Continuing from “Miyama Cycling Tour with Joshua and Manseki, Part 1”, this post picks up after we (Joshua Levine, Manseki Kanemitsu, and I) had left the main road to take an old road over a mountain instead of a new, flat, boring tunnel through it.

When we turned a corner and were presented with this vista, I jokingly asked Josh to return so I could have some “human interest” in my photo, and even though I was obviously joking, being the mensch he is, he hesitated only long enough to flash a big grin, and bolted down. Just as quickly, and without words, Manseki followed.

I enjoyed a rest while they headed back down, then snapped some photos as they came back up.

So they both get an extra 30m (100') of vertical climb added to their trip over mine.

The road got considerably more strewn with debris once we crossed the pass at the top and headed down...

I don't know what's so attractive about the beauty of Japanese nature that makes a small but highly-impactful segment of society want to so incessantly dump garbage at every conceivable spot of beauty. Trash disposal depends on the municipality, but is generally really cheap, so this makes no sense aside from “some people are just monumentally selfish” angle.

I didn't get much chance to check out the property (the same one with the kura seen above) as I flew by, but it was impressive. It was probably just an old farmstead, but it certainly caught my eye. I'd like to revisit at a slower pace some day.

Toward the end I was quite tired, so I'm actually happy we didn't do too many more little highly-vertical side trips, but now, after the fact, I can lament a bit.

Its light grapefruit flavor was quite tasty.

A short segment of main city road in the eastern part of Kyoto city proper is currently under construction to cut the number of lanes in half, and double the level of inconvenience. Someone in city government deems it worthy to spend the money (and the diverted attention of every driver going by) to note that fact on this sign in the far northwest mountains an hour's drive away. The changing messages on the sign asks people to stay away from the half-mile stretch of road that they are unlikely to come anywhere near in the first place.

To get there, you would literally have to drive for an hour, snaking your way through the mountains into the completely opposite side of the city nowhere near the road in question.

Just stupid. There was another electronic sign like this five minutes later, imploring the same thing.

Just after exiting the tunnel, we passed by the Ochiba Shrine (“Fallen-leaf Shrine”), which has a gorgeous carpet of yellow in the fall. I'd first heard of this place years ago when a friend had bicycled here, and it seemed to me at the time impossibly far away for a bicycle... even on the scooter it took an hour. Never would I have believed I'd be riding a bicycle out here myself, much less after having ridden 100+km first.

We eventually got onto a smaller more up-and-downy road that brought us by the “Yama no Ie Hasegawa” restaurant that I visit a few times a year. Josh had business to attend to so continued straight home, while Manseki and I paused for coffee and cheesecake...

From there it's almost all downhill until home...

It's mostly downhill unless you go out of your way for some hills, such as the ridiculous 22% grade that I wrote about before.

Back in the city, Manseki showed me a really interesting temple I'd not heard about... its story to get its own post at a later date..

Later that evening, I got to finally meet Manseki's wife when we all got together for dinner...

Like Manseki, she's smart and easy going, and so the conversation flowed. I had a great time.

All in all, a good day.