Training Camp Wrap up/ 제주 자전거팀 캠프

I got back from Jeju do yesterday.  Over the weekend 3 more teammates came to the camp to train with us.  The two guys Eunjoo and Ji Haeng are both super strong!  On Saturday we attempted to ride all the way around Jeju do along the coast but it was extremely windy.  In the small time we had a tail wind we were averaging over 50km/hour with several guys drilling it on the front.  However the rest of the ride was a pretty slow slog with cross and head winds.  On top of this it was only about 40 degrees outside.  Luckily we had a car following our group and people gradually decided to quit riding and get in the car until it was down to 4 of us still riding.  We were freezing cold and tired from the head wind (40km/hr straight on for the last 50km).  After pulling into a gas station to rest we pulled the plug and called our teammates who had given up earlier and gone back to the condo to come pick us up!  We managed to ride over 150km though but it was a little disappointing not to make it all the way around the island. 
Sunday was even colder than Saturday and we decided to ride up the 1100m road again.  The cold weather made several of our riders change their minds about riding all the way up to the top (where it was only about 20F degrees)and eventually only 3 of us made it to the top.  The way down was FREEZING.  It was basically 25 km of straight down hill.  I was warm at the top but I was completely frozen by the time I made it back to our condo. 
The trip was a great week of training and getting to know some of my new teammates better.  Hopefully it will be a great kick start for my training this year and I will be in good racing shape by April. 

이번은 한국인 친구 위하요 한국말로 써볼거예요. 
지난주 저는 켄넌대일 팀 들이랑 제주도 트레이닝 캠프 다녀왔어요.  여자 3명 남자 6명이랑 같이 갔어요.  월요일 새벽 이러났고 8시45분 제주 가는 비행기탔어요!  제주 항공에서 착한 제주 프로샵형 우리 팀 픽업했어요.  첫 3일 동안 매일 5시간 동안 탔어요.  월요일 팀이랑 140키로 화요일 내 알른 형 정창조 이랑 5시간탔어요 수요일 도 팀들이랑 5시간 탔어요.  화요일 비많이 왔어요.  날씨 도 추웠어서 산에 내려갔들때 밥먹었고 너무 추웠어서 산 다시 오러갔어요!  금요일 날 우리 팀 다 1100도로 탔어요! 산정산에서 사진 찍고 갔어요. 
주말에 3명 더 왔어요.  토요일 날 우리 제주 한 바귀 코스 해봤지만 타 못탔어요.  바람이 너무 새서 마지막 20키로 차타고갔어요!  일요일 다시 우리 1100도로 탔지만 너무 추웠어서 3명 만 정산 까지 탔어요.  정상 까지 타는거 좋은생각아니얐어요!  내렸을때 엄청 추웠어요!!  민박 왔어 지행 형이랑 은주 형이랑 사우나 갔어요!  일요일 저녁 우리 제주 프로 샵들이랑 돼지 샤부샤부 먹었어요!  너무 맛있었어요!  이번 여행 너무 줄거웠어요 그리 고 필요있는라이딩 도 많이 했어요!  새 제주도 친구 도 많이 만들었어요!  다음에 도 제주 자전거 타로 가고싶어요!  나증에 여기에서 사진 업로드 좀 할거에요! 

1100m Road!

Yesterday was a much needed rest day here in Jeju do.  I rode about 2.5 hours easy with some of my teammates along the coast and along some farm roads.  It was super windy but it also wasn't raining.  The weather here is definitely less predictable than the weather around Seoul!  We've still been able to get a lot of good training in though. 
Today was our first ride up the highest road in Jeju.  The 1100m Road is just what you would expect, a road up to 1100m of elevation.(over 3000ft).  We rode with two local riders that my teammates knew and they took us up the most gradual way possible to the top of the road.  It was basically a 20km gradual climb and then 10km of really steep climbing.  Once we got above 600m there was a ton of snow in the forest, at the top there was probably about 2ft all throughout the woods.  I really wish I had a chance to do some hiking here but we only have 2 more days to ride and I definitely need to do as much riding as I can. 
Once we got to the top my teammates went back to the pension but I wanted to do some more riding.  So I rode down the other side of the mountain and then came back on the secon highest road in Jeju (which went up to about 900m).  That climb was much more gradual and also had a lot of nice forest and snow too.  That was a lot of climbing for one day and I ended up taking a 3 hour nap after I got back! 
Hopefully in a few weeks after the trip is over my fitness will improve a lot from all of this riding.  My teammates are all riding really well! We have 2 road racing girls this year (Myo Jin and Michelle) and they are both riding super strong.  I'm pumped to see what my team can do at the Tour de Korea this year. 
I have 2 more days of riding left and we have 3 more teammates arriving tonight who should be fresh and ready for some long rides. 
I think we are going to try to ride around the island in one day (180km) and then ride up the 1100 road again the next day. 

Spring Training- First 3 Days

The first 3 days here may be the most I have ever ridden in 3 days.  Monday started up with a 4:30 am wake up to go the airport but we were in Jeju island by 11am.  We got our bikes ready and went out for a 5 hour ride.  It was sunny but pretty cold.  Yesterday and today didn't have great weather.  It's been rainy and about 45 degrees F.  Yesterday I planned to ride 4 hours with a Jeong Chang Jo, a friend of mine from Yongin who is the coach of a high school triathlon team down here training, but I miss judged the course and ended up riding 5 hours in basically non stop rain! The course we did was pretty cool though we rode up to a 600 meters elevation on the mountain and there was a lot of snow up there.  Later in the week we are going to climb the 2 highest roads here which go up about 3000 ft!  There should be a lot of snow up there. 
Today we did a team ride and did a big loop on some awesome twisty, hilly roads around the island.  It rained off and on through out the ride but it wasn't super cold.  I haven't really been riding much this winter and I was in major pain today.  I bonked a little in the last 30km and couldn't ride super fast.  I made it back to our condo ok though.  That made for 3 five hour days in a row.  We have 4 more days of riding here.  Hopefully my legs recover a bit and I can get in some more great rides! 

Jeju Spring Training Trip

I'm leaving Monday for a spring vacation trip to Jeju Island with my team Cannondale RPM Sports.  It should be a really great trip.  Jeju do is an island in the south of Korea.  Its an inactive volcano and is home the highest mountain in South Korea Halla San.  I went there with my friends Allan and Daniel in August for a trip and found that it has amazing roads for biking.
It's a little bit warmer than the rest of Korea so a lot of Korean athletes go there to train in the winter.  We will be there for a week and hopefully we will have good weather for training.  Most of my team is going for at least part of the trip too so we should have a good group to ride with.  I've been weight lifting and riding since coming back from America so hopefully I'm in good shape for the trip.
This should also help me build a solid base for the spring racing season.  I'm hoping to ride the Tour de Korea again and do well in every race in April and May.  My team has a few new members this year that should help round out our roster and hopefully help us compete for the overall team title at the Tour de Korea.  Here is a map of Jeju do.  There are a lot more roads than what are shown here.  The island is 180km around in a circle and there are lots of good loops to be made by riding part way up the volcano. 

I'll try to post some updates during the trip!

Great trips and back to training

This update is long over due.  Last time I wrote about how I was about to go visit my parents in Germany.  I had a great trip.  We had a birthday party for my mom, did some hiking and shot off fire works at midnight on New Years Eve with some of my parents friends and their kids.  We also went to Spain for a week.
Spain would be a great place to ride a bicycle.  The whole time we were there we had great weather (60s and sunny) and we visited some really beatiful places.  My favorite was definitely Ronda which was a town built on a mountain with high cliffs basically all around it, plus it had a huge canyon running right through the middle of the mountain!  It was definitely the most beatiful town I have ever seen.  We also visited Madrid, Sevilla, and Grenada, which were all cool too.   It was great to see my parents and sister as well.

After that trip I came back to Korea for 2 weeks to teach an English Camp at my school.  The ski resort was finally fully open so I went skiing almost every day after work too.  The camp was over quickly and then it was time for me to go to America.

I came mostly to visit MBA programs that I had applied to but I also got some great chances to catch up with my old friends.  I spent 3 days in Chicago and got to see Danny, Eunhye, Liz, Dr. Sean and Elena which was really fun!  I also spent 4 days at Purdue and did all of the old things I used to enjoy.  I even got to go on a bike ride with Doza. Big thanks to Joey and all of the bike house guys for letting me stay there.

Chris also came up to visit me at Purdue for a few days.  It was great to see him and on the day before I left we went to the Super Bowl Village in downtown Indy for the afternoon. It was really fun.  There were tons of people and cool things to do the only problem was the huge lines.  We still had a good time though.  

Now I'm back in Korea and I have school for a week but starting this Wednesday is Spring vacation.  So it will be another 2 weeks with no class.  Its time to start biking and get some more skiing in before the end of the season.