I’ve billed this as the most disappointed I have been in a landmark to which I had ridden my bicycle. By far.
Quite some time ago, as I was planning a route north through Suwon, I noticed an icon near a corner which I had passed before. It was labeled, “Dragon Statue.” I’d seen at least one really good dragon statue before and figured this one could be pretty cool too.
I was wrong. I got to my destination only to find a cheap-looking green dragon head sticking up out of an unkempt, overgrown, swampy “pond.” I looked around in the growth to see if there was a body somewhere, but it looks more like someone had the bright idea to put it there and then died or something because it was about as forgotten as a landmark could ever be.
Still, I’ve found a positive here: the thing was so awful that I’ve kind of enjoyed finding it. Who knows? Maybe someone will read this and think, “I gotta check this thing out.”
And the rest of the ride was quite good. I passed the Uiwang Rail Museum (which I really want to visit someday), saw an old story tree (that I’d visited several years ago already), and took a shortcut (with a pretty short, steep climb) that took me the back way to the toilet museum. Throw in riding home through Hwaseong Fortress (the entire area of which I love), and it was a nice day.Even got to listen to a bit of a ball game (Brewers Phillies) along the way (the Brewers won).
My second good ride in a row. I was alone both times — lot of time to think and ponder — so maybe that had something to do with it. I love my riding partners, but sometimes I need that time alone.
Here’s the link to the Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/v1Ow17Pg1Xq