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…..
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