May 17, 2022
Freebie buffet: 가평읍[Gapyeong-eup]-서울[Seoul]
We slept pretty well, even with the deflated air mattress. It was chilly until the sun peeked over the nearby hills. We dressed with a warming trend in mind. We packed our gear with a smidgen of sadness, thinking this might be our final night of camping. On this trip, anyway.
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About 10km into today's journey, I spotted a mirage. No, it was real. A bonus stamp booth! Very unexpected. Also unexpected was the discovery that the stamp face had been stolen! I've been bamboozled!
The stamp had been intact until recently. An"ink test page" provided ample evidence:
I'm thankful that this never happened to me with an official stamp. Still, a sad trombone womps in the distance.
Tunnels are fun, and we got a nice one today:
We also finally found an example of the outlandish decorations roadside motels once used to attract motorists' attention. I feel like most of these places have been demolished and replaced by now.
The trail moved inland, climbing very gently until reaching a small tributary of the 북한강. The scenery wasn't breathtaking,, but it added some variety to our day.
It felt like a long journey to the first official stamp booth of the day. Stamp, stamp, stamp!
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Yay, we did it! We successfully navigated all 70km of the 북한강자전거길 (North Han River bike path)! It was a real nail-biter, wasn't it?
We celebrated with a break beside the peaceful confluence of the two rivers.
This was going to be a high-kilometer day, so we didn't dilly-dally much longer. We were immediately in familiar territory, passing the 팔당댐 (Paldang Dam). At the 팔당대교 (Paldang Bridge), we veered left, crossed under the bridge, and started the last stage of the route along the north bank of the Han River.
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By noon, we had racked up over 60km. We were due for lunch and a nice break. We have had no luck finding a Korean food buffet when we wanted one, and today was no exception. Instead of relying on serendipity, we consulted our phones and found one that was literally off the beaten path. We struggled through a dusty industrial area full of bumpy paths and roads to reach it. We were so happy to find that it was open and doing great business. It even has bike parking!
Conscious of the fact that there's an extra charge for not clearing one's plate, we carefully piled ours with a wide variety of tasty dishes.
Of course we were bloated. We had to take a little rest after eating. Contrary to what today's title implies, we didn't get our meals comped (I was just trying to be clever, and yes, I watched a lot of TV with Sunyoung while she was working to improve her English skills), but the owner did give us some free candy. That counts for something, doesn't it?
We backtracked through the melange of trucks and forklifts, the dirt and gravel, and slowly started to count down the last twenty or so kilometers to our motel.
We passed a familiar landmark that I now realize looks like a catfish.
Near here is where, almost ten years ago, we first rented a couple of really awful bikes for the very first time:
Ah, those were the days. It's another reminder that this trip has been a long time in the making. We must've ridden 20km that afternoon on those really awful bikes. We had a blast, despite those really awful bikes.
Here's a little secret. We weren't done collecting stamps. There's one more, on the north side of the river. You need either this one or the south side equivalent, which we had already picked up on the first day of the cross-country tour. I don't even think you need both of them for the grand slam medal, although I could be wrong.
So here I am stamping my very last stamp of the trip. Woo hoo, what a fun and crazy ride it's been, and what a nice way to end it!
I expected the last kilometer, from the river to the hotel, to be hectic, but it was a cakewalk. We rolled into the motel "parking lot" (four spaces) at 4pm, checked in, and hauled all our gear, including our bikes, into our little room. It was finally time to rest on our laurels.
Tomorrow or the day after, I'll take photos of the passport pages and briefly relive the tour through stamps. I'll also publish a couple of entries on our stay here in 서울. Later, we'll ride back to the Ara west lock to get "certified" for the East Coast and North Han River paths. And lastly, we'll have the adventures of boxing, flying, reassembling, and riding home, which I always like to document. So stay tuned!
Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 1,233 km (766 miles)
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