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 led 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.