The journey continues

The second day started with rain and we were all glad Jared had the great idea to move our stuff under the gazebos. It was nice to be able to make breakfast, pack the gear and stay dry. It is never fun packing up wet tents and wet gear because you know that night, everything will still be wet. Since we were in no rush to get on the road, we took our time getting ready hoping the rain would let up. We knew the weekend would bring rain, they had been forecasting it all week, but we were hoping it would be less than the 10-24mm they were predicting.

We took our time breaking down our tents, Katie took some time down by the river to get clean, and Jared and I enjoyed our coffees. While we were getting ready, the rain let up a bit and we decided to hit the road. We knew this day wasn’t as big of a day as the day before so we weren’t too worried with our 9am start.

The mist and rain weren’t too bad and actually made for really cool views and a really creepy trip through a tunnel. The overcast skies also made the greens of the rice fields almost glow in the gloom of the day. Since we had a monster of a day the day before, we were well away from the busy cities and fully immersed in the mountains and farm villages. The roads were quiet and made for easy and downright delightful riding.

When I made the map, I made a few different routes we could take on day two. We knew one route would have given us a few mountains to climb while the other added a few k’s to the day but took us on a road extremely close to the North/South Korean border. Since we had our far share of climbing the day before and we knew we had a lot of climbing the next day, we decided to take the road close to the DMZ.

The road was flat and unassuming, until we ran into the military road blocks. The road was being controlled by the Korean military and we had to check in and show I.D. After they checked our ARC cards we had to read the list of rules and sign a sheet saying we agreed to the rules. I don’t remember all of the rules but there were about 10-15 of them with things such as No taking pictures and You must obey the time limit to cross the two check points. They took down our phone numbers, told us we had two hours to reach the next check point, and we were on our way. It was an interesting ride through this area. We were about 3k’s or 1.8miles from the actual border. I was tempted to whip out my camera real quick and take some pictures but as I was riding and taking in the scenery, I spotted about 4 different guard posts camouflaged by the trees and figured it wasn’t worth being hunted down by the military to get a few shots. The road was nice and had one pretty easy climb in it. As we were biking through this area without a care in the world, I couldn’t help but think about the soldiers who hiked and marched through the mountains and along the roads 60 years ago during the war. One of the unique things about Korea is your ability to get up close and personal with not only the current political situation of the country but the rich history it has.

We made it to check point number two with plenty of time to spare and we had an easy road to Hwachon, our lunch stop and where we would pick up dinner for the night. The day had been pretty easy but definitely interesting. Once in Hwachon, we found a small kim bap shop to eat at and figure out what we were going to pick up for dinner. Jared was dead set on fried chicken so he went off and ordered it while we waited for lunch.

Once we were done with lunch, Katie and I set off to the open markets to get some food for dinner. We decided on fresh veggies for some stir fry and also picked up some fruit for breakfast. One of the best things about cycle touring is the freedom that comes in every aspect of the day. Everything from choosing the road to follow to picking out dinner in an open market can be changed from one minute to another. Sometimes that change is your own decision but sometimes you don’t have a choice. In the end, we both got some good food for dinner and met back up with Jared.

We spent a bit more time in Hwacheon than we planned to but since we knew where we were going and how long it was going to take us, it didn’t’ matter too much. We were about to climb a mountain all three of us had climbed before and were quite familiar with. And even though I had done that climb three times before, I was still surprised with the climb before the climb. To get to the Peace Dam climb, we first had to climb a smaller “hill” and go down the back side to get to the start of the peace dam. This climb is not hard but always messes with my mind.

The rest of the way to the Peace Dam was fast and harmless. Once at the base of the climb, I stopped and put in my music. Jared and Katie are much better climbers than I am and usually kick my butt to the top. I needed something extra to get me up the mountain at the end of that day. The Peace Dam climb is a tough one but has become easier from all the biking I have done and the stronger my legs have gotten. The music helped charge me up the climb and shockingly it was easier than I had remembered. Jared and Katie were at the top waiting for me but we wasted no time getting going again. All we had to do was drop to the bottom and find our camp spot for the night.

Going down is always the fun and easy part. Unfortunately it was drizziling a little bit, which made the down a little cold but nothing too bad. We got to the bottom and took a few minutes to look around the Peace Dam. It is a really cool place and has a lot of cool War artifacts to look at. It is also a huge dam that is not daming any water (If you want to read more about the Peace Dam and its purpose here is the wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Dam) We didn’t spend too much time doddling though because we were getting cold (the drizzle had stopped) and hungry and wanted to set up camp.

It didn’t take too long to find a good spot to set up the tents and since Jared and Katie are masters at making camp it wasn’t long before everything was set up and dinner was started. Another great thing about cycle touring is living by the day light. We are up at sunrise, looking for a place to set up camp about an hour before sunset and usually in bed and asleep by about 8pm. This night was no different. After Katie and I cooked and cleaned everything up, we were ready and in bed before 8. We needed our rest for what the next day had in store!