May 7

Seoul - Yeoju

And......... they're off!  Unlike WomanTours - who threaten to weigh the bags but never actually do - we had bag weigh-in first thing this morning.  I was pretty confident that I was ok, but I never pack light.  Most people in front of me in line had their bags weighed, but a few of them were light enough that they didn't get put on the scales.  Imagine my surprise when my was deemed light enough to bypass the scales!  

Today's route was all on bike path except about (max) 5 km.  We first cycled over to Yeouido Park for a group photo shot.  

(There is a group shot on my computer that, for some reason won't upload)

Then we were on our own to follow our navigational tools - Ride With GPS (RWGPS).  I must say they have done a really good job with the audio cues.  The bike path system here is amazing!  Getting out of Seoul, there were roundabouts, passing lanes, merge lanes, speed bumps; pretty much everything you would find a highway to manage car traffic.  In places where they were doing repair work and there were small detours, they would have workers stationed at key points to send us in the right direction.  Where they were cutting grass and weeds on the side of the path, they would have a second worker holding a shield so that the debris did not get on the bike path.  Cracks were being repaired and it was smooth sailing the whole way!   

There were humans too, but I don't know if they wanted their pictures taken

South Korea is a mountainous country.  It was great to be cycling on flat bike paths beside rivers while viewing the mountains in the distance.  We went through one section shortly after lunch where we passed through quite a few tunnels where the hillsides came right down to the roads.  And the tunnels were great - well lit, well paved, and just for cyclists and walkers.   Our only real climb of the day was on a section where we were on the road.  That one was a bit of a struggle - a pretty steady grade of 11-12% for a bit.   

 

The trail, especially in the populated areas, is very well used.  Cyclists (there were many zoom, zoom locals out as well as leisurely recreational riders), walkers, and joggers.  Under nearly every bridge (and other covered areas) there were exercise areas.  There were parks, pickleball courts, several instances of a game that appeared to be a cross between croquet and golf, basketball courts, soccer pitches, playgrounds, etc. etc.  What a system!  

We were on the 4-Rivers Trail.  Apparently it is about 1800km long, so we're obviously not going to cover the whole thing.  I'm not sure how many rivers we were beside today, but I'm guessing it was more than 1.  Looking at the map, I think 2 - the Hangang  and the Namhangang.  So many bridges today - dozens upon dozens.

Speaking of systems - the TDA system is that they provide a picnic lunch about halfway through the day.  I think I'm going to like this model; yum...........

Here are some other miscellaneous pics from the day.

Yangpyeong Museum of Art

Yangpyeong Museum of Art

And now - time for our Rider Meeting (to review tomorrow's route) and dinner (which was a lovely Korean meal.  My chopstick skills are pretty much non-existent.  Much remember to take my beginner ones to our next dinner).  It's starting to rain a bit; better now than when we're on the bike.  Oh - and the weather today was very pleasant.  Low 20's mostly, although I think it got up as high as 25.  

Stats for the day:

My Garmin didn't start up right away (couldn't find satellites among all the tall buildings, I think, so I'll just provide the RWGPS numbers.

106.6 km

948m up, 927m down.  Not sure how this is calculated, but other than one short-ish hill, it was a pretty flat day.  

Yeoju

Population:  115,000

Wikipedia:  It is known as a major centre of contemporary South Korean ceramics, and hosts the World Ceramic Exposition every year.  Other local products of note include rice, sweet potatoes, and yellow melons.