Asia Update #34 - Mountain Biking in Korea

Finally brought my camera on some mountain bike rides. I reported in my first message about a web site on biking in Korea (address ishttp://www.angelfire.com/ga/achamtb/). I have ridden with the author of the web site a few times and definitely agree that there are some fun trails.

They don't have any of the trail access issues we have in the States. Biking in Korea is in a much earlier stage. In my half dozen or so rides here, we have only seen 2 or 3 other people mountain biking. But you will see hundreds or thousands of hikers (as I reported in some of my write-ups on hiking). The hikers are generally amazed to see a bicycle out on the trail, and have nothing against you being there. On the contrary - Koreans like athletic endeavors, so are excited to see bikers on the trails. You can almost run a hiker off the trail, and they will still cheer you on. I guess it comes from the general lack of consideration towards pedestrians in Korea (such as the motorcycles driving on the sidewalk, cars parked blocking walkways, etc.). Why should it be any different on the trail? The hiker in the picture below thought nothing of waiting for the four of us to go screaming by - definitely not something we could do in the states.

Of course, there are some trail access issues here. Just different than what I am used to. One example is when the Korean army bulldozed some singletrack into roads (had to get their tanks up there, I guess). And you definitely want to stay on the trail, as the land mine signs you often see remind you (I need to get a photo of them). Upside is that where else in the world can you bike down a military trench…

There seems to be three general types of trails that I've seen in Korea - loose rocky stuff, feral trails in the trees, and some slickrock. Most of the stuff is pretty steep - any land that isn't steep they've stuck a building on (we are in a city, after all). The picture below shows Steve (the achamtb wed site author) riding over a rocky stretch, with Seoul in the background…

Below is one of the feral trails. That's Jakub. This was his second try - he biffed on his first run through. Just like when I was taking shots of the motorcycle courier in the snow, I once again didn't take any crash photos…

There is some good riding in and around Seoul. Does take me an hour to hour and a half to get to the dirt from my apartment. Not all that safe to ride among the cars, so thankfully much of the ride to the dirt can be done on the Han River bike trail.

Team Wrong Way folks will be glad to hear that I wear the colors when I ride. But you don't get to see it in these photos because I generally stand on the wrong side of the camera.

Off of mountain biking, but still on photos - I have placed a variety of the better photos on a web service called Shutterfly. This service lets you view and print the pictures. Check it out at http://www.shutterfly.com/my/os.jsp?i=67b0de21b316c22a6534. If you sign up as a member (which is a bit of a hassle, but doesn't cost anything), they will give you free prints of any pictures you want (plus I think they give me free prints also...). And let me know if there are other pictures you'd want me to put on here - I chose the ones I thought were best, but others may prefer different ones.

Asia Update #33 - Engrish?

Asia is generally good for laughs in how they try to use the English language. Have hit a few very interesting mistakes in my time here - ones which translate into something much different than what they meant it to. There are some web sites on this, including http//www.engrish.com (about funny Japanese mistakes) andhttp://www.feer.com/indexes/talesindex.html (covers misc. mistakes every week found throughout Asia).

One big mistake is that Rs and Ls are often mixed up by many Asians. Their languages do not have these sounds. Most westerners here have hit the stereotypical mistake. And I got it from a Japanese coworker when he sent me an email and wished me to "Have a good fright back to Korea".

The agriculture museum in Korea had a few good ones. Here are some pictures that show the best of the mistakes...

The one above was at a model of a farmer's guard stand for their melon patch. It was a small platform with a roof. Used for guarding the crop, and also as an escape from the "sultry summer nights". Why would someone want to escape from a sultry summer night?

This one was easy to miss. It is in the line where they talk about the King of Fruits. Crap apples sure don't sound like a type of apple I'd want to eat…

One common question I get from people in the States is when am I going to return. Well, I now have an answer. I return to the States in June. Well, sort of return. I will be keeping the same job, but will be based out of the States. The rough plan is that I will spend 2 weeks a month in the Bay Area and the other 2 weeks on the road (mostly to Asia). As if I don't have enough frequent flier miles…

The experience in Asia has been great for me - I definitely have learned a lot. This includes all the stuff you would expect, such as little of some of the languages and about the culture. But it has also changed me in many ways which I didn't expect. For example, I am now much more comfortable with not being in full control of my surroundings. Most of the time, I would sit down at a restaurant and not be clear on what I had ordered. Generally, this works out just great, because most of the food is very good. But you must be willing to accept that what you want may not be what you get, and their really isn't anything you can do about it.

I have a couple of pieces of advice to anyone who is considering doing a similar type of long trip. First advice is to eat yogurt. What you eat will contain bugs that won't agree with you - yogurt helps replenish your supply of good bugs to fight these nasties off. Next piece of advice is to smile a lot. When you are unsuccessfully trying to communicate with someone, it goes much better if you are friendly. Another piece of advice is to carry a little packet of tissues - seems many bathrooms in some countries expect you to wash your nether regions with water or just aren't stocked with paper. The last piece of advice or anyone who gets an opportunity like this is to go for it. Yes there are lots of risks and will be some bad times, but overall it will be a great experience.

Looks like I will be in Korea for the next few weeks. May enter a mountain bike race this upcoming weekend. Another couple of weeks of work, and then I take two weeks of vacation at the beginning of May when my lady-friend comes out to visit (the same one who I got together with in Hawaii). Hopefully, we will be spending a week in Thailand as part of this to get some diving in, catching some sun, and seeing if we can get another set of wallets stolen.