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.

Ride 9: Gujohachiman to Hikone (彦根)

Longest ride of the trip - 115km, 8:15AM - 6:30PM, with 1.5 hours in between fixing the bike. Taking Route 156 in morning, I followed Nagara River (长良川) downstream until Gifu. Both the Yoshida and Kodara rivers flow into the Nagara at Gujo, and at 166km long, it's one of the longer rivers in Japan and is considered a "Class 1" river. The area around Gifu and Nagoya is a preponderance of ring roads and over-passes that makes for uneventful cycling. Mostly flat from Gifu until a climb towards Maibara on Route 21, then a downhill and south turn on Route 8 to Hikone. I stayed at a very friendly Tobaya Ryokan with a nice bath and great food - exactly what I needed after a very long day!

Ryokan Mifuku at departure in the morning and a full breakfast for the day.

Along the Nagara valley. A network of bridges, old and new, span the river connecting the motorway to the two highways on either side of the river. Patchy drizzle but cleared up when I arrived in Gifu just before lunch.

After all the cultural immersion, I had an urge for McDs. This shop in Gifu was the most polite and well presented McDs I've ever visited. Big Mac combo tasted same here as anywhere though.

Looking back at Gifu from one of many overpasses on way towards Maibara.

Many rivers empty into the Pacific Ocean from the basin around Nagoya.

The hill before Maibara, last 30km for the day.

The rear wheel gave out with loud 'bang!' - first time I've ever had a blowout on a bicycle since I started cycling 20 years ago. Even at Kofu, I knew the rear wheel wasn't fully round and had to progressively adjust my brake pads on way to Takayama to match. I suspected that the rim was slightly warped. Turns out it is actually the outer tire which is damaged and with the pressure of fully loaded bike it eventually ruptured. Good news is rim is actually all fine. Originally, I had thought I would go find a bike shop in Kyoto to fix the rim. In hindsight, I'm realising how important it is to spot the difference between a damaged outer and a warped rim - I tried to figure this out along the way but it was surprisingly difficult until I took the wheel off.

The extent of the damage. From the inside of the tire, it is clear that structural damage to the outer was extensive and led to the wheel being progressively 'less round'.

As I only had a spare inner, the only solution was to exchange the front outer with the damaged rear and inflate the front just enough as to not rupture the new inner and bear the load of the bike. When I took off the front wheel, I also realized that the front rack was damaged. Just as well since I couldn't load the front wheel anymore. So here is the improvised solution. Luckily, I was over the Maibara hill already and rode the next 15km very slowly until Hikone.

Dinner at Tobaya Ryokan - a nice finish to a long day!

Ride 8: Takayama to Gujohachiman (郡上八幡)

After 3 days of mostly rain in Takayama, I was glad to get on the pedals again. It's flat to downhill to Kyoto from Takayama, so I set up a relatively aggressive itinerary to do most of the trip in two days. The first leg is a 75km ride to Gujohachiman, a nice riverside town with a pretty castle.

So, 75km, 8:45AM - 1:30PM. Uphill for first ~30km, climbing to 1,113m at Nishiure Pass on Route 73. Very cold with patchy rain / sleet in the morning reaching 0C - coldest I've cycled so far in Japan. The next 40km is a very rewarding and smooth downhill along Route 257 and Route 472. Overall, this was one of the best rides of this trip.

Route 73 in morning, riding up the valley. Colors of trees very beautiful in the mist / rain...

A local village shrine - notice the man sweeping leavings in the rain! I guess that's why everything in Japan is neat and tidy.

As I got higher, snow from days before still unmelted, and yes had to take a photo of the 0C.

 Nice lunch just before the downhill.

Weather lightened up immediately on the other side of the mountain.

View from my room onto Yoshida River.

Views of the castle.

This gentleman climbed all the way up to the castle!

I want to make a more detailed comment on the Japanese conception of economy that stuck me as very noteworthy during this trip. A picture says a thousand words though.

A colorful carp swimming down one of the side streets in Gujo

Maple leaves changing colors near the castle

Bus 2: 平汤温泉 (Hirayu Onsen) to 高山市 (Takayama)

Snow has continued to fall. Must be at least 20cm over past 24 hours. Took another bus from Hirayu to Takayama. I booked 2 days in Takayama and hopefully weather clears up at lower altitude and I can continue with cycling to Kyoto!

View of Hirayu in the morning from the 2nd floor of the bus terminal:

This wasn't my bus - but check out the snow chains. This bus was headed to Kamikochi (上高地), which is higher than Hirayu. Our bus didn't use snow chains actually.

Trees covered with snow in Hirayu.

Views from the bus on way to Takayama.