Autumn at Shoryakuji Temple

This past autumn I took a ride with KCDC to an area just outside of Nara city.The reason I had chose that spot was due to the fact that there are normally zero cars there, which of course makes the roads great for riding.  Well, sure enough....as we arrived there the roads were packed full of cars.  So packed that traffic had stopped at one point.  Why this time? I asked myself while climbing up the long hill on my singlespeed.  The answer was simple, "momiji", that time of year in Japan when everyone goes to view the autumn leaves. The area everyone was headed was Shoryakuji Temple which is located at the end of our short climb.  With all the traffic I had thought (about 2 secs only) to turn back, however we decided to keep going. In the end, it was well worth it.  Due to the warm weather we have had this year, the autumn leaves were less dramatic as in past years, however, the scenery was still very beautiful, as it is there almost year round.