I was at a loss this past week trying to figure out a ride. I didn’t want to get too carried away — just something a bit easier than last week’s hundred-miler. But a look at this year’s heatmap was telling me I’d hit all points of the compass pretty well.
But the weather report kind of helped me — winds out of the south, picking up as the day grew warmer. And I’ve always liked Ch’eonan (although we joke about some of the fairly bad things that have happened to us there). And then I remembered a temple down south of the city — a temple that was home to a unique and protected walnut tree — so my mind was set. Even if the route would be nearly 78 miles (we made a couple of deviations, and the ride ended up being over 80).
I wanted to get us back by noon, so we set out at 0445. Of course, with the deviations and a couple of stops that ran a bit long, we ended up coming home about 1230.
The tough part, though, was that right at the halfway mark we had a pretty big climb — about a thousand feet in two miles, hitting 17% in a couple of spots and 20% about 500 meters from the top. That and a few turns that ended up breaking Joon’s heart again (and so we’ve named the climb “Heartbreaker 3,” which really works for us because it’s both the third heartbreaker we’ve encountered, and it broke Joon’s heart three times).
Climbs this year have worn me out. I’m carrying about 15 pounds over last year that I can’t seem to shake, and I think I’m also starting to feel my age. Always a bit stiff. But at least my strength is coming along. Still, today’s eighty was probably equivalent to last week’s hundred, and it was entirely due to climbing nearly double the amount — 2,100 last week to just over 4,000 this week. There were a couple little butt-kickers that surprised us on the back-half too, in including one that hit 14% for a bit.
But the whole ride was a success. We made it to Gwangdeok temple, did the climb, and hit the bonus on the way home. The last time I passed Admiral Yi’s grave, it was closed, but today, we could bike right up to the base of the hill. We did. And it was pretty cool. The whole place still has a lot of work that has to be done, but it’ll be a great destination once it’s opened completely.
