Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Bike Trip.

I've never in my life been a huge exerciser. I tried weight lifting early on in high school and it didn't take. I like being healthy, but I have to chase a ball or a frisbee to get active. I ride my bike to all the locations that I can, but that's more a product of being cheap than to stay healthy ( competing with Korean traffic isn't too far off from a death wish). This was the trip I was looking for and we didn't even know it.


Our good friend Whit organized the whole thing, so it was just a matter of commitment on our part. We bought a rack for our bike, bought some trail mix and beef jerky, strapped our bags onto our bikes and headed to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea.


Somehow it all worked out. We rode about 50 miles each day, through beautiful countryside. We've grown so accustomed to the high rise apartments and the subways it was eye-opening to see the other half of the peninsula. There is a paved path that for the most part hugs the major rivers here, that eventually meet the ocean.


It's called the 4 Rivers project, and the paved bike pathways cover all the major rivers in Korea. You can bike from Seoul to Busan.



We camped 2 of the 3 nights. We had a convenience store near us both nights, and were able to get any supplies we needed (food or otherwise).


It wasn't all easy.


But it was all beautiful.










There was one mountain that was particularly punishing. We all had to push our bikes up, it was a black diamond for sure. It was miserable getting up this thing, but going down was great.






This was the 5th member of our team. Finn spent time in the back of his father's cart, sleeping, or singing "the wheels on the bus....."  Occasionally he was allowed out of the trailer. He did a celebratory dance at this point.






Whit and I knew it was a priority to keep these ladies happy. We did an OK job.


Don't you dare steal this image and use it for a postcard.

We made it, exhausted (and in my case sunburned) to Busan. In a country this size, what an amazing way to see Korea. On bicycle.