Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Typical Preflight Camaraderie
7:21 AM
across from Sanjo Starbucks, Kyoto Japan (京都市の三条大橋)
今回のサイクリングは京都→大阪→妙見山(豊能郡)→京都でした。この記事は大阪城までの分を含めている。
For our Wednesday ride this week, the plan was to cycle down to Osaka and see the city a bit, then slog up through the dense suburbia to the mountains, then up and over them back to Kyoto.
This post is about 49-km (31-mile) ride from Kyoto to Osaka, primarily on bike paths along the rivers that cut through the concrete jungle filling the flatlands between mountains (the concrete jungle seen in this long shot of the Osaka skyline from Kyoto).
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 46mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Heading Down to the Kamo River
7:38 AM (+9 min) - 2.8 km (1.8 miles)
taken while cycling at 14 kph (9 mph)
This time I've based the time (“+9 min” above) and distance (“2.8 km” above) under each photo on the start of the group ride, rather than (as in previous cycling posts) from when I left my house.
Within Kyoto City proper, the “path” along the river is really a bunch of path segments haphazardly connected by trips across bridges, around people's homes, and sometimes on the street. The track of the ride at Strava can show you the way if you'd like to make the trip yourself sometime. In our case, we were led by veteran rider Manseki Kanemitsu (who appeared on my blog yesterday in a shot from this outing).
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Down Close to the River
7:48 AM (+18 min) - 6.5 km (4.0 miles)
taken while cycling at 24 kph (15 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 54mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Above the River
7:53 AM (+24 min) - 9.1 km (5.7 miles)
taken while cycling at 29 kph (18 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
“All the Happiness”
on a well-used path away from traffic
7:54 AM (+25 min) - 9.7 km (6.0 miles)
taken while cycling at 29 kph (18 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 41mm — 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Excellent View of Utility Cables
very typical Japan
7:58 AM (+29 min) - 11 km (7.1 miles)
taken while cycling at 32 kph (20 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 52mm — 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Small-Plot Farming
individuals making use of the fertile flood plain between the path and the river
7:58 AM (+29 min) - 12 km (7.2 miles)
taken while cycling at 33 kph (21 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Temporary Detour
8:01 AM (+32 min) - 13 km (8.1 miles)
taken while cycling at 26 kph (16 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Rush-Hour Traffic
one of these gentleman is on this ride
8:02 AM (+33 min) - 14 km (8.5 miles)
taken while cycling at 34 kph (21 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 62mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Dipping Under Traffic
8:02 AM (+33 min) - 14 km (8.6 miles)
taken while cycling at 26 kph (16 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Racing Form
Michael Edwards overtakes me at a brisk clip
8:07 AM (+38 min) - 16 km (10.1 miles)
taken while cycling at 34 kph (21 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sidestepping Over Merging Rivers
8:08 AM (+39 min) - 17 km (10.4 miles)
taken while cycling at 19 kph (12 mph)
Here we cross from riding along the Kamo River, over both the Uji River and the Kitsu River, just above the point they all merge to become the mighty Yodo River. Even though it had been eight years since I'd been there, I recognized it right away as the location of “Cherry Blossoms in the Middle of Three Rivers”, about the mile-long island where these rivers come together, completely covered by cherry trees.
I'd definitely like to come back here next spring.
Once we get alongside the Yodo River, the path opens up to a wide, pristinely-smooth blacktop.
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pristine Wide Smooth Path
( the line of darker trees across the background are all cherry )
ここからしばらくめちゃ良いな川治パース
8:10 AM (+41 min) - 18 km (10.9 miles)
taken while cycling at 10 kph (6 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gorm Attack!
(“Attack” is a cycle-racing term for an aggressive move to distance yourself from followers)
8:11 AM (+42 min) - 18 km (11.1 miles)
taken while cycling at 34 kph (21 mph)
I've still got to get the hang of my new camera for cycling. For the kind of side-shot above, I wanted a slow enough shutter to blur the background and the wheels, but I didn't do it nearly enough.
I would have liked to experiment more, but there's only so much Jeffrey I can subject these guys to.
So speaking of subjecting them to me, with the path so wonderfully wide, I thought a lined-up-abreast shot might be nice, so I had them line up...
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Three Musketeers
8:13 AM (+44 min) - 19 km (12.0 miles)
taken while cycling at 30 kph (19 mph)
... then I asked them to pretend to attack, but they all instinctively put on the afterburners and even though I tried to accelerate with them, they left me in the dust. A mere eight seconds after the shot above, they were red-shifting away from me...
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
8 Seconds Later
8:14 AM (+44 min) - 19 km (12.0 miles)
taken while cycling at 35 kph (22 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
8:18 AM (+48 min) - 21 km (13.3 miles)
taken while cycling at 36 kph (22 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stupid Most-Hated Gates
この馬鹿なバイク止めはめちゃ邪魔。別な方法もうないの？
8:21 AM (+52 min) - 23 km (14.3 miles)
The name in Japanese of these moronic gates is バイク止め (“anti-motorcycle gate”), but in practice they are “anti-ankle, anti-derailleur, anti-progress” gates. There are about a dozen of them on the route we took.
Above, Michael is passing through incorrectly. Manseki had shown Gorm and me a month earlier, so Gorm knew the correct (though visually-comical) way...
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Proper Technique
正しい通り方
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 30mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
High-Speed Chat
with the wide, smooth path and lack of traffic, we had ample opportunity to chat
8:25 AM (+56 min) - 25 km (15.7 miles)
taken while cycling at 33 kph (20 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 40mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
8:33 AM (+1h 4m) - 29 km (18.0 miles)
taken while cycling at 25 kph (16 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Manseki Attack!
金光万石さんのアタックの真似
8:38 AM (+1h 9m) - 32 km (19.7 miles)
taken while cycling at 34 kph (21 mph)
Manseki used to be a professional athlete (skiing), so he's used to putting on his “game face” for the camera.
Unlike yesterday's “Manseki Attack!” photo that resulted from a camera mistake on my part, this one was exposed properly, but I like yesterday's result so sort of went in the same direction for this one.
I wanted to do similar treatments for Michael and Gorm, but I didn't have an appropriate base photo to start with. 🙁
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Stuck in Traffic
渋滞
8:42 AM (+1h 12m) - 33 km (20.6 miles)
taken while cycling at 28 kph (17 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
First View of Downtown Osaka
if you zoom way up you can barely make out the hazy outline of some skyscrapers
大阪市内はちらっと見る
8:47 AM (+1h 18m) - 36 km (22.2 miles)
taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph)
DMC-SZ9 at an effective 26mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.1, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Balancing
僕、時速２８キロで動いてるけれども、動いてないみたい
8:53 AM (+1h 23m) - 38 km (23.8 miles)
photo by Manseki Kanemitsu, while cycling at 28 kph (17 mph)
This shot by Manseki illustrates why I need to pay attention to the shutter speed... at 1/1,000th of a second, the lack of blur in the wheels makes it look like I'm standing still. I'm not that well balanced.
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gone Fishing
9:01 AM (+1h 32m) - 43 km (26.5 miles)
taken while cycling at 32 kph (20 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1/500 sec, f/3.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
First Good View of Osaka
やっと大阪市内ははっきり見えます
9:05 AM (+1h 36m) - 44 km (27.5 miles)
taken while cycling at 28 kph (18 mph)
Just as we got to the city proper, we departed the Yodo River to head south, which involved climbing up the berm protecting the city from a flooding river...
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flying Uphill
9:07 AM (+1h 38m) - 45 km (28.0 miles)
taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph)
The last of these ridiculous gates...
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 58mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ridiculous Gates #173
9:07 AM (+1h 38m) - 45 km (28.1 miles)
What's really insidious about these gates is that the height and shape of the two sets of ankle-biting parallel bars is different for each gate in a comically-random fashion, meaning that you can never “get the hang” of them. It wouldn't surprise me if someone from the Municipal Department of Annoyances changes them each night, just to garner more ankles and derailleurs from the unsuspecting.
DMC-SZ9 at an effective 26mm — 1/320 sec, f/9, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gorm Apparently Likes the Gates
photo by Manseki Kanemitsu
We followed the creatively-named Oogawa (“Big River”) south for a bit, along a long pleasant riverside park...
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 25mm — 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nicely-Shaded Path
as the sun is finally out from the overcast of the morning
9:15 AM (+1h 46m) - 48 km (29.8 miles)
taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 29mm — 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Less-Convenient Path
9:19 AM (+1h 50m) - 49 km (30.5 miles)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Time to Rest
9:26 AM (+1h 56m) - 49 km (30.7 miles)
at Osaka Castle (大阪城)
Our destination for the first stop was Osaka Castle, which last appeared on my blog almost eight years ago.
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Typical Photo Squat
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 41mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Michael Edwards
DMC-SZ9 at an effective 26mm — 1/800 sec, f/3.1, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
photo by Manseki Kanemitsu
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 67mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Crossing the Moat
the dots on the bridge are Gorm, Manseki, and Michael
( another dot and a building in the background were removed in post )
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 33mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Steep Climb Up the Final Rampart
taken while cycling at 9 kph (6 mph)
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo Op
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tour of the Grounds
taken while cycling at 9 kph (6 mph)
At the vending-machine stop before leaving the park, I noticed this helpful city service:
Panasonic LX100 at an effective 67mm — 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Can,Pet only
do not dispose of trash, children, or bottles here
This year my inlaws are coming here so no trip to Japan for us. This blog is both my Japan fix and torture.
I love the casual shot of you all before you head out biking. Right up until Manseki’s head… that photo could be in many locations around the world (Anywhere suburban/urban where weeping cherry tree’s grow). Then the photo goes full-on ‘day-in-the-life’ Japan. The stylized patina’d fence post, the Lawson コンビニ, the sign, manhole cover, signs and ubiquitous wires -which drive you nuts.
Flying uphill is a great photo. My interest in your blog is for the Japan context and watching your evolution as a photographer. The biking shots w/o that would be boring for me. This one however, really does stand on its own. The composition is unusual but uniquely balanced. (Plane vs. bikers, sky vs. road, natural midground and man-made background.) The kilter of the road and the angled lines of the background give this palpable sense of motion. It almost has a tilt-shift effect going on. I’d love to see that overcast sky burned in just a bit more but ultimately its really well done.
Thanks for the kind words. Just a bunch of cycling butt shots would be boring for me, too, so I try to make a story about the day, or show something about Japan or the area. Many shots on this post are boring out of the context of “here’s what the river path looks like along the way”, which is perhaps boring in its own right, but useful datapoints for those interested in making the trip themselves. I’m still more of a photographer/writer than a cyclist, so an interesting composition or subject is always on my mind. I was actually riding uphill myself when I took the airplane shot, and had only a moment to see its potential, grab the camera, and shoot. Usually in cases like this the potential does not pan out, but I liked this one, especially after I adjusted the crop in post. —Jeffrey
From Britain, where we also have tracks shared by pedestrians and push bikers. Those ‘ridiculous’ gates are there to slow you down. Serious cyclists do not mix well with pedestrians on narrow tracks.
I don’t think the purpose is to slow folks down… there are long (multi-kilometer) stretches where there are no such gates, including places where one must indeed slow down for safety. They’re there to stop motorcycles and scooters, which is fine… the ‘ridiculous’ part is that they could do the same thing (or, slow folks down if that is indeed the goal) in a way less prone to damage bike and bone. Smashing your derailleur even at a slow walking speed is not fun. —Jeffrey
Great post. A ride I’d love to do some day.
I am in Korea but just went to Kyoto for the weekend and loved cycling along the Kamu river. Chris, my friend who has recently moved to Kyoto to the Uni there told me the river goes all the way to Osaka so I checked your post. Thanks a lots looks like good fun.
I’m currently doing the “Bicycle the length of Japan” tour and found this blog post really helpful – Thanks!
I love your photos and am inspired to try riding Osaka to Kyoto. Will be moving to Osaka March 2019. Would like to find a road bike for this time. Wonder if you have any ideas. Also, are there bike maps of the Osaka area available anywhere online or paper? Thanks.
I’m not familiar with the bike shops in Osaka, but once you know where you’ll be living, perhaps join the Facebook “Cycling Kyoto!” group and ask for advice on a local shop. I’m not sure what you mean by “cycling maps”, but if you’re looking for rides out of the city and into the mountains, the aforementioned Facebook group is good for asking, and for meeting up with like-minded folks. Also, Strava’s heatmap can give some ideas, as well my own cycling heatmap. —Jeffrey