Braking Boundaries

We set out from Korea fully knowing that our travel plans would have to be fluid as they are dependent on world politics, country stability and visas. I thought I’d take a moment to let you know what we have talked about lately.

Initially we had planned to go along the Southern section of the Silk Road and into Kyrgyzstan. This was ruled out in Xi’an when we realized that we should have gotten our Kyrgyzstan visa in Beijing.

Now we are currently heading along the Northern Silk Road and will stop in Urumqi to obtain a Kazakhstan Visa. Our plan is then to cross Kazakhstan and take a boat across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. This boat comes once every 1-2 weeks or when it feels like it. To do this we need to obtain an Azerbaijan Visa. Not a problem, just go to any Azerbaijan embassy.

It turns out that the embassy in Kazakhstan is all the way to the north in Astana – a very long detour on a bike

To get around this it looks like we will now be stopping in Almaty, Kazakhstan to get a Kyrgyzstan Visa. Then cross over into Kyrgyzstan to its capital Bishkek and obtain an Azerbaijan Visa.

This is the plan for now. Who knows what will happen between now and when we get to Kazakhstan in the next month.

It looks like this on a map

We’re down to just 5 days before our lives become a few bags on a bike so I thought I’d better send out a map of the exact location of where will be leaving from in Yeouido after our morning ride from Ilsan.

From about 11am Sat the 11th of April you will be able to find us on Yeouido by taking Exit #3 of Yeouido Stn (purple line) and walking about 200 meters to the park where you will see a humongous Korean flag that is in front of the National Assembly building. We will be there from 11-12pm before heading for the Incheon ferry terminal and China.

Cherry Blossom Festival
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It turns out that the day we are leaving (Sat 11th of April) is also the start of the Yeouido Cherry Blossom festival, so if you have nothing to do and would like to make a day of going to Seoul why not hire a bike or some inline skates and enjoy the beauty of Spring .

See you all on Saturday.
Jared, Tom, Katie and Dave

Link to Map

Jared and I popped up to Ilsan last Saturday (3/20) for an appointment that David had arranged for us at a local bike store.

The staff were very courteous and polite, and spoke enough English to explain each step in rudimentary detail. They measured, noted, adjusted, and measured some more, even going so far as to minutely move the clips on our bike shoes a few millimetres to the optimum position. The only eyebrow-raising moment was when the chief mechanic sneakily lopped a few inches off my seat post to lower it; this mutilation of my beloved Surly conveniently occurring while I’d nipped out for a can of coke.

I’ve no idea if it’ll all do any difference, but the thought of a little less strain on my joints as I pedal x-hundred thousand times over 16,000km makes the peace of mind factor easily worth 50,000 of my hard-earned Won. All in all, it was a very rewarding morning; much more satisfying than my post-fitting bike ride home to Bundang – headwinds all the way.

Our lives are fast winding down here in Korea with just under two weeks before the ferry to China. Katie has just returned from her trip back to the USA with the last of our gear. Tom leaves for a short vacation home to see his family in Ireland before before arriving back the night before we leave for China. Kath has bought a dog to replace Dave while he is away riding and I am unemployed.

That brings us to today. With a bunch of help from our close friend Ken, Tom and I reduced our lives of just about 5 years to a small shipping container.

Strange to think that a place that has been called home can be reduced to so little, and how inconsequential worldly possessions really are.

Now we just need to pack those panniers and get on a the ferry.

The BB team enjoy a good parade as much as the next person. So, when an opportunity arose to participate in the annual Seoul St. Patrick’s Day Festival, we positively jumped at the chance.   The festival, in one form or another, has been a mainstay of the Seoul social calendar for the last few years. Economic times are tough, so there was definitely a degree of austerity and downsizing compared to last year’s spectacular along the Chongyechon stream. Despite these difficulties, the festival went ahead as scheduled on Saturday past in Hyehwa’s Marronier Park.

Like the festival itself, the level of our contribution was very much in doubt until the last minute. Jared and I spent most of Friday evening finalizing Katie’s snazzy brochure design and finding somewhere to get it printed up, while David went about the process of obtaining a few bilingual banners from his contacts in Ilsan. It all came out all right in the end though, and on Saturday we had a full complement  of three bikes and riders (Katie is currently in the US on vacation and was unable to attend, though she was certainly with us in spirit).

Amidst a sea of folks dressed in varying shades of green, we set up shop next to the tent housing the display for the Seoul Global Help Center, handing out copies of the team brochures and answering queries from intrigued and occasionally baffled members of the general public.  Bikes and banners at the ready, we then followed the parade along its somewhat abbreviated route through the back streets of Hyewha before returning for more Q&A until it was time to head home and escape the cold.

Thanks to the Irish Association of Korea (www.iak.co.kr) for allowing us to participate, to everyone who came out to show their support in near-freezing conditions , and to all the festival-goers who stopped by to check out our static display.

Apologies to the people of New Zealand (not New ZELAND) for the little typo on the brochure. Spell checking at 11pm on a Friday is never going to be 100% perfect. And to the poor bespectacled little girl to whose father David inquired , “Would your SON like to sit on the bike?”

In June 2007 a plan was made. Four friends would attempt to ride unsupported from Korea to Ireland, a total distance of over 16,000km – almost the entire breadth of the Eurasian landmass.

That day has finally arrived !!

On Saturday April the 11th 2009 Dave, Tom, Katie and Jared will start their adventure from Ilsan, the place that they bought their first bikes in Korea, ride to Yeouido near the 63 Building (Korea’s largest skyscraper), pack their gear for the last time into their trusty car (The Packen II) on Korean soil and head for the ferry to Dalian, China.

We invite you to come and say goodbye one last time either in Ilsan, Yeouido, or both. Maps will be provided of the exact starting point in Ilsan, path we will ride and the gathering/leaving point in Yeouido shortly.

Saturday Itinerary

5pm – Leave for Dalian, China by Ferry

Can’t be there on the day? Not in Korea? Show your support below :

Join our Fan Page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Braking-Boundaries/19898301324

Follow our Trip Blog : http://www.brakingboundaries.org

And most importantly, donate to our chosen cause KIVA and help lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

http://www.kiva.org/team/braking_boundaries
http://www.brakingboundaries.org/kiva/

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, they gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide.

See you Sat the 11th,
The Braking Boundaries Team

Hello? My name is “your name.” I’m an Emergency First Responder. May I help

Last Saturday Dave, Katie, Kath and I attended an Emergency First Responder and First Aid course to better prepare ourselves for the potential injuries that come with 4 cyclists traveling over 16,000 km’s.

Jokes and good times make serious situations much more enjoyable. “Now how do you get these damn gloves on.”

For all those office fans out there. The picture below was taken with episode 13 season 5 in mind. And no we were not taught to harvest the organs.

I also hope we can find a spare scuba fin on our travles so Katie can splint a leg.

In all seriousness though, it’s nice to know that we will be able to look after each other to the best of our abilities and at least have more of an idea what that entails.

Special thanks to the guys at Deep Blue Quest dive shop and our instructor Ryan for his fantastic guidance. http://www.deepbluequest.com

Tom and Katie came round last night (Dave was here the previous talking about the same thing) and we got my big world map and started drawing lines on it. Why?

After the team having the chance to meet come cycling legends and listen to them speak about what to do, what not to do, what is cool to see and what isn’t it was decided that we really need to take a good look at routes, including alternates and what our actual goals of the ride are.

After Dan Martin drew a line on a map last weekend and said this would be more interesting we have had some lengthy discussions and the images you see are the result. bviously there is no right or wrong way to get from A to B (Sort of – Iran has been ruled out due to Katies visa) it has been nice to spark the debate (sometimes heated – but we still love each other) of “why not go here instead” and “this is an option if this doesn’t pan out.”

From everything that has been said, we are all aware that you can’t really decide exactly where to go until you are on your bike riding through lands unknown and talking to those you meet. And as much as I personally am an over planner, letting go of the need to know in advance and go with the flow is going to be important and I look forward to learning this skill.

For now though, it’s exciting to draw lines on a map.

It’s breakfast time here in Korea and I plan on eating pizza and drinking coke. All part of my new training regime. Eat whatever I want for the next 85 days.

Last weekend I was unfortunate enough to be away while Katie, Tom and Dave got to sit down with Dan Martin.

Dan is back to Korea after completing a 426 day bike ride from South Korea to Cape Town through some of the (in my opinion) most dangerous countries in the world. He is currently getting ready to leave on his next adventure, a world triathlon.

Swim : New York -> France
Cycle : France -> Alaska
Run : Alask -> New York

Luckily for me though Dan just happened to be in Bundang on Wednesday night so I jumped on the oppurtunity to sit down and pick his brain about all the different experiences he had. Dave, upon hearing that he there was a chance to chat to him again made the long trip down from Ilsan

It’s a great feeling to sit down and chat to someone so enthusiastic about the world

But the night did not end there. As Dave was waiting for Dan to return from somewhere a gentleman sat down next to and must have overheard Dave talking about our trip to someone else when the guy (now known as Thorsten) said “I’ve been cycling throughout Asia and the world for the last two and half years.

It turns out that Thorsten is on an extended break here in Korea before heading to China. What are the chances of that!!!!!

I’d have to say that this Wednesday night goes down as one of the most interesting, informative and random nights that I have had in a long time.

We all plan on sitting down with Thorsten in the coming weeks to hear of his stories while on the road through foreign lands and his encounters.

You can follow Dan’s Adventures past and future here.
http://www.koreatocapetown.co.uk
http://www.londontocapetown.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php/pages/Daniel-Martin/48521059312 (Facebook Fan Page)

For more information on Thorsten and his adventures check out his website.
http://www.bambi-on-tour.eu

….and don’t forget to become a facebook fan of Braking Boundaries
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Braking-Boundaries/19898301324

Today was the last day of the series of three rabies vaccination shots that Tom, Katie and I have been taking. It was also the last in a series of three shots of Hepatitis B shots for me.

I thought it would be worthwhile writing up exactly what I vaccinations have taken in preparation for this trip. While this is my personal list I assume that my fellow team mates also have these vaccinations. I have also listed the prices that I paid here in Korea roughly converted into USD

Vaccination List – What I already had before the trip and therefore didn’t need.

• Tetanus/Diphtheria (lasts 10 years)
• Hepatitis A (supposedly lasts for life)

Was vaccinated for Varicella (chicken pox) and Pertussis (whooping cough) as a kid.

Vaccinations in the last 3 months

• Polio / $25 (this is a booster that lasts 10 years)
• Hepatitis B / $70 – (3 shots over 3 months that lasts for 5 years)
• Typhoid / $25 – (1 shot that lasts for 3 years)
• MMR / $20 – (1 shot for measles, mumps and rubella that lasts for 10 years)
• Japanese Encephalitis / $25 – (one shot that lasts for life)
• Rabies / $160 – (3 shots over 4 weeks)

(We will also be carrying a supply of Malaria pills that may be needed in a few areas)

After consulting with various physicians about the areas we will be traveling the following vaccinations have not been taken.

• Meningococcal Meningitis
• Yellow Fever
• Cholera + E.Coli

If you are looking for more information about vaccinations while in Korea and their costs visit the International Clinic.