21 hours, 16 hours of ride time, 281 k's and one great story!

The morning started early and tired. We arrived in Gwangju at about midnight and by the time we got all our gear packed and ready for the morning, it was past 1am. Thankfully I was able to fall asleep right away but was woken up at least 3 times to go to the bathroom. I actually slept pretty well but the day came much too soon. The alarm woke us at 5am and with that, we started our adventure.

Since we got all our things ready the night before, all we had to do was eat breakfast, pack up, and head to our check-in point. On the morning of an adventure like this, breakfast wasn’t my usual bowl of cheerios. I had to eat a bit more than that! Breakfast consisted of 2 bananas, a chicken sandwich, raisins, and coffee. After I was done eating, I double checked my bag to make sure I had everything I needed. Our plan was to try to make the entire 400k’s so I had to be prepared for anything that would come our way. In my bag I had the following: 2 extra long sleeve shirts, 2 extra short sleeve shirts, an extra pair of sox, an extra ear warmer, a bag of first aid items, 8 granola bars, a bag of pretzels, a bag of gummy bears, mentos, 4 gu shots, 2 5-hour energies, 10 crab sticks, 2 chicken sandwiches, dried squid, coffee, a thermos, a tool kit, raisins, my camera, and my iPod. It may seem like a lot, but since we knew we would be biking for a long time and we would be biking through the night, I knew I needed everything I was carrying.

Once we were all ready, we brought our extra stuff to the car, checked our bikes and bags one more time, then headed off to the Family Mart to meet the other randonneurs. We checked in with the man in charge of the race and got our official Brevet Cards. The card had the check points we were supposed to get to by a certain time. As we looked at the check points and the times we were supposed to be there by, our faint hope of actually finishing the 400 kilometers in 27 hours was pretty much crushed. But even though we knew we weren’t going to actually finish the race, we were all in great spirits and excited to set off on this experience.

Once everyone was check in and the pep talk was given, we put on our helmets, strapped in our feet, and headed off. It was 6:15am and I wasn’t quite sure what the next 21 hours was going to bring, but I was excited and ready to experience something I had never experienced or even imagined I would get to experience.

The morning started off foggy, misty, and cold. As we headed out of Gwangju I was hoping that weather was not going to stick around too long. Half an hour in, my feet were already numb and I was seriously wondering what the heck I had just gotten myself into. The fog was so thick, we couldn’t see the scenery and at some points, it was even hard to make out the road 20 feet ahead of us. As I was cursing the weather, I decided to change my attitude. There was nothing I could do to change the weather so I had to just deal with it for the time being. As I was praying and hoping the weather would change, Jared had a minor problem with his bike. He heard a snap in his chain and being the experienced rider that he is, he knew he had to stop biking immediately. Thankfully he did because had he not, his whole chain could have broke and put an end to his day. But in less than 10 minutes, he fixed it and we were on our way again. At this point, we had picked up two of the other randonneurs who were not as fast as the lead pack. They were both Korean and they decided to stay with us.

We made our first stop about 2 hours into the ride and at that time, one of the Koreans had decided to drop out and head home. The other Korean, Choi, stayed with us. At our first stop, I tried to warm up as much as I could. I put on an extra top and extra pair of gloves. There was nothing I could do about my feet so I just accepted it and moved on. After eating a few snacks and gulping down some water, we headed off again. As the morning grew into early afternoon, the weather finally started to turn. The sun fought its way through the clouds and before we even put on our sunglasses, the sun was out, the fog was gone, and the sky was blue. I had never been so happy to see the sun. Because even though I knew the day was going to be hard, it would have been even harder with horrible weather.

We rode on unassumingly, doing our best to make it to the first check-point in time; little did we know the rest of the crew was a solid 2 hours ahead of us. As we got closer to the town, we were about 15k’s out, we turned into a strong head wind. Now this could have been a horrible 15k’s and could have taken us over an hour, turned into a great hour of riding and a learning experience for me. Katie and Jared have a lot of experience in cycle touring (seeing as though they rode their bikes from China to London) and knew how to deal with a head wind. We decided to do some drafting. Since there were four of us it worked out wonderfully. We got in a line, very close to each other so the person in front is blocking the wind. Each person would stay in front for 5 minutes then we would switch. It worked marvelously! The 15k’s flew by and was a lot easier than trying to battle the wind individually.

Our first check point was the city of Haenam, and we made it there with 21 minutes to spare. It was 12:15 in the afternoon so we had been gone for 6 hours and riding for about 5 hours of that 6 hours. We stopped for a bit longer than our last breaks and eat lunch. Even though this was a longer break, it was still only a 15-20 minute break; we wanted to do our best to make our next check point in Wando in time. This meant we had 3 hours to go about 45k’s. This may seem easy but after riding for 5 hours and 100k’s already, the legs start to get a bit tired and the k’s don’t go by as quickly.

After we refueled, we set off again. At this point, I was getting close to the most k’s I had ever biked in one day. My previous record was 118k’s in one day, which I had just set the weekend before. I was excited to crush that record with this crazy ride.

The afternoon brought great weather, wonderful scenery, and even better company. Korea really has some wonderful views, with their mixture of mountains, farm land, and rolling hills. I had to restrict the number of times I stopped to take pictures because had I stopped for every great view, the ride would have taken even longer. I also had the chance to talk with Katie, a good friend of Jared’s, who I didn’t really know that well. We rode together for a good portion of the afternoon and it was great to get to know her. We spent most of the afternoon riding together while Jared and Choi rode together. It really made the k’s fly by but at the same time really enjoying everything we were doing.

On our way to Wando we stopped for quick 5-10 minute breaks to give the legs a quick rest, eat and drink, and go to the bathroom. The trip to Wando was tough for me. Once we were getting closer to our check point, my knee and legs really started bothering me. After spending most of the afternoon riding with Katie, I started to fall behind everyone, which was frustrating for me. My knee was really bothering me and that slowed me down, but most of all I just don’t have the biking legs the others have. I had to put my headphones in and zone out to some music while doing my best to keep up with the others. The last 10-15k’s into Wando, I was biking by myself but it I think it helped me to bike by myself. It gave me the chance to mentally prepare for the rest of the ride and got me in a more positive state of mind. As we made our way to our check point we regrouped and rode together.

In Wando, we had to take a ferry to an island, bike across this island, and cross a bridge to get back to the mainland. While we were on the ferry, our hopes and dreams of reaching the 400k’s were crushed. At this time, it was about 5-5:30pm and we had already rode over 160k’s. We decided to ditch the brevet route and make our own. Jared looked at the map and found a way we could make it back to the car before sunrise and without having to stop and sleep in some random town. From his map reading expertise, he found a route we could take that about 130k’s from the car. 120k’s sounded much better than 250k’s, which was how much we would have had to bike had we kept following the brevet route. Once off the ferry, we set off for our own new adventure.

We made it across the island, back to the main land and on our way to making our new route. Once we had crossed the island, we were about 15k’s from the closest town. It was about 6:45-7:00 and we figured we would be at the town around 8 o’clock, a perfect time to find a restaurant and eat a proper meal. At this time, it was also turning from twilight to darkness. This was the first time I would be riding in the dark, on the road, with bike lights. I wasn’t scared or nervous about this, I knew we had the proper reflective wear and lights that cars would not be a problem. It was actually pretty cool to be riding at night. It made me feel tough and crazy all at the same time!

The ride to dinner was pretty painless but did seem to take forever, just because I was so hungry! We made it to the town, and at this point I was so thankful we had a Korean riding with us. We all wanted Dakdoritang and being in a strange town, it is not the easiest thing to find. But since Choi was with us, all he had to do was ask. In less than 5 minutes after arriving in the town, we found Dakdoritang!! I was so thrilled! The restaurant owners were nice enough to let us bring our bikes into the restaurant, and it was nice to have our bikes in our sight. We promptly ordered a huge serving of Dakdoritang and relaxed while we waited for dinner.

The food couldn’t come fast enough and when it did, it was everyone for themselves. If I would have put my chopsticks down, I would have missed out on the feed. At any other time, it may not have captured the title of “the best dak doritang ever” but since we were so hungry and we knew we had a long night ahead of us, it was like gold.

Once the food was gone we knew we had to get going and on the road, or we all would have fallen asleep in our chairs. We geared up in warmer clothes, Jared and I put hand warmers in our shoes to try to save our toes, for the first half hour anyway. We reloaded our bikes, paid the bill, and set out the door. Since we had decided to create our own way home, we needed to look at the map and set out our new route home. Thankfully Choi knew the area quite well and at 9:15pm, he got us on the right road home. We had full stomachs, tired legs, and sore bodies, but an unbreakable determination.

As we headed out, I didn’t really think about the amount of time we had left to bike, I didn’t think about the car or being home, I just thought of how much fun it was to be biking during the night, with three other people just as nuts as me, and the bragging rights I will have for biking 280 kilometers in one day. Even though I’m a newbie at cycling, I felt like I had earned some “road cred” for doing what I was doing.

The night hours went by surprisingly fast. Since only 2 of the 4 of us had the big powerful lights, we road in pairs during the night hours. I was with Jared and Katie was with Choi. Katie and Choi stayed a bit in front of Jared and me for most of the time but it was nice to have him next to me the whole night through. We kept talking and this helped me keep my mind of how tired, sore, and how much I couldn’t feel my toes. We stopped probably once an hour to rest of a quick minute, go to the bathroom, or eat…..again!! Since we were on the main road, we didn’t come across many towns, which meant we didn’t have any places to stop where we could warm our bodies. About 2 hours into the night riding, I couldn’t feel my toes, the hand warmers had lost their juice and I was cold and tired. I felt like we were stopping more than we were moving but it was needed in order to keep my sanity.

Around 1:00, I was starting to lose my mojo. Even though we were stopping to rest a lot, it didn’t seem to help and I was now wishing I was home. People often say that when you need something, life will deliver it to you. I wasn’t really sure of this mind set or thought, until I saw an open GS Mart on the side of the road!!! (For those of you who don’t live in Korea, a GS Mart is the equivalent to of a gas station, but without the gas.) It was a gift from God, or at least if felt that way at the time. We stopped and warmed our feet, drank some coffee, and had a few snacks. We rested for about 15-20 minutes, which was just long enough to give us enough “umph” to get through the rest of the night.

As we set off from the GS for the final 20k’s, I felt my mojo coming back, well part of my mojo, coming back. I was still tired and sore, but I had more confidence in myself and was ready to knock out the last stretch of a record breaking day. It was definitely not an uneventful 20k’s. The terrain was up and down and up and down, and trying to do that on tired legs and minds, I wasn’t only fighting the hills, I was fighting myself.

Finally, we rolled into the city of Gwangju and towards our finishing point. As we rode through town, I could only imagine what people were thinking as they saw 4 bikers with loaded bikes, riding down the street at 3:00am, but at that point, we felt pretty proud of ourselves and couldn’t have cared less about what people thought. We flew through town and made our way to the car. It was such a welcoming sight!! We had been gone for 21 hours; we had biked for 16 hours, for a total of 281 kilometers. This was above and beyond anything I had ever done and felt incredible! We said our good-byes to Choi and thanked him for joining us and helping us through the night. Katie, Jared, and I changed, got our bikes and gear loaded and in the car, and were on the road in no time flat. As we put our destination, home, into the GPS it gives us the total kilometers to our destination. Coincidentally the distance home was 280 kilometers. We were about to drive the same distance we had just biked, made me feel even more proud of what we had accomplished.

It was a three hour drive home and we were all exhausted. Jared started out driving while Katie and I slept. About half way through, Jared had to pull over so he could sleep as well. After that, I took over and drove the rest of the way home. We arrived back in Bundang about 7am, 25 hours after we had started the ride. After we dropped off Katie, we headed home, unpacked, showered, and went to bed. I had never felt more exhausted in my life, but it was a great exhaustion. I had just accomplished something that would be hard to beat. But stay tuned…..

Day Two

And that next day was just as trying as the last. To catch you up to speed (in case you didn’t read the previous post, Jared and I biked up and down some mountains on the east coast of Korea. The next day was supposed to be easier….not the case.) Now that we are all up to date, I can tell you that whenever Jared says something like ‘it will be much easier than the day before,’ or ‘oh the end is just around the corner,’ I now know better than to believe him.

We started the day bright and early once again, yet this time the morning brought sunny skies, which was a welcome change from the clouds that covered our skies the day before. I didn’t sleep as well as I thought I would seeing as though I just completely taxed myself the day before, but nevertheless I was up before 7 ready to get the day under way. We quickly ate breakfast and packed up our things. We weren’t returning to the hotel after the day of riding so we had to get everything ready and in the car. We had decided the day before to drive to the top of the mountain instead of ride up like we did the previous day. This will turn out to be an excellent, muscle saving idea. We had everything packed and ready to roll before 8 and we headed to the top of the mountain. It was quiet and peaceful at the top and the view was spectacular. We quickly unloaded the bikes, got our gear on, and began the day.

It started with a great downhill, and this time we weren’t cold from all the sweat that was on us from the climb up. It was an amazing view as we rode down, and it was a road Jared had never been on so it was a treat to both of us. The road was quiet of cars, which made it even more beautiful. The only thing that spoiled the ride was knowing that later that day we would have to go up the same mountain. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the fast pace and glorious views. It took about 15 minutes to get all the way down and by that time we had already covered about 20 k’s. Once we were down the mountain, we had a nice valley to ride through with great scenery, little wind, and relatively flat ground. Part of our course for the day included some of what we had ridden the day before. It’s amazing how fast you can forget what you already did. As we were riding, I had no recollection of riding on the same road the previous day. At any rate, we covered about 35k’s in about 2 and half hours and made it to Inje, which is the town we go through to get to Oseak. We stopped at a Family Mart to warm our feet and eat some snacks. At this point, I thought we only had about 15k’s left to go, since Jared had told me the day before that we would be doing about 50k’s that day (this is where the not believing anything Jared says comes into play.) It was about 10:15-10:30 and I thought we would be done by noon or so, then Jared informs me we were about half way done and not only that, we had to go back up the mountain we went down that morning. So the k’s that flew by in the morning, would be a struggle to get up later that day. With this knowledge, I ate a bit more, got mentally prepared, and made it my goal to make it through the day with minimal negativity.

We set off from the Family Mart not knowing exactly what the afternoon had in store for us. We were on uncharted territory, seeing as though Jared had never ridden this course and was making it as we were biking. I should have known from how the second half of the morning started that it was going to be painful. We left Inje on a huge uphill, it wasn’t that it was long but it was steep and hurt my already tired legs. After the uphill we, thankfully, turned out of the wind and had it pushing against our backs. This was a great relief and probably helped more than I can imagine.

The roads were not forgiving as we made our way back to the car. We had minimal flat land and most of what we were riding on was uphill. At some points I would get frustrated because I would look down at my speedometer and see that I was only riding about 15 k/hr, which is quite slow. I would wonder why I was going so slow, then Jared would inform me that we were riding at an incline. Once I realized that, I didn’t feel so bad. The k’s didn’t fly by quite as easy as they had in the morning hours. Most of the time we were either riding up a gradual incline or it was up and down and up and down. It was tough and my legs were really starting to scream at me. We had plenty of breaks to make sure our energy levels stayed up as we worked our way home.

I knew the afternoon would bring a huge climb up the mountain we had gone down that morning but I wasn’t expecting two huge climbs.

After one of our breaks, we started up quite a big climb. Unlike the up and downs we had been riding, this one didn’t seem to have a down in sight. As we were riding I kept hoping the downhill would be coming, that our uphill muscles would get a break for a bit, but that downhill never came. In fact, the uphill got steeper and steeper and harder and harder. Finally, after almost 45 minutes of climbing uphill, we reached the top. I was very happy for the uphill to be done, and God knows I love downhill, but I was a little worried. You see, if we went down what we had just gone up, that meant we still had another huge climb to go up to get to the car. The mountain that the car was on top of was at about 900 meters, as we reached the top of the hill/mountain we had just climbed, we were at about 700 meters. This meant, if we didn’t drop down too much, we wouldn’t have that much more to climb, but if we dropped back down to about 200meters, we would have another huge climb.

As we made our way down I was happy to be resting and flying down the mountain, but I was getting more and more worried the further down we went. After about 5k’s we reached the bottom and flat land. Jared’s GPS told us we were at about 300meters, which meant we had dropped down all of what we had just ridden up and we had to do it all over again!! I was not incredibly thrilled about this but I knew it would be the last climb and the day would be done.

The climb up the mountain was not as bad as I thought it would be. The scenery was beautiful and the roads were empty, which always makes for a better, more peaceful riding experience. The mountain wasn’t as steep as I thought it would be, that is, until we reached the very end. I was hurting at this point. We had done almost 70k’s for the day and had been riding for about 4 and half hours. That, on top of the day we had before and my legs, and body were tired and sore. The last portion of the ride was at an 18% incline!! Which is huge!! I have no idea how long the incline was but regardless, it was tough and painful. I pushed and pulled my way up the last portion of the mountain and with my last bit of strength, made it to the top. It was a very rewarding experience and a huge sense of satisfaction.

We made our way to the car, which was parked at the top of the mountain at a rest stop, and we had all the Korean’s looking at us like we were crazy. We didn’t really care, we get used to Korean’s looking at us. We unloaded the bikes, got changed, got some food and water and headed toward home. It was about 1:30, which was about an hour and a half off our original finishing time, but it didn’t really matter at that point. We headed out of Oseak and to Inje to look for a place to eat lunch. Unfortunately we didn’t have as delicious as a meal as we had had the night before but after doing what we had done, any food would have tasted wonderful.

After lunch, we got back on the road and we were home in no time flat. I was exhausted but so proud of what I had accomplished. We rode a total of 185 k’s (115 miles) and had a total of 12 hours of ride time for the weekend. This was the most distance I had covered and the longest time I had spent riding at one time. That is, until the next weekend when we completely crushed that record!!

Oseak...on a bike

This past weekend I experienced something like I have never experienced before. I felt pain and exhaustion I never thought I could feel. And if you know me at all, you know this pain was self inflicted.

Jared and I headed to Seoraksan on the east coast of Korea. Seoraksan National Park is a gorgeous area full of beautiful mountains. I have written about this area before, Jared and I went out there last summer to climb the highest point of Seoraksan. This time around, we decided to bike up and down many of the mountains Seorak has to offer. Going into this weekend I knew it was going to be hard, but I extremely underestimated how hard it really is to bike up and down mountains.

Our weekend started Friday night as we headed out to Seorak. We arrived at our hotel in Oseak around 11:30 Friday night and headed straight to bed. Saturday morning brought cloudy skies and cold temperatures, but no rain as the forecast had originally predicted. The morning came a bit too soon for me. I really could have used a few more hours of sleep but such is life as a cycle tourist in training. As I got ready for the day, I had a rush of thoughts and worries. What if I couldn’t do this? I have never done this before, I don’t know HOW to do this!! What if I have to stop because I just can’t go anymore? I was a little scared, but as I sat and finished my coffee and Jared went to get the bikes ready for the day, I knew that all I could do was try. This was a brand new experience for me and nothing was expected of me. With that thought, I finished my coffee, tied up my shoes, and, as my dad would say, set out to “put some hair on my chest!”

The course for the day was set for about 120 kilometers, for those Americans that’s 75 miles. That may not sound like a far way to bike in a whole day, but we are biking up and down mountains. And these are real mountains, not hills! We started the day in Oseak, which is at 275 meters sea level. The first 8 kilometers was a 700 meter climb! The 8 kilometers took us about an hour. This definitely set the tone for the day. It is a hard mountain to bike up but it is also rewarding. It is a gorgeous mountain and has amazing views from the top. Once we reached the top, we were sweating through our clothes because it is such a hard climb, but it was so cold outside we had to take a break in the rest stop to warm up. We changed into some warmer clothes and took advantage of the fire place to dry our cloves and warm our frozen toes.

The great thing with going up mountains is knowing you get to go down. This is a great thing…when it is warm outside!! When it is cold, downhill is not as enjoyable. My clothes were soaked and I was cold before we even started to descend down the mountain, I was not looking forward to how cold the wind would make me. Once we hit the bottom of the mountain I couldn’t feel my feet or fingers and I wasn’t too sure the rest of me was still there either. Luckily this is Korea and there are restaurants and shops everywhere to get warm. We decided to stop in and get some coffee and warm ourselves by a fire for the second time that morning.

After thawing out, we trekked on. I was still a bit cold but not as soaked, and I could finally feel my fingers and almost feel my toes! We rode on stopping for bathroom breaks and to eat snacks until we finally stopped for lunch. We found a spot out of the wind and plopped down to eat our chicken sandwiches we had made that morning. And let me tell you, food tastes so much better when you earn it!!!

After lunch we still had quite a ways to go, but I knew the hardest climb was out of the way, now it was just putting mind over matter and pushing through the pain. The entire afternoon we had the wind in our face and that didn’t change as we made our way back to Oseak. The closer we got to home, the more I needed to break and rest. The last 10-15 kilometers was a gradual uphill and I think it about killed me. I was so drained, exhausted, shattered, pooped, and any other word you can think of to describe being tired. Thankfully Jared understood the hardships that come with cycle touring and stopped whenever I needed to. Finally, we had reached our turn and I knew I had done it. I had just made it through a very rough day of biking and all I wanted was a warm shower, clean clothes, and FOOD!!! It’s amazing how hungry you can be after a day of biking, even though you have been eating food all day!

And of course, the last half kilometer was all uphill to the hotel! But we made it to the top, and I about collapsed!! We got off our bikes and unpacked as fast as we could. We were both so happy to be done; we didn’t care about anything except food. We unpacked and showered as quickly as we could and headed out to our favorite restaurant in Oseak. Jared had been to this restaurant many of times before he met me but since we have been together, I have been to this restaurant three times. The lady knows us and lights up when she sees Jared walk in the door. It’s a great little place to eat and there is never anyone else there when we go eat. (This may be a bad thing but she is still in business so obviously she gets customers other than us!) We ordered one of my favorite dishes 버섯전골Beoseot Jeongol. This is a mixed mushroom hot pot soup. It is absolutely amazing! Eating in Oseak is a treat because all the vegetables are straight from the mountains so they are incredibly fresh. This soup is delicious on an ordinary day, but after biking 75 miles up and down mountains, it is utterly mouth watering! We enjoyed our well deserved dinner, with a few bottles of soju of course, and made our way back to the hotel.

We were beyond tired, by this point I was downright delusional! I started to wonder how I was going to make it through another day of biking the next day, but before I could think too much my head hit the pillow and I was out. And it’s probably a good thing I couldn’t think too much, because the next day was going to be just as trying!