Biking in Korea

When I was in Thailand I met a British boy who carried a picture of his friend in his wallet. I made the comment that if I carried a picture in my wallet it would probobly be of my bike. That said, it may not seem so weird that I knew that today was the 1 year anniversary of the last time a rode my bike. I decided that I would go on a bike ride to mark the day. So off I went on the river trail, where I experienced some interesting things in Korean biking culture. At the beginning of my ride there was quite a head wind, and that combined with my heavy bike (I think it may weigh half my body weight) and no clipless pedals made for a little bit of a work out. At one point I looked back to see a Korean man, on a nice road bike, decked out with bike racing attire and clipless pedals drafting me. At first I just found it a bit entertaining, but after 25 minutes of busting my ass, while he continued drafting I was a little thrown off. It's so bizzare to me that you can have all this hardcore gear and then draft off a white girl who has a $100 Chinese bike (that quite possisbly could fall apart at any time).
After riding for awhile I stopped to get some water at a park and just sat on the grass and observed for awhile. One of the best things I saw was a guy and a girl on a tandem bike. The guy was peddling his heart out while his girlfriend, wearing a dress and heels, sat with her legs up taking in the views. I guess if you are on the back you don't really have to do anything because the poor guy on the front will never know. (When am I ever going to learn that you shoudl never go anywhere in Korea without a camera...you always witness picture worthy events) After I drank my water I decided to use the porta potty before heading on my way. I was so confused when I walked into a porta potty cleaner than most public toilets, and used the toilet to the relaxing sounds of classical music. I am not even joking, the porta pottys in the park play classical music for your enjoyment. It was a really great day, not quite the same as a bike ride at home, but fun nonetheless.
These are just some random pictures from around the city.