This previous weekend (sometime in May) I was finally able to go on my first bike ride in Mongolia. I had just brought my bike from Korea and was really excited to hit the trails. But before I describe the actual trip I should describe the pre trip arrangements like how I got my bike here. For those who dont know, you can actually bike from Korea to Mongolia, assuming you are willing to take the risk of getting caught in North Korea and "interviewed" as a suspected spy. Dont worry, I didnt invest much time investigating that option as the weather was not terribly conducive. I opted for the slightly less adventurous method of flying. Unfortunately I do not have the ingenuity and entreprenurial skills of the Wright brothers, so I made use of a standard commercial plane. Assuming a bike is dismantled with handle bars and pedals removed, and placed in a bike box whose length, width, and height do not exceed 277 cm (Korean Air standards-other airlines may be different) with a weight under 32 kg, then it can be checked in as your one piece of luggage.
But about the bike ride itself:45 kilometers, roughly 1/3 of which was spent in the mountains, going up and down rocky dirt roads. The most dangerous and difficult part of that is not going uphill, but rather the steep slopes going down hill on loose dirt. By the time I got to the road, the wheel was wobbling so bad that as soon as I lifted the bike up, the wheel fell down. No problem, just tighten it back up and go on. After the bumps and jars of the mountain road, the "paved" road felt like a ride on butter. A ride on butter very suddenly and frequently interrupted by large and dangerous pot holes. Had the potholes been experienced during the mountain ride, when going a reasonable pace, it could be avoided. However on the road, I was matching the pace of the cars, reaching upwards of 55kph (overall there is a drop of 100m between the site and UB, aiding in such speeds). Hitting a pothole at that speed can be quite painful. Despite those potholes, and the final climb up into Ulaanbaatar, it was very refreshing to get out of the construction site. After only 2 hours, Ulaanbaatar comes into view and the final stretch, a freshly paved road, wide with very little traffic.
Only problem with biking into Ulaanbaatar was that the goal was to bike to Ulaanbaatar. Great. I made it. I left early in the morning. Arrived around 10:30. No energy to bike back, nowhere to go in Ulaanbaatar. So now what? Perhaps I may wayt to plan a bit better in the future.
