Cycling Daecheongho Lake: Cherry Blossoms
This time, it's a ride around Daecheongho (Daecheong Lake).
One of the most thoughtless, crazy things I've done this year was signing up for the Seorak Granfondo. Not the Mediofondo, but the Granfondo. The younger buddy who pushed for this madness suggested we go riding at Hwaaksan (Mount Hwaak), but since I'm pretty weak and haven't been doing any interval training, I hesitated at Hwaaksan, let alone Seorak.
Maybe he noticed my reluctance, because he tempted me by saying, "Then let's just do a lap around Daecheongho." I have another younger friend at Daecheongho whom I call my cycling master, and looking at the cherry blossom photos sent from Daejeon, it seemed worth the trip. I fell for the line, "Once we get over one pass, it's all flat," and hopped in the car. But as always, you should never trust a word cyclists say. "It's all flat." "That noodle place is delicious." etc.
It takes about an hour and a half from Seoul to Sangdang-gu Office (in Cheongju). As soon as we got out, we geared up, drank a coffee, and set right off. The flat road stretched on, so I thought today would be a really relaxed, sightseeing kind of ride, but maybe 10km in, Pibanryeong (Piban Pass) began.
I'm always nervous when crossing a mountain pass because the memory of getting completely drained at Hangyeryeong is burned into my mind. Still, for a pass, it's a reasonable 4km distance and maintains a steady 7% gradient, so you can easily finish it without stopping. I'm still a beginner and the only passes I've done are Ihwaryeong and Hangyeryeong, so I don't know if it's a fair comparison, but it's on the easier side for a pass. Of course, saying that doesn't mean it isn't hard. My lungs felt like they were going to burst, and I couldn't help but complain about why this area starts off like this. The bravado and the groaning are just divided into before and after the ride.
Once you come down Pibanryeong, the cherry blossom section begins in earnest. Unlike Seoul and its suburbs where the flower paths are sparse, the floral route continues the entire time you ride. It's not a mix of random unknown flowers; it's just a long, continuous line of cherry blossoms. They are planted and maintained so well over such a long stretch that a foreigner might think cherry trees are native to Korea. There usually aren't many cars, but I heard traffic increases in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom and in the fall when the leaves drop. But even when it's crowded, it's still less than a weekend in Seoul.
You'd think I'd be leisurely cycling down this beautiful road, taking in the scenery, but there's no way the guys I ride with would let me enjoy that. With zero consideration for average riders, I ended up staring more at the guy in front of me's butt and the asphalt than the flowers. Speaking of the asphalt, to briefly mention the road conditions: they are "top tier." The asphalt is great, and maybe because there aren't many cars, there are hardly any cracks or loose rocks. I can see why they don't come to Seoul to ride bikes.
If there's one major downside to the cherry blossom road, it's the endless rolling hills. Really short uphills and downhills repeat infinitely. After passing Pibanryeong, they definitely said, "No more uphills now!" but I kept seeing hills right in front of me. Beginners are busy shifting their cranks up and down. Conversely, the good riders lock it in the big ring, dance on the pedals, and nag you to hurry up.
Guys, I really want to go too... but my legs are refusing...
The weather seemed like it was going to be nice, but then a light drizzle started. We hurried into a coffee shop to take a quick break, and they had free toast. I think they offer this service because the Cross-Country Cycling Road is right out front, so I hope a lot of people visit to cure their bonk (exhaustion).
Because we took so many breaks (or so the local resident claimed), the ride dragged on. I think we rode for about 5 hours, but factoring in the travel time there and back (there was quite a bit of traffic), it seems you need to dedicate about 9 hours for this trip. Of course, if you leave at dawn and ride without stopping, you could probably cut it down to around 6 hours. With the coronavirus sweeping the globe, there are more people outdoors, making it harder to ride a bike, but this place has relatively few people and cars, making it a great route to ride these days.