The day is here!

S2B: Seoul to Busan

It is not a race. Ep #1
Meet the P-stars. Ep #2
Fighting the demons! Ep #3

Bare necessities that we need! Ep #4

Episode 5: Day 0 S2B (5.10.2019)

At KLIA2 © EsKay

The flight that touched down that Saturday morning was filled up with dreary eyed cyclist who shuddered at the thoughts of what laid ahead. The journey was torturous to say the least, with hardly any body movement space even for a puny sized person like me what more my fellow cyclists who were six-footers. My heartfelt condolences went to them every time I knock my head to the seat in front as I bent down to take another scoop of Pak Naseer’s nasi lemak. 

Landing in Incheon International Airport, getting our extra-large luggage was quite a breeze. All we had to do was to load it on our trolleys - somebody has already taken it out. Clearing customs was a walk in the park. 

We did not attract any curious onlookers at the sight of seven jokers manoeuvring through corners and escalators with the load on the way to the train. I guess they must be used to this. 

At Cheong International Railway Station, we stopped for our first meal in Korea. Maybe it was the hunger, perhaps the pastry was good, we gobbled like starving third-world children. 

Time to reassemble © EsKay

Next, it was time to hit the assembly line. Monkey see monkey do. With trial and error, the machines were all up in about two hours. We were saddled up and ready to go. 

With our chief navigator glued to the navigation map, we reached the starting point, Ara West Checkpoint. 

The Four River Trail is mostly along the four major rivers in Korea and mainly along the old disused railway track. That is why we had to go through multiple tunnels. The Korean Water Authority is given the task of caring for the river and the surrounding areas. 

Our first impression was that everyone that we saw was slim and petite. Maybe it was because all we saw were cyclists. 

Ara West Starting Point © HS

Everything was going on fine until we were nearing our hotel for the night. It was the weekend of Korean Foundation Day, the day the first state of Korea of Gojosean was established in 2333BC. The whole cycling path was all filled citizens waiting for revelry. Fireworks were planned, and stalls were set up along our pathway. The navigations all went into disarray. After round and round, we finally reached our accommodation for the night, in Sopoong Guest House in Mapo-gu. By the end of Day 1, we had done 50km in our endeavour to reach Busan. 

Next came time to scavenge for authentic Korean food. 

Wandering around the town, one thing apparent was that young Koreans really dress up to go out on their dates. A typical girl would appear in monochromatic dull colour Western clothes, the porcelain hued face complete with the same vermilion coloured painted lipstick. The guys are dressed in their nines. 

Accommodation on first day © EsKay
Sopoong the Urban, Seoul.

Ordering at a restaurant is an art. The language barrier is the only thing that prevents Koreans from serving their customers. They go through great length to ensure client satisfaction- photos and google translate are apparently God-sent!

Korean food can be described as Chinese food but a spicier version. We enjoyed it. And the accommodation was decent. 

One new thing that we learnt is that, in Korea, when you are informed that the remote works by touch screen, it means you have to touch the control pad with your whole hand! Lesson learnt. 

End of Day 0.

Completed about 50km. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fighting the demons!

S2B: Seoul to Busan
It is not a race. Ep #1
Meet the P-stars. Ep #2

Episode #3: Fighting the demons!

It seems that humans start off life being fascinated with Nature - toddlers like to get their hands dirty with grime, dirt and soil, and as they grow older, they find union with Nature too. Is this a reminder that we are one with Nature or a hint of the adage 'ashes to ashes, dirt to dirt'!

What started as a weekend outing to Penang to partake a cycling race evolved to something that brought out the memories of the bygone care-free days of our youth. And we were itching for more. The agony of the heat, the sweat, the discomfort, the aches of sore muscles, the tan and the potential fall of the perch were no match for the post-race euphoria of accomplishment and the immersion in the high of endorphins.

Our resident techie, during one of his moment of bore, googled of a secluded highway in South Korea dedicated just for cyclists. It boasts of a 633 km picturesque trail along four main rivers on the Korean peninsula from Seoul to Busan. What started as a river beautification and flood mitigation effort soon became a tourist spot drawing cycling enthusiasts the world over to Korea.

couchonwheels.blogspot.com

Without a second thought, everyone in unison agreed to the idea of making a trip, and before long everyone was looking at the expiry dates on their passports, their work schedules and going online to book their tickets.

Then came the tricky part, the training. Leave it to Coach to prepare the pit to skewer the meat. We, the weekend warriors, in spite of the busy schedules, took the slightest excuse to grind and spin along the periphery highways of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. Places like Chanang, Titi, Puom, Pares and Bukit Antu which sounded alien to us before became our backyard.

Leave it to cyberspace to supply us loads of information about the going-on and the going-about of the trip. Unfortunately, many of the information with regards to the Four River Trail was in the Korean language. Further exploration revealed a Facebook page explaining cyclists' experiences on their trips in the trail. 

Nietzche reminded us not to be complacent when the going is good or conversely if the going is beyond hopeless. Either way, things would only turn around. Our training was marred with one of our rider having a temporary lapse in concentration that sent him skidding off a corner and his bicycle landing in a six feet deep ditch. Luckily, he flew off his vehicle just to sit nicely on the shoulder of the drain, shaken and stirred. His heroics stunts earned a broken clavicle which was quickly fixed and is on the road to recovery. Other small instances, like a snapped chain and faulty bicycle valve, gave the gang invaluable lessons in crisis management.

Necessity, mother of all inventions!

We have resolved not to let these temporary setbacks dampen the spirit. As they say, it is not the destination that matters, it is the journey that gives the most joy.

Courtesy of FB page - SBB Seoul, Busan and Beyond

(T - 15)

(Next: The Drama, The Uncertainties)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Meet the P-stars

S2B: Seoul to Busan
It is not a race. Ep #1
Episode #2: Meet the P-stars.

It is time to see our pedalling stars. Officially there will be seven cyclists. The seventh participant will be joining us from Australia. A young punk teeming with adrenaline and power, he is Coach's son and is doing his secret training to 'keep up' with the oldies.

Coach

@Coach
Spending half of his adult life on the hockey fields, he continued to keep himself fit even after hanging his boots. After his retirement from work, rather than lazing around counting his end of days, he found pleasure in the outdoors.
He remains the driving force in pushing us to explore our true grit. Like Jesus Christ, he goes around recruiting same-minded people who are willing to fight a good fight against surrendering to effects of ageing. 

Wayang

@Wayang
He is the second most seasoned rider in the group. He is nicknamed 'Wayang' (Theatrics) not because he is showy but precisely the opposite reason. He would often start his day lamenting how exhausted he is and how he did no manage a single wink the night before. At the end of the ride, he will be speeding past everybody else.
Always a 'Pekeliling flat' at heart, he enjoys the simple pleasures of life. Not forgetting his roots, he still carries the hidden mojo that sees him through any challenge.  

Tabib

@Tabib
Another dark horse in the group is Tabib. Named so because of his profession, (Arabic for healer), he has been secretly training on his own after an unforgettable, sweat-drenching, heart-pouncing outing with the group months earlier. He came out strong like Rocky after months of hibernation. Like a majestic swan, the little ugly duckling had transformed slim and durable. No hills remained unconquerable for this former state hockey player. Cycling clears his mind to think of the next topic to discuss in his next radio show.

@Rabbit
Known for his speed, he is aptly named rabbit. A perfectionist, a stickler to time and a master planner, he worries about everything that may happen and may not. Being higher achiever, after successfully completing a full marathon, the only natural thing to do is to cycle and swim. Come April 2020, he will be a triathlete. Going through an existential crisis, he is still wondering why he is cycling and from what he is running from!

@Bionic Man
The hockey stick would have been another appendage on his body in his teenage and early adulthood. His constant roasting and sweating it out in the hockey field earned his appearance at the national level. That also made his whole body re-aligned and his knees traumatised so severely that it had to replaced at a relatively young age. He did not reach the pinnacle of his achievements lying down. Hence, with the same determination, he laboured through the pains of bilateral knee replacement and the subsequent gruelling physiotherapy. His never-say-die attitude has now brought him up hiking mountains and cycling along interstate highways.

@Chennai Express
This Johnny-come-lately is the latest addition to the gang. Not being of the athletic type, he contended himself jogging around the housing estate. The fear of contracting diabetes, which ran deep in his family history made him run farther. Like Forrest Grump, he kept on running and now cycling, giving much palpitations to the family instead. Nicknamed Chennai Express for his occasional burst of energy that eventually fizzles out much like an express train that starts out with much pomp and splendour but reaches its destination late as usual!

Rabbit

Bionic Man

Chennai Express

(T - 32)
[Next: The Storyline]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.