A Hazy Visit to Onyu Pass with Arthur and Neil

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm — 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 200 —
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Hazy View From Halfway Up

Onyu Pass, Shiga Japan (小入峠、滋賀県)

Last month before heading off on my trip to The States to visit my
folks, I did a nice
little bicycle to Onyu Pass and back, an 85 mile (137km) round trip over two other
major passes each way. I was joined by veteran riders Arthur Lauritsen and Neil Holt.

My first visit to Onyu Pass had been during a day of incessant rain a
month prior, and as such the supposedly-spectacular views were shrouded in
clouds. I hoped for something better this time, but was left disappointed
due to the extreme haze of the hot (35℃/95℉) humid air.

At first glance it may not seem so hazy in the photo above, but that's
the result of a lot of post processing, including the new
“dehaze” feature in Adobe Lightroom.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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能見峠から降りた時にこんな花畑を見つけました。

I didn't pull out the camera until three hours into the ride when we
came across a field of flowers in front of an old farmhouse while
descending from Nomi Pass. They were pretty, though this camera (or my
skill with this camera) doesn't do them justice.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.3, ISO 200 —
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Money Deposit

flowers are 10 for 200 yen (about $2)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.3, ISO 200 —
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“Fence is Electrified at Night”

for keeping critters out






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.3, ISO 200 —
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Arthur Lauritsen

will kindly help you cut your flowers







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 320 —
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Old(ish) Farm House







Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.3, ISO 200 —
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Desktop-Background Versions

1280×800  ·  1680×1050  ·  1920×1200  ·  2560×1600  ·  2880×1800






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/800 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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On The Road Again

taken while riding at 25 kph (16 mph)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Lovely Scenery

taken while riding at 33 kph (21 mph)

3½ hours into the ride we came to the last vending machine before
the hot climb, so I stopped to load up on drinks. Had to wait in line
behind this little frog...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 —
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Unamused

seemingly

A separate little friend tried to hitch a ride on Authur's bike...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 37mm — 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 —
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Not The Safest Location To Stow Away

Luckily Arthur noticed him before riding off






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/7.1, ISO 320 —
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“Look What My Tire Found”

12:03 PM (from start: 4h 34m / 64 km / 39.5 miles)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/10, ISO 800 —
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Neil Supervises The Tire Change

(sort of... he really just checks email )

The main climb to Onyu Pass is 4.5km
at 8%, which isn't so bad except that there's no tree cover the whole
way except for about 10 seconds about halfway up, and it was a hot humid
windless day.

Neil rocketed up in an astounding
17:28, just missing the course record (among those using Strava) by two
seconds. I took more than 40% longer at 24:44.

Arthur came up some time later looking hot and uncomfortable, but not so
much that he couldn't ham it up for the camera...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 44mm — 1/125 sec, f/10, ISO 640 —
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Feelin' Fine

12:54 PM (from start: 5h 25m / 70 km / 43.3 miles)

arriving at Onyu Pass (小入峠)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/250 sec, f/10, ISO 200 —
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Panasonic LX100 at an effective 30mm — 1/125 sec, f/10, ISO 400 —
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Arthur and Neil

at Onyu Pass

After a rest and some snacks, we turned around to head home by the same route we came.

The road up to Onyu pass is mostly clear, but perhaps particularly with a typhoon that had come through
a few days earlier some areas were strewn with rocks.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 400 —
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Occasional Rocks

It's apparently much better than it was a few months ago when a larger group from Cycling Kyoto came through and got
a total of five flats (from the sharp rocks) among them. No rock-induced flats for us today.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/60 sec, f/8, ISO 250 —
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Interesting Layered Rock

Part of the way down, the view opens up to the valley below and you can
see the road you came in on winding itself up the mountain. The extreme haze made for an unspectacular view, but I've eked a few shots out.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 37mm — 1/80 sec, f/8, ISO 200 —
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Neil Descends

he's the spec in the road at the lower left

I waited for
Arthur and Neil to make their way down to where I could see them on the road below,
and I was surprised that it took 5+ minutes for them to get down there. It feels long on the way up,
but somehow I usually think the descent shouldn't take any time at all. But it does.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/100 sec, f/8, ISO 320 —
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Arthur Descending

he's an even tinier speck in the middle of the road

Eventually I made my way down to find them waiting for me in the shade at the bottom of the mountain.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1/125 sec, f/8, ISO 1000 —
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The 20km-stretch south of the Onyu Pass area is really lovely and quaint.

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1600 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Old Abandoned Something-or-Other

taken while moving at 32 kph (20 mph)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/3200 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Abandoned House

taken while moving at 32 kph (20 mph)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 30mm — 1/640 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 —
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Trying (and Failing) to Catch Up To Neil

taken while moving at 48 kph (30 mph)

The road is usually fairly narrow, but during a section that was wider I
wanted to get a photo of Neil from the side, but he was just too fast for
me to catch up to. By the time he slowed down enough, the road was narrower and
the background less interesting...

Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/640 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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Neil Holt Finally Slowing Down

taken while moving at 35 kph (22 mph)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
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taken while moving at 32 kph (20 mph)






Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/100 sec, f/1.7, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

I don't know what the colored ribbons on the trees are. They seem to be
more involved than simple forestry/timber markers, yet not involved enough to be tree huggies. I doubt it's just decoration, but I'm at a loss to guess what it might be.

Very pretty area, though.