I've done that in NYC a couple of times without it ending badly. OTOH on at least one occasion the VFR's alarm sent a van full of potential thieves scurrying. And one of my VFRs disappeared from my garage in the middle of winter, disc lock left lying on the garage floor in two pieces. Timing and luck. As for honesty, it seems to come in flavors. My mother in law speaks of there being crime and insists on fugly razor wire -topped fences around the building but you never actually hear of anything substantial happening. Only problem we ever have is anarchy -type bullshit like neighbors deciding our parking lot is a free-for-all, walking their dogs on our yard (which requires trespassing our driveway and lot!) or dumping garbage (the idiots left identifying papers - haha), or other basic trespass kind of crap. We had one moron who would walk up our driveway, smoke a few cigs in the lot, leave his butts where he stood or toss 'em in our planters :huh then head off to work. WTF. No boundaries with these folks. When confronting these people about their behavior they are almost always indignant. But I doubt any of them would ever consider actual theft, etc. So when you see even modest properties bordered with tall concrete walls and motorized gates, now you know why.
Squelch, how did you end up getting your bike to Korea? As I recall, you couldn't get the gov't to approve moving it in your Household Goods shipment.
I shipped it myself through Suddath. It cost quite a bit, but it is totally worth it to have it here for a couple of years. I'd still like to strangle the little paper-pusher at the Fort Leavenworth transportation office who wouldn't let it go with my HHG.
Glad you got it here. I'm recovering from a broken collarbone but should be able to ride later in the year if the weather holds.
SR1 - Good deal - heal up quickly! I broke my collarbone playing football about 25 years ago, and had to wear a strange figure-8 brace that made it look like I was walking around puffing my chest out. I hope medicine has advanced since then... I went out exploring a bit this weekend. I've been riding my bicycle a bunch too, so I've spent quite a bit of time on two wheels over the past week. I found Route 902, out of Daegu, to be a pretty decent road. I'm going to wait until I have a fellow rider to start getting too far off the beaten path, but eventually I'd like to try to find some spots where the Pusan Perimeter was.
Did you join the Facebook group ROK Riders yet? There are some riders in your area. If you want a Korea GPS (Garmin) in English let me know, I can help you get one (no discounts, but I have done it, so I know how, that's all)... There's an F1 race near Gwanju on the 6th, some of us might ride/drive there, if you'd want to try to make that. PM me.
I haven't joined ROK Riders yet, (I don't think) but I will do that soon. I already loaded Open Street Maps on my Zumo, and it seems to work pretty well so far. It knew the best route to get through the city to my apartment, although it took me about a block out of the way one time. I'd be up for a ride to Gwanju, and was actually thinking of trying to ride out there anyway. It would be much better to be with a group though.
Oh cool, I had no idea about the F1 track... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_International_Circuit If you have written instructions for the Garmin, I can host them on one of my web sites. If you want.
No sweat; any time. You can email me whatever you have whenever you have it, brad dot berson at bytebrothers dot org.
You can use any model of Garmin GPS, just need the Korea maps. They are available from Garmin Korea, or from Mr. Bills Used Cars http://www.mrbillscars.com/DealerFiles/DealerList.asp?CategoryID=26
'bout damn time! I came here to Korea 3+ years ago. At that time, ADV had NO Korea threads. Glad to see times have changed. THANK YOU. Glad to back on the forum. And Oh, If anyone wants to ride, PM me. Fall is a great time to get out there. 07 Suzuki Vstrom
Flanker - I'm in Daegu, and just got my bike a couple of weeks ago. This weekend I plan on going out exploring. Last weekend I had to work, but the weekend before I went down 902 (I think - the road south of Daegu that goes over the mountain). It's great here, from what I've seen so far.
Squelch, we have a typhoon coming in this weekend. Even if it's not a typhoon by the time it comes ashore, it will bring some shit weather. For this weekend, consider screen golf, LOL. Almost healed from my collarbone! I am sooooo planning to get out once I'm all healed up! (two more weeks maybe!) Flanker, where are you?
Ok, this weekend looks like a good one. Anyone in the Daegu area want to go exploring? I've got a 4-day and I know how to use it...
My club is riding to Naksan Beach on the east coast, south or Sokcho and just north of YangYang airport. You are welcome to join us, it would be a great ride. We will be staying Saturday and Sunday nights. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you the details.
Sadly I can't stay out all that time - though it's a 4-day, what that really means is that I can go to work in a shirt and shorts instead of my uniform this weekend. I'm looking more for day rides. If you send me the details I can look at the route and maybe tag along half the day Saturday...
SO I ditched work yesterday and went out riding all day - was able to go for a whole three hours before my Blackberry started ringing, but by then I was three hours away and I had no idea where I was. So I had to do a little crisis management over the phone on the side of the road. Anyway, I rode from Daegu down to the coast - I think the town where I hit the ocean was Gangdong-dong. Flanker - it was good to meet you at the PX gas station. We'll have to go out on a ride sometime. The way I typically ride is to try to maintain a certain heading for a while, hoping to eventually get to some specific place. I take whatever road is available. But it's always good to have someone there in case shit goes seriously wrong... I have to say, I have not hit a bad road yet. The mountain roads are perfectly curvy, and the little backwoods roads are off the beaten path enough to feel like I'm actually adventuring. Here are a couple of videos I took.
I am planning on going for a full weekend either this weekend or next. Gonna test my collarbone on Wednesday with a ride to work. Maybe toward Gongwon-Do again. It's a stretch from Daegu, but if anyone wants to meet up, let's try for Yangpyeong Friday night.
