This was my second “Drive to Ride” (D2R) since the roof rack. Still excited. I got to see an even deeper rural Korea — enough so that I think I recognized a bit of a country accent going on with the people I heard talking.
As for the title, I mean it. There were 5 of us (Albert, Joon, Monica, Johnny, and me) and I think we were all in agreement that the ride was beautiful. Korea doesn’t disappoint in that respect, especially when you get out of the more well-travelled corridors. It leaves me excited for the prospects, and I have a few more D2Rs already planned.
This one started again from the Bell Museum in Jinch’eon, going further east than the one Joon and I took back on Juneteenth (where we mostly went south). It included an undeveloped lake early in the ride — I’d say our first and only time we’ll visit that one, but not bad if you had a decent gravel bike. Not long after, we hit a hill that Albert dubbed “Shortbreaker” for its 250 foot climb in less than a kilometer at 21% for a stretch. Johnny got two flats within those few miles. He didn’t have a gravel bike (but he’ll get one set up soon I’m sure).
The payoff was stunning though — beautiful scenery culminating in a gentle 10-mile descent into the small city of Goesan, a city Micha and I had visited a couple of times in the past because of her love for Korean “University” corn (you’ve got to experience it to understand) and their fame for it. As an aside, while we rode on Saturday, Micha liked the idea so much that we drove back out there yesterday (Sunday) to buy 30 ears from a roadside stand (and see more beautiful scenery — I’m planning another ride for it).
The way home was typical. Once it starts to heat up (it hit 90 or so by the end of the ride), we’re just happy to get back. Still, it was a fantastic ride. Stay tuned for a PSA.
Here’s the Relive link to the ride: https://www.relive.cc/view/v4OGe3Ld15q
PSA Time:
For the second time in my life, a bike helmet saved me some serious difficulty, if not death. The first time was nearly 30 years ago when I lived in Monterey and used to commute to work. One morning, I swung a corner a bit wide and caught the edge of the trail. I was on the ground before I knew it with a hamburger hand that didn’t do enough to stop my head smacking the pavement and cracking my helmet above the left eye, leaving an abrasion just above the eyebrow. Without the helmet, my biking days would have probably been over right there, if not my life as a fully-functioning human being.
As we neared the end of this ride, I was on a descent about 20 feet behind Johnny, and as we approached a hairpin turn, a car coming from the downhill side cut the corner into our lane. We were both set up for the corner just fine, but had to slam on the brakes. Unfortunately, Johnny was in a patch of light sand on the road and I watched him go down in front of me. I was already braking to go to his right, but hit the same patch of sand. My back tire went out, and before I could recover, I hit Johnny’s bike and went over my handlebars (my bike followed me “ass over teakettle”) and the next thing I know I was lying on the pavement trying to untangle my feet from the bike.
It was bad, but it sounds worse than it really ended up. Johnny bent his rear derailleur, and my bike was fine. We both were a bit banged up, but we finished the ride without too much else going on (although once the adrenaline wore off I was out of gas for the last few miles). I’ve got a bad bruise and scrape on the right shoulder (I’ll spare you the picture) and bruised the base of my left thumb. Also a good gash in my right shin that I still don’t feel so it can’t be too bad, and a couple other scrapes on the right side.
But I say all of that to say that the one thing that didn’t happen was me cracking my skull. I got my bell rung (and that’s one of the first things I said when I was getting up), but my head was intact. But I’ve got the scrape above my right temple to show that the helmet saved me yet again. Without it, that scrape would have been pretty bad. At best, a serious concussion and a portion of my forehead laid open.
So here’s your PSA: Wear a helmet. Yeah, we didn’t when I was growing up. But I guarantee you, there are thousands of people alive and walking today because they were wearing helmets. I’m one of them. Two times over now.
