A Full Day of Brompton Riding: Noodles, Coffee Runs, and Han River Eats

Cycling · Published 11/5/2022 ·

Noodles, first thing in the morning.

We’d agreed to meet by 8 a.m., and I was running a touch late. The noodles landed on the table at 8:40 at a place near Haengju Fortress.

Chogye guksu…

Eating noodles on an empty stomach after riding a dozen-plus kilometers — honestly, it’s the kind of “delicious” that’s really just hard-won and joyless.

Chogye bibim guksu…

Yep, exactly the taste you’re picturing. The shredded chicken on top was piled up like a mountain.

Added a side of yukjeon (pan-fried beef).

Nice and savory-sweet, really good yukjeon. After a workout, it’s gotta be meat.

A bunch of middle-aged dudes, haha.

After eating, we headed over to Ilsan.

This is the crosswalk you hit coming out of the underpass and heading toward the Ilsan IC.

The crosswalk in front of Goksan Station… I stuck to the sidewalk to ride safely.

Shared roads (where cars and bikes mix) are pretty scary…

In front of some coffee shop in Pungdong… parked the Brompton and grabbed an americano — a coffee run for someone else.

Spilled about a quarter of it while ferrying it back.

Lesson learned: a disposable tumbler-style paper cup does not belong in a stem bag ^^;

It’s definitely going to spill… haha.

Coffee run done, I rolled up to Starbucks with two Bromptons in tow.

Fold them up and tuck them under the café table, and nobody bats an eye.

I bought a GoPro mount — another miss, maybe? It’s a Trigo product, but it doesn’t grip the GoPro well.

Is this a GoPro problem or a mount problem?… Tough call.

No matter what I try, it just won’t hold properly.

Guess I’ll have to return it or swap it for a replacement.

Back from Ilsan to the Gangseo Han River branch #1.

Crossed the Haengju Bridge and made the trip partly to see off a friend who lives way out in… Seoul.

That bag is stuffed with the spoils of all kinds of shopping.

The front roll-top bag handles all sorts of sizes — its usefulness is basically endless.

Wearing my urban helmet, and it’s working out well. Maybe it’s the cold weather, but I’m barely sweating now.

Once it warms up again, I should look into getting an aero-ish helmet.

The ever-lovable Han River combo: ramyeon, dumplings, and a triangle gimbap on the side.

It was Jin Ramen, and it came out cooked just right, really tasty.

I spent the whole day zipping around here and there on the Brompton.

Each leg of the trip was roughly 20 km, and since I rode in plain training pants with no padding, my backside is a bit sore.

I swapped in a Specialized saddle, and comfortable as it is, about 80-some kilometers with no padding is apparently pushing it.

If I’d done the same itinerary by car, I’d probably feel about the same level of tired? But with no parking worries and a companion along, bathroom breaks are easy, and buying food or shopping is a total breeze.

I’ll keep making the most of the Brompton — always at hand, always ready — for a long time to come.

Contact: bumseok.view [at] gmail [dot] com