Cycling, Camping and BBQ in Hangul way - Day 1

After first try riding along Han River 18 months ago in Seoul, I am putting in one more item in to-do list which is cycling along Han River furthest possible. Several question raised when I will ride in Seoul, which route to take, what kind of weather to ride, if winter can I handle, accommodation, language...etc.

Month after month I totally forgotten about this plan of riding in South Korea. One day saw a friend cycling tour in South Korea taking the advantage of the bike path along Han River and other rivers. Then trigger my itchy butt wanted to ride in South Korea.
Now I have the route, Han River Bike Path, next I need to know about other doubts I have. Although from my friend's blog show the bike path but it didn't mention how long it and where it leads to. After some survey and help from Korean friend I get the route of my ride. Thanks to myroman80 with her blog (http://blog.naver.com/myroman80/90179265015) I manage to plan my ride.

Next is how many days I will have for the ride and how many kilometers I will cover. The plan is to have friend to ride with me which will help solve my problem of language and accommodation. But thing never really go as plan thus one have to compromise to suit the situation. Original plan is to have 3 days for the ride but change to one day solo ride, one day short ride with train service return to campsite and last day will just back to city with car. So first day I will be going solo include camp at campsite which my friend will arrange for me.

Weather in South Korea is not stranger to me anymore but when it involve cycling then I am totally no idea how cold it could be. If I would go for more winter ride then worth investing for a set of winter cycling attire. But I am residing in a land with the temperature average at 32 degree Celsius in day time and never change 365 a year. How often I would use that winter cycling attire if I will have one? Final solution, will have my usual cycling attire (short sleeve jersey, padded short bib, arm and leg shield) then coupled with wind breaker and trekking pants if I feel cold.

SO...I am all set, ready to roll.

Get my bike ready when day break, packed my stuff in pannier and handlebar bag. I will follow the route from myroman80 thus will cycle from my location to nearest point where I will see the bike path along Han River. Not so difficult to find the river if your direction sense was working well. The only obstacle I had was to deal with the traffic lights and hilly road in Seoul. Once I got into bike path along Han River then it is all smooth.

It was an awesome path they have laid along the river. This way better than any of those I tried in other countries. All sort of services provided along the path, eg. toilet, cafe, convenient store, bus stop, train station, rest area, bicycle repair station, campsite...etc I never have any problem during the ride, moreover it was quite flat terrain with several small and short climb which is doable by any cyclist. Many couples or family take this path as their weekend outing then enjoy the mother nature before heading home with train, bus or riding.
Reach the campsite Jaraseom but was told all fully booked by locals. nearest town was Gapyeong where I could try my luck to find a proper place to stay a night. Or I could go to a city Chuncheon which is not so far from here which will have more choices. First try to look around the town found out they only have one motel. Decided to just rest here while waiting for my buddy to meet me next day.

End of day one.

Entrance to bike path, a tunnel underneath the expressway. 

 Inside the tunnel, the only way to take shot of myself during solo ride was relying on something reflective.

 Slightly behind schedule but the sky looks great and I reckon a good day to ride, indeed was a good day.

Taking a break for breakfast at a convenient store nearby to Hangang River Park.

You can many park along the river, this particular one has a track for children to play.

My first certification stamping station. Got myself the passport of Korea Four Rivers Bike Path which you could collect the stamping along the river bike path. In the end of the ride you could get a certificate.

This is one good example of share the road I found here, two way bike path with a one way car path.

Bunker not one but almost 20 of these along the river facing north, sounds like second or how many line of defense toward south.

Gloomy skies, makes me worry.

 This bike path is not one off project but on going re-surface and re-route was carry one to improve the area along the path.

 Make use of an old rail track for bike was good idea, keeping the historical part of the country while making good use of it.

 Railway tunnel turned into bike path, if not because of this tunnel cyclist would have to climb the hill to cross.

 The tunnel was complete with sufficient lighting as well as signage good for both cyclist and pedestrian. It is all about discipline thus I don't see any problem of sharing the tunnel.

 Another certification booth, hope I could at least complete one full route.

 Not sure what I meant but need this for my own record to know where I have been. This place is an intersection where you will find a big place to hangout with a bike café to enjoy the scenery with a cuppa.

 This certification booth was at the same place mentioned above.

 Not sure what I can find ahead of the path and found this café serving food with the picture and English word that will ease my ordering. The view from the table was good but too bad they don't allow me to sit outside.

Spicy squids with steam rice…side dish is free with any meal which is common in Korean eatery.

Another tunnel, I love these tunnels along the bike path. It reminds me how adventurous I am battling with big trucks carrying sands and pebbles in the tunnel during tour in Taiwan.

Rows of camper and families with the young children playing.

Bike rack available at most of the rest area.

Still plenty of time to kill, I took another long break under shady place.

Another stretch of path where you can enjoy nice view.

I am actually travel light, but the pannier look bulky due to the jacket and clothing for cooler night.

The rail track, the river, the camper…and myself.

A newly open bike café which is no way accessible by other who is not cycling on the bike path.

Relax a while at bike cafe enjoying my latte and the snack a local cyclist gave me.

Certification at my day 1 final destination.

Bike path even include some of the bridge with proper railing protecting the cyclist.

A nice scenery of the rail track bridge with Jaraseom at the back.

Korea is a hilly place and many nice hill and mountain to explore, would like to try trekking in Korea in future.

My room from the only motel in town, nothing much to complaint because I don't have other choice.

My dinner at a Chinese restaurant recommended by the motel owner, my first visit and last as well.

Actual ride route on day 1 with elevation profile and speed graph against distance.

Ride detail from my Garmin Edge 800.

Bicycle improvement

I begin to strip down those not necessary item from my bicycle after noticing I need a lighter bicycle to move around. This idea came after few ride to work which I prefer not to obstruct my move in case of clashing with the heavy traffic.I take off the front light since I am not going to ride at night.....nothing else I could remove. So I have to think of how to replace with lighter parts.

First cam to my mind was the tyres, Schwalbe Big Apple 20x2.0 got to be replaced. At first no idea what type of tyre I should be getting to have lighter weight. Then thinking of reason to get lighter was to go faster, then I shall look for tyre that can go faster. And it would be easier by just try to find out from Schwalbe since I had Big Apple on my bicycle. After further survey, I decided to go with Schwalbe Kojak 20x1.35. It is sleek which gave me speed, smaller size means lighter and it came with Kevlar technology that minimise puncture.

Next I go for cylindrical parts, handle bar and seat post. Found some attractive bar yet not able to decide which to go with. Then after massive survey I ended up with the choice I and happy with. Having carbon fibre handle bar which is made for MTB. Although the length was longer than original bar but the diameter matched to mounting. Thought I would get carbon fibre seat post but found out it cost more yet not lighter than a Aluminium Alloy. With these two replace I am taking away few hundred gram from my bike.

Later heard a cyclist complaining about original foldable pedal was not good and easily break. Without compromising the feature of folding bike I insist to get a pedal which is easily fold yet stronger then the plastic type I had on the bike. I was not able to find any good replacement except MKS removable pedal. Some may say it is not a good decision to choose removable pedal since you may forget to bring along your pedal after removing it. But to me this is all about how you handle your belonging. Once I remove my MKS pedal I will make sure it is bagged and hang to my bike.

While browsing on Dahon site admiring some other higher end bike recommend by friend, I found out Dahon Pro TT having different type of fork which is made for speed. Further research shows it is not just narrow but lighter with different material used. Immediately without thinking twice I acquire this fork for my bike. When fixing it to my bike found out several problem (just small matter) with the material used to make this fork as well as the length of the mounting rod. I am pretty sure seller in the shop says it fit perfectly on my bike but probably he forgot to mentioned with minor modification. The width of the fork is smaller than my original fork which make removing wheel with Schwalbe Big Apple 20x2.0 a little harder. Since I will be using Schwalbe Kojak 20x1.35 then this is not a problem anymore. The material used (Aluminium Alloy) was softer which is not good when I press hard on brake. This tells me to start learning softer braking as well as earlier braking to avoid accident. The reward for all this is reducing the weight of fork by half!

Last part of my modification which I later decided not to go any further modification was my saddle. It is hard decision to make when a friend offer me his saddle after he got another better saddle. My original saddle was so comfortable unfortunately it contribute lots of weight. After much thinking I make up mind to give this light saddle a try. First ride was not so easy to adapt to this saddle and my body was rejecting this saddle in a very bad way. But second ride was much easier and smoother, even with longer distance ride. With the amount of weight I could remove I could withstand the changes I have to bear with.

There are plenty of part to be replace but some of it was just too much work for me. And furthermore I do not see the point of spending more money for a bike that has a limit of what it capable of doing. Thus final weight recorded on my work on this bike was 10.6kg which I am very happy with.