Cycling and hanging out…. (click 1st image to scroll through)
A few images of the Costa Brava, Spain
•October 1, 2023 • Leave a CommentThis has to be one of the most beautiful coastlines I’ve ever seen. And certainly the best one I’ve cycled.
The entrance to a winery. Lots of rusted metal used in this region.
The Coast
•September 27, 2023 • 1 CommentWent kayaking today at the central portion of the Costa Brava
Follow this…..
Photo taken a few days ago (2023) at the Roman ruins in Empúries. Alison is standing on a mosaic (with permission) holding a photo I took of her at this spot in 2003, of her holding a photo of her here in 1965, holding a postcard of the mosaic she’s standing on.
Here is the photo from 2003, holding a photo of her on this spot in ~1965. This is the photo she’s holding in the 2023 photo.
This is Alison in about 1965, holding a card of the mosaic she’s standing on. This is the photo she’s holding in 2003.
Images from in and around Girona
•September 25, 2023 • 1 CommentGirona Spain – the road cycling capital of Spain
•September 21, 2023 • 3 CommentsAmazing roads, fantastic routes, more bike shops than you can imagine, bike lanes all over the city, shockingly quiet rural roads, drivers that respect cyclists…no region in the US can even come close.
Pikes Peak: My 70th Birthday Climb
•August 17, 2023 • 5 CommentsThis was my 7th accent of Pikes Peak. The Stats:
- Distance up: 18 miles
- Total Climb: 6,565 feet
- Starting Elevation: 7,750 feet
- Summit Elevation: 14,115 feet
Images of Japan: Sapporo, Hokkaido – the end of this trip
•May 25, 2023 • Leave a CommentTadao Ando’s Big Buddha at the Takino Cemetery
Images of Japan – Part 4 – Awaji Island & Hokkaido
•May 22, 2023 • Leave a CommentIf there was ever proof that our oceans are a swirling cesspool of plastic waste, this is it. The day before this beach was spotless. The next morning: this. We asked the cleanup crew if this happens every day, it doesn’t. But last night the sea was rough and it was windy.
ABOVE: A very cool meditation center
BELOW: A strawberry greenhouse where you can pick strawberries and eat them picnic-style under the vines. Way over-priced. Milking it for more than it was worth. Best part was the photo opportunity.
Noboribetsu, Hokkaido
Otaru, Hokkaido
Images of Japan- Part Three
•May 13, 2023 • Leave a CommentThe bridge over the Naruto Straight linking Awaji Island to Honshu.
There is a pedestrian walkway under the bridge with clear panels in the floor to see the whirlpools and rapids 150 feet below.
Some random images…
These high school age kids were on a field trip to the Earthquake Memorial we visited. All wearing the ubiquitous black and white uniforms, all with jet-black hair, most all about the same height, most wearing masks…
I pulled our rental car into this parking garage. When I got out of the car, I looked up, and…
…this is what I saw above me. A Matrix-esque scene of stacked cars in this creepy automated parking garage.
Seaside along the Western coast of Awaji Island
The Honpukuji Water Temple, a Tadao Ando building.
You approach the temple by first seeing the Ando signature concrete walls (first 2 photos). Then you walk down underneath the shallow pools.
Then, below ground, you come to the temple
The Awaji Yumebutai
Next, another Ando project, the Awaji Yumebutai. The size and scope of this is hard to explain, and even harder to photograph. The Wikipedia page link below will explain.
Images of Japan- Part 2
•May 10, 2023 • Leave a CommentTottori Sand Dunes
Shimane Art Museum, Matsue
Two nights in a temple at the base of Mt Daisen. In the woods.
Matsuyama castle
Images of Japan – Part 1
•May 3, 2023 • Leave a CommentJapan Foot Bridges – Part One
•May 1, 2023 • Leave a CommentThese are some of the foot bridges I’ve seen. (Some have already been posted)
Stuff
•April 29, 2023 • Leave a CommentNo discussion of traveling in Japan is complete without mentioning toilets. Even a train station can have an expensive Toto toilet, and there’s always a bidet. Very civilized.
Sometimes even an ordinary experience like stopping for coffee to get out of the rain can have a certain amount of simple elegance.
Then there’s the whole Bike thing…..
The bike comes to Japan in this case, which is the maximum size for a standard checked piece of luggage.
Then, of course, it turns into this….
And sometimes it looks like this on a small commuter train…in the required bag. Speaking of the bag: to go on a train the bike must be in a bag. But most bike bags are big, bulky, and heavy. So, I made my own. I needed a material that was strong, lightweight, and that compressed into a small package, so I bought some parachute material and fabricated my own bag. It may not be pretty, but that wasn’t one of the criteria.
And then, in my last cycling hotel, it goes back into the case, and then I have a celebratory sake.
Continue reading ‘Stuff’
Katsuura
•April 27, 2023 • Leave a CommentKatsuura bills itself as the capital of maguro (tuna), and well, this claim may be true. The shashimi I’ve had has been amazing. This small port town has either fish stores, fish restaurants, fishing boats, or a seemingly endless number of sake shops.
Ride 11: Kawayu Onsen to Katsuura (the coast)
•April 25, 2023 • Leave a CommentThis was a hard day on the bike: 44 miles and 5,900’ of gain. 5-7% grade on a touring bike I can handle just fine. But when the grade gets up to 18%, we’ll, it’s absolutely brutal. There was a lot of the former, and way too much of the latter. However, I had an astounding downhill.
Then I ended up in Katsuura, on the coast, for a rest day. I walked a short part of the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Trail and went to Nachi Falls.
Nachi Falls is the highest waterfall in Japan. There is a (virtual, of sorts) “shrine” at the base in the 3rd image.
Ride 10: Ryujin Onsen to Kawayu Onsen
•April 22, 2023 • 4 Comments48 miles and 5,800’ of gain…And then there was this….
Rides 7,8,9
•April 21, 2023 • 1 CommentAnd I thought Shikoku has steep hill climbs with deep, practically vertical valleys. Well, the Kii Peninsula, southern Wakayama Prefecture, has plenty.
The first ride went south from the city of Wakayama through Yuasa, home of Soy Sauce (I went through the small soy sauce museum) to a rural location where I stayed at a guest house. It was a converted fruit storage building. Nice renovation.
Then, it was a grueling climb up to Koyasan. The third day riding the Kii Peninsula was another big climbing day to Ryujin Onsen.
These last 3 rides were not huge in miles: only 111. But the total elevation gain was right at 15,000’. Pulling those damn panniers up the hills, was, well, a bit tiring.
Rides 4,5,6: sun, rain, hills, remote mountain roads
•April 17, 2023 • 2 CommentsThe weather forecast has been accurate. It was supposed to rain all day riding out of the Iya Valley, and it did. A winding road through the beautiful steep canyon was even enjoyable in the light rain.
Temple #12 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. (henro)
First few rides
•April 14, 2023 • Leave a CommentIt rains often in Japan. Shikoku is covered with steep mountains, and it’s really remote. And I missed the food. I know why this island is one of my favorite cycling destinations in Japan (though, I would prefer less rain).
The first day was short, Maragume to Kotohira, intended to make sure all was well with the bike, get used to the new navigation tools and the new electronic, wireless shifting. It rained off and on all day. Glad it was short.
The second day, Kotohira to Sadamitsu wasn’t too long but had some climbing. The downhill was a bit much: in 4.8 miles I dropped 2500’. Some of the grades exceeded 25%.
After my ride I walked up 1,379 stone steps to a series of temples. I counted them on the way down. The photo of the monk hitting the big drum was on the way down.
Day three was only 40 miles, Sadamitsu to Iya Valley, but I had to ride my touring bike with panniers up 5200’. Most of that gain was one 17 mile climb. The first 11 miles had only 1100’. But the last 6 had 2800’.
It’s supposed to rain solid all day tomorrow. Oh boy.
Back to Japan!
•April 10, 2023 • 3 CommentsThis trip starts today with my first bike tour here since Japan closed its doors. While I’m doing that, Alison will be visiting friends, staying at a Zendo, and renting a house in Kyoto for a week. I’ll be doing a “Hills and Hot Springs” cycling trip.
First, I ride on Shikoku for 5 days doing 200 miles with 20,000′ of gain. Then I take the ferry from Tokushima to Wakayama, and on the Kii Peninsula I ride 8 days, doing 320 miles and 42,000′ of gain.
After that, I meet up with Alison and we we do a few road trips, spending 4 weeks traveling around Shikoku, Western Honshu, and Hokkaido.
Here’s the bike route:
But First…
•April 10, 2023 • Leave a CommentWe spent 3 days in Tokyo before going our separate ways. Did some shopping, visited the Tokyo Photography Museum, wandered around, soaked in the hotel’s spa (Yu, ゆ).
Taos Pueblo
•September 9, 2022 • 3 CommentsThe Pueblo has been inhabited for almost 1,000 years. Currently there are about 1,200 people living there.
Puglia
•May 30, 2022 • Leave a CommentOn a drive south of Lecce, we saw thousands of olive trees that have been hit by a bacteria that chokes the trees to death. It reached southern Italy in 2013, and since then, it has killed one-third of the 60 million olive trees of Puglia.
The Mediterranean was an amazing color. That’s Alison in a olive press cave.
Campania & Basilicata Italy
•May 20, 2022 • Leave a CommentRome 2022
•May 20, 2022 • Leave a CommentCycling Andalucia 2022
•May 16, 2022 • 4 CommentsSantillana Del Mar
•April 23, 2022 • Leave a CommentA stormy sea, a medieval village with LOTS of stone, and an early Antoni Gaudi designed residence.
Spain 2022
•April 21, 2022 • 4 CommentsThis trip starts in Bilbao. (Click on an image to launch a slideshow)