Ride 10: Hikone to Kyoto (京都), well almost

Had quite a lot to fix...
1. New outer
2. New spare inner
3. New rear brake pad - the screw had become dethreaded, and I've been operating on the front brake ...
4. Hub gears. Only one of the gears worked after I replaced the wheel in during my quick fix...
5. Smaller washers and shorter bolts to fit front forks after removal of rack

Luckily, there was a very helpful local bike shop just down the road from Tobaya. Only opened at 11AM though... They didn't have a 20" outer and I borrowed one of the bikes to go to the local sports depot to attempt to buy an outer. Even though I managed to buy the only 20" outer there, it turned out to be European size so didn't fit my American 20" (go figure ...) So another trip back to return ... Finally, another bike shop in town delivered an American 20" outer to us!

All said and done, it was close to 3PM before I could get going and Dan-san worked some magic grinding down a washer to fit.

The revamped Dahon ready to go with Tobaya-san:

Today was supposed to be a relatively easy ride along the shores of Lake Biwa, cross the bridge at Moriyama, head south to Otsu, and at Route 30, do a climb over Kyoto's east mountains, and hopefully catch a view of the city before the descent. Unfortunately, given the very late start, by the time I crossed the bridge into Otsu, it was already 7:30PM, and completely dark which defeated the purpose of climbing the hill. Taking advantage of folding, I took a train at Otsukyo and rode two stops into Kyoto station, in time for dinner with Jingjing in Ponto-cho.

So here's the route I took, 57km all up:

Hikone castle which unfortunately I didn't have time to see. Can also imagine the place being very beautiful in the spring with cherry blossoms.

Cycling along the shores of Lake Biwa.

Biggest bit of flat land I've seen in Japan!

Along the Biwa shores, many small villages and waterways. Beautiful landscapes with flat farm land dotted with small mountains and rivers.

Crimson glow of the sunset over Kyoto's east mountains.

Eagles overhead at dusk.

Crossing the bridge at Moriyama into Otsu - curiously, this is also called Rainbow Bridge.

The Otsu's Biwa shoreline from the highpoint on the bridge.

Arrival at Kyoto station.

The narrow streets of Ponto-cho.