Totherocktour 2013 // How I started Zen Biking to reach the Rockies of North America // The Beginnings //

The Beginnings…Part Three.
How I returned to North America on a long-distance bicycle tour from Korea

The original plan to start exploring…

About five years ago (2009), I started hatching a plan to cycle the length of the Americas (Alaska, USA/Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada, America, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina), I created a website to support the foundations of that earlier dream – Arctic 2 Argentina, and alas, some things dreamed are not possible when you have other things on your plate with the cup half full. I came into new realities with parenting, working in EFL university education (long vacations but low pay), but there was still a bright spark of light inside this dream and others…so I put those dreams into motion. I created several alternative expeditions in the deserts of northwest East Turkestan, the Himalayas of western China, through the Steppes of Outer Mongolia and to the Rockies across North America this summer.

Rebuilding myself through Zen biking…

I’ve been fortunate in many ways, I walked away from a potential career start in nursing about 7 years ago. It was tough, the end of a dream, the end of my financial situation, a time of hurt and demise. I burned for wanting something outside my borders (Canada) and sacrificed everything to make that dream a reality. When I left the United States 7 years ago, I had my tail between my legs and had to start over, all over again. I wanted to start to repay school loans, thought about starting a family remotely, and followed love and not the money initially – that plan worked, I stuck to it till today. I returned this summer to North America to reconnect with my friends and family and community across the continent, that was the third tour I have completed, Totherocktour2013, it was a good one!

First destination following my course of Cycling in Korea (2007-2010)…

Back in 2011, I wanted to be successful, I prepared in the gym for 10 weeks doing cross-training, loads and hours of treadmill, and after the 36-hour standing-only-train-ride across 2000 miles of China, I was ready to ride to shredded ripples of flesh, bone, muscle and tendons (I transformed physically from 96kg to 85kg (10 weeks cross fit) and further losing mass from 85kg to 70kg in 60 days (38 days on the pedals), crossing Taklamakan desert and southern Silk Road of East Turkestan down to the Aksai Chin on the borders of Pakistan while shedding fluids with explosive diarrhea and taking on the advice and tonics from local Chinese migrant workers to complete the first stage of that ride. And continuing that first expedition, I completing a second stage across the Himalaya ranges through Sichuan and into Yunnan Province through Lugu Lake and north to Baima – Snow Mountain, I gave my bike a rest after 45 days and spent a week traveling overland back to Kunming, Beijing and finally Incheon, South Korea. Mission completed.

Family…

Today, I have two children (Matthew 5, Sierra 2) and a wife that understands where adventure sits inside my life beside our family unit priorities. I do expeditions for several reasons, – I need it physically and mentally, I work hard to keep it moving, I have made life connections that I never knew before to professional explorers, perhaps one day I will be like many of them taking on bigger challenges beyond the bike. My family know I am exploring, my extended relatives rallied when I crossed over Outer Mongolia in 2012, so I see positive signs in the stars and on Earth about exploring terra incognita. The family foundations, the roof is over our heads, the bikes pieced together to make it till the ends meet – and luckily I have continued to roll out on expeditions after recovering from doing them,  (HimalayasX2011, MongoliaX2012, Totherocktour2013…) and there is more ahead for the rest of my life, where to explore, just name a few places right here (________________________________) Yes, I want to go.

What is Zen biking?

Zen biking is something that occurs when you have overcome odds against you. You overcome work challenges, financial challenges, educational hurdles, cycling walls ahead of you on nothing but faith in yourself and support with a strong will, strong family you built, strong legs and strong bikes with enough sweat, grit, and walls gone through (bonk!) – YOU fine tuned your body to adjust to a focused endurance ride across countries. Once the practice of bush camping, stealth camping and baby wiping is honed days on days of touring from one place to the next, you can stack weeks and accomplish some big adventures, in chapters of your new life on the road. Zen biking happens when you melt off the miles on maps, start meeting incredible people and share good conversations. For starters, you have a bicycle with equipment strapped on, so when people see you – they will be amazed or filled with wonderful questions which are easy to answer. It’s also a great opportunity to photo shoot, a memento for you and those you have met on the road. I also like to keep a paper journal for signatures, since the travels need a record book of thoughts, feelings, places in description and the fabric of your human journey created in a collection of words and addresses left by those kind souls you have met.

To the Start…

Within 3 months of planning, writing, reading, purchases and preparations, I had gathered all the equipment (all I needed was 5 Ortlieb panniers – Rollerback Classic rear panniers, Frontroller Classic front panniers and the Ultimate 5L handlebar bag with Map case), a modified mountain bike with front and rear carrier racks and some physical changes to prepare myself. I began training in a gym (loved the treadmill at 8-13% grade for an hour or two – dropped 10kg body mass in 10 weeks).

I also found the interest and support through the owner/operator of a  local bicycle shop in Gangneung City, South Korea (AN DAE GI @ Gangnueng Bike Mart “THANKS BROTHER!”). So, remember to rely on your LBS (local bike shop) for mechanical service support and by buying parts there -you support your LBS, it’s that simple, THEIR FRIENDSHIP AND HELP is priceless!

When it finally came time to launch – I didn’t regret getting started, bicycle touring and endurance treks are highly addictive, they made me feel younger outside and older/more experienced a person inside.

Zen biking is special, when you throw yourself into a journey with no way out (except to quit!) carrying that bike or riding it wherever you go, the bicycle carries you across international borders and countries – this is the amazing part of your life journey – getting started and going for the dream!

Others who came before me…

Jumping ahead now, I followed Nicholai Bangsgaard on his RTW Round-The-World odyssey on a Koga-Miyata World Traveller (2006-2010), and donated to his cause, no charities, just a bike trip around the planet, and the donation I made went towards his rear wheel rebuild in Montreal, Canada.
After reading Nicholai’s journal entries from his RTW, I wanted a Koga-Miyata World Traveller.

(Disclosure: All that is required for expedition touring is a reliable mountain bike with carrier racks for reliable panniers like Ortlieb, or bikepacks like REVELATE or PORCELIN ROCKET would do the job nicely, a tent, thermarest, warm sleeping bag and some reliable clothing…a water filter, that would be enough to get you touring – World famous touring bikes are a luxury not necessity! I do enjoy riding my Koga-Miyata because of the anatomy of the frame, strong wheels and BROOKS B17 saddle…you can always build your own touring mountain bike with these parts!)

When you watch someone from your armchair ride around the world, and I have watched many of them on bicycles these past 6 years from different cities in South Korea, it inspired me to try it! Now, I get INSPIRATION dreaming more!

GET LUCK!

In 2009, I hit the “luck” button again after completing over 10,000 kilometers (6000 miles) around the Korean peninsula in my first few years touring with mountain bikes.

I made the local Korean media, they announced my plans to cycle the Americas, and I made a few partnerships with professional global explorers, Antony Jinman – British Polar Explorer and Robert Hill – Canadian Mountaineer, both whom run their own non-profit foundations, the former is ETE – Education Through Expeditions, connecting explorers with the classroom, and the latter is IDEAS – Intestinal Disease Education & Awareness Society, connecting community working together to overcome health problems through adventures. Foundation partnerships are helpful foundations for understanding exploring before you set out on your own.I have become an international Ambassador through my efforts supporting these organizations – and proud of it!

Downtheroad.org – information I collected to start touring myself…

I knew another American cycle-touring guru named Tim Travis personally who had ridden one down the Americas, he rides generic touring bikes these days and continues to promote books on his world traveling experience while the website offers up technical tips of bicycle touring at DOWNTHEROAD.ORG which really helped me get started.

Who is willing to sponsor you?

First off in 2009, I contacted Commuter Bicycles, Santa Barbara, California to see what was in stock.
Eric Schmidt at Santa Barbara, California based Commuter Bicycles had the Koga’s in stock. We talked about bicycle touring, the A2A project and he made a pro deal with me – that support was the foundation (symbolic and monetary reward!) that I had done my leg work, the website existed for some time, and I had shared inspiration with others through the process of highlighting #microadventures I had been having with $200-400 dollar mountain bikes across South Korean territories (99,500 km square).

Who helped me in 2011 and in 2012?

That was five years ago when I first made a pro deal with a bicycle dealer in the United States. This was long before I had completed a single non-motorized expedition on a mountain bike. Although, I had criss-crossed the United States and Canada 7 times between 1994-2001, so I had experience in other areas including motorcycles and vintage American built four-wheel drive Jeeps. At last, I’m glad I planted the seed for adventure cycling with the initial pro deal on the Koga-Miyata World Traveller. 

Although I couldn’t technically import the Koga-Mityata into South Korea (fearing +20% tariffs on retail price plus the freight), I used any bikes available to me in South Korea starting off (2007-2010) so I didn’t see the KOGA until this past summer of 2013 – I would like to say sincere thanks for the help of Eric Schmidt at “COMMUTER BICYCLES” in Santa Barbara, California for hooking up the expedition deal.
I have only broken-in the Brooks leather saddle and can appreciate the tough design of this triple-butted 7005-aluminum frameset. I have yet to test out the Shimano Deore XT rim brakes on Himalayas or Andes Mountain terrain, but I am relieved there is a disc brake mount on the rear of the frame!

MongoliaX2012…Riding with Nomads, horses, goats, yaks camels in Outer Mongolia.

In 2012, I contacted Lynskey Performance in Tennessee, USA to see what they had in stock.
Don Erwin offered a pro deal on anything in stock in their American inventory. We settled on their M240 26er frame because I was running Mavic Crossland wheelsets with the factory Fox Racing RL32 fork from 2008 (Gary Fisher HiFi Deluxe donor bike), 1 1/8th headset, and Shimano 9-speed drivetrain setup with SLX Hollowcrank…I wanted to ride titanium for the first time, it was definitely worth the investment, and I completed the MongoliaX2012 on a Lynskey frame with my parts build-up again by my friend./shop owner AN DAE GI of Gangneung Bike Mart, Korea. An Dae Gi managed the build of the M240 within 24 hours of my flight to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 60 days later, I returned to Korea with a lot of rugged experience on the Steppe deserts.

I spent the summer of 2012 chasing tracks across Mongolia and learned about their culture, customs, language and amazing hospitality. A Nomadic nation that lives close to their environment and herds of animals to sustain life in a wild, undeveloped pasture and grassland with a long valley, and high mountain terrain.

45 Days in Mongolia, 2499 kilometers (1553 miles) cycling, walked and trekked for 38 days. This was my second non-motorized Solo expedition with intercultural connections with Mongolian Nomads, Herders, Khalk-Mongol, Kazakh-Mongol living on the great, wild steppe, mountains, deserts of Outer Mongolia. I will have some work to do writing up the expedition this year. Updates were posted to Facebook, but the details will be released in print/PDF in the future.

Who helped me in 2013?

Dave Babcock – who believed in expeditions since the day I met him in 1997. For his long-time support and encouragement about exploring the world on bikes – thank you my brother!

My mom, Cathy Perich – who believed in expeditions when I cycled and walked across Mongolia in 2012. She has been compassionate and concerned about my international family and has made several visits to the Republic of Korea.

My dad, George Perich – whom believed in expeditions when I cycled and walked across Mongolia in 2012. He became a stronger supporter once I became a father, teacher, explorer and international ambassador. My father made a special visit to the Republic of Korea in 2010.

My grandfather, Frank J. Zehnder – whom contributed to the limited funds I use while on expeditions. His generosity and leadership in my family network is second to none. My grandfather is a retired metallurgical and chemical engineer who completed double Masters degrees at Purdue University.

My wife – Mi Sung. Because she cared enough to let me go explore, let me live the life I wanted to live.

Carl Bentley – Australian cyclist and supporter of my adventures. Thank you brother!

Cathy Gignac-Beffort and Dave Beffort – Canadians that rock! They provided a base in Calgary where I could complete the ride to the Rockies and provided a safe haven where I could rest and recover, they invited me to the Flood Relief Concert 2013 benefiting the victims of the Alberta flooding disaster. And Cathy helped arrange everything concerning my safe return to London, Ontario where I pedaled back to our hometown of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I should report the safe return of her suitcase thanks to Heather Staudt-Hibbert, another friend whom I haven’t seen in 22 years, great reunion with you both!

Ken and Lynn Zehnder – family who believed in expeditions and gained interest when I cycled and walked my way across Outer Mongolia in 2012.

Amy David Nadia Sonja Moehle – Turtle Lake, Grand Traverse County, Michigan – For sharing your wonderful home with me and making the tour all the more special. To your parents Aunt Kathy and Uncle John Daniels for extending that love and friendship we’ve shared over the many years on Earth. To Christopher Daniels and Lisa for sending me off from Detroit and sharing our friendships together. To Margaret Thresher for hearing and following my adventures across new frontiers, I will prepare that writing we spoke about this summer.

Friends in Bemidji, Minnesota – Carey, Levi, Ben, James…Once I was tailed by State Police around the Bemidji area, first signals and sirens ringing out on Highway 2, I knew the area had some problems ongoing. The State troopers followed me off the highway exit into town, driving parallel to the paved bicycle paths on a gravel road. I knew there would be no stealth camping here. Cycling into town, I asked locals about finding a Super 8 motel for the night, as I pedaled through the deserted streets, I met Carey and Ben out front of their community house that’s shared with some amazing friends. They offered their sofa, tacos and in exchange I bought a couple cases of beer!  What a great night being hosted with you guys, the campfire, the good conversations shared! Hope we can crossroads in North America again soon – on the next totherocktour! Thanks for your community and support.

Nick Davy, Stephanie and family in Medicine Hat Alberta – I couldn’t ask for a better place to rest, relax and recover from the bicycle ride across the country. Nick and I played high school football at Holy Names High School in Windsor, Ontario and this was our 22 year reunion out west in Alberta, Canada! I also met the Swiss Nomad, Victor Gervais who pedaled through 72 countries and has worked for his family heritage vineyards in the mountains of Switzerland for 8 generations. Victor started his tour from Miami, Florida, United States in February 2013, and pedaling his way North along the eastern American coast he encountered thug life in a State Park near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Camping alone in the off season, he was assaulted by 5 youth, struck over the back of the head by an assailant, and left unconscious outside his tent overnight. Most of his belongings were stolen, so he replaced them using his Traveler’s checks and rode north through America and into Canada’s East Coast in Labrador and Newfoundland, continuing through Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and in Cadillac, Saskatchewan – we met and I befriended him. When we reached Nick & Steph’s house in Medicine Hat, he received the same amazing welcome – food, clean clothes washed, and hot showers!!! Heaven, and as I promised Victor, I made all the peanut butter sandwiches he could eat and went to the bank giving him part of my summer expedition budget to continue his journey across Canada, through the Okanagan Valley, where he planned to pick seasonal apples and then complete his ride down the coast from Vancouver, British Columbia through Hwy 1 in Los Angeles, California he planned to fly back to Switzerland. We keep in touch via email, but Victor doesn’t maintain a website about his travels or connect using other social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

To all the new friends I made, to all those that contributed to the fabric of our experiences this summer, I appreciate all the good conversations that adventure did bring, hope we all meet again!

Cycling with Matteo Zeni and Davin from the Rockies into Cochrane, Alberta. Great guys and will miss chasing after you on your 29ers and 700c wheelsets, faster than the old 26er that much is certain. It was an awesome tour meeting all of you!

Meeting Canadian Actor, Keifer Sutherland was also a highlight of the tour this summer. Keifer was approachable and allowed me to introduce myself, my ride across North America, my life in Asia. Keifer said that he and his father Donald Sutherland were filming a new Western movie called Forsaken about 30 miles away. It was the end of a high-adrenylin day touring all the way from Banff National Park to Cochrane, Alberta. 

More technical support/friendship for this year’s Totherocktour came from…

Brent Stoen at the “SKI HUT” Duluth Minnesota, thanks Brent for repacking my bottom bracket assembly well-greased and adjusted well. A great community bike guy who cares about service!

David Sears at the “The Ski and Bike Shop” in Grand Forks, North Dakota – With David’s help, he adjusted the headset tension, changed the bicycles fit completely, allowing me to complete 100-mile days and bring this tour to a successful Totherocktour 2013. Dave is a bike guru with no less than 10 bikes in his stables. We enjoyed an All-Bike Rally in downtown Grand Forks, North Dakota which featured Harley Davidsons, custom motorcycles, custom bicycles and great conversations and cold beverages too! had a great time visiting you David and hope to do it again!
completion on schedule – 30 days, 3400 kilometers (2000 miles). This was my third non-motorizd solo tour on a bicycle –

Totherocktour 2013, #goodconversation was the bedrock of this bicycle tour from the Great lakes state of Michigan, USA to Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Canada on the infamous Northern Tier (Highway 31 North and Highway 2 West!) in the United States, I pedaled and wild-camped through Michigan’s side road parks and wilderness fire-roads in their Upper Peninsula on across northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, across the international Canadian/US border at Northgate, North Dakota, USA entering Saskatchewan, Canada and riding across the fantastic prairies and lake province into Alberta and onto the Rockies on the Continental Divide.The ride began with a re-connection with my friends, family and community across all of North America (Canadians and Americans) with reunions in Alberta with friends (Cathy Gignac Beffort and Nick Davy, whom I hadn’t seen in person in 22 years, that was amazing to spent time together again, like yesterday it really was!). Finally, I ended my ride in my hometown of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. There are many stories in between which I will share in other posts about this summer’s Totherocktour 2013, I am working on future posts from my journal pages.

Friendships and Exploring – finding support in the community where you live.

Back in the cold winter of 1997/98, I met my long-time friend and supporter Dave Babcock of grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Dave was my former employer over that winter when I prepared financially for my last motorized motorcycle adventure around the United States. My objectives back then were to experience America at a community level in small towns and open landscapes of the northern tieron my first tour in 1994 (Highway 2, the first journey to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from Windsor, Ontario via Detroit, Michigan and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Seattle, Washington) lasted 7 days on the motorcycle (8000km). Of all my motorcycle tours, the last was one of my longest continuous (5900 miles, 15 days) from Detroit, Michigan to Phoenix, Arizona to San Francisco, California to Eugene, Oregon to Seattle, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia. 

As I remember and recorded in paper journals and 35mm photography, #goodconversations were always behind the mission to cross the terrain that stretched for thousands of miles across North America. I completed each tour (of 5 using motorcycle) for a combined 24,000 kilometers (16,000 miles) in just 60 days. It’s amazing what you can see, experience and who you can talk to in that condensed period of time, I wish I had circumnavigated around the world, it would have been even more interesting! Anyways, I would like to thank Dave for always being a friend, always being supportive, always being like a brother and a father in my adventure life. Always willing and supportive that I turn another page, and cross another international border on a bike.

Through the Bible-belt of America, Western Michigan, I past the Mason County Reformed (Christian) Church and their message was loud and clear – a question I asked myself all summer on tour: “Where are you camping?” (read my caption in the image above!)

This is where my Totherocktour2013 began, at Dave’s house in the countryside west of Grand Rapids, Michigan and where my 2009 Koga Miyata World Traveller has been kept in safe keeping for the past five years!!! Dave and I opened the box sent to him in 2009, and finally in 2013, I was on the road to the Rockies, but first stop was my Zehnder family reunion – the first reunion I would attend in a decade and the first time I would step foot in North America in 6.5 years away in Asia! 

Great to see all the family again and being a part of the memories!

And then…I was on the road again…

To be continued…

Dream big and ride into those dreams!

HimalayasXTour // Mountain biking through // Sichuan Province // A2A Explore

“Love is a bicycle with two pancakes for wheels. You may see love as more of an exercise in hard work, but I see it as more of a breakfast on the go.” 

― Jarod Kintz

What is the route planned for this summer?

ToTheRockTour2013 – This tour is all about connecting with friends, family, community and nature from the Great Lake State of Michigan, USA to the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Banff National Park.

What is this – a bike tour, an expedition, a trip back home (Canada)?

This is all the above. A trip back home to Canada (first in 6.5 years while living in East Asia). It’s an unsupported tour with the bicycle once I launch from Michigan and ride towards the Mackinac Bridge. Family is first and adventure is second for me. I spend the winter recovering from the experiences in Mongolia (X journals), so right now I am just making connections to my friends and family – this is vitally important.  Pre-tour with family, and on tour there is so much opportunity to live in the outdoor experiences. There will good times and bad times, moments with serendipity and some days with injuries and despair. But there are so many simple joys, happy thoughts, free spirited songs to be sung as I move along. You can Prepare, but don’t over prepare. Take each day at a time. Go explore by doing your own thing, enjoy it and share experiences with others. Life is short but beautiful when you begin to notice more, fear less, open yourself and your ideas about the world around you. There is so much to see and so much to do. Go for it.

– See you out on the road. (:

Why go bicycle touring?

It’s a great way to travel and see many parts of the world out of the tourist routes. You can travel over and through international borders, you can meet new cultures in their home environments, you learn languages, you eat delicious and exotic foods, you get exercise, you become more global minded through the process.

How did I get started in mountain bike travel/touring?

I started off with mountain biking in 1988 in and around Windsor, Ontario, Canada and surrounding Essex County of southern Ontario. I explored with my friends Ciro Viviano and Greg Schiller and later as a member of Caboto Velo Club and Maple Leaf Cycling Clubs of Windsor. I started riding BMX, Motocross-styled bikes with suspension, then steel frame Mountain Bikes with rigid forks that worked exceptionally well along the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia and through the XC forest trails of southwestern Ontario and Michigan. I progressed with Road racing and 700c wheeled road race bicycles.

“To ride a bicycle is in itself some protection against superstitious fears, since the bicycle is the product of pure reason applied to motion. Geometry at the service of man! Give me two spheres and a straight line and I will show you how far I can take them. Voltaire himself might have invented the bicycle, since it contributes so much to man’s welfare and nothing at all to his bane. Beneficial to the health, it emits no harmful fumes and permits only the most decorous speeds. How can a bicycle ever be an implement of harm?” 

― Angela Carter

Today, I have taken similar machines, both the cheap (aluminum $50 frame in HimalayasX) and the exotic (Lynskey titanium $1795 frame used in Mongolia X) assembled by my friend and professional (AN DAE GI) proprietor of Gangneung Bike Mart, Gangwon Province, South Korea.  Today, I have exceeded most of the mental barriers to 26er mountain bike endurance expeditions, but I also see the sport evolving with Fat Bikes, 29ers, 29er+, and Bikepacking which substantially lightens loads.

Where did I recently travel?

Across the Korean peninsula 2007-2010, Deserts and Himalayas of western China in 2011, and across the isolated Steppe of Outer Mongolia in 2012, but I am hitting hard pavement and visiting friends and family across North America this summer (: 

Who did I support?

I supported the IDEAS (Intestinal Disease Education & Awareness Society) 

led by Mountaineer Explorer Robert Hill.

I supported ETE (Education Through Expeditions)

led by Polar Explorer Antony Jinman

I am also a fellow of the Ted Simon Foundation as a Jupiter Traveller

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” 

― Ernest Hemingway

MONGOLIA X 2012 STATS:

TOTAL DAYS: 45

TOTAL ALTITUDE: 40,000 meters / 130,234 feet of altitude change on course

TOTAL DISTANCE: 2500 kilometers / 1553 miles

DAYS ON: 38 days pedaling

DAYS OFF: 7 rest and injury days

FOOD CONSUMED: 2000 grams of powdered protein, 45 mega-packs of vitamins/minerals,

12 jars of pickles, 20 liters of grazing Goat, Yak or Horse milk, Wild onions, Fresh water fish, Mutton, Sheeps tongue, 6 bowls of noodles/meat/fat, 5 kilograms of yak/goat cheese, 12 fish.

BODY WEIGHT: Start 95 kilograms. 10 weeks cross-fit 85 kilograms. Completion 72 kilograms.

DAMAGE: cracked and repaired front rack plate, bent/cracked rear carrier rack, 1 replaced, 1 repaired. 

PHOTOS TAKEN: 1500

SONGS PLAYED: 0

HIMALAYAS X 2011 STATS:

TOTAL DAYS: 45

DAYS ON: 38 days pedaling

DAYS OFF: 7 rest and injury days

ALTITUDE: N/A meters / feet of altitude change on course

DISTANCE: 3200 kilometers / 1988 miles

FOOD CONSUMED: 20 loaves of Nan bread, 2 kilograms of oatmeal with raisins, apricots and dates, 45 mega-packs of vitamins/minerals, 1.5 kilogram of Gatorade (making 50 liters)

6 jars of pickles, 10 liters of grazing Goat milk, 8 bowls of noodles/meat/fat, 2 kilograms of rice.

WEIGHT: Start 96 kilograms. 10 weeks cross-fit 85 kilograms. Completion 70 kilograms. 

EQUIPMENT DAMAGED: Rear wheel split 360 degrees, repaired with block of wood, hammer and electrical PVC tape roll, 1 bicycle tube patch.

PHOTOS TAKEN: 1500

SONGS PLAYED: 14

Sichuan welcomes, mother and daughter, giggles and lunch with their family 

 This is my life, now or never!!!!

这是我的生命，机不可失，时不再来！！！ — with ONE – Arctic2Argentina – Eco-Expedition of the Americas & Asia Expeditions.

 Older brother home from college to help his mother and siblings with the summer planting

 Beef bone soup and rice…and a bike wash

牛骨汤和米饭… …自行车洗

I kept the upper fork stanchions clean (an old cotton tube sock) and the rest of the bike was covered in mud 

我一直上叉支柱清洁（旧棉管袜子），其余的自行车在泥覆盖（：

There’s a local woman there, hauling her greens! 

 Friendly families, this young guy is a student on summer vacation returning to help his mother and younger brother and cousin

友好的家庭，这个小伙子是一个暑假的学生回国，以帮助他的母亲和弟弟和表弟

 Control center but no petrol engine is required to explore here

 lush vegetation that grows exceptionally well in Sichuan along the fertile mountain valleys

 Road conditions, very muddy!

And just a little further down the S214 we find the water buffalo in a herd 

 Peace!

 The boys of Sichuan mountains. — at Jiuzhai Valley National Park (九寨沟）

 The future generations in Sichuan Province, in the mountains together again

 Nurture to nature. I unloaded from the hitching episode and rested on the mountain for a while to recover from the shake up. — with ONE – Arctic2Argentina – Eco-Expedition of the Americas & Asia Expeditions and Antun Čolig in Mianning County.

You just never stop moving in the Himalayas

Riding a water buffalo, first I have ever seen in person!

骑水牛，首先，我见过的人！

Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

– Charles M. Schulz

Mongolia X Journal 2 // Mountain Mysteries, The Marmot, the Wolf, the Nomads

X Journal 2
Peaceful tracks, forgiving pastures and then the steep, hardened arid dirt tracks of the northwest. I seem to be making good progress today. I am above the mosquito deserts now, out of the inhaling swarms. I am almost a free bird now and the kilometers have stacked up in my favor. Going back now, the herders and I gathered by the coal stove that cold night, the smoke twisting up and around the tent, the downdraft of plateau winds taking us all inside. I warned them of “carcinogens” but all my words are incomprehensible now, they have been for weeks and weeks.

I might never be entirely successful at communicating without a common language, but I always make considerable efforts to communicate beyond borders, beyond languages, and connect with people of cultures new to me. I believe it’s important to consider that all life on Earth has a connection, though there may not always be direct communication. For us humans, we communicate through language, voice tones and intonations, through movements and body languages, and it can be understood. Throughout my journey across Mongolia this summer, I have encountered many people, met their families and we gathered together in a single location – the Ger. The steel pot stoves are at the center, there are usually 2 supporting interior poles inside, linoleum mats for the entrance area then rugs, the women sit on the right and the men sit on the left (visiting too). There is an organization and order about the Ger, it’s a sacred place and a living space at the same time, one room.

We gathered around the pot stove, the twigs and branches were all collected from the craggy mountain chasms and boulder areas above us. Now the dry timber wood was starting to “pop, crackle” as the steel pot stove opened and closed with gasps of oxygen surging into the glowing embers. Other Nomad herders were behind me smashing coal rocks into small shards and hand-sized chunks to fuel the fire’s hearth. Some Herders were also summering on the 2500 meter plateaus while on their university vacations, their families tended to a herd of 50 goats and a few dozen sheep, they were prosperous holding a Ger store in the camp, they catered to all other Nomad families in this area. We all ran into the motorcycle Nomads here, the alcohol-driven madmen had appeared over the same horizons that I climbed for 12 grueling hours mixed with relief of local Nomad tents, children sawing wood the old fashioned way, or wrestling with each other. The summer is a pleasurable time in Mongolia, it also requires Nomads to keep to their flocks, working longer days, and preparing for the inevitable harsh winters.

I had been lost for a few hours after crossing the divide (2500 meters, 8200 feet). There were 1400 meters now between myself and the deserts below had taken me only to this ledge. Only a few horse single tracks were distinguishable, and I was moving 12km/h cycling or stepping down and walking 5km/h for the past 12 hours. “Soon…” I thought aloud to myself that the end should be in sight. I looked across the mountains, I could easily climb right off and para-glide out for 20 kilometers across the translucent blue sky to reach the valley floor. Checking the Garmin 705 GPS again, a small track is visible here, nothing visible to the north in my gaze, except the visibility of a twin jeep track across the deep valley running from East to Wes,t where I wanted to go. I started the techincal XC mountain descent without tracks or any hesitations, jumping stones, pushing the Fox Racing forks in their element and avoiding the marmot holes. My mind wandered as I wondered about wolves and where this trackless space was heading. The topography of this area was now important because I had no route to follow and needed to take even more care not to become injured while riding off-tracks, alone.

The huge curving mountain luring me below on a grade too steep to see clearly, although the desert floor was always in sight. The pitch increased 200 meters down and over the mesa, it was unrideable to reach the end. I turned my head around and saw the silhouette of a Nomad on a horse over the crest of the mountains. I checked the GPS again, and then my compass, there would be no turning back after another 500 meters out and I had 750cc of water left, so I would need to refill before dark.

Earlier, I amused seeing a white sheep-man hunting. I thought, “What in the world is sheep doing with a gun, haha” I kept pedaling down, catching the surface and cutting lines on the rough 9% grade. The sheep-man leveled his wooden rifle, I took out my camera and he was facing downhill towards me, perhaps a good shot for a marmot, this must be a sport hunter of some kind. When he fired his shot, he pegged the poor marmot standing on it’s hinds 50 meters ahead of me, the gun was pointed right at me but the bullet hit the little burrowing creature. Mongolians will blow torch small game like marmot, stringing it up by it’s hind feet, they tie off it’s orifices with steel wire and use a butane torch and proceed to burn the hairs right off while cooking it. There was no torch needed here, the sheep-man bagged the marmot into a white sack, and shooed me away once I was level with his location, I shouted “Canat-as-ir-sen” I’m Canadian and he motioned that I move up the mountain and not to take any pictures. I was scared when I first saw him laying in the green fields, but relaxed after I passed the hissing bullets in his shooting galley. The hunter was working with other biologists from the WWF (World Wildlife Federation) and was hunting at 2250 meters, collecting specimens for laboratory analysis – the bullets might have been tranquilizers.

The WWF group were Mongolians, based in Ulaangom, and they welcomed me to goat tea, and fried bread. I opened my backpack and shared some “arroz” Mongolian cheese, which to me, is delicious and quite indispensable on an overland journey by mountain bike. We spoke about their work, another man represented the group, his English command was superb, the driver was about 50 years and the others all professional biologists were females in their 40’s. The young biologist explained their mission in the area, monitoring the species of marmot and wolf. There were wolf?! He warned that wolf roam the higher plateau’s at night and attack game, they would attack someone walking alone, but wouldn’t come through a tent setup for the night. Their plan was to pack up and return to the O.T. Ger Camp that was less 10 kilometers up through the mountain pass that I had been trekking for the last 10 hours. 2 hours later, when I emerged from the valley trails, there were no Mongolians in sight and certainly nothing of a Ger camp for tourists, all directions was immense and drifted endless towards the Siberian borders to the north.

I aborted the knobby downhill spin after 500 meters descent, I realized even to camp here, I would do so without chance at all for water replenishment. The WWF biologists spared 500cc of their water for a single Camelback podium bottle, but this wouldn’t be enough for the next 12 hours till morning. Disappointing to see the unbelievable moonscape and not be able to continue riding across it. At least for now, I would turn back and climb the mountain again and search for herders and their flocks of sheep, goat, and horses. They would be out there, since the lone Nomad had a horse and he stood on the ridges above me about a kilometer way, then disappeared to where he had come.

What I forgot to mention were all the families, since they were all summering at high 2000+ meter altitudes, it was an ideal time for grazing their horses, those Mongolian bands of sleek horses that trot to the rhythm of the winds. The children gathered together and it was joyous time since we’re in August summer days with cool Siberian winds from the northwest always keeping temperatures comfortable.  I feel a little cold here, since this altitude and climate is something I am unaccustomed to coming from Korea or North America, where both geographical locations are – just above sea level. Out here, I am already over 2000 meters above and it’s considerably more exposed, windy and barren without any tree in sight. The families were friendly, as were their children. Boys were helping push my bike up the climb but insisted I stop in to meet their families. They keep inviting me into their Ger tents to meet family, to drink salted goat tea and converse through the graphics I take in photographs, or guests write into my journal pages, or with the maps. There is always mystery and excitement in meeting new people from different places, in open spaces, especially in unusual locales like mountains.

Traveling by bicycle is a curiosity to many, sometimes I even surprise myself with what I am doing at any given moment on these expeditions, truly believing in serendipity and those challenges that lead up to it. BELIEVE. EXPLORE. ADVENTURE ON.

Thanks for reading. More journals from the Mongolia expedition coming soon!

India’s 1st Mt. Nandadevi International Mountain Biking Expedition 2012

1st Mt. NANDADEVI INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKING EXPEDITION (official website)

 PREVIOUS RACES HELD IN INDIA 

SWEET VICTORY COMES FROM DEDICATION 

 CULTURE AND SPORTS CONNECTING WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION

 PAST EVENTS ACTION, IN NOVEMBER 2012 THE ACTION WILL BE HIGH IN THE HIMALAYAS!

 COMMUNITY INTEREST, SPORTS ENDURANCE RACING, EXPLORING INDIA!

I’ve been following the Mt. Nandadevi International Mountain Biking Expedition updates through their Facebook event page. The regular updates are upbeat and the event seems to be taking shape gathering an international following. The 1st bi-annual race this year starts November 23, 2012 and finishes December 1, 2012 along the Himalayas.

From their website, 

“Indiamtb.com is an initiative of INFINITE EVENTS and few young, energetic and vivid cyclist of India who have join hand to design and manage few National and International Mountain Biking, BMX and Flat Land Cycle events across India. The team at INFINITE EVENTS is building this years MTB endurance race in a quest to present South East Asia’s biggest International Mountain Biking Expeditions.”

Background on the 2012 Expedition:

“We named the event 1st Mt. NANDADEVI INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKING EXPEDITION and dedicated to India’s Second highest mountain MT. NANDADEVI.”

Mt. NANDADEVI INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKING EXPEDITION is all set unveil on the 23rd November 2012 in Uttrakhand (www.uk.gov.in). This event will start from Dehradun the capital of Uttrakhand and will end at Auli.”

Starting on 23rd November 2012 and finishing on the 1st of December 2012, this multi-stage race will cover 9 great days will criss cross Gharwal area of Uttrkhand State. Mt Nandadevi International expedition takes place in the Indian Himalayas region covering 400.6 miles (645km) at altitudes above 3000 meters. Participants will breach elevations of 3768 meters (12365 feet) at the highest point taking in spectacular view of great Nandadevi Mountain. Each night of the event will showcase different Gharwali Cultural performances by local villages and a dance performance by a noted Odissi dancer on the day of closing ceremony.

“Mt. Nandadevi International Mountain Biking Expedition (MNIMBE) has been designed for cyclist that is physically and mentally prepared. Riders will witness beautiful landscapes as they pass through mountains, tropical rain forests, Villages. The race course has various different types of terrain, from gravel, asphalt, single tracks, and forest.”

Exedition Race Route:

• Day 1    : DEHRADUN – KOLUKHET – MUSSORI – GEORGE EVEREST – MUSSOORIE
• Day 2    : MUSSOORIE – SUAKHOLI DHANOLTI KADUKHAL – SUKUNDA DEVI TREK – CHAMBA
• Day 3    : CHAMBA – NEW TEHRI – BORADI – TIPRI  – PIPALI DALI – GADOLIA – GHANSYALI
• Day 4    : GHANSYALI – CHIRBATIA – JAKHOLI
• Day 5    : JAKHOLI – MAYALI – TILWARA – KUND / UKHIMATH -SAYALI
• Day 6    : SAAYALI – DUGALBITA – CHOPTA – CHANDRASHILA TOP – MANDAL / GOPESHWAR
• Day 7    : GOPESHWAR / MANDAL – PIPAL KOTI – JOSHIMATH
• Day 8    : JOSHI MATH – AULI – GORSON TOP (NANDA DEVI BIOSPHERE)  – AULI

Total Distance: 400.6 mi  (645Km)
Total Elevation: + 141463 / – 140127 ft
# of Track Points 42488
Num Course Points 70
Start Elevation 3209 ft
End Elevation 4503 ft
Minimum Elevation 1213 ft
Maximum Elevation 11793 ft
Average Elevation 3685 ft
Max Grade 40.0 %
Avg. Grade -0.1 %

“Each stage of the race will feature two checkpoints where medical assistance, food and drinks will be provided to each athlete. Fruit, water, sandwiches, energy bars and energy drinks will be supplied at each checkpoint.”

“Mt. Nandadevi International Mountain Biking Expedition (MNIMBE) offers 4 categories: Open Men, Open Women, Master (the sum of ages must be +80 years) and Solo (This includes women and men). These will be the official categories if and only a minimum of 5 teams sign up for each category. Individuals under 18 years of age will not be allowed to participate.”

“Prizes will be rewarded at the end of each stage to winners of that day. The leader of the race will also receive a prize daily. Jerseys will be given daily to the winners of each stage as well as the leader of the general classification. The winners of the general classification will receive a cash prize at the end of the race. The rest of the winners will receive other great prizes and surprises.”

“Mt. Nandadevi International Mountain Biking Expedition (MNIMBE) the race was created to satisfy the hunger of extreme athletes and to share the beauty of India.”