PM (+6h 18m) - 76 km (47 miles)

taken while cycling at 18 kph (11 mph)








Panasonic LX100 at an effective 70mm — 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

There's that Short Steep Slope

to the left of center, with two people walking up

The most difficult parts of the ride remained, and I was mentally not
looking forward to them because I'd done them in reverse before (here) and if I've seen a
mountain road only as a downhill slope, then I find it really rough to
think about doing it uphill. It feels counter-intuitive, but these roads
“feel” much longer to me going down than going up.

Once I've done it uphill then I have a different kind of apprehension as
I approach it next time, but for today I'd have to do for the first time
Sasari Pass from the west, and Hanase Pass from the north, and I was
dreading it.

So I put the camera away and just did them, slowly.

At least the last bit of the last climb was a repeat of the return from Cowbell, and
I made a new PR on that
segment by a few seconds, so that was nice.

I was really wiped out. After the 230km ride around Lake
Biwa last week I felt great, and last weekend I felt just fine after a
115km ride with
a personal-best 2,660m (8,750') of climb, but this ride today wiped me out.

I probably need mental training more than physical.