{"id":2828,"date":"2017-09-26T23:14:44","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T14:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2017-09-26\/2828"},"modified":"2017-09-26T23:14:44","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T14:14:44","slug":"joshuas-eclectic-birthday-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2017-09-26\/2828","title":{"rendered":"Joshua’s Eclectic Birthday Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 62mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBirthday Boy Reaches the Top<\/span>\nJoshua Levine looking comfortable at the top of a 23<\/span>% slope\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

We had an eclectic little ride the other day to celebrate Joshua's birthday. Unlike a common<\/span> ride that makes a big<\/span> loop through\nsome gorgeous mountains, this ride stayed closer to home, hopping from interesting point to interesting point, at a slow,<\/span> fun\npace.<\/p>\n\n

It was my 16th time to ride with Joshua, since joining him on\na NORU<\/span> bike tour<\/a> two and a half<\/span> years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStarting Out<\/span>\nJoshua · Kevin · David\n— as usual, making our way through some suburb to reach the mountains —\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.7, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUnexpected Off-Road Descent<\/span>\nNigel follows Tomas\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It turns out that one can use this dirt trail to get around having to descent the\n“<\/span>Nasty”<\/span> 21% slope<\/a>. Personally, I'd rather<\/span> just descend\non the road because neither my bike nor my courage are set up for off-road riding.<\/p>\n\n

This little off-road excursion fit within the spirit of the day, which was to throw caution\/inhibitions into the wind and just\nhave fun doing crazy things with friends. (That “<\/span>crazy things”<\/span> are as mild as a dirt<\/span> path and the other things you'll see here speaks\nto the fact that we've settled down in our maturity.)<\/p>\n\n

The first true “<\/span>crazy thing”<\/span> came immediately after descending on this dirt trail: we rode up “<\/span>Old Kyomi”<\/span>, a road<\/span> that is now\npaved but was likely a trail<\/span> for 1,000 years prior. A car<\/span>-friendly bypass road appeared in the 1950s, so this older road is\nnow rarely used.<\/p>\n\n

It's very difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNigel Suffers up Old Kyomi<\/span>\nEven though the slope is only 19% at this point,\nthe road surface makes it more challenging than the steeper parts.\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The overall average of the segment<\/a> — 1.6km (1mi) at 13% —\nbelies the true difficulty of the climb. It's really<\/span> unfair that the photo makes it look flat; it's very steep.<\/p>\n\n

The 100m leading to the point where I took<\/span> the photo above averages 22%, which for me would not be an\ninsurmountable problem if the road surface were trustworthy. But it's not... just look at it... the road pavement is rough and\ncrumbling to begin with, and on top of that it's littered with rocks, sticks, leaves, moss, sand, etc., all just waiting\nto take your tire out from under you.<\/p>\n\n

That's why I was taking photos where I was.<\/span> I had hoped<\/span> to complete the climb without stopping (something I'd not been able to\ndo when I tried<\/span> this climb a couple<\/span> of years ago), but at this point I wasn't<\/span> able to avoid a rut<\/span> or something, and my wheel\nslipped and I had<\/span> to put my foot down before I fell<\/span> down. So, I set the<\/span> bike aside and sat down with the camera to await the\nothers.<\/p>\n\n

Nigel was the first to arrive, and was pushing his bike. He's probably<\/span> the strongest among us all, and you might remember him\nfrom the outlandishly crazy “<\/span>Ascending Hanase Pass on a\nMamachari<\/span><\/a>”<\/span>, so might wonder why someone so strong would be pushing. The answer<\/span> is that he was on a single-speed bike<\/i>,\none that didn't have multiple gears to choose from. My bike has<\/span> 22 gear combinations; some folks' mountain bikes have 30. His had just<\/span> one, and the road surface was just too difficult for the one he had.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDavid and Tomas Actually Ride Up<\/span>\nwith some random, selfish guy in between who shouldn't be there\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I don't know who the guy in red was, but he shouldn't have been there. Riding close behind someone on this road is simply\ndangerous, and to try to pass would be as ludicrous as it is selfish. If the other<\/span> person is part of your group then at least you\nhave some basis of trust on which you can perhaps negotiate the selfish move, but if you don't know them, wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 75mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCrazy-Bad Road Surface<\/span>\nI sooo<\/i> want to visit with a broom<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 62mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKevin Powers Up<\/span>\nwhile Lianca and Tal watch from the side\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.2, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPower and Concentration<\/span>\nboth are required for this climb\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 72mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBirthday-Boy Joshua<\/span>\nhas the requisite power and concentration, but wears them differently than Kevin\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

After this bit of fun, we made our way across the northern outskirts of Kyoto toward the next crazy climb,\nand this involved some short but steep residential roads.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPathetic Camera Work<\/span>\non a sudden steep bit in the suburbs\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm still hit and miss with the small camera I bought<\/span> for\ncycling<\/a>. The biggest<\/span> problem that I have<\/span> with it is that the controls get bumped off to some crazy setting, and I don't<\/span> always\nnotice right away, especially when I'm trying to take an impromptu shot while riding. Most often the exposure compensation gets\nbumped to the maximum negative, so all the photos (until I notice<\/span>) end up almost black. I can recover<\/span> quite a bit<\/span> in Lightroom,\nbut the loss of quality is noticeable.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 25mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUp Up Up<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 25mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLots of Smiles<\/span>\ndespite lots of blurriness\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Another problem I have is severely overestimating the amount of camera shake I can<\/span> get away with. Many potentially-great shots\nare ruined because they're crazy shaky like the one above. I include<\/span> it here mostly because the smiles shine through despite the\nquality, and to illustrate the point.<\/p>\n\n

We made our way to another steep climb —\n580m @ 15% with sections approaching 25%<\/a> — but this one is much<\/i> easier\nthan the first because the road surface is good.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nPanasonic LX100 at an effective 62mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExhausted at the Top<\/span>\nTomas and Nigel collapse on their handlebars as Kevin crests the top\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Here's a video of the last half of the segment, after I had<\/span> gone ahead of the others and rode at my\nown pace. At the start<\/span> of the video there's no one close behind me, but then suddenly Nigel and Keven\nappear on my tail, and then at the start of the super-steep final 120m, in a display<\/span> of incredible\npower, Nigel blows by me on his single-speed<\/i> and rockets to the top.<\/p>\n\n