Monday, December 19, 2011

MTB: Mountain Biking in Daegwallyeong, Gangwon-do, South Korea & Expeditions across China's Himalayas 2011

Two perspectives of MTB (mountain biking). The first is using a mountain bike as a Touring Bicycle and riding across western China (Xinjiang/Uyghur Autonomous Region), the Himalayas, the Taklamakan Desert, Borohoro ranges of the Tian Shan, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces all in less than 60 days. 
 Northern Himalayas of Xinjiang/Uyghur Autonomous Region, China
Rivers running directly out of the snow water melted Himalayas, mighty old mountains, a place of beauty and majesty is up there while riding on a bicycle of any kind. A place to experience and to enjoy!
Solo 60 day Mountain bicycle touring adventure

Meeting a Sino-Tibetan family with their yak herd and cabin, hammering down rough roads in Sichuan, climbing over the landslides in Jolong, climbing peaks, riding through valleys, and meeting smiling people throughout the journey are all highlights of expedition travel.

These are raw photos and a video of the expedition. Enjoy! [Music: Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson]

I supported IDEAS foundation
Intestinal Disease Education & Awareness Society
http://nogutsknowglory.com

And a second non-profit, ETE
Education Through Expeditions, UK
http://www.etelive.org

Find out more, check those links. Thank you & hope you enjoyed the video.

Brian Perich

Cheers!
The second perspective is traditional mountain bicycle riding as pictured here in Gangwon-do, Daegwallyeong, Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea in winter. Bicycle touring requires a heavier frame, a hardtail or motionless rigid bicycle frame. Mountain biking, Cross-county (XC) or downhill (DH) in this case requires a lighter, stronger, dual-suspension bicycle equipped with shock absorbing attachments at either the front fork or integrated into the bicycle frame itself. Cross-country (XC) mountain bikes use Carbon, Aluminum, Titanium, Scandium, or Steel frames. Most have hydraulic or cable disk brakes, calipers, and steel rotors attached directly to the wheel hubs ranging in size from 160-203mm. Some mountain bicycles are equipped with 185mm front rotors and 160mm rear rotors for sufficient braking power. While 203mm rotors are reserved for Downhill bicycles that tend to be heavier, with longest travel suspensions, equipped with the strongest wheel sets, often with solid axles.

 An Dae Gi  - local sponsor of the HimalayasX2011 expedition, Gangneung Bike Mart owner and operator invited me (and my 1994 Kona Explosif, built and maintained by  An Dae Gi) on an 1100 meter downhill session finishing with some Cross-Country (XC) riding at the end of the day. I am wearing a Joe Jocket Ballistic jacket, make for motorcycle touring, with Kevlar foam inserts for protection, great in all recreational sports and insulated for winter use as well. I wear Pearl iZumi Overmits for warm fingers and a pair of cycling gloves for comfort/grip underneath in winter conditions.

The Daegwallyeong, Pyeongchang-gun MTB experience is worth the trip from Seoul or other areas of Korea. Cycling is a way of life, a way of freedom and personal expression and a way to connect with your community or the environment all around you. Enjoy the rides!

No comments:

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

I hope you enjoy the updates!

This site is best viewed in Google Chrome

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)

Popular Posts

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...