Update '07

Recently, my wife and I –to be explained later in this post- took a couple of days and drove north along the Korean east coast. This peaceful two day holiday, took us past many familiar places previously seen blurringly from behind handlebars. One of which being the fateful location for which the last two, very dated post are dedicated.

Having not seen that spot since being whisked away in an embarrassingly under-equipped “ambulance” (van with flashing light atop; cot and bottle of oxygen rounding out the interior contents), I was quite surprised at my lack of emotional response. Shock and Horror were nowhere. A smile, not chattering teeth parted my lips. But what did remain of that day, beside emotion and memory, after nearly a year and a half, the front fender of my late motorcycle was there lying, moss covered, in the ditch. "I landed just beyond there..." I said to Bek pointing out to the spot while she worked on setting up a seed to be spat. I looked out; It seemed the distances were smaller. The tree was closer to the intersection. The spot I imagine crashing into was full of green. Maybe that's why everything looked smaller. The trees and vines were now swollen with the seasons rains and sun. I felt like putting up a sign, "Here doesn't lie..."

My first real attempt at flying. MAN ALIVE, how lucky I was that day.

At the time of the accident, Spring was peaking around the corner, but not yet was a single leaf or fruit to be seen. The ripeness of the vine and the grape clusters filling stacks of road side boxes compelled Bek and I to buy ourselves a crate. From the same farmer in who’s field I landed, no less. With the box between us, the sun lit the mid morning road from behind as we traveled west. We ate grapes for the next 50 miles.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. Driving along the coast here in Korea is not at all like the states. The speed limit ranges from 30-50kph and I think there must be a coastal town competition to see who can put in the most speed bumps. Not that I blame them. I’ve been told Korea ranks no.1 for fatal auto accidents (I could not find any stats). This seems plausible. Try going only 10k over the speed limit and you’ll find a steady line of charging SUV’s ready to run you off the road. Not in much of a hurry, and thinking often of the little package swimming in the womb of my 7 month pregnant wife, I got used to pulling to the side of the road, letting the worlds worst drivers pass on by.

Highlights of the trip:
King crab
Waking up for the sunrise
Finding the sweetest, curviest, 200k long mountain road that I will soon carve on my Kawasaki.