The crazy thing is that it didn't feel like a lot of work. I rode most weekend days (usually something out of town with Rachael and sometimes Raines) and almost every weekday. A lot of the times we slap our bikes on intercity buses, go to a new place, ride around all day, then bus back...an amazing way to stay in shape and explore this country!
I'm really pleased with my bike, in the roughly 1,300 km I've put on it since I bought it in late September, I've had to spend a grand total of $5 on it (to replace an inner tube punctured by a fishhook). Owning this bike has been remarkably stress-free. On my old roadbike I was afraid of getting flats every time I left the house (rightfully so: I was flatting about once every other ride)...with this bike, though, I get on, ride, have fun, and go home. Sure it weighs 30lbs+, but a little extra heft is a small price to pay for peace of mind. (Plus, it's nice being able to hop on/off/over curbs, sidewalks, stairs, random junk on the road, etc).
The two Giants...Rachael's OCR road bike and my Iguana Disc mountain bike...at a little middle-of-nowhere bus terminal:
In the course of this month, I met Rachael and Raines through cycling, and we've had a ton of fun kilometres together (even if they have yet to see the light and buy bikes with fatter tires ;)). Riding with friends is soooo much better than riding alone, and I have to thank them (especially Rachael) for making riding as much fun as it was ...and for getting my lazy ass out of the house once or twice. Also, thanks to riding I've discovered a ton of places I've never been to before or didn't know how to get to both around Changwon/Masan and in other parts of Korea.
Random...the bike at the base of the big Dream Bay bridge (connects Masan and Jinhae)...sorry about the horrible pics, until I get a Canon S100, my main camera for rides continues to be my ancient Samsung flip phone.
I've also burned, according to healthstatus.com, around 40,000 calories (that's roughly equivalent to 50 bags of chips or 70 Big Macs) through riding in October. In the course of the month I've noticed I have more energy and hills (of which there is an endless amount in Korea) seem smaller and less challenging. Better yet, I've actually started challenging myself by sprinting up hills for the fun of it, something I've never done before.
This hill was particularly fun...Amnin Hill in Changwon, which, I believe, is the highest point in the Changwon area you can get to by paved road. It was roughly 5 km of straight uphill...the view is usually amazing (you can see Jinhae, Masan, Changwon, the sea, etc)...but, as my luck would have it, it was a foggy/overcast day the day I decided to challenge the hill:
As for traffic...in the country it's usually very nice, people are much more patient and calm than in the city and we have had few issues. In the city, on the other hand, it's a different story. You definitely have to be on your toes and have quick reactions. In general, though, I don't think it's much more dangerous to ride here than it was back in Canada (though Koreans generally don't shoulder check, which is incredibly scary if you're a rider), but riding here is definitely not for those with faint hearts or slow reactions.
One more picture and I'm done...perhaps the only picture that ties me, the bike and something uniquely Korean together...in Uiryeong on an 87 km ride :)
Well, that's it for me...right now it's 16 degrees out with sunshine and blue skies...guess what I'll be doing after school today? :)
T
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