Anyone out there listening to the news? Brandon, you're the only one who reads this, can you see any way Bush won't be Impeached? He still has two full years. Plenty of time to insult both parties into action. This blog was never intended for politicking, but damn, I got say something. Not much good has come in the last 5 years, though I was stunned by John Roberts when I watched the last day of the Senate confirmation hearings. Not one note, not one lean in to confirm with an aide; direct immediate responses to every question for, what, five days. Most impressive. All to easy did he make it look.

But nearly everything else, terror aside (at least upon our borders), he's botched. I feel I'm preaching to the quire, since I imagine you share this opinion. I feel it more outside of The US just through association. I've never not claimed I was an American, but the reaction differs considerably when I'm introduced alongside any of my fellow compadres. I sense strong opinions underlying new introductions. The words, Yew Ess strike cords on peoples emotions, good or bad. But from the news and through friendly stories it seems the world is getting progressively more frightening. Might be that I'm simply more aware of the dangers, or, and this is an equation I calculate more often, we are reaching a boiling point. Only so much can fit in the pot, eh?

For now it's off to shower and then work. The weather is getting uncomfortably cold. However, the sun is out now and I can hear the children down at the elementary school, which means it's just about time to go.
So take care and we'll chat soon.

Seoul Part 2

Meet Andy at 1:15. Load three bikes. Toast a cold one. Pass out for a couple hours. Blink. Jerky bus pulls into the station. Bleary eyes focus on a sleep depraved daze. Bikes pulled out into the crisp air, we stare at each other and go about assessing material belongings. Looks like everything is here.

The two bike shuffle to Stu's nearest bakery and wait, eat yesterdays cooked dough listening to the shittiest music in the world. Korean Pop. Must compare most closesly to seventies eighties, nineties and current pop music popular in the states. Shit all around. As a matter of fact. It is impossible to escape this plagueish cruelty that most successfully satruated the lower half of the Korean peninsula. Pooah! At any given moment, while standing on any street in any large city, one could find themself deciding between no less than three different beats in which to walk to. Fuking mind numbing.

Get the call to come up to Stu's. Within twenty minutes the other 5 guys show, and it's on the road. Interesting Bongo ride. Stu's an interesting guy.

On the mountain, the drops were on. I managed to do three of the four big drops, opting out of the 15 footer that has only been managed by one other Filthy. And thus it bares his name: Johny's Drop. I'm still trying to get another photo or two of the other drops. This was the first of four. Did this one twice.

The mountain was not quite as fast as the previous weekend but railed all the same. No morning rain to add the adhesive to the dirt. Dusty it was. We put down six runs and far too much beer. When the truck was emptied in the garage we filled a 40 gallon garbage can with beer bottles. A bit excessive me thinks. The next trip up will be done with less liquid courage. The next trip up will be my last. Planning a hike and bike day on Acha-san. Beer doesn't have a place when we're hiking these beasts to the top instead of enjoying the pleasure of the shuttle bitch bongo.

After the mountain, we stopped at a USFK golf course and country club. They have the best burgers on the peninsula. These are the guys...
Most are part of the group named the Filthies.
This is the bongo crew. There's another couple guys
that we associate with a jeep. The jeep crew. Some of the
guys ride with both rigs, some choose not to. There's a bit of bad blood
somewhere in the group so when one rig goes out, the other stays home.
Childish. Hopefully that'll change before I come back.

So burgers down, little nap in the back of the Bongo on the ride home, unloaded and bikes locked up, Andy and I head for a bath house. 5 bucks gets you five varrying temp hot tubs, washing facilities and a razor. Looking sharp, feeling awake, ready to move, we hop in a police car and get a front door service ride to the club.

The music was good, the club was sweet, but the turn-out was shit. The head-liner didn't make his flight from England. Still, I managed to dance for 5 hours with about ten minutes of rest. I do this little crazy dance that has evolved from my yourger days on the floor of the 3B to a twisting hippy dance that only works with break beats. Superfun, but horrible on my recently broken foot. I limped home...

Well that's about it. A good weekend in all. I sold a bike, Andy sold a bike, the riding was twisted and fun, the eats and beats filled in the gaps and the KTX (Korean bullet train) zoomed us south to Daegu. Brought my lady some flowers and took her out to dinner when we got back. Woke up Monday tired but rested.

Next weekend I'm takin' it easy.

Close your mouth

So I know some of you must me sitting there speechless seeing another entry coming so close on the heals of the last. I've made a promise to myself that I will more regularly indulge my vanity by talking about myself. So here goes:

We're heading back to Seoul this weekend. Loamy, moist soil draws me north. Last weekend, The Nam held much similarity with the black soils of Galbraith. Wet my mouth just thinking about being home in six weeks. The trails were so sweet, partly to do with recent rains but more eloquently with the smoky morning mist that just seemed to linger. With nine sound riders, and one guy nice enough to drive us to the top all day, The endorphins came easily. It felt like some sections of these trails would breath for you. The bike rolls, accepting at times the smallest rein of control, at times violent yanks and jerkings, and never complaining when bounced off obstacles. It's quite ridiculous really. And it only seems to be getting faster and more fun.

So again we (Andy and I) take the midnight express from Daegu north to Seoul, arriving at 4:30am. This time I'll have two bikes under my ass. Not sure how that's going to work yet... Spend the day on the mountain, fueled by adrenaline and beer, then off to a club I can't remember the name of to see a DJ I can't remember the name of. But hey, it's breaks and in a land ruled by the unimaginative beats of Hip Hop, any name will do.

This time I'll try not to be shy with the camera. It'll be out and often. I took some video last time, but nothing I was impressed with. Getting out the camera just never seems an option. We never want to stop. At 20 mph, two inches from trees, Launching and landing, driving a tire hard through a corner, Ah, How could you stop. Its top to bottom. The lead changes from time to time when someone misses a turn or slides out, hits a tree, tumbles into the bushes or just can't go fast enough. And then it's up and the race continues. But about cameras; there are a couple of drops I've eyed in the past but either didn't have the courage, confidence or enough beer in me to try, or I've been on the wrong bike. This time should be different. Drops always get cameras out.

As I mentioned, I'll be home in six weeks. Turkey sandwiches, cranberries, salt and pepper, and some of that TG stuffing. On a roll. Diana's rolls.

See you all soon.

Time

A good friend of mine was recently commenting on how little time he has to nurture his creative side. Concisely listing all the required resposibilities of his daily life while wistfully alluding to the plethora of unexplored interests just out of realization. To him I say, get off the internet you gomer. And burn your TV while your at it.

Finally heading back to Seoul this weekend. Haven't been in almost 6 months. Went up once since I broke my foot in April but wasn't in good enough shape to put in much of a showing on the mountain. This time should be different however. My bike is dialed. My foot hurts not. And with the last few days on the mountain that I've had, I'm sweating confidence. (A fantastic pheromone for the dance floor by the way.) My buddy Andy and I'll be taking the 1:30 express bus from Daegu tonight and getting in around 4:30. Then it's a light pedal across a couple bridges swamped in the morning light of commuting Seoulite headlights. (Koreans work 6 day weeks, 12 hours a day. There kids go to school no less than 12 hours a day except Saturday which they attend for four hours. And they pay almost 6 dollars a gallon for gas. And for reasons I have yet to find, they're nearly always smiling.)

When we arrive at Stu's, it'll be coffee and bike maintenance, load and hit the road with six or seven riders, all with monster bikes, destination: The Nam. Nam han san seong, home to an endless system of top shelf trails laden with slimy roots, bush hiding boulders, sickeningly steep shoots, an occasional drop for good measure and the always elusive hikers. Add beer, lack of shut eye and pride and you have one fast train of sexy Filthies. (For anyone who cares, mtbk-adventure.com is the group sight for my fellow riders. If you dig deep enough, you'll even find a picture of my sorry ass.)

After the day's riding has concluded, the plan as of now will be to meet some friends from the Bellingham area, eat some international food (burger at The Hard Rock) and try to find some company on the dance floor. I just want to hold a hand. I'll let you all know how that goes on Monday.

that's it for now, I'll add a couple pictures sometime soon if I can remember how.

Life has been nothing if not exciting these last few months. It's been a while since I've actually written anything about this passing time. Since my last wordly wrote, I've seen the sun crest snow capped Bavarian alpines from the romantic conclave of an ancient Inn nestled in the shadow of the (some say) Worlds greatest castle. Heard tales of Kings and Priests, of warriors and marching armies. I've watched as the city of Munich exploded in a kaleidoscope of smoking color: 360 degrees of bang and pop, boom and sizzle. Waltzing in Munich as The rockets red (green, blue, yellow, white...) glare lit up my soul. A New Year on which it was only proper to see the sun rise whilst dining on the fine cuisine of the only open restaurant, Burger King.

Returning from one land of ice and snow to another. I embarked on a frigid onslaught of well established and lightly populated trails. Where the exploration of snowy mountains was made all the more invigorating by the highly anticipated arrival of my Dirt Bag frame, unlocking doors I am only now realizing are ,metaphorically, "off the hinges."

I was recently discussing with a new friend how difficult it's going to be to reassimilate again into the US culture. Having only been gone for a year and a half, I'm simply not ready to be home for any real length of time. I only think of my next destination. Having lived the last year appreciating the company of well travelled people; folk who have explored the real essence of their destination, not just the bus ride from the airport to the hotel, but have gone to the "farthest" regions of the earth with little more than a back pack and a smile; their words linger in my mind and fan the flames of dread that have kindled at the thought of US life. I need to keep exploring. One of the greatest reflections I've had since my departure from Candy Land is that I truly live day to day. So rarely do I dwell on my life and "where I'm going." My favorite reply to the "what's next" question is, "we'll see." A visit home will be just that. The thought of putting down roots and all would be hard. Not saying that with the right job and situation I wouldn't be happy, but it'd have to be just that.

Cold on Apsan

Legal Drug

Me and Kev in North Korea

Neuschwanstein

sik fuk

Hohenschwangau

Fookin German, designers. Trying to make it impossible to save money...

But his bike is soooo much bigger than mine...

Just look at those drop outs!!!

National Treasure #!1

Me and Turtle with pillar on Back

Insadong

Monk painting

Nearly November

The newness of blogging has diminished as told by the near silence of this month. Bringing myself to actually sit and add entries, creating interesting recaps of daily moments has lost the flavor of novelty. Easily fixed, but I will have to do some retro blogging to account for nearly all of November. In my defense, I've been constantly on the go for nearly the whole month. One of these days I'm going to get a chance to sleep in, I hope!

As for the latest news. I spent the Thanks Giving weekend in a Southern suburb of Seoul named Suwon (수안). Took a train after work on Friday at 8:00 and arrived nearly 3 hours later. Met my good friend Kevin George at the station and promptly found a local watering hole. After 3 highly priced foreign beers we warmly walked back to his rather new, and quite comfortable apartment talking all the while of my upcoming trip to Germany. Having spent a bit of time in Europe this last year, he offered up many suggestions and a wealth of pamphlets and books to help my journey along. Looks like my school will be giving the week following my return to Korea as our vacation. I'm thinking I might extend my trip 5 or six days. The plan had been to drive the Romantic Road, starting just south of Frankfurt and finishing in Munich. But now I'm thinking of heading straight to Amsterdam for a night or two and then due East to Berlin and South through Dresden on to Munich. And doing the Romantic Road in reverse. All that aside, I'm more interested in waking Christmas morning next to my lady. Who could ask for more?...

Saturday, Kevin and I took the subway for an hour and a half up to Seoul. I was in need of bike parts since I somehow managed to yank the disc brake hose out of the fitting, pissing out all the oil and leaving me, again, with no front brake. Damn Hayes discs!!! This is the second time my front brake has gone down in two weeks. I still have no idea what happened the first time. Never again will I buy a bike with hydraulic brakes. The power is nice but the hassle when things go wrong is simply not worth it. From now on, it's Avid mechanicals for this diehard. Besides, I'm selling my bike in order to pay for my new ride and I needed to replace the parts I am handing off to the lucky recipient of my AC1.

After the bike shop we took a taxi down to the traditional district of Insadong (인사동) so I could finish my Christmas shopping. On this street I saw more x-pats than anywhere else so far. Other than at Route 66 on a Saturday night. Very diverse crowd buying up traditional Korean tinketry. And that was exactly my reason as well. After successfully completing my shopping, Kevin and I were in need of a quick bite before dinner. TGFS... Thank God For Subway.

Sometime right after sunset, we met up with Heather, Kevin's wife and made our way to their friends house. Nothing like a traditional meal to make one thankful for all the blessings in the world. Traditional in a very Easternly way. This will mark my first Halal Thanksgiving. We had curry chicken, cucumber sauce, Nan bread, Indian rice, potato cakes of some kind, and a veg. Dessert was three blends of tea, lightly sweetened but exceptionally potent. A lovely dinner no doubt. We're all getting back together the weekend before I leave for Germany for a tour of the DMZ. I hear it's most interesting. The day following, I'll be stretching the legs of my new ride. Fook ya. Fook me. And since the shuttle bitch (Bee's jeep) is back in transport condition, I won't have to pedal my new tank except to try and keep up with these madmen on the descents. "Nanhamsan, I shall tame you!"

Achasan

Litmus Test

View from the top of Litmus Test. Bee in the near fore ground. Seoul in the distant fog. As close to a sunny day as one gets in the smog of the 11th largest city in the world. Surounding areas included...


Seoul Sunset

Bitch of trail. Think I would have performed better had I not finished that last beer. Excuses aside, this is simply an amazing trail. Super technical sections of pant soiling steepness combined with drops, off camber boulders, and random Korean hikers. Utter madness... Going back for more this weekend.


Bee trying again while Drew checks his line


Second attempt success