I have been very lazy in my blog posts lately and I have good reason for that: I am so dang busy!! With summer here, there is rarely a weekend when Jared and I stay in town or just hanging out at home. We take advantage of the wonderful landscape Korea has to offer, the wonderful weather, and the luxury of having a car. The past 2 months we have taken every chance we have had to get away and go biking. Since I met Jared, I have started biking much more than I ever thought I would. I am still running, but my running shoes are getting a much needed break (well, mini-break.)
He has introduced me to the world of cycle touring. For those of you who don’t know, Jared and three of his friends cycled from China to London in a six month tour. The trip ended with only him and one of the original starters but it was an epic adventure and something he has brought into my life. Cycle touring is something done by those who want to see and experience the places they are traveling through. It is not done to get from one place to another in the fastest amount of time, which is actually the exact opposite purpose of cycle touring. I never knew how beautiful Korea was until I saw it on a bike.
We have taken many weekend trips through the mountains, farm villages, back roads, gravel road, and small towns Korea has to offer. I have struggled up mountains just to enjoy the views from the top, and the fantastic ride downhill!! I have ridden through small farm villages and seen farmers tilling their fields with a cow, workers planting rice paddies by hand in the pouring rain, and I have experienced how kind and generous people can be. Numerous times on our adventures, random people have stopped and given us snacks, or candy, or to simply offer us words of encouragement.
Cycle touring is something completely new to me but it has become quite addicting. We went on one weekend trip last Halloween, but after that it got too cold to be out biking. I had such a great time doing that; I couldn’t wait to get more rides under my belt. As soon as the weather was warm enough this year, we were off.
Since April, I have endured riding in the mountains, a 281km 17 hour ride, numerous weekends up mountains, around lakes, through villages, and on gravel roads. I have probably seen more of the country than most Korean. In my short time cycling Korea, I have already seen so many wonderful sites and have had many wonderful experiences; it’s hard to pick just one that is my favorite. The gravel roads we traveled on for 30kms, which went up and down and up and down was a great test of concentration and patience. But it was also well worth the trip around the lakes to see the view of the lake from the highest point.
There was also the small farm/country road we went on/up to see how the farmers of the country live and work. It was so great to see that side of the country; especially since I live in a very wealthy area near Seoul. It is always humbling to see how some people live day in and day out. How hard they work to earn a living while we are living in luxury apartments with everything we need at our fingertips.
Then there was the weekend Jared and I invited two of our friends along so they could have firsthand experience as to what it is Jared and I do every weekend. They were very new to the sport of cycle touring (much like myself) but they had the motivation and spirit to throw all hands to the wind and just go with what we threw at them. The first day consisted of constant rain, up huge mountains, and a “Jared detour” thrown in for fun. Through it all, both of them were extremely good sports and ready for anything else we could throw at them. We ended up cutting our day a bit shorter than expected but it was not due to our two newbies. More to the fact that it was raining, we were wet, getting hungry, and just ready to call it a day. We spent that night how we spend most nights after a day of cycling, at a restaurant eating so much wonderful food and enjoying some much deserved soju. Unfortunately that day’s ride had taken its toll on Suzie and was unable to ride all the way back to the car the next day. She caught a bus back and the rest of us powered our way over some mountains back to the car.
It was a fun weekend, even though it hadn’t gone as planned. And the two “newbies” were no longer newbies. They earned their big kid wheels that weekend. They have since been cycling with Jared and I a couple times and have plans to do join the crazy world that is cycle touring.
In the few short months I have been cycling, I have learned a lot about myself, about what the world has to offer, and how easy it is to just get on your bike and see that world. We currently have a few plans in the works but until then, we will continue to truly enjoy the life we get to live in Korea and all their mountains and roads, some not so paved roads, have to offer.
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