{"id":2759,"date":"2016-12-11T23:51:07","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T14:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-12-11\/2759"},"modified":"2016-12-12T00:17:35","modified_gmt":"2016-12-11T15:17:35","slug":"meeting-my-match-on-a-long-iga-nara-osaka-cycling-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-12-11\/2759","title":{"rendered":"Meeting my Match on a Long Iga-Nara-Osaka Cycling Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<p>I had quite the little cycling adventure yesterday, venturing into some areas I'd never been, and facing the most\nheinously-steep road I'd ever seen. <span class='nobr'>The total<\/span> distance was 191km (118mi), making it my 7th-longest ride\never. This blog post, mostly as <span class='nobr'>a diary<\/span> for myself, is almost as long.<\/p>\n\n<p>The distance was no problem, but as it seems with many of my longer rides, lack of time management does me in and <span\nclass='nobr'>I have<\/span> to kill myself to get back in time for something (in this case Saturday-evening Mass).<\/p>\n\n<iframe class='ic' height='405' width='590' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/798443729\/embed\/c04d0c1c3f0758c172197578171c21cfdfa9c4fb'><\/iframe>\n\n<p>The outline of this ride was simple... head down to Iga City, <span class='nobr'>a place<\/span> I'd never been, because, well, <span class='nobr'>I'd never<\/span> been there. Then\ncut across to Nara (which <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/775095169'>I'd cycled to<\/a> once, last month), then from there\nacross to Osaka Castle.<\/p>\n\n<p>By the time I got to Osaka Castle <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> have had 140km (87mi) of mountainous riding, but then the return home would be all\nflat, mostly along nice cycling paths. I've blogged about that 51km (32mi) Osaka-Castle ride <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> times, <a\nhref='\/blog\/2015-11-29\/2650'>here<\/a>, <a href='\/blog\/2015-06-26\/2592'>here<\/a>, and <a\nhref='\/blog\/2015-09-15\/2618'>here<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> that even if the ride thus far had tired me out,\nthe flat return taken at my leisure would be no problem. Sigh, if <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> only plan better.<\/p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I knew it would be a long day, so <span class='nobr'>I planned<\/span> to take it slow and steady.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i59\" href='\/i\/cyclic-2016-12-10-07-59.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/cyclic-2016-12-10-07-59_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"388\"\nalt=\"Hitching a Ride relaxing at 47kph (29mph) on National Route 1 8:00am -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"icyclic_2016_12_10_07_59\"\ntitle=\"Hitching a Ride relaxing at 47kph (29mph) on National Route 1 8:00am -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Cycliq Fly12 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2Fcyclic-2016-12-10-07-59.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/cyclic-2016-12-10-07-59.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Hitching <span class='nobr'>a Ride<\/span><\/span>\n<br\/>relaxing at 47kph (29mph) on National <span class='nobr'>Route 1<\/span>\n<br\/>8:00am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/cyclic-2016-12-10-07-59.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Hitching a Ride relaxing at 47kph (29mph) on National Route 1 8:00am -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I felt a bit cheap as I blew past the cyclist seen in the photo above (<span class='nobr'>a screenshot<\/span> from my bike's\nfront video camera) as <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> drafting the truck. <span class='nobr'>I was far<\/span> enough back that\n<span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> easily react safely to anything the truck did, but close enough that the draft effect was\n<i>huge<\/i>. Even at 40~50kph, <span class='nobr'>I kept having<\/span> to use my brakes to maintain the safety buffer.<\/p>\n\n<p>The big danger to drafting a truck like this is <span class='nobr'>a danger<\/span> shared by motorcycles: traffic can't see you behind the truck as you\napproach them, so someone in <span class='nobr'>a rush<\/span> wanting to pull across your lane the moment the truck passes could\nhit you. This wasn't <span class='nobr'>a concern<\/span> this morning because it was rush hour, and there was <span\nclass='nobr'>an SUV<\/span> right behind me the whole time. (Maybe it was drafting me! \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n\n<p>So, despite taking the initial steep descent easy, half of <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/13789007'>this 6km (3.6mi)\nsegment<\/a> was drafting, so <span class='nobr'>I set<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a PR<\/span> by <span class='nobr'>a minute<\/span>\nand <span class='nobr'>a half.<\/span> (I'd feel bad about the drafting if this were <span class='nobr'>a hotly<\/span>-contested\nsegment on <span class='nobr'>a different<\/span> kind of road, but drafting is always inviting on this section of the road, and\nthe segment is not at all hotly contested because it didn't exist until <span class='nobr'>I made<\/span> it <span class='nobr'>a\nfew<\/span> minutes ago.)<\/p>\n\n<p>Soon I was in the mountains. It was cold.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12359\" href='\/i\/JF100_12359.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12359_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Going for that &amp;#8220; Winter Cold &amp;#8221; Feeling 8:40am - taken while cycling at 22 kph (14 mph) -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12359\"\ntitle=\"Going for that &amp;#8220; Winter Cold &amp;#8221; Feeling 8:40am - taken while cycling at 22 kph (14 mph) -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>160 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12359.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12359.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Going for that <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Winter Cold<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> Feeling<\/span>\n<br\/>8:40am - taken while cycling at 22 kph (14 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12359.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Going for that &amp;#8220; Winter Cold &amp;#8221; Feeling 8:40am - taken while cycling at 22 kph (14 mph) -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>It was about 4\u2103\/39\u2109 when I left, and only got colder as <span class='nobr'>I went.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>It was also<\/span> misty\/rainy.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12362\" href='\/i\/JF100_12362.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12362_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Evidence of Very Recent Rain 8:40am - taken while cycling at 19 kph (12 mph) -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12362\"\ntitle=\"Evidence of Very Recent Rain 8:40am - taken while cycling at 19 kph (12 mph) -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12362.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12362.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Evidence of Very Recent Rain<\/span>\n<br\/>8:40am - taken while cycling at 19 kph (12 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12362.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Evidence of Very Recent Rain 8:40am - taken while cycling at 19 kph (12 mph) -- Otsu, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I don't have many photos from the early part of the ride because <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> want to stop to take them. (What <span class='nobr'>I do<\/span> have was taken\non the fly.)  Early in the ride while exiting Kyoto, <span class='nobr'>I realized<\/span> that <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> not had to stop since pulling away from home. Normally\nin the city you'll get caught by <span class='nobr'>a red<\/span> light or something, but for whatever reason had gotten lucky so far, so <span class='nobr'>I wondered<\/span> whether\n<span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> make it to the castle in Iga City without stopping.<\/p>\n\n<p>Getting through Otsu (where I was drafting the truck) required some creative on-the-fly re-routes to avoid red lights, but once\n<span class='nobr'>I got<\/span> through that it was mostly rural mountain road the rest of the way.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12364\" href='\/i\/JF100_12364.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12364_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Last Sun for a While a misty sleet started just after 8:56am - taken while cycling at 20 kph (13 mph) -- Koka, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12364\"\ntitle=\"Last Sun for a While a misty sleet started just after 8:56am - taken while cycling at 20 kph (13 mph) -- Koka, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>1600 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12364.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12364.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Last Sun for <span class='nobr'>a While<\/span><\/span>\n<br\/>a misty sleet started just after\n<br\/>8:56am - taken while cycling at 20 kph (13 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12364.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Last Sun for a While a misty sleet started just after 8:56am - taken while cycling at 20 kph (13 mph) -- Koka, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12370\" href='\/i\/JF100_12370.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12370_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Tea Fields 8:59am - taken while cycling at 27 kph (17 mph) -- Koka, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12370\"\ntitle=\"Tea Fields 8:59am - taken while cycling at 27 kph (17 mph) -- Koka, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12370.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12370.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Tea Fields<\/span>\n<br\/>8:59am - taken while cycling at 27 kph (17 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12370.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Tea Fields 8:59am - taken while cycling at 27 kph (17 mph) -- Koka, Shiga, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>The first 50km of the ride were more or less <span class='nobr'>a mild<\/span> uphill, culminating at Otoki Pass\n<span class='nobr'>(\u5fa1\u658e\u5ce0),<\/span>\nafter which the road pitches down into <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/13780710'>a 7% descent for 3.6km<\/a>.\nThis looked like the kind of descent that <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> love, and in planning the ride <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I might<\/span> KOM it (<span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>King of the Mountain<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> &mdash; register its fastest time), but <span class='nobr'>I abandoned<\/span> that idea when <span class='nobr'>I lost<\/span> feeling in my fingers. <span class='nobr'>It was freezing<\/span> (literally, the temperature was\n0\u2103) and the roads were wet. <span class='nobr'>Not my cup<\/span> of tea. <span class='nobr'>I went<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/798443729\/segments\/19498124434'>very slowly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>I would love to try the descent again when it's warm and dry. <span class='nobr'>Or at least<\/span> warm. <span class='nobr'>My fingers<\/span> were killing me.<\/p>\n\n<p>From there I had to work my way through the city to the castle:<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12372\" href='\/i\/JF100_12372.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12372_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Iga Ueno Castle \u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce 10:11am -- Iga, Mie, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12372\"\ntitle=\"Iga Ueno Castle \u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce 10:11am -- Iga, Mie, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12372.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12372.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Iga Ueno Castle<\/span>\n<br\/>\u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce\n<br\/>10:11am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12372.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Iga Ueno Castle \u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce 10:11am -- Iga, Mie, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12373\" href='\/i\/JF100_12373.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12373_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Quiet Saturday Morning -- Iga Ueno Castle (\u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce) -- Iga, Mie, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12373\"\ntitle=\"Quiet Saturday Morning -- Iga Ueno Castle (\u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce) -- Iga, Mie, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12373.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12373.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Quiet Saturday Morning<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12373.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Quiet Saturday Morning -- Iga Ueno Castle (\u4f0a\u8cc0\u4e0a\u91ce\u57ce) -- Iga, Mie, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>There were a few folks walking around, and one stall selling something that looked warm and tasty. <span class='nobr'>But the ambiance<\/span> was destroyed\nby <span class='nobr'>a loudspeaker<\/span> playing some kind of <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>welcome to this super lovely place that you should think is super lovely<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> kind of audio, on <span class='nobr'>a loop.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>For having<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a culture<\/span> with such <span class='nobr'>a deep<\/span> sense of beauty, Japanese sure know how to destroy it.<\/p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I was pleased to have made the 62km trip completely nonstop, the wheels of the bike never stopping between when <span class='nobr'>I\npulled<\/span> away from home to when <span class='nobr'>I stopped<\/span> to take the photos above. <span class='nobr'>I'm geeky<\/span> that way, to find pleasure in essentially-meaningless\n<span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>achievements<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> rooted mostly in luck. <span class='nobr'>My greatest<\/span> such achievement was doing &frac23; of <span class='nobr'>a loop<\/span> around Lake Biwa &mdash; 125km (78mi)\n&mdash; nonstop, <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/417920202'>on this ride<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Now that I could feel free to stop, <span class='nobr'>I next did<\/span> so at <span class='nobr'>a convenience<\/span> store for <span class='nobr'>a cup<\/span> of coffee and some lunch (<span class='nobr'>a chicken<\/span> breast\nand <span class='nobr'>a junky<\/span> sweet bread). Then it was off to the city of Nara.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12374\" href='\/i\/JF100_12374.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12374_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Keep Left it seems that Nara has some set cycling routes that this was part of 11:22am -- Yamabe-gun -- Yamabe-gun, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12374\"\ntitle=\"Keep Left it seems that Nara has some set cycling routes that this was part of 11:22am -- Yamabe-gun -- Yamabe-gun, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 46mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12374.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12374.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Keep Left<\/span>\n<br\/>it seems that Nara has <a href='http:\/\/nara-cycling.com\/map\/narakuru\/'>some set cycling routes<\/a> that this was part of\n<br\/>11:22am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12374.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Keep Left it seems that Nara has some set cycling routes that this was part of 11:22am -- Yamabe-gun -- Yamabe-gun, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12382\" href='\/i\/JF100_12382.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12382_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Time To Make the Doughnuts beginning of one of the day's climbs 11:49am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12382\"\ntitle=\"Time To Make the Doughnuts beginning of one of the day's climbs 11:49am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12382.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12382.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Time To Make the Doughnuts<\/span>\n<br\/>beginning of one of the day's climbs\n<br\/>11:49am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12382.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Time To Make the Doughnuts beginning of one of the day's climbs 11:49am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I was happy to start climbing again, to generate some heat, as my fingers and toes were in the midst of <span class='nobr'>a competition<\/span> to see\nwho could feel colder. <span class='nobr'>I had thick<\/span> winter socks, thick neoprene toe covers, then my shoes, and then thick fleece covers over\nthose, but still my toes were killing me. <span class='nobr'>I need heated<\/span> socks, or something.<\/p>\n\n<div id='tobidashikun' class='wide ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12383\" href='\/i\/JF100_12383.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12383_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"New and Old? 11:51am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12383\"\ntitle=\"New and Old? 11:51am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 26mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12383.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12383.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>New and Old?<\/span>\n<br\/>11:51am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12383.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"New and Old? 11:51am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>The <a href='https:\/\/ja.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%E9%A3%9B%E3%81%B3%E5%87%BA%E3%81%97%E5%9D%8A%E3%82%84'>running-kid signboard<\/a> is\n<span class='nobr'>a common<\/span> sight along roads in Japan, reminding (imploring) drivers to go slow for the safety of children. This one looks to be commercially\nmade, but the home-made ones can be quite quaint.<\/p>\n\n<p>Behind it is something that looks decidedly from another era...<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12384\" href='\/i\/JF100_12384.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12384_sm.jpg\" width=\"384\" height=\"575\"\nalt=\"Slightly Creepy -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12384\"\ntitle=\"Slightly Creepy -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12384.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12384.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Slightly Creepy<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12384.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Slightly Creepy -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>This one shows a police officer and <span class='nobr'>a child<\/span> with <span class='nobr'>a grotesquely<\/span> large arm. (Children in Japan are taught to raise one arm above their\nhead when they cross the road, to make themselve more visible.)<\/p>\n\n<p>Below the people there's a slot... perhaps it's also <span class='nobr'>a trash<\/span> can? Below that, barely visible, are molded letters\nsaying <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Look Right, Look Left<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, and below that is an advertisement for <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Crazy Motor Works Mikai<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic wide tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12385\" href='\/i\/JF100_12385.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12385_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Which Should I Take ? 11:55am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12385\"\ntitle=\"Which Should I Take ? 11:55am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12385.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12385.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Which Should <span class='nobr'>I Take<\/span>?<\/span>\n<br\/>11:55am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12385.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Which Should I Take ? 11:55am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>Between the cities of Iga and Nara are some mountains that <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> be crossing at Mima Pass <span\nclass='nobr'>(\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0).<\/span> <span class='nobr'>At the pass<\/span> there's 830m (half <span class='nobr'>a mile<\/span>) tunnel,\nor intead one could take the original road up and over that the tunnel bypasses. Along that short stretch of originally road is\nessentially <i>nothing<\/i> except one small garage-like building.<\/p>\n\n<p>The above photo represents a situation <span class='nobr'>I see<\/span> often, but <span class='nobr'>don't<\/span> fully\nunderstand. Someone clearly intends to block off the road, but two of the three signs say <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>the road\n<i>farther ahead<\/i> is closed to traffic<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. (The third sign is about fire safety.) <span\nclass='nobr'>I can<\/span> understand putting <span class='nobr'>a sign<\/span> here to warn of <span class='nobr'>a dead<\/span>\nend, but why put the barriers here if the road is not closed here?<\/p>\n\n<p>Secondly, these are put up by the local neighbored association. <span class='nobr'>Do they have<\/span> the right to take exclusive control of <span class='nobr'>a public<\/span>\nroad? This is <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Nara Prefectural <span class='nobr'>Route 80<\/span><span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, not <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Mima Village Private Drive<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. And it's not like <span class='nobr'>a small<\/span> village is trying to\nprevent through traffic from destroying their ambiance. There is <i>nothing<\/i> along this stretch of road except for one\ngarage-like building, and at one point access to <span class='nobr'>a farmer's<\/span> tea field. <span class='nobr'>Why does someone<\/span> care about blocking traffic on this\nroad?<\/p>\n\n<p>Finally, what does the sign really <i>mean<\/i>? <span class='nobr'>The thing<\/span> being prohibited is <span\nclass='QO'>&#8220;<\/span><span class='nobr'>\u901a\u884c<\/span><span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, normally translated as <span\nclass='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>passage through<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> or simply <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>traffic<span\nclass='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. Depending on context, this word can apply to all forms of transportation, including pedestrians. <span\nclass='nobr'>It's used on<\/span> the sign in the cycling <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Keep Left<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>\nphoto above, there meaning simply <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>travel\/movement<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. When this word is used on <span class='nobr'>a sign<\/span> to mark <span\nclass='nobr'>a one<\/span>-way road, it also applies to bicycles, but not to pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n<p>In this specific context, I think it refers only to motor vehicles. <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know why they would want to prohibit motor vehicles\non this public road, so <span class='nobr'>I can't<\/span> really justify why <span class='nobr'>I think<\/span> they don't mind bicycles and pedestrians, except that they didn't use\nthe completely unambiguous and common <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>No Entry!<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> <span class='nobr'>(\u7acb\u5165\u7981\u6b62).<\/span> <span class='nobr'>Had they used<\/span> that <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> not have taken the road less traveled,\nbut they didn't, so <span class='nobr'>I did.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12388\" href='\/i\/JF100_12388.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12388_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Up and Over 11:57am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12388\"\ntitle=\"Up and Over 11:57am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12388.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12388.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Up and Over<\/span>\n<br\/>11:57am\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12388.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Up and Over 11:57am -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12390\" href='\/i\/JF100_12390.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12390_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"The Only Building on the entire road (with enough fire wood to last years) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12390\"\ntitle=\"The Only Building on the entire road (with enough fire wood to last years) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12390.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12390.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>The Only Building<\/span>\n<br\/>on the entire road\n<br\/>(with enough fire wood to last years)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12390.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"The Only Building on the entire road (with enough fire wood to last years) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12393\" href='\/i\/JF100_12393.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12393_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Mossy, but Passable Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) 12:00pm - taken while cycling at 10 kph (7 mph) -- Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12393\"\ntitle=\"Mossy, but Passable Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) 12:00pm - taken while cycling at 10 kph (7 mph) -- Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/1.7, ISO 320 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12393.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12393.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Mossy, but Passable<\/span>\n<br\/>Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0)\n<br\/>12:00pm - taken while cycling at 10 kph (7 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12393.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Mossy, but Passable Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) 12:00pm - taken while cycling at 10 kph (7 mph) -- Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12395\" href='\/i\/JF100_12395.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12395_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12395\"\ntitle=\"Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12395.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12395.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12395.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Mima Pass (\u6c34\u9593\u5ce0) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12399\" href='\/i\/JF100_12399.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12399_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"&amp;#8220; Nara Prefectural Route 80 &amp;#8221; -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12399\"\ntitle=\"&amp;#8220; Nara Prefectural Route 80 &amp;#8221; -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 32mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>80 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12399.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12399.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'><span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Nara Prefectural <span class='nobr'>Route 80<\/span><span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span><\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12399.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"&amp;#8220; Nara Prefectural Route 80 &amp;#8221; -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12400\" href='\/i\/JF100_12400.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12400_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Nice View -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12400\"\ntitle=\"Nice View -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12400.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12400.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Nice View<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12400.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Nice View -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>The bypass road exited the forest and joined to the main road for what would have been <span class='nobr'>a lovely<\/span> descent except for the\n<i>screaming headwind<\/i> on this side of the mountains. <span class='nobr'>It would<\/span> be with me for much of the rest of the day.<\/p>\n\n<p>I made my way into Nara, to have lunch at <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span><a href='http:\/\/www.manmatei.com\/'>Manma-tei<\/a><span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, <span class='nobr'>a curry<\/span> place run by <span class='nobr'>a cycling<\/span>\nfamily, famous among cyclists. <span class='nobr'>I'd met the<\/span> owner when we were both extras in <span class='nobr'>a cycling<\/span>-related movie last month, and visited soon\nafter when Manseki brought me on my first trip to Nara.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12409\" href='\/i\/JF100_12409.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12409_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Photographing Despair at a closed &amp;#8220; Manma-tei &amp;#8221; (\u307e\u3093\u307e\u4ead) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12409\"\ntitle=\"Photographing Despair at a closed &amp;#8220; Manma-tei &amp;#8221; (\u307e\u3093\u307e\u4ead) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12409.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12409.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Photographing Despair<\/span>\n<br\/>at a closed <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Manma-tei<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> (\u307e\u3093\u307e\u4ead)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12409.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Photographing Despair at a closed &amp;#8220; Manma-tei &amp;#8221; (\u307e\u3093\u307e\u4ead) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>It's apparently normally a mad house on <span class='nobr'>a Saturday,<\/span> but today they were closed for unknown reasons.\n<span class='nobr'>Not long after<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I arrived,<\/span> this couple showed up having ridden from Kobe and\nseemed to be positively shocked to find it closed. <span class='nobr'>The first<\/span> thing out of the guy's mouth would be\nliterally translated as <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span><i>lie!<\/i><span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>, but with his tone of voice, the\nmore culturally-realistic translation is closer to <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span><i>no $&amp;@#ing way!<\/i><span\nclass='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. They spent several minutes just exchanging such comments between themselves as they tried to come to\ngrip with the reality that they'd have to make different plans.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the short time before I left, three other cyclists showed up. <span class='nobr'>I guess<\/span> I'm not the only one to have\nnot checked the web site. Oh well. <span class='nobr'>I had plenty<\/span> with me. <span class='nobr'>I gave the<\/span> couple\nabove some tasty <a href='https:\/\/www.amazon.co.jp\/dp\/B004PUGSYI'>sweet-potato bean-paste energy gunk snacks<\/a>, ate some myself,\nand headed off to Osaka by way of Nara Park...<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12411\" href='\/i\/JF100_12411.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12411_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Arrogant Deer can't even be bothered to use the crosswalk Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) 12:46pm - taken while cycling at 17 kph (11 mph) -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12411\"\ntitle=\"Arrogant Deer can't even be bothered to use the crosswalk Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) 12:46pm - taken while cycling at 17 kph (11 mph) -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 46mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>500 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12411.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12411.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Arrogant Deer<\/span>\n<br\/>can't even be bothered to use the crosswalk\n<br\/>Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712)\n<br\/>12:46pm - taken while cycling at 17 kph (11 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12411.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Arrogant Deer can't even be bothered to use the crosswalk Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) 12:46pm - taken while cycling at 17 kph (11 mph) -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12413\" href='\/i\/JF100_12413.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12413_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Crowded much more so than this time I visited -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12413\"\ntitle=\"Crowded much more so than this time I visited -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>160 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12413.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12413.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Crowded<\/span>\n<br\/>much more so than <a href='\/blog\/2014-01-31\/2382'>this time<\/a> <span class='nobr'>I visited<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12413.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Crowded much more so than this time I visited -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12415\" href='\/i\/JF100_12415.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12415_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Kindly Posing with the selfie-taking girl -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12415\"\ntitle=\"Kindly Posing with the selfie-taking girl -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 70mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12415.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12415.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Kindly Posing<\/span>\n<br\/>with the selfie-taking girl\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12415.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Kindly Posing with the selfie-taking girl -- Nara Park (\u5948\u826f\u516c\u5712) -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I wanted to get some deer poop (<a href='https:\/\/www.amazon.co.jp\/dp\/B00HUO1HP6'>chocolate-covered peanuts labeled as <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>deer\npoop<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span><\/a>) for Anthony, but forgot. )-:<\/p>\n\n<p>Passing by Nara Station, I paused for <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> to watch <span class='nobr'>a drum<\/span>\/dance performance.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12421\" href='\/i\/JF100_12421.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12421_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Performance to the famous Shima Uta ( listen ) -- JR\u5948\u826f\u99c5 -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12421\"\ntitle=\"Performance to the famous Shima Uta ( listen ) -- JR\u5948\u826f\u99c5 -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 65mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>500 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12421.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12421.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Performance<\/span>\n<br\/>to the famous <a href='https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shima_Uta_(The_Boom_song)'>Shima Uta<\/a> (<a href='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x_-OZfn1Zhk'>listen<\/a>)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12421.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Performance to the famous Shima Uta ( listen ) -- JR\u5948\u826f\u99c5 -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12424\" href='\/i\/JF100_12424.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12424_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Waiting Their Turn -- JR\u5948\u826f\u99c5 -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12424\"\ntitle=\"Waiting Their Turn -- JR\u5948\u826f\u99c5 -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 41mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12424.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12424.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Waiting Their Turn<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12424.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Waiting Their Turn -- JR\u5948\u826f\u99c5 -- Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I knew the road from Nara to Osaka would bring me over <span class='nobr'>a really<\/span> <i>really<\/i> steep climb, and <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> both looking forward to\nadding that notch to my belt, and also somewhat scared of it.<\/p>\n\n<p>It was very tough and very steep, but at one point <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> it wasn't <i>so<\/i> bad, until <span class='nobr'>I finished<\/span> and realized that <span class='nobr'>I\nhadn't<\/span> even reached that climb yet... <span class='nobr'>I was on<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a nameless<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/798443729\/segments\/19498662950'>different climb<\/a> with an average grade of <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>only<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> 14%, and for only 600m.<\/p>\n\n<p>I wasn't sure what to expect for the real climb until <span class='nobr'>I descended<\/span> out of the forest and saw this across the valley:<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12428\" href='\/i\/JF100_12428.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12428_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12428\"\ntitle=\"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>1000 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12428.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12428.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12428.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I didn't shield the lens well from the sun, so the photos are all washed out, but across the little valley was\nanother mountain with roads that looked like they went more or less straight up:<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12429\" href='\/i\/JF100_12429.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12429_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Washed Out -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12429\"\ntitle=\"Washed Out -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12429.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12429.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Washed Out<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12429.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Washed Out -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>As I said, the photos perhaps don't show it well, but this scene struck terror in me. <span class='nobr'>I posted<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a blurry<\/span> iPhone version of this photo to <a href='https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/cyclingkyoto\/'>the Cycling Kyoto! group on Facebook<\/a>, with <span class='nobr'>a caption<\/span> <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Shit's About to Get Real<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>. <span class='nobr'>It's an impressive<\/span>, imposing sight.<\/p>\n\n<p>The road through the rice fields right of center is the one that stands out the most at first glance, but that's not The Climb,\nthat's <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/10562069'><span class='nobr'>a shorter<\/span> climb<\/a> that <span class='nobr'>I would<\/span> not do this time, but that's now on my\nlist to do sometime.<\/p>\n\n<p>The climb I would do is more than twice as long, tracing the fold in the mountain that runs up the center of the photo. It's <a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/13788234'>the eastern ascent to Kuragari Pass<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>I had somehow<\/span>\nheard of this place and its ridiculous climb, so it had been on my list to visit.<\/p>\n\n<p>Before starting that climb I had to finish the descent from the little bump <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> done. This part of town had <span class='nobr'>a lot<\/span>\nof <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>doughnut streets<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span>...<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12434\" href='\/i\/JF100_12434.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12434_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Super Steep -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12434\"\ntitle=\"Super Steep -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12434.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12434.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Super Steep<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12434.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Super Steep -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>New streets beyond a certain grade have to have some kind of anti-slip feature, such as grooves or, commonly, these\nring-shaped indentations. Lots of streets in this area had them.<\/p>\n\n<p>I didn't know the details at the time,\nbut The Climb <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> apprehensive about turns out to be 2.9 km (1.8 miles) at an average grade of only 11%. This is <span class='nobr'>a very<\/span>\nsteep average over such <span class='nobr'>a long<\/span> distance, but comparable to some climbs closer to home, such as <a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/13306461'>this<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>Had I known<\/span> the details <span class='nobr'>I wouldn't<\/span> have been so apprehensive, and it turns out that <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> no trouble with it. <span class='nobr'>I took it<\/span> easy and slow.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12438\" href='\/i\/JF100_12438.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12438_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Plodding Up source of the smoke seen in the &amp;#8220; Washed Out &amp;#8221; photo above 2:11pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12438\"\ntitle=\"Plodding Up source of the smoke seen in the &amp;#8220; Washed Out &amp;#8221; photo above 2:11pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 25mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12438.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12438.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Plodding Up<\/span>\n<br\/>source of the smoke seen in the <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Washed Out<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> photo above\n<br\/>2:11pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12438.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Plodding Up source of the smoke seen in the &amp;#8220; Washed Out &amp;#8221; photo above 2:11pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12439\" href='\/i\/JF100_12439.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12439_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Looking Back with an over-the-shoulder shot 2:13pm - taken while cycling at 6 kph (4 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12439\"\ntitle=\"Looking Back with an over-the-shoulder shot 2:13pm - taken while cycling at 6 kph (4 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>1600 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12439.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12439.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Looking Back<\/span>\n<br\/>with an over-the-shoulder shot\n<br\/>2:13pm - taken while cycling at 6 kph (4 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12439.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Looking Back with an over-the-shoulder shot 2:13pm - taken while cycling at 6 kph (4 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12441\" href='\/i\/JF100_12441.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12441_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Again a few minutes later 2:19pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12441\"\ntitle=\"Again a few minutes later 2:19pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>800 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12441.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12441.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Again<\/span>\n<br\/>a few minutes later\n<br\/>2:19pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12441.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Again a few minutes later 2:19pm - taken while cycling at 7 kph (5 mph) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12445\" href='\/i\/JF100_12445.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12445_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"At the Top Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nfb=\"1\"\nid=\"i12445\"\ntitle=\"At the Top Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 35mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12445.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12445.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>At the Top<\/span>\n<br\/>Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12445.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"At the Top Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>The rock has the name of the pass engraved on it. I've seen photo of cyclists posing in front of it,\nso <span class='nobr'>I know<\/span> I've heard about this area before. <span class='nobr'>The climb<\/span> wasn't nearly as bad as <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> expected.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i7071\" href='\/i\/JF_i6p_7071.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF_i6p_7071_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"Selfie of Success -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"ii6p_7071\"\ntitle=\"Selfie of Success -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">iPhone 6+ + front camera &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>120 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 50 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF_i6p_7071.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF_i6p_7071.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Selfie of Success<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF_i6p_7071.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Selfie of Success -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12447\" href='\/i\/JF100_12447.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12447_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Looking Down on the Pass from a scenic toll road that passes by with the road I took emerging from a tunnel at the bottom -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12447\"\ntitle=\"Looking Down on the Pass from a scenic toll road that passes by with the road I took emerging from a tunnel at the bottom -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12447.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12447.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Looking Down on the Pass<\/span>\n<br\/>from a scenic toll road that passes by\n<br\/>with the road I took emerging from <span class='nobr'>a tunnel<\/span> at the bottom\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12447.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Looking Down on the Pass from a scenic toll road that passes by with the road I took emerging from a tunnel at the bottom -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12446\" href='\/i\/JF100_12446.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12446_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Looking Back Toward Nara -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12446\"\ntitle=\"Looking Back Toward Nara -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12446.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12446.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Looking Back Toward Nara<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12446.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Looking Back Toward Nara -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I had crossed over all the mountains seen in the photo above, since Iga City is beyond it all. <span class='nobr'>The strip<\/span> of mountains in the\ncenter of the photo is where the <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>false climb<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> was. Toward the right, at the foot of that strip of mountains, is <span class='nobr'>a big<\/span> water tower\nwith two electric towers behind it. The <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Washed Out<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> photo was taken from just in front of those towers.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12449\" href='\/i\/JF100_12449.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12449_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Very Unfriendly Road a short (60m) section at the top was almost unridable -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12449\"\ntitle=\"Very Unfriendly Road a short (60m) section at the top was almost unridable -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12449.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12449.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Very Unfriendly Road<\/span>\n<br\/>a short (60m) section at the top was almost unridable\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12449.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Very Unfriendly Road a short (60m) section at the top was almost unridable -- Kuragari Pass (\u6697\u5ce0) -- Ikoma, Nara, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>So, it was time to head down toward Osaka and home, but <span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> since <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> in the area, <span class='nobr'>I may as<\/span> well\nturn around at the bottom and do the climb from the other side as well, just to get them both checked off my list.<\/p>\n\n<p>Now, before I go on, I have to stress that <span class='nobr'>I like<\/span> to test myself on steep roads. Really really steep. <span class='nobr'>It perhaps<\/span> started with <a href='\/blog\/2015-05-25\/2579'>the short 21% <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>Nasty<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span><\/a>,\nand <a href='\/blog\/2016-10-17\/2741'>the 32% section here<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>I often<\/span> go out looking\nfor new, disgustingly-steep roads, such as <span class='nobr'>I did<\/span>\n<a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/794091042'>the other day<\/a>, or\n<a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/704836407'>here<\/a>, and many other rides. <span class='nobr'>I look for<\/span> the steepest\n<span class='nobr'>I can<\/span> find, and ride it. Maybe slowly, but <span class='nobr'>I ride<\/span> it.<\/p>\n\n<p id='darkness'>All that being said, <i>nothing<\/i> prepared me for the horror of this descent. After leaving the pass the road slopes\ndown briskly for <span class='nobr'>a short<\/span> while, then pitches down like a <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>death drop<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> slide at <span class='nobr'>a water<\/span> park, and just keeps plummeting down.\n<a href='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/13788585'>This descent<\/a> is unrelenting, <i>averaging<\/i> 18% over 2.1km (1.4mi).<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12453\" href='\/i\/JF100_12453.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12453_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"First Hint of a View as the road plunges back into darkness in the far background -- Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12453\"\ntitle=\"First Hint of a View as the road plunges back into darkness in the far background -- Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 65mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12453.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12453.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>First Hint of <span class='nobr'>a View<\/span><\/span>\n<br\/>as the road plunges back into darkness in the far background\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12453.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"First Hint of a View as the road plunges back into darkness in the far background -- Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic tight' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12456\" href='\/i\/JF100_12456.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12456_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Near the Bottom -- Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12456\"\ntitle=\"Near the Bottom -- Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>320 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12456.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12456.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Near the Bottom<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12456.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Near the Bottom -- Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>What horrified me about this descent was not the descent, but thinking of it <a\nhref='https:\/\/www.strava.com\/segments\/13788242'>as an ascent<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>Had the road<\/span> been wet the descent\ncertainly would have been horrifying (like the one <a href='\/blog\/2016-10-02\/2736#steep'>described here<\/a>), but\nas <span class='nobr'>a climb<\/span> this road felt unreal.<\/p>\n\n<p>There were multiple sections where the grade exceeded 30% for more than 50m. <span class='nobr'>Any one such<\/span> section buried in <span class='nobr'>a mild<\/span> section\nof road somewhere would turn that climb into <span class='nobr'>a local<\/span> monster, but these were tied together by 20% and 25% sections. <span class='nobr'>The middle<\/span> 1.1km of this climb averages 21%, bookmarked by <span class='QO'>&#8220;<\/span>milder<span class='QC'>&#8221;<\/span> sections that themselves would be considered beyond extreme to many\ncyclists.<\/p>\n\n<p>I'd never seen such unrelenting steepness before, and the thought of climbing it scared the hell out of me. <span class='nobr'>The unrelenting<\/span> steepness over such <span class='nobr'>a distance<\/span> made it feel an order of magnitude worse than anything <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> ever\nattempted. 10 times worse.<\/p>\n\n<p>I felt mentally scarred and paralyzed by the thought of it, but forced myself to turn around at the bottom and head back up.<\/p>\n\n<p>It was worse than I thought. I simply couldn't do it. <span class='nobr'>I had to<\/span> stop and rest, and did so for <span\nclass='nobr'>a couple<\/span> of minutes. <span class='nobr'>But then the<\/span> problem was how to get started again... it's not\neasy to clip the shoes back into the pedals on such <span class='nobr'>a steep<\/span> grade, but with trouble after <span\nclass='nobr'>a few<\/span> tries <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> do it and continue up.<\/p>\n\n<p>But it didn't last long. It was just too much for me. <span class='nobr'>For the first<\/span> time ever in my cycling life, <span class='nobr'>a climb<\/span> was\ntoo difficult for me to even finish. <span class='nobr'>I gave up<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n<p>It turns out that I got almost half way before failure engulfed me.<\/p>\n\n<p>Feeling utterly defeated, I headed back down and then plodded across the vast urban expanse of Eastern Osaka.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12457\" href='\/i\/JF100_12457.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12457_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Finally Arriving Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) 3:53pm -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12457\"\ntitle=\"Finally Arriving Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) 3:53pm -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12457.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12457.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Finally Arriving<\/span>\n<br\/>Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce)\n<br\/>3:53pm\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12457.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Finally Arriving Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) 3:53pm -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i7102\" href='\/i\/JF_i6p_7102.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF_i6p_7102_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"518\"\nalt=\"Obligatory Selfie -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"ii6p_7102\"\ntitle=\"Obligatory Selfie -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">iPhone 6+ + front camera &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>800 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 32 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF_i6p_7102.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF_i6p_7102.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Obligatory Selfie<\/span>\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF_i6p_7102.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Obligatory Selfie -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12460\" href='\/i\/JF100_12460.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12460_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"468\"\nalt=\"Again With the Nicer Camera sans self -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12460\"\ntitle=\"Again With the Nicer Camera sans self -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 41mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12460.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12460.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Again With the Nicer Camera<\/span>\n<br\/>sans self\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12460.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Again With the Nicer Camera sans self -- Osaka Castle (\u5927\u962a\u57ce) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>The headwinds and the extra attempt to climb the mountain had put me an hour behind schedule, and <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> two hours to make\nwhat <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> planned to be <span class='nobr'>a relaxing<\/span> three-hour ride home.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12461\" href='\/i\/JF100_12461.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12461_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Start of the Bicycling Path Kyoto is 50km ahead, with what looks like rain -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12461\"\ntitle=\"Start of the Bicycling Path Kyoto is 50km ahead, with what looks like rain -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 44mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>500 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12461.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12461.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Start of the Bicycling Path<\/span>\n<br\/>Kyoto is 50km ahead, with what looks like rain\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12461.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Start of the Bicycling Path Kyoto is 50km ahead, with what looks like rain -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12466\" href='\/i\/JF100_12466.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12466_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Chasing My Shadow 4:20pm - taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12466\"\ntitle=\"Chasing My Shadow 4:20pm - taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 26mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>125 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12466.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12466.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Chasing My Shadow<\/span>\n<br\/>4:20pm - taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph)\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12466.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Chasing My Shadow 4:20pm - taken while cycling at 23 kph (14 mph) -- Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>The wind was strong from my 10 o'clock, but at least not gusty. <span class='nobr'>I should<\/span> have been able to average 30kph (19mph), but it kept\nme down to about 25kph (15mph), further putting me behind schedule. <span class='nobr'>The need to<\/span> rush made this the worst, most-punishing part of\nthe ride.<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic' itemscope itemtype='http:\/\/schema.org\/Photograph'><a name=\"i12477\" href='\/i\/JF100_12477.jpg' itemprop='image'\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF100_12477_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"461\"\nalt=\"Still More than an Hour Until Home 5:19pm -- Hirakata, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\nid=\"i12477\"\ntitle=\"Still More than an Hour Until Home 5:19pm -- Hirakata, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Panasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>100 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 3200 &mdash;\n<a href='\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF100_12477.jpg'>map &amp; image data<\/a> &mdash; <a href='\/blog\/proximity\/i\/JF100_12477.jpg'>nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Still More than an Hour Until Home<\/span>\n<br\/>5:19pm\n<meta itemprop='url' content='http:\/\/regex.info\/i\/JF100_12477.jpg'\/>\n<meta itemprop='creator' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='copyrightHolder' content='Jeffrey Friedl'\/>\n<meta itemprop='dateCreated' content='2016-12-10'\/>\n<meta itemprop='about' content=\"Still More than an Hour Until Home 5:19pm -- Hirakata, Osaka, Japan -- Copyright 2016 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/ -- This photo is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/ (non-commercial use is freely allowed if proper attribution is given, including a link back to this page on http:\/\/regex.info\/ when used online)\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p>I got home just before 6:30, threw on some clean clothes that <span class='nobr'>I hoped<\/span> would mask the smell my body\nhad been cultivating all day, and made it to Mass not all too late. <span class='nobr'>I tried<\/span> not to sit close to anyone.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had quite the little cycling adventure yesterday, venturing into some areas I'd never been, and facing the most heinously-steep road I'd ever seen. The total distance was 191km (118mi), making it my 7th-longest ride ever. This blog post, mostly as a diary for myself, is almost as long.<\/p> <p>The distance was no problem, but as it seems with many of my longer rides, lack of time management does me in and I have to kill myself to get back in time for something (in this case Saturday-evening Mass).<\/p> <p>The outline of this ride was simple... head down to Iga [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2759"}],"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=2759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}