So, the idea for the day was simple: join Antti's farewell ride until they hit gravel, then go off on my own to find a spot to set up a hammock and relax with a book for a while.

It didn't work out that way.

Antti is returning to Finland after many years in Kyoto. He's left his mark on the Strava leaderboards, and on his friends' hearts. His farewell ride was to be a gravel affair; I have no interest in riding on gravel, but I thought I'd join for the road part, bringing along my hammock to set [...]

ナイジェルさんは誕生日に際して花背峠まで登った、ママチャリで。

Nigel Randell usually does something sort of crazy on his birthday, such as this ride two years ago that I joined in on for a short portion.

This year, Nigel rode his heavy rusty mamachari (built-like-a-tank city bike) up to Hanase Pass, the 600+ meters of climb (2,000') being a challenge on the best road bike.

Neil, whom we've seen on my blog here and here, among others, is an extremely strong rider, but today on the occasion of Nigel's mamachari ride, was creating a challenge for himself by riding an old used bike with the seat dropped all [...]

The first time I rode a bicycle from Kyoto to Osaka, a year and a half ago ("Cycling Along the River from Kyoto To Osaka Castle"), the 55-kilometer (34-mile) route we were lead on followed roads and paths that traced the eastern bank of the Katsura River and then the southern bank of the Yodo River. For the most part it's a fine route, on nice paths closed to motor vehicles.

The initial paths out of Kyoto are the least developed part of the trip, so I came up with a less muddy, less bumpy exit from Kyoto, but otherwise [...]

Today we did a simple little "Hanase Support" ride, where a few of us with experience making the climb to Hanase Pass helped out those who have never done it. Lianca and Stephanie made the climb for the first time, being encouraged by Manseki, Antti, and me.

The southern climb to Hanase Pass is Kyoto's premier climb, averaging 8.6% for 5.8 km (3.6 miles) of unrelenting grade. Through sheer ignorance I happened to choose it for my first-ever real bike outing, in the snow and ice of early February last year, when it took 48 minutes to finish. I've climbed [...]

この記事はこの間の月曜日のサイクリングの物語です。友達と一緒に乗鞍を登った、距離165キロのローングライドをしあした。 進んだ峠は乗鞍、美女峠、寺坂峠、野麦峠、白樺峠。獲得高度は3,907m。疲れたけれども、めっちゃ楽しかった。リーダー達吉川さんと栗田さん、参加させてくれた有り難う御座います！

In yesterday's post I outlined a three-day trip where I cycled up Japan's highest paved road three times. The main event was the middle day, with a group of folks from Kyoto that comes every year. The day's ride started with that highest-road climb up Mt. Norikura, then continued on to four other major climbs in a big up-and-down loop covering 165km (103mi) with 3,900m (12,800') of elevation gain.

Here's the ride at Strava, and a surprisingly-interesting 2-minute Relive video version.

It ended up being the fifth longest ride I've ever done, though the most elevation gain in [...]