Daimonji CX-ploration

Took the CX bike for a quick blast this morning, on some gravel trails that run up Daimonji-yama (one of Kyoto's more famous mountains). That bike is so fun to ride, especially when you're riding it on terrain that is probably better suited to a full mountain bike...



I took the GoPro this time, mounted on my helmet. Hence, finally, another video! Enjoy!

Surveying the damage 2: Hiyoshi Dam edition

Today Kory, Steve and I decided to take a "quiet, chilled-out ride" on the classic route up to Hiyoshi Dam and back. Get a good lunch, maybe a craft beer, job done.




It didn't turn out quite that way, as it happens - the effects of STS Man-Yi are still quite apparent here...

Check out the high water mark (the mud on the trees) in the reservoir!

And in this river channel. Must have been a sight to behold in full flow.

Turns out this was the correct choice of bike for this ride...

Bikes in front of the dam

Lunch: the best fried chicken donburi (rice bowl) in Japan.

Past Hiyoshi Dam, we started to encounter debris on the road...

...and then we came to this. Shit!
Left to right: Steve, Kory, me.

When we encountered the debris pile above, we went into full adventure mode. I carefully climbed up onto it and we passed our bikes up, then carefully picked our way through it. We helped another cyclist out as well - although we didn't see him later so he may well have chickened out and gone back the way he came!

Finally past the huge pile.

Kory, attempting to clean his brand new white Fizik (road) shoes after some
mud-based misfortune.

The storm knocked out power in this tunnel - the other way it was pitch black. We had to
navigate by iPhone flashlight.

And of course, the end of the tunnel was half-buried.

Steve picking his way along the side of the mud... 

...which I rode through on the CX bike...

...but it turned out to be like glue!

Both my bike and myself needed quite the clean afterwards...

115 km of riding, lifting, carrying, climbing, sinking... and laughing. A grand adventure was had by all - it's days like these that make me not only remember (as if I had forgotten) why cycling is so great.

Surveying the damage

Took a short ride on the CX bike today and ended up going through an area quite heavily affected by STS Man-Yi.




A few photos - gives you an idea just how powerful a small stream can be when it's swelled with that much rainfall!

The water still flowing across the road was a couple of inches deep in places!

Severe Tropical Storm Man-Yi

I'm not sure how much publicity this has gotten outside of Japan, but a few days ago we had a 'severe tropical storm' (just one step down from an official typhoon) roll over Japan. It made landfall not far from Kyoto, bringing 'unprecedented levels of rainfall'. Unusually, Kyoto was one of the worst-hit prefectures. Rivers burst their banks, towns were flooded and evacuation orders were given.

I should state, however, that I AM FINE!

However, the effects could be seen quite strikingly even in downtown Kyoto and several suburbs that I know well (mainly from riding through them!) were quite badly hit.

For more info, see this Japan Times article:

Thousands ordered to evacuate as typhoon lashes nation 

Floods in Chubu, Kinki leaves at least three dead; tainted No. 1 water discharged 

The year’s 18th typhoon shot through central and northeast Honshu on Monday, unleashing torrential rain and strong winds on much of the main island, including Fukushima Prefecture, where radioactive water was discharged to prevent the troubled complex from flooding. 

After making landfall shortly before 8 a.m. near Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, the typhoon raised havoc in five prefectures spanning the Chubu and Kinki regions, triggering evacuation orders for around 498,000 residents due to the risk of mudslides and flooding. 

Warning of “unprecedented heavy rain,” the Meteorological Agency issued “special warnings” to Fukui, Kyoto and Shiga, using a new warning system launched last month for the first time. 

In Kyoto alone, some 268,000 residents were ordered to leave, including about 81,000 in Fukuchiyama. 

While the agency had lifted all of its special warnings by noon, the evacuation order in the city of Kyoto wasn’t lifted until late afternoon due to the scale of the floods. 

...

In the area around the Katsura River, which overran its banks, the flooding was so bad that Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada asked the Self-Defense Forces for help. At one point, the famed Togetsukyo (moon crossing) Bridge in the Arashiyama district was nearly submerged as the water damaged shops and homes in the area. 

In addition, Kyoto residents reported damage along the banks near the Sanjo Ohashi bridge, the terminus of the famed Tokaido road between Kyoto and Tokyo that crosses the Kamo River downtown. 

“A popular meeting area for performances and civic demonstrations just south of the bridge on the western banks was damaged,” said British resident Michael Lambe, author of the Deep Kyoto blog, a guide to the city. 

Other businesses, including cafes and restaurants by the Kamo River, reported flooding as well. Kyoto’s bus and subway services, already strained with passengers from the three-day weekend, were disrupted. 

According to the Meteorological Agency, precipitation in the 48 hours through Monday morning reached about 300 mm in parts of the cities of Kyoto and Otsu — more than they usually get for the entire month. 

...

Transportation was snarled nationwide. Train services were suspended in parts of the Tokaido, Joetsu and Nagano bullet train lines, while expressways were closed in some areas and airline flights scrubbed.

A couple of photos of the usually very placid Kamogawa river at Sanjo bridge (mentioned in the article). The banks (a footpath!) were later strewn with mud and debris washed down by the torrent:

Top: Katsura river almost topping Arashiyama's famous bridge during peak water
Bottom: The usual state of the river!

From the Japanese Meteorological Agency website:

Map of warning/advisory areas on the morning of the storm

Rainfall figures for the hour when the rain was heaviest in Kyoto

Map of precipitation as the eye approaches the coast - beautiful map!

So, again, I am fine! I don't know anyone who was affected, actually. Things are getting back to normal, although one of the main Kyoto city subway lines is still partially closed due to flooding.

This was probably the last 'typhoon' I will experience during my time in Japan. It's definitely the most severe I've directly experienced. Quite a send-off...

Singletrack Silliness

Took the CX bike out on a mountain bike trail the other day. Probably ill-advised, to be honest, given the recent rains which have wrecked a lot of the trails here and covered them in debris (huge rocks, branches, fallen trees, etc).

As it turns out I got quite lost and took the wrong way down. Said descent turned out to be something like 20-30% average grade with 40-50% sections, greasy wet broken tarmac covered in loose gravel, rocks, branches and other fun. Coming down it on 32mm tyres and drop bars was... interesting. I had to walk a few sections because my brake pads were glazing over.

When discussing it with Peter (who races MTB and CX at a high level) today, he simply said "Oh god, you came down THAT way?" and looked at me all wide-eyed. So yeah...

What a view!

Part of the descent...

Certainly fun to see what you can get away with on a rigid CX bike with (relatively) narrow tyres. Apparently, not much more than this, though!

In other news, this ride was pretty much enough to put me over the top and complete my latest Strava challenge, the Vuelta Skelta:

Not a bad effort, and might get another ride in tomorrow to boost my elevation a bit more before it finishes.