A ride along the Shiga Rockies

This past weekend I went out on a group ride through what is known as the "Shiga Rockies" The ride would take us from Nara, through Kyoto prefecture to Shiga prefecture, a total of around 100km round trip. As we had a large group this time including visitors from overseas, the ride would turn out to be a lot of fun!  Crash, broken derailleur, two flats, monkeys and all!

Morning meet up, getting ready to ride

And we're off! But not for long as two riders crashed into each other

Causing one guy to get hurt and this to happen

Waiting for the car to come 

We are off riding again

This was the start of the 7km climb

This is how we looked at the end of the climb..time to relax!

We met a new rider Dean along the way. Hope to ride together soon!

The views in the Kyoto countryside are amazing!

It was great riding with you Paul!  Hope to see you here next year!

Out of Kyoto and into Shiga

This area of Shiga is well known for making pottery

Ceramic sake jars

Then we finally arrived at the halfway point for lunch.  I was glad as I was starving at that point. We arrived just in time as we had a reservation at the UPcafe located in the Shiga Rockies.

My choice

Mushroom and veggie pasta

The last of the three dishes on the menu, curry!

They are set up for cyclists as well as they had many stands for parking

Lunch finished...we are ready to ride!

Everyone was happy after lunch... (before the cold wind and last climb came)

but the climbing was done and it was all downhill from there

Things literally went downhill for the second time as my rain jacket fell out and caught in my wheel causing this to happen. A new tube, some saran wrap and cardboard and we are back riding. That was until it blew again!  But with second new tube and addition of an empty cigarette pack all was good to go.

Yes, that's a wild monkey. We saw many towards the end!

Ah...finally we made it! Or ending spot for the ride was Nakayama Coffee in Kamo,Kyoto prefecture. It is the best (if not only) place to go in Kamo for coffee. Highly recommended if you happen to pass though Kamo!

Cafe Latte, a great way to end the day