When I/we were planning this trip, we knew the third day was going to be one of the hardest days of the trip. Our route had us doing 3 climbs (that we knew of) and taking a very hilly road around some lakes as we made our way to Chuncheon. Chuncheon is known for their delicious Dalk Galbi (닭갈비) and we were hoping we could be dinning on it that evening. Unfortunately day three was also the official day of Chuseok and many stores and restaurants are closed on Chuseok. Regardless, I set off that morning already dreaming of Dalk Galbi.
The road leaving the Peace Dam only goes one way, and that is up! There is nothing like starting the day climbing to the top of a 500 meter mountain. The good thing about the start of the day was that I knew what to expect. This was my third time doing that same climb so I knew what was in store. I find knowing what the mountain and climb consist of helps the psyche. Once up, we fell back down and had a nice valley ride until the next climb of the day. It was good to get two of the three climbs out of the way before lunch. The next climb was another 500meters or so but like the first climb, I had done it before and I was prepared for what was ahead of us. Since Jared and Katie usually kick my butt up the mountains, I did my best to stay with them on this climb. It wasn’t easy but I somehow managed to get to the top about the same time as them. I don’t know if it was thinking we only had one more climb left that day or if it was the peanut butter and banana sandwich I ate that morning, but whatever it was it worked.
Once we made it to the top, the sun was starting to break through the fog of the morning and we enjoyed the glorious downhill. We made our way into a small town of Yanggu to pick up some water and grab some snacks. You would have thought the town was deserted by how empty the streets were. So many stores and restaurants were closed because of the holiday but we were able to find a few open coffee shops and convince stores so we could reload. We were also waiting to hear from one of our friends who was joining us for the day. Once we knew where to meet her, we were on our way to the lakes. I had heard a lot about these lakes from Jared and I had had two chances in the past to ride around them but the other two times we had chose to bypass them and go through the tunnels. Not this time and I was excited to finally get a chance to see them. Once we started I could understand why we had gone around them in the past. The road around the lakes was a relentless up and down, up and down, and up and down. Even though the terrain was tough, it didn’t seem as hard as I thought it was going to be. Maybe it was the fact that the three of us spent the time talking about various things or that the lakes weren’t as hard because I was a lot stronger now than when we bypassed them the first times. Whatever it was, I was feeling pretty good about myself at this point.
The lakes weren’t a short distance so about halfway through we decided to stop and eat lunch. We were also waiting for our friend to catch up to us so we thought a break would be a good idea. We stopped right in the middle of the road and took out our food. The road was completely empty since everyone used the tunnels instead of going all the way around the lakes, which was good for us. After eating our lunch and resting for a bit, we were ready to charge on. Just as we were getting going, our friend caught up to us. We let her take a breather, not too long though, and we headed on.
After lunch, we didn’t have much left of the lakes. As we were heading toward the main road again, we had a decision to make. Our original route had us taking an unknown road through some mountains before heading up the last 600 meter climb to Chuncheon. The other way had us taking the main road and a route we knew. It was early in the day, the weather was great, so of course we chose the path less traveled. It started innocently enough. We had a small climb up a short hill with a nice downhill ride. Then the next climb started, this one definitely qualified as more than a “small climb”. As I was climbing, I just kept thinking, ‘Man, I still have a 600 meter climb to end this day.’ After pushing our way to the top, we were all so very glad to see the top. We knew there would have to be a great downhill ride since the way up was so tough. Once at the top, those feeling of joy slowly turned to dismay. From the top we could see the road ahead and sure enough, it led straight to the top of another mountain. I don’t know what the others were thinking at this point, but I was tired and didn’t know how I was going to do ANOTHER climb and still do the last 600 meter climb to end the day. It was also here when Jared gave us all a great idea; finding a great Dalk Galbi restaurant next to a motel and instead of camping that night, treat ourselves to a great dinner and a shower!!! It may have been this suggestion or the fact that I just wanted to be done going up mountains but regardless, we all got right back on our bikes and charged on.
The next climb was equally as steep and trying as the last one had been. At this point, my peanut butter and banana sandwich power was all used up and I was battling to make it up the mountain. I was just trying to keep the others in my sight as we climbed but it was getting harder and harder to push through the tiredness of my legs. After about a half hour, I saw the others on the top and their faces didn’t look happy. As soon as I got to the top I realized why. From the top, we could once again see another mountain climb! By this point Jared got out his phone to check the map for a different way out of this torturous climb. The bad news was that there was only one way to go and that was through the mountains. The good news was that once we were done with that climb, we out of the mountains and back on the road to the last 600 meter climb.
The day was getting on a bit so we didn’t waste any time on the top and powered on. The last climb was probably the toughest of them all. I don’t know if that was because it was the end of the day or if it really was that much harder but I felt like I was climbing for about 2 hours. After what was probably more like 35-45 minutes, we were at the top of the “mountains of doom” and were finally on our way to the main road and what could possibly be a great dinner (if we could find an open restaurant) and sleeping with a roof over our heads (if there was a hotel close by).
The ride down was too quick. After all that climbing, I felt like we deserved an hour of downhill riding. That was not the case. In the matter of minutes we were at the bottom and found a small mart to refill our bottles and then be on our way. The road to the last climb was a busy one filled with road works everywhere (not until I moved to this country and started dating Jared did I call it road “works”. Where do they get the “s”?) At any rate, it was not a fun road to the climb and once we got there it wasn’t much better. There was car after car honking at us and at the same time we were trying not to hit the construction cones. I had my head phones in and tried to just focus on finishing the long, demanding day.
At long last, I saw the top and the rest of the crew waiting for me. We didn’t celebrate too much at the top since we were all so hungry and tired we just wanted to find a restaurant and eat but we were all so very glad that the day was almost over.
Now, most or all downhill rides are fabulous but this downhill ride was probably the most rewarding one I had been on. The beginning was a little windy and we couldn’t go too fast but it seemed to just keep going. I still had my headphones in and I was having my own little dance party in my head celebrating the end to the day. Not only do the others get up mountains faster than me, they all fall faster than me too. After the glorious downhill, they were all waiting for me at a stoplight. We were all so tired, hungry, and dirty but we all had one thought in our minds, Dalk Galbi!! Then, it was like heavens doors opened for us. As soon as we turned left, there was a hotel with multiple OPEN Dalk Galbi restaurants! I had never been so happy to see food.
Since Jen, our friend who joined us for the day, was not staying the night, we didn’t bother showering before dinner. Katie, Jared and I unloaded our bikes in our room and we headed to dinner. The inspiration during the day, the motivation to keep going up those mountains, the reason we were putting ourselves through so much pain was finally a reality. The Dalk Galbi dinner we had so so so delicious! We devoured the four servings along with tons of sides and some well, well deserved bottle of soju. It was a great way to end the day.
After dinner we said good-bye to Jen as she made her way to the bus station to catch a ride home and the three of us headed back to the hotel to get clean and go to bed. It felt great to shower on a full stomach and to go to sleep on an open floor and not a squished, hot tent.
Day three was the hardest day thus far, but the next day brought our ride home. Chuncheon to Bundang was not an easy task, as we found out soon enough.
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