{"id":2724,"date":"2016-08-22T15:46:01","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T06:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-08-22\/2724"},"modified":"2016-08-22T15:46:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T06:46:01","slug":"returning-to-kyoto-to-hot-summer-cycling-and-destroying-my-iphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-08-22\/2724","title":{"rendered":"Returning to Kyoto, to Hot Summer Cycling and Destroying my iPhone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAscending Through Layers<\/span>\nwith an isolated cloudburst in the background\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm back in Kyoto, after spending the better part of a month<\/span> with my folks in Ohio. Mom continues<\/span> to recover from her\nFebruary stroke. I snapped<\/span> a few<\/span> photos out the window as we crossed The States on the Cleveland \u2192 San Francisco flight.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSplash of Sun<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

An hour later crusing along well above the clouds, I noticed<\/span> another plane keeping pace with us in the far distance\n(just a tiny<\/span> speck, dead center in this next photo).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 32mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/14, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTraveling Companion<\/span>\nthe tiny speck in the center of the frame is another plane\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Not quite the closeup view<\/a> from eight years ago. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 140 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStill There<\/span>\nan hour and a half later.... or maybe it's a different<\/span> plane\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 48mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBleak<\/span>\nnew Bishop, California\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 60mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nContorted Canals<\/span>\none wonders about all the factors that contribute to such a herky<\/span>-jerky path\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 140 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSpacious Property<\/span>\nnot many homes in this part of Tracy, California\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I arrived back home in Kyoto last Wednesday evening, and slept well the first night. Jetlag has been much less of a problem<\/span>\nlately. It used to<\/span> crush me for weeks after returning. Looking back at my blog, it turns out that I have<\/span> two blog posts entitled\n“<\/span>The Mystery of Jetlag”<\/span>, one 10 years ago<\/a> and another four years ago<\/a>. Lately it's been so much better... maybe my current higher level\nof fitness helps? Still a mystery.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The next morning, I thought I should do some exercise to truly wake myself up, so I went<\/span> on a bike<\/span> ride. It took a<\/span> while to\nget everything set up, so I didn't<\/span> get started until 9am. Kyoto is hot and humid in the summer, and it was 28\u00b0C (82F) by the time\nI left.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHot in Ohara<\/span>\ncrappy iPhone camera doesn't do the scene justice\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The ride<\/a> went well at first and despite not trying all that\nhard, I got PRs<\/span> on the first climb, so I guess<\/span> my fitness level hadn't dropped too much in the month away. I went into<\/span> the\nmountains of Shiga Prefecture to a big<\/span> climb<\/a> (5km @ 8.4%) on an isolated,\nlittle-used road I've been wanting to try...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading In<\/span>\ntemperature now 35\u00b0C (95F)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

While on this climb I was suddenly overcome with deep fatigue. I think<\/span> it was jetlag and not heat or The Bonk (lack of calories). I literally<\/span> lay down in the middle of the road and closed my eyes for a while.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>40 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFellow Traveler<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Rejuvenated after a 20-minute rest, I finished<\/span> the climb at a leisurely<\/span> pace, eventually just missing\nthe worst time<\/a> recorded for the segment. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n

The little guy in the previous photo was just the start of the most “<\/span>nature”<\/span> I'd seen on a ride.<\/span>.. I was continually<\/span> joined by\nsome critter or another.... snakes, crickets, deer, small lizards (salamanders?), butterflies, toads. Typing it out like this, the\nlist doesn't seem that impressive so perhaps I'm forgetting the bulk of it, but I had<\/span> a sense<\/span> of amazement during the ride about\nhow much wildlife I encountered.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>2200 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNice Views<\/span>\nthat break down to a blotchy mess with the heat, humidity, and tiny iPhone camera sensor\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The long steep descent down the other side was fun, and made me happy that I had<\/span> not tried to climb it, for I felt<\/span> it\nmust be much harder than the side I'd actually done. Part way down, I came across<\/span> this Buddha statue:<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBig Buddha<\/span>\nI realized then that this was the difficult “<\/span>Buddha road”<\/span> I'd heard about\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExiting the Forest<\/span>\ninto the rice fields (near these fields<\/a> from nine years ago)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

As I descended into a village on the exposed road, the temperature\nclimbed from the 27\u00b0 it had been in the forest, up to 39\u00b0 on the exposed open road.\n(From 81F to 102F.) It was hot.<\/p>\n\n

I somehow had the idea that I should go ahead and retrace my steps back up the mountain, doing the climb\nthat I was<\/span> so fearful about on the way down. So, after buying 1.5L of water at a vending<\/span> machine, I did exactly<\/span>\nthat, heading up<\/a> and then\nrepeating the descent right back down to the same vending machine (where I stocked<\/span> up on another 1.5L).<\/p>\n\n

The second descent was faster than the first because I didn't<\/span> stop for photos, but otherwise it was pretty\nmild, so I was<\/span> surprised to find that\nI got<\/span> the KOM on the descent<\/a>.\nAnyway, I felt satisfied<\/span> that I'd not shied away from the tough climb after the first thought of dreading it.<\/p>\n\n

Later while coasting downhill after a milder<\/span> climb, the TiGRA Sport bicycle iPhone mount that I spoke<\/span> so highly of last year<\/a> failed at a mild<\/span> bump, and my iPhone\n6+ hit the pavement at 44kph...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\n\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDeath of my iPhone<\/span>\nCourtesy of a TiGRA Sport mount that failed\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPredictable Result<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/4.8, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Culprit<\/span>\ntwo teeth failed and another is in the process... seems like a simple<\/span> case of plastic fatigue )-:\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The action shot above is a screen capture from the video<\/a> from the bike rear\ncamera. The road was<\/span> mildly bumpy, but nothing enough to make me think it was one particular jolt that\nthe TiGRA mount failed on. Rather, I'm guessing<\/span> it was just accumulated fatigue that just happened to\ncross the line at that time.<\/p>\n\n

I found the smashed phone right away, but despite searching for 15 minutes along both sides of the road, I\ncouldn't<\/span> find the case. One side of<\/span> the road dropped off steeply and was overgrown with tall\nweeds, so I figured<\/span> it must have slid somewhere in there. Until I saw<\/span> the\nvideo (after returning home), I had assumed<\/span> the case separated from the phone on impact with the road,\nbut the video shows the light plastic case sailing away on its own. It probably<\/span> went way off into the\nhigh grass.<\/p>\n\n

(Armed with new info from the video, I returned<\/span> two days later to search again, but 15 minutes\nstruggling in the overgrown embankment yielded only cuts and bug bites..)<\/p>\n\n

Sigh. I'll have to ask TiGRA Sport about this.<\/p>\n\n

Dejected, I continued home. There wasn't much tree cover for quite a while,<\/span> and though the\n35\u00b0 (95F) temperature wasn't so bad, the direct sun was brutal and I was<\/span> quickly drained. The final<\/span> climb that stood between me and a cool<\/span> shower at home should have taken 15 minutes,\nbut I was<\/span> wiped out, so stopped for long periods when I could<\/span> find shade. In the end<\/span>\nit took an hour<\/a>.\nThis wasn't jetlag... just heat and lack of fitness.<\/p>\n\n

I was happy to find that the phone still actually worked, so I could<\/span> download the photos and make a backup.<\/span> The tracklogs<\/span> weren't complete though, so I was<\/span> happy that the new Garmin Edge 820 cycling computer I was<\/span> using for the first time (having just\nacquired it in The States) had recorded the ride fully. Longtime readers of my blog know that Garmin has earned a passionate<\/span>\nhatred over the years, so I was<\/span> expecting the worst with my first real cycling computer, but everything seemed to work out fine.\nFor now.<\/p>\n\n

The next day I swapped my broken phone (and \u00a542,000... about $400) for a new<\/span> phone.<\/p>\n\n

The day after that I set out on a ride<\/span> more or less in reverse<\/a> of the\nfirst. I left earlier<\/span> in the day, before it got too hot, so I felt<\/span> really good on the initial climbs.<\/p>\n\n

I returned to the tragic scene of my iPhone death and dug through the overgrowth for 15 minutes, but still\ncouldn't find the case.<\/p>\n\n

I intended to go to the same big mountain I'd done twice the other day, but this time via an alternate approach\nthat seemed appealing on the map. I'd used a mapping<\/span> site<\/a> to route me there,\nfollowing on the non-map on my Garmin 820. (I've not yet put Japanese maps on it.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>3000 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeading Toward The Mountains<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I had to pass through a little village to get there, and was surprised when the route brought me up a back<\/span> alley with a\nridiculous<\/span> 20+% slope, followed by a flat<\/span> section, then another milder (but still ridiculously steep) slope:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nCycliq Fly12 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThis is The Mild Portion<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Later on a whim, I made a Strava segment for this little stretch of road,\n“<\/span>Brutal Kamioogi Shortcut<\/a>”<\/span>, and found that I wasn't<\/span>\nthe only person to have taken it.<\/p>\n\n

Overall, the little stretch averages 18.9% for 200m.<\/p>\n\n

Something felt oddly familiar about it, but I didn't<\/span> pay much attention to it until I got<\/span> home and looked at the map.\nStrava uses OpenStreetMap data, and the data in this area was pathetic, so I updated<\/span> it:<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

As I do with many roads where I ride,<\/span> I used detailed<\/span> survey data from the\nJapanese government<\/a> to guide the updates. They tend to be very precise, which is how I like<\/span> my maps and my Strava\nsegments.<\/p>\n\n

While working on that update, I realized<\/span> that I'd actually been on that exact steep route before,\nas a passenger<\/span> in a car,<\/span> during the winter (with snow!), on the way to\n“<\/span>Filming a TV<\/span> Segment about Mochi and Shiga<\/a>”<\/span>.\nSmall world.<\/p>\n\n

The main road continued up toward the mountains, but without tree cover it was hot, so I stopped<\/span> by\na roadside<\/span> culvert to cool down by dipping a towel<\/span> into the cool water, and squeezing it over my head...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nCycliq Fly12 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCooling Off<\/span>\nframe grab from the bike's front-facing camera\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

A little later, just as the road enters the forest, there was a little<\/span> waterfall and pond.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>15 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOasis in the Heat<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I stopped to put my whole body under the tiny waterfall of very cold water. It was freezing<\/span> and wonderful; it felt like this<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The road pitched up steeply from here, though now mostly under tree cover.\nAfter a long<\/span> while, it turned to mild gravel, then disappointingly, increasingly rough gravel.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMild Gravel<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I had hoped it would be all paved, but it was gravely enough that I don't<\/span> think I'd like to do it again on a road<\/span> bike. I views<\/span> I was<\/span> rewarded with, though, were lovely.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\niPhone 6+ — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nnear Kaji Pass (\u68b6\u5ce0)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Even though I stopped often for photos or to cool down, I still<\/span> got the #4 spot overall on\nthat 4.5km 9% climb<\/a>.\n(Shhhh, don't tell anyone that there were only five registered attempts \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n\n

After descending a bit it connected to that “<\/span>Buddha Road”<\/span> climb I'd\nbeen proud of attempting two days prior. It connected<\/span> after the worst of the climb, so the remaining 2.5km at “<\/span>only”<\/span> 7.4%<\/a> felt almost flat. I was feeling<\/span> much better this day, so my time was\n⅔ that of the earlier attempt.<\/p>\n\n

So, I'm happy to be back home and that my fitness level didn't drop too much. Kyoto is hot hot<\/span> hot,\nthough, and I've a lot<\/span> of work and tidying to catch up on, so I'll probably not get out too much in the\nnext weeks, but we'll see. Maybe some early morning rides, and heat-of-the-day getting-stuff-done in the comfort of home's air\nconditioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I'm back in Kyoto, after spending the better part of a month with my folks in Ohio. Mom continues to recover from her February stroke. I snapped a few photos out the window as we crossed The States on the Cleveland \u2192 San Francisco flight.<\/p>

An hour later crusing along well above the clouds, I noticed another plane keeping pace with us in the far distance (just a tiny speck, dead center in this next photo).<\/p>

Not quite the closeup view from eight years ago. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>

I arrived back home in Kyoto last Wednesday evening, and slept well the first [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1,2,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}