Today, the punctuation marks were having flat tires (Hak Jun, the Dear Leader) and my Camelback podium bottle slipping through my hand and rolling out into the road -semi-flattened by a passing car, seeing an industrial and developing world of concrete and surrounding Ger communities melt back in the Earth's mantle where they originated. Dust and broken bones nearly missing a open manhole today. We ride through smoke and the perfume of Peace Avenue in a melee concerted orchestra keeping a nation together in the global community with pulses of life, controlled chaos of unEarthed cement and tarmac roads disintegrating into ashes which rose the amazing Phoenix of Ulaanbaatar.
Riding higher and above 1350 meters, the city calamity disappears now into infinity - This is remarkable and unmistakable, choosing the fastest way out of the city. Go west I would say! The air quality improves and the ride smooths into pulsing rhythms, the land and the bicycle tourist meet together as one - finally, without the cacophony of other vehicles and roadway dangers to sweep past and swerve to avoid.
The music of life is listening to the whirring whip of the bicycle chain while clicking away with the gears - today it only takes a thumb or finger flick to change your speed and adjust to the grade of the road. Sometimes I'm tapping brake levels and listening to the purring rubber tread of these Schwalbe tires making solid contact with the road, while keeping this cycle in motion. I see and hear so many noises that induce a rhythm or snake charmers trance. I am now on the fast track to adventure and my heart energy is pumping adrenalin which makes a cyclist smile. You can share the road with many riders, it takes a lot less room than a car, and you will always find peace within yourself - knowing that journey is the destination everyday.
Cycling is a freewheel motion, it doesn't require gasoline or internal combustion and can save us a lot money. It requires faith and dedication using a bicycle on a long tour because you cannot step off and leave a bicycle behind (at least not for long) since it carries your life's supplies and is essential to keep making your daily progress. You can walk together or ride together, stop and take a break together, or rebuild one another. The relationship builds over time, you need to cycle to reach a destination or a daily goal, and the bicycle needs someone to ride it, care for it's squeaks and tweaks and make sure the wheels are aligned -straight and narrow down the road, the trail, the mountain, crossing the stream, over the log in the forest, through the trees, down the mountain. The brakes are adjusted to work efficiently on steep hills, pads to aluminum rims or pads to steel discs. Above all, the bicycle was invented to keep you up to speed with your health, your life, your next adventure.
Bicycles have maintained their poise as an ever incredible invention today, yesterday or 100 years (3650 days) ago. Prices have sure changed, as do the styles and brands people ride. However, beyond the material and shapes and angles, the timelessness of bicycles and the pure joy to ride them hasn't changed at all. The creativity that comes from riding bicycles also makes this machine so special.
Relationships are formed through an introduction, cycle meets cyclists and together they illuminate the hidden, unexpected surprises that happen when this simple machine and the rider come together in motion. The turning of the crank, the whirring and whipping of the chain, the glean of silver light from a clear sprocket, the slapping of the pannier bags hitting big bumps in the dirt roads, sounds and motion. As long as sounds are consistent, the rider can be confident their cycle is running efficiently, smoothly through the gears especially when climbs out of valleys into steep mountain terrain.
When you ride cycles, you see nature and say hello to the elements - sunshine, rain, snow, wind, hail, thunder and lightning, dust blowing in deserts, tumbleweeds leaping across the highway, the roll of thunder clouds, those anvil-shaped heads of cumulonimbus or the whisking high rising lenticular-shaped clouds all characteristic of weather and climate, cycle and rider, the day you ride through. Bicycle touring is a compass to life, giving you better directions to take. It is also a gift that you keep preciously and practice to perfect because only a long road, or a daily commute can give you this kind of focus, the calm, the collected in money less spent while using the bicycle instead of the bus or the automobile.
I commuted to work in Vancouver, British Columbia because I could save the bus fares and empty stares on the bus, of course, cycling is so much more exciting and inviting to try. Most cyclists feel good when they ride, the daily grinding of the crank and the circumnavigating wheel spins 360 degrees in rapid motion, we go places and see faces, see nature up front and center and weather or climate can really give us heaven or hell depending on our longitude and latitude on Earth.
It's simply marvelous and miraculous, the bicycle. And even in the fiercest or calmest weather and climate on Earth - we can prepare for it, endure on our rides even when we are "caught out" without enough equipment and clothing preparation - we can still endure because or body works harder to move and stay warm, generating it's own source of heat through kinetic movement, our calories are consumed, we grow stronger every day in the saddle and consume more water than sitting in a room.
Bicycle life is an essential ingredient of life on our planet. There is plenty to be excited about - it can even give up many Unexpected surprises while bicycle touring the world, I just tried it in Mongolia! Bicycle touring and cycling anywhere is certainly the secret to youth and the best music your body will ever feel. Even if you can't dance, you can find a partner while cycling - never missing a step, because it is infinitely easier to ride.
The mountains are rising but it's a slight grade and the energy put into the legs is consistent, as the wind is warm and Northwest, it prevails to provide a soothing drying effect today in Mongolia.
That's today's journal from Mongolia - I live to ride my bicycle.
More adventure journals coming soon! These are my daily thoughts, reflections and experiences written while mountain bike touring across Outer Mongolia.
Thanks for visiting the Korean-World, a blog about Micro-Adventures, Cycling and Exploring from mountain bikes. Hope you enjoy these experiences too!
Riding higher and above 1350 meters, the city calamity disappears now into infinity - This is remarkable and unmistakable, choosing the fastest way out of the city. Go west I would say! The air quality improves and the ride smooths into pulsing rhythms, the land and the bicycle tourist meet together as one - finally, without the cacophony of other vehicles and roadway dangers to sweep past and swerve to avoid.
I come to Mongolia to ride mountain bikes, to experience a new culture, language and way of life. What I didn't expect was meeting 3 Korean university student bike tourers writing a $9500 US Korean guide book, using a Lonely Planet guidebook as their guide; and 2 Polish cycle tourists who said about 2 words in the few hours we passed each other. They cycled past us, I asked "What's your name?" The gentleman answered, "Peter" and 30 minutes later we are passing them, I ask, "Where are you from?" The same guy answers, "Poland!" And this is the extent of our conversation, like we were fierce competitors in the Tour, or we were out to complete the most impossible endurance race (on paved roads) leaving the capital of Mongolia, or perhaps some cyclists don't like company?
Unexpected Surprises // Mountains // Bicycle touring to the music of life //This journals title explains a lot and I will finish writing today slightly poetically. Life isn't simple, it's quite complex until you learn to ride bicycles. This is where the problems of life get smoothed out and rolled over - as thoughts and feelings have more time to settle down. Give yourself time away from everything that seems hectic and too important to let go. It takes a few rides to get to know, or re-familiarize yourself again, with the knowing and understanding that comes from moving miles and miles through thoughts, sweat, bottles of hydration added in a purposeful direction.
The music of life is listening to the whirring whip of the bicycle chain while clicking away with the gears - today it only takes a thumb or finger flick to change your speed and adjust to the grade of the road. Sometimes I'm tapping brake levels and listening to the purring rubber tread of these Schwalbe tires making solid contact with the road, while keeping this cycle in motion. I see and hear so many noises that induce a rhythm or snake charmers trance. I am now on the fast track to adventure and my heart energy is pumping adrenalin which makes a cyclist smile. You can share the road with many riders, it takes a lot less room than a car, and you will always find peace within yourself - knowing that journey is the destination everyday.
Cycling is a freewheel motion, it doesn't require gasoline or internal combustion and can save us a lot money. It requires faith and dedication using a bicycle on a long tour because you cannot step off and leave a bicycle behind (at least not for long) since it carries your life's supplies and is essential to keep making your daily progress. You can walk together or ride together, stop and take a break together, or rebuild one another. The relationship builds over time, you need to cycle to reach a destination or a daily goal, and the bicycle needs someone to ride it, care for it's squeaks and tweaks and make sure the wheels are aligned -straight and narrow down the road, the trail, the mountain, crossing the stream, over the log in the forest, through the trees, down the mountain. The brakes are adjusted to work efficiently on steep hills, pads to aluminum rims or pads to steel discs. Above all, the bicycle was invented to keep you up to speed with your health, your life, your next adventure.
Bicycles have maintained their poise as an ever incredible invention today, yesterday or 100 years (3650 days) ago. Prices have sure changed, as do the styles and brands people ride. However, beyond the material and shapes and angles, the timelessness of bicycles and the pure joy to ride them hasn't changed at all. The creativity that comes from riding bicycles also makes this machine so special.
Relationships are formed through an introduction, cycle meets cyclists and together they illuminate the hidden, unexpected surprises that happen when this simple machine and the rider come together in motion. The turning of the crank, the whirring and whipping of the chain, the glean of silver light from a clear sprocket, the slapping of the pannier bags hitting big bumps in the dirt roads, sounds and motion. As long as sounds are consistent, the rider can be confident their cycle is running efficiently, smoothly through the gears especially when climbs out of valleys into steep mountain terrain.
When you ride cycles, you see nature and say hello to the elements - sunshine, rain, snow, wind, hail, thunder and lightning, dust blowing in deserts, tumbleweeds leaping across the highway, the roll of thunder clouds, those anvil-shaped heads of cumulonimbus or the whisking high rising lenticular-shaped clouds all characteristic of weather and climate, cycle and rider, the day you ride through. Bicycle touring is a compass to life, giving you better directions to take. It is also a gift that you keep preciously and practice to perfect because only a long road, or a daily commute can give you this kind of focus, the calm, the collected in money less spent while using the bicycle instead of the bus or the automobile.
I commuted to work in Vancouver, British Columbia because I could save the bus fares and empty stares on the bus, of course, cycling is so much more exciting and inviting to try. Most cyclists feel good when they ride, the daily grinding of the crank and the circumnavigating wheel spins 360 degrees in rapid motion, we go places and see faces, see nature up front and center and weather or climate can really give us heaven or hell depending on our longitude and latitude on Earth.
It's simply marvelous and miraculous, the bicycle. And even in the fiercest or calmest weather and climate on Earth - we can prepare for it, endure on our rides even when we are "caught out" without enough equipment and clothing preparation - we can still endure because or body works harder to move and stay warm, generating it's own source of heat through kinetic movement, our calories are consumed, we grow stronger every day in the saddle and consume more water than sitting in a room.
Bicycle life is an essential ingredient of life on our planet. There is plenty to be excited about - it can even give up many Unexpected surprises while bicycle touring the world, I just tried it in Mongolia! Bicycle touring and cycling anywhere is certainly the secret to youth and the best music your body will ever feel. Even if you can't dance, you can find a partner while cycling - never missing a step, because it is infinitely easier to ride.
The mountains are rising but it's a slight grade and the energy put into the legs is consistent, as the wind is warm and Northwest, it prevails to provide a soothing drying effect today in Mongolia.
That's today's journal from Mongolia - I live to ride my bicycle.
Thanks for visiting the Korean-World, a blog about Micro-Adventures, Cycling and Exploring from mountain bikes. Hope you enjoy these experiences too!
1 comment:
Nicely presented Brian. It would be nice to get more of a picture, through your prose, of how your tour preparations fit into your real needs. I see you have established experience already so maybe Mongolia worked out easier than earlier tours. Maybe a little gaze into tour wants and needs? Do you meet anyone still trying to capture travels on film cameras? How did your Lynskey and components hold up? You obviously hold them dearly.
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