I woke up from a bizarre nightmare featuring three of us silently watching clifftop missile launches, intercontinental ballistic missiles (not the usual staple of my nighttime entertainment)falling back to Earth from space...
Woke up and had some water, and on the way back to bed saw I had an email from my brother. The light of the flatscreen was so bright it hurt, but managed to quickly send an email back. He's housesitting while my father is away on safari. Before heading back to bed I pulled away the blind and saw that the sky was looking bright and clear. The Cannondale beckoned.
By 5:25am I was out the door. Lovely, cool, clear morning. I thought I might even catch Ee Sung Hee at Wal-Mart...couldn't remember if they leave at 5am or 5:30am. I got there at 5:35am.
It was 19 degrees celcius when I left, and it only went up to 26. That's a bargain at this time of the year, even so early in the morning. The air was also thin. Not thick and wet. There were wisps of mist hanging over gorgeous green fields. That's after the hairy first 10-15km you need to do to get out of this satellite city's suburban limits.
I wanted to try to catch Ee Sung Hee or any group that had gathered, just because I wanted some company, and a bit of safety in numbers. It wasn't to be, but it didn't matter, because it was a beautiful day, and it was really interesting being back out on these roads that I last saw in the late autumn of 2004.
I am a very different creature now. Sluggish and slow, but I have to remind myself the machine and the roads are the same, and so am I. I just need to be patient.
I expected a lot more development around Paju, and in fact there is very little that has changed. One or two army camps have shifted locations, some new paving and a new road here and there.
When I headed out I thought I might turn around at about 25km, at the famous T-Junction where a truck driver flung a baseball bat at my face once upon a time. That would have been a 2 hour or so cycle. But it was so calm and peaceful, and I thought I might still run into the other triathletes, so I headed further out to Imjingak. It's a good thing I threw in some extra gu and powergel, because I needed them.
I was really happy to find the roads still very quiet, and the countryside so peaceful this time of the morning. I took a new route to the the Imjingak road this time, and dodged the train barriers as a train approached - hopped over the railway line. After a short climb I was flying towards the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel (where the North Koreans were dynamiting their way into South Korea) and about 8km from the Tunnel I saw two cyclists. Ee Sung Hee tailing some other dude who looked pretty fit. I was 3km from the end of my route, but I pulled around. I had to pick up speed to catch them, and head up a hill, and suddenly the next hour flashed in front of me, and I suddenly changed my mind. I decided to rather spend the morning on my own, so I turnewd around again and headed to the end of the road.
The highway...and it's about 6 lanes wide...doesn't just run into gravel when it hits the very heavily fortified military checkpoint (think huge concrete barriers, and metal spikes, and strange shapes that remind you of shorebreaks close to harbors). The highway crosses the DMZ into North Korea, but I'm not sure if it stays in such pristine shape across the border. This is where I have to turn around. The DMZ (demilitarised zone) is an empty zone about 5km wide separating North and South Korea. It's sparesely populated, and farmers here are paid a little extra to till the soil here. It's also great for cyclists because there's a lot less traffic here.
So I turned around...about 40km from home. I can't say for sure because I left my wheel magnet on my Zipp wheel today.
Legs started filling with lactic acid at 50km. Remember this is only my 2nd cycle since being back in Korea. I saw a sign right after I turned around at the Checkpoint saying LG/Philipps LCD 14.5km. Now why on earth would they build a big factory so close to North Korea? Doesn't seem very sensible to me. Unless they are trying to make a deal to ship stuff through North Korea to China, or employ North Koreans as cheap labor? Or they just seized on the cheapest land they could find.
Now I said earlier that there weren't any new roadside developments. Well, this was the exception. I took the longer route round, back to T-Junction and went via what is a GARGANTUAN industrial complex. Earlier in this blog I may have mentioned a construction effort which basically obliterated a hillside. Well this is it. I noticed a brand spanking new cemetry on the opposite side of the road, with a quaint entrance gate and paved road. This is where I guess they transplanted graves from what was once a hillside.
In its place... Okay, you know the appearance of lego. It sort of has that shiny plasticky look. As though there are no joints to the building... Well, the complex rises sheer off the hillside, in this sort of smooth, white, plastic, perfectly square sort of style. There are about 12 balconies with garage door type windows which I assume will be fitted with conveyor belts to various trucks or trains below. It seems like the distribution outlet.
There are two giant white structures I suppose for assembly. Far in the distance, were a few snow white apartment blocks, I guess to house the laborers. They shot up out of nowhere, very quickly. Then there are huge steel bridges connecting skeletal structures still under construction, and then, as I came over the rise, there was this endless thing that looked like a bridge, and under it were stacks of trucks...seemed like they were in a traffic jam except they were just parked there. Maybe fifty or more, all fully loaded with what looked like glass in the back, covered in sheets. Just the landscaping above the canal was about 2-3 storeys high, and a massive project.
The whole thing apears to be 2-3 kilometres long, and I couldn't really see over the massive structures, I saw some huge white smoke stacks, and apartments. Could be 2-3 kilometres square. I guess they are planning to supply the world with flatscreens. I've love to see this place a month after Oil hits $70.
If it does well, they'll probably build schools around here and possibly employ people to teach english to the staff. It could be quite interesting. Seems very high tech, and mind bogglingly massive.
I'm glad I've seen it because I'm not going to risk life and limb cycling through all the trucks and half destroyed roads again. That route was just to put an extra 5km or so in the bank, and to avoid a short, steep climb.
From there I felt pretty tired. Had some gu and then took it easy back.
Made the mistake of turning off towards Kintex at Walmart. I thought it would be quicker, but the inner lane had just been tarred, and very unevenly. I made the best of it, and cycled the last few km's through Lake Park. Cycled right through a movie set, despite them waving me away. To be honest, I was going a bit too fast to go anywhere else, and I thought the guy who was motioning for me onto the pedestrian path was nuts.
When I turned off the road into Lake Park, I went through a puddle of water from yesterday's rain, and it must have been very slick, because my front wheel just freaked out under me. I'm pretty lucky with stuff like that. Seem to have good reflexes. Not sure how, but got out of that one without falling.
Watching the Tour de France has been really motivating and inspiring.
Just watched a guy in utter agony who fell off his bike and broke his color bone. Looks like he is crying. Ow.
I got back today at 08:45am, so that's a good 3:20 minutes on the bike.
Distance: 80km
3300 calories burned before I've even had breakfast.
Am really sleepy now. After Annie calls, must try to get 2 hours sleep.
Would like to do this again soon. The Tour de DMZzzzzzz...
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