Love rollercoaster: 산포리[Sanpo-ri]-삼천[Samcheon]

May 11, 2022

There are some days when a lot of things simply don't go as planned. It all started out innocently enough as we broke camp, packed our bags, and said goodbye to our quiet little site.

My saddle felt very very soft and saggy. I stopped to have a look. A metal piece supporting the tension screw had fatigued and broken off. This saddle has given me ten good years and something like 35,000 miles, so it doesn't surprise me too much. But why did it have to happen now?

I cobbled together a temporary fix by loosening the screw and using electrical tape to keep the saddle's form intact. I learned this by observing that some people punch holes in the bottom of the saddle, lacing cord through the holes for extra support.

This held for a while, but the tape started to stretch and also slide towards the nose of the saddle. I needed something stronger. However, breakfast was a higher priority. We'd forgotten to buy bread the previous day.

We soon reached the last stamp booth of the 경북, or southern section, of the path. Afterwards, we were in what was considered no man's land for about 35km. The roads were in good shape. They were also signed and marked with blue wayfinding paint, so it didn't feel much different than the official parts of the path.

If you look really closely you can see Sunyoung waving

The path through 얼진 took us to what must have been the highest point in the city. We speculated that they lobbied for this in order to show off their tourist attractions, including this pretty cool rail bike attraction:

Just so you don't get the idea that everything is all rainbows and lollipops, we each took a photo of this restricted stretch of beach. There was a sign indicating it was for military use.

There's also some heavy industry, although I have to say that it doesn't appear very often. At least not yet.

We enjoyed some 막국수 for lunch, which was quite satisfying. We felt we'd earned it after climbing so many hills.

Then it was off to 임원 for another stamp. This marked the official beginning of the much longer 강원 (northern province) section of the path.

The hills continued. They were all rideable, but they wore us down little by little. Luckily, traffic was so light that we hardly had to think about it, let alone be annoyed by the sounds and smells they produce.

We stopped at a little market to pick up food and duck tape (I refuse to call it "duct tape", because it's not). It does a better job holding my saddle in shape, but it sure is a whole lot uglier!

We passed more fishing villages, although they were fewer and further between.

Late in the afternoon, we finally found ourselves on some bike paths. It was fun to meander through quiet little neighborhoods on them. The last path dumped us unceremoniously onto a dusty and busy industrial road, which led to a bustling city street.

We reached the beach again, stumbling across this TV drama shoot in progress. The extras were dressing up and choosing props. It appeared to be a Korean war-era scene. The sign says it's for a show called "Curtain Call". It's scheduled to air in October.

The beach road was completely straight. There was a big jetty/earthworks project taking place, which was neat to observe but certainly spoiled the charm of what was supposed to be a tourist area.

We promised ourselves an afternoon break, but for various reasons, we kept putting it off. I saw a 7-11 and made the executive decision that this was to be our designated break spot. Sunyoung picked up a side dish to go with our rice and ramen dinner.

Only 3 stamp stops today, so I thought I'd include them all. This one was at the top of a climb. Better than halfway down the other side!

Lots of hills today, but some pretty nice views to go with them

At 삼천, our promised campground didn't materialize. Sunyoung called our backup campground only to discover they were fully booked. We found ourselves on a touristy beach that explicitly disallowed both camping and cooking. We were dog-tired and it was getting late.

The good news is that there was plenty of lodging to be found. We looked around and found a place with a kitchenette! At least we were able to go forward with our dinner plans.

Our camping streak amounted to one night. The counter resets tomorrow.

Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 853 km (530 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	2
Comment on this entry	Comment	0