{"id":2725,"date":"2016-08-29T01:46:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-28T16:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-08-29\/2725"},"modified":"2016-08-29T01:46:38","modified_gmt":"2016-08-28T16:46:38","slug":"lovely-bicycle-ride-revisiting-uji-countryside-photographed-five-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-08-29\/2725","title":{"rendered":"Lovely Bicycle Ride Revisiting Uji Countryside Photographed Five Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJapan's Rice Harvest Begins<\/span>\nunder the bullet-train tracks in Kyoto, Japan\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I spent the most wonderful day on Friday cycling around the mountains beyond Uji City, near Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n

I had gone to the area earlier in the week for what I called<\/span> a “<\/span>Kasatori\nFestival<\/a>”<\/span>, doing the climb up Mt. Kasatori from all four directions. It's a tiny<\/span> mountain that I visited<\/span> on one of my first\nbike rides, at that time finishing just one of the short climbs utterly spent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

I'm in better shape now, though the\nridiculously-steep Eastern approach climb<\/a> killed me.<\/p>\n\n

While futzing around with the ride data afterwards, I realized<\/span> that this was the area I visited<\/span> years ago on photo\nhunts with friends, producing a dozen<\/span> blog posts starting with\n“<\/span>Exquisite Beauty Growing Like a Weed<\/span> by the Side of the Road<\/a>”<\/span>. It was a<\/span> memorable couple of days, but I hadn't<\/span> put two and two together when returning to the area with cycling.<\/p>\n\n

So, I set out on Friday with the intention to revisit some of the spots from those 2011 trips, to connect my old world with my\nnew. (The trip ended up on Strava as “<\/span>Rediscovering Old Memories\nin Uji<\/a>”<\/span>.)<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/1.7, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTypical Japanese Mountain Road<\/span>\nas I approached the first destination of the day\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 28mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.1, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLovely Lighting<\/span>\nthough hard to capture with this cheap camera<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGetting Closer<\/span>\nI'm heading to the right\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nI Remember<\/span> This House!<\/span>\nit appeared in “<\/span>Pleasant Little Village in Uji, Part 2<\/a>”<\/span> five years ago\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 40mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLaid Back Little Lane<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The village is lovely, though (or because) there's nothing there but some farmers. It's on a<\/span> dead-end road so there's no through traffic. Time sort of stops there.<\/p>\n\n

I saw only one person the entire time I was<\/span> there, who as I rode<\/span> by exclaimed\n“<\/span>Wow, a foreigner!<\/span>”<\/span>. We chatted<\/span> for a while.<\/span> He was suitably<\/span> impressed that I had<\/span>\ncycled from Kyoto. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMakeshift Fences<\/span>\nto keep wild animals away from their gardens\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 34mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nImpressive Farmstead<\/span>\nwhich appeared in Part One of “<\/span>Pleasant Little Village in Uji<\/a>”<\/span> five years ago\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTiny Forest Shrine<\/span>\nat the edge of the village\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBlink and You've Passed the Village<\/span>\nthe road dead ends soon after this\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Doubling back through the village and up a bit,<\/span> I then had<\/span> a fun<\/span> descent that seemed to go on forever. I was taking<\/span> it easy and just enjoying it. Here's a video<\/span> of the descent<\/a>\nfrom my bike's front camera.<\/p>\n\n

I enjoyed the long descent, but had chills thinking of making the ascent, which would somehow be longer than the descent.\nSo, I'll try to go out and do it soon, to get it behind me.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nVillage at the End of the Descent<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I was following a route made from OpenStreetMap, a map<\/span> that showed a single<\/span> road through the village, leading\nto the road I wanted<\/span> to take...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFollowing The<\/i> Road<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWhere It Sent Me<\/span>\nlooking back at the 20% slope I'd just labored up\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I could hear traffic above me, but the 20% slope seen in the photo above was the flat, tidy part of the road...\nwhat lay in front was much steeper, narrower, and strewn with dry pine needles. I wasn't<\/span> about to attempt it.<\/p>\n\n

About this time it dawned on me that perhaps the map wasn't complete. I spend<\/span> a lot<\/span> of time fixing poorly-routed\nroads in OpenStreetMap, but this was a case<\/span> of wholesale wrong data. I've since gone and fixed the roads in this\npart of the village, so now the map<\/a>\nbetter reflects reality.<\/p>\n\n

I eventually found my way, to a road<\/span> filled with big dump trucks, and soon found out why.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLots'a Rock<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I had to make my way back to the top of that big lovely descent, but via a route<\/span> I'd never been on. I assumed<\/span> it would be hellaciously steep, and with the temperature peaking at 40\u00b0 (104F), I was dreading<\/span> it. But the steep<\/span> parts never came, and by some quirk of math and physics I found<\/span> myself back at the top\nwithout the expected climb. Not sure how<\/span> that happened.<\/p>\n\n

I descended a different direction via a different<\/span> road, one utterly lovely in its own way.\nThis descent had a wide,<\/span> smooth road. It was my<\/span> first time on it, but it certainly won't be my last...\nit was just lovely. I made<\/span> a video<\/span> of it, too<\/a>. Just lovely.<\/p>\n\n

That video ends with me turning onto a road<\/span> that loops around a tollway<\/span> exit for 1.2km (¾ of a mile<\/span>). The loop stands<\/span> out on the map, so I figured<\/span> it'd be used as a kind<\/span> of “<\/span>velodrome”<\/span> segment, so I spent<\/span> some time\ngoing around it in both directions, and made Strava segments such as\n“<\/span>Kusatori IC Velodrome CW from South<\/a>”<\/span>. I figured<\/span> wrong, though, as it turns out that only one other person had ridden on any of them.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLonely Road<\/span>\npart of my velodrome loop\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The loops are interesting, though. One direction<\/span> has a hundred<\/span> meters of twisty 14% climb in it, and the other<\/a> obviously has a twisty<\/span> 14% descent. But it's\na loop,<\/span> so in either case you end up with as much ascent as descent. But the different<\/span> mix gives the different\ndirections quite a different<\/span> flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n

Anyway, I was then on to my next memory, hopefully to find\nIce-Cream Girl<\/a> (or, at least, ice cream), but sadly,\nit wasn't to be:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nClosed<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

So, I made my way up the street a bit<\/span> for some udon...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/1.7, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSimple Lunch<\/span>\n\u5b87\u6cbb\u5e02\u7dcf\u5408\u91ce\u5916\u6d3b\u52d5\u30bb\u30f3\u30bf\u30fc\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 47mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWeathered Stump<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBeautiful Countryside<\/span>\nmay photos in this post<\/a> five years ago were taken here\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I passed Rural Uji\u2019s Kiyotakigyuu Shrine<\/a> and headed up for my\nbiggest climb of the day. On the way<\/span> I would<\/span> come across the location of\nthis “<\/span>Eerily Bright”<\/span> photo<\/a>, and hoped I'd recognize it.\nLiterally five seconds after thinking “<\/span>I'd never be able to recognize the spot after so much time”<\/span>, I came around<\/span>\nthe corner and there it was:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 44mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.6, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSort of Anti-Climactic<\/span>\nbut at least I recognized it\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The road continues up and up in the heavy forest, but there's one little break ⅔ of the way up where you can get a nice<\/span> view:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nConcrete Jungle Reaching Toward Osaka<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1600 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMurky Skyline off in the Distance<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The skyline is 43km (27mi) away, just about the same as\nthis long view of Osaka from near my house<\/a>, but it feels much farther\nhere because of the haze.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBig Trucks on This Road Too<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Continuing, we come to a sign announcing what used to be at the end of the road:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 37mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKyoto Kokusai Country Club<\/span>\n1976 - 2013\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The golf club's demise was brought about by 2013's typhoon #18<\/a>,\nthe same typhoon that brought the flooding seen in my blog's\n“<\/span>A Bit<\/span> More Rain in Kyoto Than Normal<\/a>”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEnd of the Road<\/span>\nnow a “<\/span>Mega Solar”<\/span> energy farm under construction\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Next on my list was another remote, isolated village at the end of a dead<\/span>-end mountain road,\none seen five years ago here<\/a>\nand here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nA Good<\/span> Day's Work<\/span>\nnewly-harvested rice hanging to dry\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

As I was going by this field, someone yelled at me “<\/span>You shouldn't be here!<\/i>”<\/span>, which threw me off for the short moment before he continued “<\/span>It's too\nhot!<\/i>”<\/span>. It's his rice<\/span> field above, and he was just finishing his first\nday of harvest. We chatted<\/span> for a while.<\/span> He would<\/span>\nhave liked to have gotten more done, he said, but he didn't bring enough to drink in the hot sun.<\/p>\n\n

Having retired from whatever profession he did in his “<\/span>first life”<\/span>,\nhe was now doing his “<\/span>second life”<\/span> as a\npart<\/span>-time farmer, renting the field to make his own rice, all planted, tended, and harvested by hand. He\nsaid the<\/span> resulting rice is delicious, and I don't<\/span> doubt him one bit.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMoody, One-Lane Road<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/1.7, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSteep and Mossy<\/span>\nI'll stay away on wet days, thank you\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 25mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nThe Most-Remote Fields<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Done with my exploring, I made my way over two more passes and then down into Otsu City. It turns out<\/span>\nthat I got<\/span> the KOM (“<\/span>King of the Mountain”<\/span>... the fastest time) on both descents. This always surprises me because I get<\/span>\nthem when I don't<\/span> try.<\/p>\n\n

I did try a bit on the second one, actually. I'd gotten the\nKOM on it earlier in the week<\/a> without even thinking about it, so this time I thought<\/span> about it, and made a new<\/span> KOM by a wide<\/span>\nmargin.<\/p>\n\n

Here's a video<\/span> of the KOM descent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

In it you'll see that I'm not crazy... I stay in<\/span> my lane unless I can<\/span> see well ahead, and stay on the far side of my lane when\napproaching blind corners just in case an opposing car doesn't keep in its lane (which happens once toward the end). I also pass<\/span> a\ncar<\/span> in a place<\/span> where it's safe and legal to do so (though I was<\/span> exceeding the speed limit a\nbit<\/span>).<\/small><\/span><\/p>\n\n

It was fun.<\/p>\n\n

I then went to the cafe that Manseki introduced me to last year,\nseen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.7, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\u8336\u4e08\u85e4\u6751<\/span><\/span>\nJapanese sweets cafe\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The owner is an avid cyclist, as is the waitress seen in the center of the photo above (and in cycling gear, here<\/a> last year). She did a<\/span> ride with Manseki and me in\nJanuary that I'm reminded I still<\/span> haven't posted about... I'll have to do that soon.\n(Update: here it is<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nReward To Myself<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBonus Sweets<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFeeling Refreshed<\/span>\nphoto by Yoshino Higuchi\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I had to cross over one more mountain to get home, so I took<\/span> the long, steep way that goes by a golf<\/span> course.\nThe late-afternoon sun was gorgeous....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nApproach Shot<\/span>\ngolfer at right driving for green at left\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

All in all the ride<\/a> was a bit<\/span> shy of 100km. It was a<\/span> lovely day.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent the most wonderful day on Friday cycling around the mountains beyond Uji City, near Kyoto.<\/p>

I had gone to the area earlier in the week for what I called a \"Kasatori Festival\", doing the climb up Mt. Kasatori from all four directions. It's a tiny mountain that I visited on one of my first bike rides, at that time finishing just one of the short climbs utterly spent.<\/p>

I'm in better shape now, though the ridiculously-steep Eastern approach climb killed me.<\/p>

While futzing around with the ride data afterwards, I realized that this was the area I visited [...]","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\/2725"}],"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=2725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}