This post picks up from part one on my two-year-cycleversary ride though the snowy mountains north of Kyoto. I'd suffered a spell of frozen fingers, but was now mostly warm again and in good spirits.

The area is fantastically beautiful in the snow.

As I mentioned in Part One, riding through the semi-compact snow with thin (28mm) road-bike tires often felt like my tires had to work like ice breakers, shoving through a semi-frozen slushiness of evil-Goldilocks consistency (it's not strong enough to support the weight of the bike, nor weak enough to be easily shoved out of the way).

It was particularly bad on the super-steep initial climb toward Nomi Pass, and the added power needed to push through the ice required more traction than my tires could afford, so I ended up walking the worst parts of it.

Sometimes so much frozen gunk would get caught up in the mechanisms, the rear tire would lock up until I gave things a few good kicks to jar things loose.

Over time, I also lost the outer range of my gears, also due to frozen gunk, first losing the easiest “granny gear” up front, then the higher gears in the rear. I didn't miss the latter until I got to the fast, snow-free downhills later in the ride.

I'd stopped at the spot above because the farmhouse scene is quite picturesque...

Having reached Route 367 (the same road as covered in this silly-cycling article), the road was mostly clear for the undulating return to Kyoto.

All in all it was a great ride, though next year I'll take a bit more care with my gloves. I should also get more knobby tires for the snow, but I don't know whether one ride a year is worth the hassle.

Here's the ride at Strava:

Can't wait to see what the next two years brings...