Today’s ride was  around 100km and I chose the Suanbo Hot Springs as my destination, so I could have a warm bath at the end of the day. It was mostly flat in the beginning but towards the end  there was a bit of headwind and some minor bumps, so I was still a tad slow.

The first 3/4 of the ride before my Garmin battery went flat.

Plenty of directions and maps along the way, just not in English.

The scenery was much nicer since most of the cars were on the major expressways between the cities, so I had the river route to myself. Along the way I could spot plenty of different birds and it was nice to see the mountains in the distance.

At one of the checkpoints, another cyclist gave me some snacks, I think they were sweet dumplings, but I’m not sure what the powdery stuff was made of.

The local fishing hole, looks pretty comfy

I did my best to pace myself throughout the day, but my muscles were still sore from the previous day. With over 6 hours in the saddle and the sun starting to set, I was getting worried that I wasn’t going to make the distance. Luckily towards the end there was a lot of downhill, so I enjoyed them as much as I could, ignoring the fact that I’d spend the next day climbing back up to get out again.

Approaching Suanbo was pretty cool, the town centre had water fountains with hot water, pumped directly from the springs. My hotel had a massive bath tub with hot spring water too, so I had an amazing bubble bath and listened to some music.  Around the corner there were loads of restaurants, so I picked the busiest one and ordered some more bibimbap. With one more ride until my rest day, I’m hoping my body will last for just a little longer.

Part of the restaurant district

Heated floors and soft cushions to sit on, perfect after a long day.