monsoon begins

The scorching heat, which exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, was tempered by the pouring rain. The two cats, always clad in their fur coats, found some relief from the heat and briefly regained their energy. The sweltering temperatures are hard to bear for both people and animals.

However, the summer that comes every year also passes in due time. Just as constantly shifting sensations pass by like vivid images on a screen, so too does the heat eventually fade.

rainy weekend

Haven't ridden a bike for the past three weekends. With summer beginning, it’s been either too hot or rainy every weekend to go for a ride. It’s going to rain again this weekend. The two cats at home are staring out the window, though it’s unclear what they’re watching.

Tomorrow, on Sunday, Jaeho will go to EXCO in Buk-gu 북구, the northern district of Daegu 대구, for an annual job training session that is held at this time of year. Lunch will be provided by the organization hosting the training. Plan to use the bus and subway to get to the training center. The registration time will take place  from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, and attendance will be confirmed using a barcode generated on the attendee's smartphone. This system is used to prevent proxy attendance, which occasionally occurs. 

along the coastline

Woke up early in the morning to cycle around Yeongdeok 영덕 county on the east coast. It takes about 2 hours to drive to there. It was the first time in about 4 years that  a man has visited a coastal village, Byeonggok 병곡 in the north.

A perfect day for cycling! Ran along the coastline and riverside. Since brought up here for a few years here during childhood, this route always evokes old memories. Stopped for a minute to take in the scenery from time to time. Ganggu 강구, a fishing port, has been changed a lot since it has attacted tourists from all over the country. The best snow crabs are caught in the clear waters of the sea near Yeongdeok. Running through downtown, you will be able to see a lot of restaurants offering local seafood cuisine.  

cool weekend

It was a pretty cool weekend. Rode along the riverside path and roads safely on the northwestern outskirts of Daegu 대구. The opening of the new Seongju 성주 bridge to traffic has been putting off so far, which makes it safer & more peaceful for people to cross the river.

A bicycle path along the Nakdong 낙동 river near Hwawon 화원 resort offers scenic views of yellow flowers called lanceleaf tickseed. On the way back, crossed a plastic lumbar cycling bridge along the shore of the Nakdong river near Dasa 다사.

clean & fresh air

Pollen season is all over. Got plenty of clean and fresh air for the first time in nearly one month. A short but physically challenging route around Goryeong 고령 county. Quiet and peaceful rural roads with low motor vehicle traffic make cycling more relaxable and enjoyable.

Started climbing uphill from Sajeon 사전 village, a short distance from Woogok 우곡 township, a typical farming village. From here, it's a demanding climb up to the mountain pass. The steepest section is in the early part. 

On the way to Goryeong, headed downwards with a 16.8 percent gradient from the mountain pass. A local country club is located nearby.

One of the main public docks for transporting grains and salt along the Nakdong 낙동 river during the ancient times was Gaegyeongpo 개경포 located in Gaejin 개진 township. This river had been the major traffic route since Shilla 신라 dynasty(AD 57~935). Gaejin is one of the country's leading suppliers of potatoes, abundantly produced by the rich sandy loam along the banks of this river.

resumed cycling

The main pollen season nearly ended. Resumed cycling after a month's break due to pine and oak pollen, and ran around the northwestern countryside leisurely. It was really hard to start riding again, but managed to cover the distance of 81 km. On  the way back, the wind blew strongly, making cycling unstable and dangerous, so tried to stay control, riding at a speed that allowed a cyclist to stop or avoid hazards in a safe manner.

A view from Paldal 팔달 bridge over the Geumho 금호 river, and a cycling path along the riverside can be seen. Passed through a cemetery park named Cheonggu 청구 after cycling a steep uphill section from the southern side from Shindong 신동 township. A bicycle path bridge along the Nakdong 낙동 riverside, and Goryeong 고령 weir of length 953.5 meter is seen in the distance.

scenic loop

Located in about 50 km west of Daegu 대구 along the expressway, a typical farming village surrounded with mountains, Gajo 가조 offers fascinating cycling routes around the valley. The calm and peaceful roads with less traffic could be highly recommended, but it should require a little more energy. The road leading to the northern side of the route continues up toward the mountain pass named Hoenamryeong 회남령, followed by a short sharp uphill section.

View of Gajo basin from the southern part of the valley. Headed south along the path on the riverbank and paused for a while to take a photo of the northern view of the valley.

A winding road along the river flowing into Hapcheon 합천 dam. The cyclists on this section are rewarded along the way with scenic views making cycling a pleasure. 

On the way to Geochang, 거창 along the cycling path with cherry blossoms in full blooms on the riverbank. Made it all the way back to the starting point and completed the loop back to Gajo via Geochang and Gabuk 가북.

amid fine dust advisory

Took a bike out to cycle clockwise around the Nakdong 낙동 riverside by oneself as usual with wearing a mask in the midst of fine dust advisory issued for Daegu region through weekend. 

                    

The messenger of spring, cherry blossoms and forsythias, finally start to bloom along the road and cycling path on the bank of the Nakdong river. On the way back home, paused at a mountain pass where a terraced retaining wall reinforced with helical screw piles was built at the road cut slope exposed by road construction.

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 path 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.

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 path on the way to Yeongcheon. The down left image shows the path 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 path.

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 warmed up with pedaling. Spring should be here. checked the bicycle and warmed up for the cycling season.

A cycling path bridge along the shore of the Nakdong river, a view from Gangjeong weir. The road for pedestrians and cyclists on Gangjeong 강정 weir across the Nakdong 낙동 river 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 in the middle of the bridge. Every so often, suicide attempts have occurred here, and dead bodies have been found on the shore down the river.

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.

warm winter

Took a bicycle for a ride after nearly two months due to worsening hemorrhoids. In the meantime, autumn had passed, and winter had arrived. The leaves had already withered and died, turning brown in the calm, wintry landscape. 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 path 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.

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. 

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 path 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 heading 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 this time, it wasn't as hard as last time when he was pushing up the hill. About half an hour later, Jaeho was rewarded with a long downhill section after struggling to cycle non-stop to the top of the hill. Safety is the first, rode down excitedly but safely. The autumn rural scenery was very peaceful and beautiful. 

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.

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!