April 12, 2017

We left Waegwan at 8:15 it was a little chilly but I didn’t wear my leggings as the forecast was supposed to be good.

One of the things that has impressed us about Korea is the amount of greenspace. Although the density of a city is huge, within a few kilometres there are walking trails and bike paths all of them are very accessible. The other thing are the amount of work-out stations located in a city. Within a 6 kilometre distance we counted 6 of these work-out stations that were very well maintained and used.

Today there were lots of little short climbs, barely registering on the elevation scale, but definitely registering on the legs. I would much rather do one long 7% climb than lots of short 12% climbs.

The first part of the ride was along the river on the separated cycle path. As we entered the large city of Daegu and the next certification centre at the dam, we spotted an unusual building. As we had already cycled to the KWater Information Centre to get a snack and visit the washrooms, we decided to investigate the building. It is called the Ark – I guess KWater are prepared for everything!!

There is an area set aside for concerts, and education. As we circled the building a group of school children exited, in pairs, and very well behaved. One teacher was in charge of about 20 children! As we cycled by them, they all shouted Hello and Good-bye as we left.

We got our stamp and headed across the dam along the next section of the bike path. The dam was once again a nice structure, although it did have a giant fish.

Sculptures were lined along the path for about one kilometre.

Then we headed into some small villages and headed up a beejesus hill. The warning sign said 300 metres 12% the actual hill was 700 metres at 15%. A lovely push up the hill! I kept thinking, this was supposed to be a flat ride along the river valleys. The climb was worth it, the scenery at the top was stunning. Even looking back on Daegu was interesting.

We came down the other side of the hill and found a beautiful restored Confucian academy. Although it was 2:00 p.m. we decided to spend the time to see the site. I went to the information office and asked how much it was to enter. It was free and it was a beautiful, peaceful area.

The Gingko tree is over 400 years old.  It reminded me of the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.

We passed a test track, we think it was for Hyundai cars. I am sure if there was anything top secret we wouldn’t have been able to take photos.

Everything was going really well, the weather was good, the ride was good and then we took a wrong turn!. We followed the signs, but they were to another Temple again up a beejesus hill. We got to the top and realized it was an out an back. We should have stopped when the \”Guards\” told us to!!

We some how managed to find a short cut back to the proper route, but by that time we were both frustrated with the signage.

We had seen signs for a motel (the Riverside Motel) and for some strange reason I thought it would be a good idea to call and find out exactly where they were located. My non-existent Korean, his limited English and not knowing where the heck we were to give him any directions or for us to find the Town where he was located was not very successful.

We found the dam and another certification centre.

A man came to us with a business card and told us he had a bikotel and he would take us to it in his vehicle, he told us it was 10 kms along the route and we could see it from the bike path. We headed out to his motel on the bikes. As we crossed another bridge another vehicle stopped and told us he was from the Riverview Motel. He got his daughter on the phone, who spoke good English, it was going to be another 30 to 40 minutes on the bike or we could get in his pick-up and he would take us there. Although we hate to take a lift, we were both really frustrated and took the lift

The Riverside Motel was a very tired motel, the rooms were clean but small and rather dingy. As we arrived the owner indicated to a restaurant for dinner and had lockers for our bikes.

We dumped our bags in the room, I slipped on my skirt, Ralf put on his trousers and we headed out to the restaurant. It was locked, this really was turning out to be a crappy end to a nice day.

We walked down the road about 100 yards and there was a small restaurant, we went in and were offered a traditional Korean table, which meant we would be sitting on the floor to eat our dinner. If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a very dark cloud hanging over Ralf’s head I would have laughed. Ralf was not in any mood to appreciate my warped sense of humour. Ralf hates squatting down to eat, he likes a proper table. The only benefit was that the floor was warm.

We headed back to our dingy hotel room, showered and got ready for bed.