Tea Country

Beautiful photos from a group ride up to Shigaraki over on Fixed in Nara...

Tea Time

A wonderful post with some stunning photography of the Kyoto green tea countryside over on Fixed In Nara. Check it out.

Guell Saturday Ride To Kyoto (And Shiga)

We joined up with the Guell crew again yesterday for a ride into Kyoto prefecture...

A nice, gentle ride along the cycle path next to the Kizugawa river...

A brief rest stop....

Then back on the road to Uji, Kyoto, famous for green tea and we passed many plantations along the way...

We rode by the Nagare-bashi bridge, sadly destroyed by recent typhoon rains but promising to be rebuilt yet again soon...

 Passing through many underpasses along our way to Uji, Kyoto...

Our destination, Nakamura Tokichi, a famous tea house in Uji, a beautiful building both outside...

And inside...

We stopped for lunch and to sample some of the many wonderful varieties of local green tea on offer...

Then  a ride through Uji to chill out by the river while we waited for the Guell Shiga crew to join us...

 A truly beautiful place...

Yasushi-san, pondering a change of career from successful BMX flatland rider, to local fisherman?!..

Our leader, guide and navigator, Toshio-san enjoying the river life!...

Then back on the road for the return journey to Nara...

Toshio-san, no-handed, speeding along in the afternoon sun...

A quick chance to re-group...

...Then back riding into the setting sun...

Slow train coming...

More stunning scenery along the way....

A fantastic day spent with good friends in a beautiful setting, many thanks to Toshio-san who takes a lot of time planning and organising these rides and a big thanks to the whole Guell crew.