May 3 bike trip.

On Tuesday, I went on my longest bike trip here in Korea. I rode from Sokcho to Eo-seong-jin and back. Eo-seong-jin is hardly a speck on the map but it's a place that I used to volunteer at the local school. The school is reminiscent of pioneer era, one-room schools with a total of 40 students.

Anyway, I rode to the school, about 40km away, and back. In Yangyang I stopped and went for a swim in it's new pool.

Last week, I was comfortable with 1500m but on this day my legs started cramping up after 500m. With a lot of stretching, I managed 750m.

With that discomfort in mind, I decided to take it easy on the last 20km home. I pedalled along easily until I passed Sunrise Park. At Sunrise Park, I stopped at a red light beside a dumptruck. I knew it would hurt but my fun side insisted I stick close to the dumptruck and draft behind it.

On green, I started slowly and stayed just to the side of the truck and immediately behind it. Soon, I was cruising at 50km/hr. I was pedalling harder than before but not hard enough to go 50km/hr by any stretch. The plan fell apart when the truck went up a hill.

Already working hard, I suddenly lost the truck's help and had to climb the hill on my own. Atop the hill, I carried on a little further and stopped at a supermarket. After I walked 10 steps, my thighs trembled on the edge of cramping. I walked through the market, leaning on my shopping cart with a wierd grimace on my face.

The next day I was fine, except for a bright red sunburn on my forearms.

coming up next week: I hope to make it to Gangneung to teach on Wednesday.