Tuesday, April 28, 2009

WT: Letter to John C.S.



Thanks for updating John.

Understand both our situations right now. I know you spending much time promoting the increasingly successful "Rubberside Down" cycling documentary for the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of Canada (http://www.poweredbycommunity.org) and back to work at Chrysler. That's why I touched base now. I can't leave the family out of the picture for a year...and the Arctic to Argentina Bike will realistically take 12-18 months going solid north or south to complete, either starting from either end of the Pan-American highway. I'm not soft on distance as I am on time, but your right about my family responsibilities...and this ride is DEFINITELY NOT CONCRETE until it happens, unfortunately there goes the charity option!

Finally, I can finally afford this type of adventure (to travel just to travel and have a goal of distances/time, endurance exercise & places to visit along the route). But now, I've got a family to support on a Bread/Rice/Milk/&Kimchi diet in Korea and the family-plan to start plotting out a course for. I've just pre-purchased an apartment in Korea, the first in my life...previously, I was devoted to marathon/nomadic travel by motorcycle (25,000km of Canada/USA in 60 days on 5 trips 1994-1998), jeep (Windsor to BC to San Diego, CA), truck (Windsor to BC), or bikes (Ontario, Michigan, BC, California, Korea)...and never accumulated a dime living it to the fullest. Well, times have changed and so have I, getting much older now & wiser too (36). Not too old to enjoy a trip by bike...but in honesty, without your support...the CCFC Ride in the shadows of Rubberside Down without Greg & Vin's involvement here or my brother joining the ride, I think really few heads will turn up to this. I like what Nicholi Bangsgaard has done with his WT Bike: http://www.worldtravellers.dk and that model would stand the test of time, blogging, entertaining and perhaps sustaining a long-distance ride much fuller than Arctic to Argentina. My son is only 14 months (it might actually take that much time to complete the entire ride), but he has already taken interest in wheeley devices, all sorts of modes from cars to bikes to toys...& his favorite toy is a 4-wheel "Go Rider" push toddler bike. Matthew is also fascinated by my new touring bike, gripping the back tire and rolling it back and forth. He likes grabbing the rear cogs and getting his greasy hands. I'd say he'll be up for the task (in 15 years LOL!), if what I can only do now is only a smaller scale of the world touring, what will I attempt when I am 51 years old while Matthew turns 16? It's starting to sound like a dream, well, we'll see what comes to be, if nothing less...an adventure to enjoy from the Arctic Circle and who cares how it happens, how long it lasts or where I am going, just that it happens and the memory is imprinted and the nostalgia of cycling lives on!

Warm Wishes & Blessings on your journey with CCFC & Rubberside!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Family first! Wise choice my friend. Look forward to the rides later in life with your son. Trust me they grow fast. Dave

Please share the free inspiration and adventure cookbook with all your friends and families (:

Ted Simon Foundation

About the Korean-World Author

Brian Perich was an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lecturer for a decade, father, and adventure cyclist based in South Korea.

Previously, Brian has led Canoe adventures in Quetico Provincial Park, Atikokan, Ontario, Canada (1993/1999); led Grand American camping adventures (2000); lived at Paramahansa Yogananda's SRF Ashram for 5 months (see the film "AWAKE"), formerly worked in titanium welding at Agilent Technologies, formerly worked in Winery industry in Marin County with Kendall Jackson in California; Surfing and Meditation continued for several years in California, British Columbia, South Korea, Yoga training in California 1999-2000.

Between 1994-1998 - Brian completed his own adventures with motorcycles. His motorcycling marathons took him across the United States and central/western Canada, while traveling solo over an astounding 24,000km in 60 days! Brian endured 900 mile/1300km average days in the motorcycle saddle and apparently loved every minute of those adventures.

Today, he has given up motorcycle adventures altogether, but finds an outlet for his enthusiasm in outdoor recreation while bicycle touring and micro-blogging about those experiences on his mountain bikes.

While employed as an English teacher in South Korea, Brian has became an advocate for bicycle touring on his mountain bikes. The Korean-World blog originated from those small adventures in Korea, now expanded to cover his recent trek down the TransMongolian highway to the Gobi Desert, cycling 900km east through the Khentii grasslands and in 2012 crossing Mongolia in 45 days, 2500 kilometers 1553 miles. HimalayasX expedition Brian previously cycled across western China, the Taklamakan Desert, the northern Himalayas of East Turkestan Xinjiang/Uyghur Autonomous Region, the corrugated back roads and mountains of Kham Tibet. Brian successfully completed his 2011 mountain bike expedition with 3200 kilometers / 1988 miles unsupported, on/off road MTB adventure cycling.
Brian has completed his second mountain bike journey, MongoliaX expedition - Crossing Mongolia 2012, an unsupported mountain bike MTB expedition across 2500km of Outer Mongolia from Ulanbaatar to Altai Taven-Bogd National Park bordering China, Russia and Mongolia.


In 2013, as a sequel to a trilogy of cycle tours, Brian enjoyed a more leisure bicycle tour onboard his Koga-Miyata World Traveller seeing the northern tier of the United States and western Canada covering 3400 kilometers / 2000 miles in 30 days. This North American cycle tour was called Totherocktour. Enjoying the adventure of bicycle travel and every great conversation started while traveling on the road - has refueled his inspirations to cycle around the Earth. In 2013, while he cycled solo from the Great Lake State of Michigan, United States to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He weaved through local communities and reconnected with friends, family and community after spending almost a decade in Asia.


Brian is now supporting several non-profit foundations through expeditions: IDEAS Foundation of Canada IDEAS is the acronym for Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society which supports the IBD community, those suffering from IBD-inflammatory bowel disease, also known as Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis.


The second non-profit foundation is ETE.ORG - Education Through Expeditions, UK which supports educational outreach programs inside schools around the world. ETE connects explorers with students in the classroom, through an interactive online program in development (Beta).


Brian is researching support for a 18000 kilometer bicycle expedition across the Americas: North, Central and South America - ONE -Arctic to Argentina
Please contact him if you are interested in helping out.

Twitter: Cycleagain
Location: Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea or southern Ontario, Canada.

Thanks for visiting my Journal from Asia

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Brian's friends have also been...Cycling in Korea!

Brian's friends have also been...Cycling in Korea!

Cycling in Korea, Warning: always wear a helmet! (I gave mine to my friend)

Cycling in Korea, Warning: always wear a helmet! (I gave mine to my friend)

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