Monday, March 25, 2024

warm spring, not blooming yet

Cherry blossoms are yet to come but lots of people rushed outdoors to enjoy the warm weekend weather. Cycled 86 km which was the longest distance ever cycled this year. The upgraded drivetrain must have helped a cyclist go uphill easier on the two steep slopes. 
On the way to Seongju 성주 county, passed through a trail cutting through a rocky hill near Seonnam 선남 township in Goryeong 고령 district. After crossing a small river flowing through Seongju, took a photo of the hill pass in the far distance as seen looking to the south, where the road from Janghak 장학 village in Goryeong district runs through. Paused at the entrance of a farming village, Weolhang 월항 township, located around 5 km northeast of Seongju county. Tired, but rather fresh on the way back.

Monday, March 18, 2024

on a warm spring day

Once again, drove to Cheongtong 청통 for the first time this year, started cycling at Cheongtong township office on a sunny weekend and circled around Yeongcheon 영천 city in an anti-clockwise direction. In the rural area, farmers could be spotted working in the paddy fields and orchards as spring has come. The other day, the drivetrain system of a bicycle was upgraded to help go uphill easier, which worked well on the steep uphill slope this time. 
On the top, walking and cycling trail on the way to Yeongcheon. The down left image shows the trail for walking and cycling, and park golf course along the river flowing through Yeongcheon, while the down right one is a view of river bank from the trail.

Monday, March 11, 2024

spring has arrived

Went for a bicycle ride for the first time in over 2 months. A perfect day for cycling! felt slightly cold when starting, but got warmer with pedaling. Spring should be here. checked the bicycle and warmed up for the cycling season.
A cycling trail bridge along the shore of Nakdong river, a view from Gangjeong weir. The road for pedestrians and cyclists on Gangjeong 강정 weir across the Nakdong 낙동 river, which has not been open to traffic, yet. 

Samunjin 사문진 bridge across the Nakdong river on the way back home. A SOS telephone can be seen at the middle of the bridge. Every so often, suicide attempts have occurred here and drown dead bodies were found on the shore down the river.

Sunday, January 07, 2024

starting in 2024

Cycled for the first time in almost a month. Nice to cycle again in winter as the hemorrhoid symptom has got gradually better. It was not such a freezing cold winter day. Had never cycled every winter before, which was meant to prevent accident on the slippery road, but it would be safe if you were ready enough to check road condition and temperature before setting off. It doesn't hurt to be cautious in winter, too.
Reached a junction in the Seonseo 성서 industrial complex on the way to Gangjeong Goryeong 강정 고령 weir across the Nakdong 낙동 river, which is located in the backdrop of Dasan 다산 township in the south. On the way back, crossed Samunjin 사문진 bridge over the Nakdong river. Hwanwon 화원 resort can be seen on the left.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

warm winter

Took a bicycle for a ride in nearly two months due to worsening hemorrhoids. Meanwhile, autumn has passed and winter has come. Leaves have already withered and died, turned brown in the peaceful winter scenes. Unlike typical winter weather, it was really warm over the weekend. Took carefully a short route so that the hemorrhoid symptoms could not get worse during cycling. Personally, winter and autumn are the best season for outdoor activities, thanks to the comfortable dryness without  sweating. 
New bridge has been completed next to the current Seongju 성주 bridge crossing the Nakdong 낙동 river. Arrived there to find the new one had not yet been open to traffic, so crossed its empty bridge road without any disturbance. Because the bridge was the destination or turning point, returned back, taking other road southwards after crossing the bridge.
Winter view of bicycle trail along the Nakdong river on the way to Hwawon resort 화원 유원지 and Samunjin 사문진 bridge. On the right, the Nakdong river and its riverside road on the way back to Daegu 대구 via Dasan 다산.

Monday, October 30, 2023

soothing autumn

Have not been able to cycle for the last three weeks so that hemorrhoidal symptoms could become worse over time. The prolonged friction between the saddle and the anal region while cycling is likely to have irritated and worsen the hemorrhoidal symptoms. Not riding a cycling could help relieve the pain much, and hemorrhoid toilet seat and medication effectively soothe it. 
With the deepening of autumn, took a walk around Dalseong marsh 달성 습지 instead of riding a bicycle, which offers a more relaxed atmosphere. 

Monday, October 09, 2023

coastline & fields

With the autumn progressing, got around the coastline, mountain area and rural countryside in Yeongdeok 영덕 region in the east. Almost one year since the last visit. Got up early in the morning to avoid the traffic jam and arrived at the parking lot of Namjeong 남정 township office near the sea and got started. It was partly sunny then mostly cloudy skies, while the temperature was likely to dip below 20°C.
The trail for cyclists and hikers along the seashore or highway is well managed and being maintained partly. The coastal views on the way to Ganggu 강구 was beautiful enough to attract a passer-by, so should often stop to take photos. The coastal road was less busy in the morning.
Many sea food restaurants along Ganggu fishing harbor are open in the morning. It used to be a plain and small fishing village but now is famous nationwide for snow crabs and sea food, and lots of visitors are crowded every weekend. By way of that harbor, headed up north along the coastal road, turned on the left at some fishing village en route, went uphill to cross a mountain pass to get Yeongdeok on the other side. 
Cycled downtown Yeongdeok and kept going west, crossing rivers, rice fields and apple orchards. Finally, reached at the road to Okgye 옥계. The way to Maeti mountain pass 매티재, the last one to cross before returning to Namjeong, diverges to the left. It has steep uphill stretches as experienced in the last year, so Jaeho was supposed to challenge it once again. Fortunately at this time, pedaled not harder than before while pushing hard on the uphill. About half an hour later, Jaeho was rewarded with a long downhill section after struggling to cycle nonstop to the summit of the pass. Safety is the first, rode down excitedly but safely. The autumn rural scenery was very peaceful and beautiful. 

Tuesday, October 03, 2023

typical autumn

The paddy fields are turning greenish-yellow. It was such a typical autumn weather and perfect day for a leisurely bicycle ride. The cool breeze takes away sweat and evaporates it quickly. The route started in the parking lot of Iseo 이서 township office, passing through the rural area outside the south Daegu, navigating around the winding roads in the countryside. In antient times, a tribal country, whose name was Iseo guk 이서국, was located around Iseo and Cheongdo 청도 area.
Cheongdo eupseong 청도 읍성 fortress. Eupseong refers to a walled town surrounded with a fortress wall. Local government offices, governor's residence and commoner's houses were inside. That was built in 1590 in order to defend itself from a Japanese invasion and has been recenty restored after having been abandoned for ages. 
View of reservoir from the crest of Seonggok 성곡 dam near Punggak 풍각. In the north Cheongdo, a Buddhist temple, Deok 덕, is nestled in the middle of hill, overlooking the railway bridges on the way between Busan & Seoul. Historically, a castle used to be located around the hill range surrounding the site of the temple. In those days, Silla 신라, another tribal country in Gyeongju 경주 area sit to the east and the two had struggled to seize regional hegemony, resulting in military tension and continuous battles. Finally, the last battle between Silla and Iseo armies was fought here. After fierce fighting, Silla army captured the castle in 297 A.D. and then the tribal country, Iseo, was collapsed.

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

day trip to Seoul🌻

Last Sunday, visited Seoul 서울 to attend a wedding of a close relative's daughter. It was for the first time to visit Seoul in over 7 years. Reserved a round trip ticket for KTX train but a few days ago before departure, with a strike by railroad  workers, the cancellation notice for the ticket for returning back from Seoul was texted in advance, so managed to reserve it quickly again. 
Looked outside the window and saw the paddy fields gradually turn deep yellow as the bullet train runs northwards. Took less than 2 hours Dong Daegu 동대구 to Seoul station. The scenery around Seoul station was nearly as it used to be. But a big difference was the station was busy with lots of foreigners with a variety of skin colors, alighting and departing there. 
Took a taxi to go to a hotel around Itaewon 이태원 where the wedding ceremony was held and arrived at the front of hotel while talking with the taxi driver. Got on the elevator up to the 3th floor wedding hall. Happy to hang out with the relatives again that they haven't seen in a long time. As soon as the ceremony finished, left for the station after saying goodbye. Couldn't afford to eat lunch and spend time before the scheduled departure. On the return, time to rest and relaxed on the train. Mission complete!

Thursday, September 14, 2023

early autumn

Parked Cheongtong 청통 township office and got around the northeastern countryside area of Yeongcheon 영천 region. The paddy fields slowly turn yellowish, grapes and apples are ripening. Autumn is just around the corner, or has already come.
This time, the route was not that long as the previous ones, because recently found out once again that cycling is not kind of a battle or struggling with the riding distance. Needed to relax as much as possible so far while cycling. It is necessary to accept the physical limits to do so. Otherwise, cycling becomes self-torture or heavy labor. Actually, Strava, GPS-based tracking services for cyclists, has motivated them to push themselves further. The desire to go longer with GPS tracking  naturally made a cyclist tired and exhausted. But then again, always cycled by oneself,  it has been only a tool of competition with oneself, not with others.
Cycling alone or riding solo is awesome and a pleasure experience, the least likely to be disturbed. We are all alone in the end anyway.

Wednesday, September 06, 2023

cool touch

Amid the forecast of sporadic rains across this region over the weekend, went out cycling around the rural countryside outside the western Daegu. The route covers the least amount of traffic with views of mountains and riversides. During the daytime, it still stays hot and humid, but turns a bit cooler as September comes after August. 
Yongam 용암 is separated from Seongju 성주 by a short mountain range and both are linked by 4 roads, three of which are allowed for cyclists. Took the route less travelled by via a countryside hamlet, Junggeo-ri 중거리. The side road from the village leads to the main one to Seongju.
Climbed up to the mountain pass named Gultigogae 굴티고개 across a ridgeline and zigzagged downwards to Seongju and then crossed a bridge over a little river running through Seongju. On the way back, rode across a long cycle bridge over the shore of the Nakdong river at the backdrop of Gangjeong-Goryeong weir 강정고령보. The river turns turbid due to heavy rainfall over the last week.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

cool breeze

It's been a while to drive to Geoncheon 건천 near Gyeongju to cycle around the idle rural areas. Parked SUV in the parking space of Geoncheon stadium and headed cycling westwards towards Ahwa 아화. The route passes through the peaceful paddy fields surrounding the rural countryside and two mountain saddles named Sukjae 숙재 and Ohjae 오재 each across two administrative areas. The cool breeze was blowing under the shade of trees, though it was still hot and humid in the strong sunlight.
Not long after leaving Geoncheon, reached at Ahwa and faced the mountain range to the southSukjae 숙재 is at the lowest point along the ridgeline and a road runs through it. The road starting Ahwa follows a straight stretch with relatively gentle slope. At the end of the stretch, the road zigzags uphill steadily and at times up the steep slope.
A raw vegan community village nestled below the mountain ridge is near the top of SukjaeIn Korean lifestyle, the dominant meat-eating culture is still prevailing, so a lot of people outside the village are curious about how the villagers could survive eating only raw and uncooked, plant-based foods. Vegans and vegetarians as members of a unique minority group can sometimes be ignored and  misunderstood in Korea. On the way back, crossed the mountain saddle, Ohjae, the lowest point along the ridge behind. 

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

got around Daegu

Once again, took on a cycling challenge in the scorching hot day and got around Daegu. The trails along the bank of the Geumho 금호 river were partly submerged in flood water last week during the heavy downpour. With the muddy water on the trails draining out and dried up, the trails were covered with dust and dirt in patches... Dust to Dust.
Cycling trail against the backdrop of Ansim 안심. The international athletics competition was held in Daegu, 2011. Daegu Stadium, a multi-purpose sports facility, was the host venue, while 4 matches were played here during the 2002 FIFA world cup. Weeds grow up covering the front entrance walkway of a college.

Sunday, August 06, 2023

flat tire

Till late in the morning, couldn't decide whether to go out or stay home because the heat wave warning was issued. But thought it would be safer with a shorter distance than normal, and got started. Passed through the industrial complex in the southern Daegu and got closer to the Geumho 금호 river to cycle along the riverbank trail.
The heat wave also made the cement and asphalt trail along with the park golf course empty. On the return home, it was surprised to see that the tire in the back wheel suddenly got flat. The extreme heat was likely to cause puncture.

Monday, July 31, 2023

fell off a bike

On the way to Sindong 신동, lost balance when mounting a bike in front of the crosswalk and fell off a bike and experienced some mechanical problems in rear derailleur soon. Had no alternative but to give up cycling further. On the return home, dropped by a familiar bicycle shop and found that the derailleur hanger got badly bent. Realized yet again great care should be taken to prevent accidents every moment while biking.
The above photo shows the site where a cyclist fell off a bike before entering the crosswalk when the traffic light changed from red to a green. On the way home, passed by a crosswalk around Sangin 상인 junction and through a high school and its playground. 

Monday, July 24, 2023

intense rainfall

It was good enough to cycle again after two-week absence. Last weekend, it rained so heavily that couldn't go outdoors. The weather forecast said it is unlikely to rain, but got caught in a sudden shower of rain for half an hour around Beolji 벌지 village.
This month torrential rains also pounded parts of Daegu. The Nakdong riverside is still covered with mud and the nearby playgrounds are partly cleaned up. An artificial wooden cycle bridge over the shore of the Nakdong river could be seen around Dasan 다산. The last photo shows that it rained at the hill pass named Beolji-jae 벌지재.