Crusing on Bikes Korean Style.

Erick and all his friends ride bikes out here in Busan. They use it for their daily commuter so they are very comfortable bobbing and weaving in crazy Korean traffic. Its such a different way of riding then I am use too. In Canada whenever I got an open stretch I would easily take my bike 200+ kms. However, in Korea I almost never went more the 60km/h but the entire time I was shitting bricks. In Canada everyone takes their riding more seriously with full gear, a planned trip and rules to follow. However Erick rode his bike the Korean way, no helmet, sandals, on the side walk, in between cars, opposing traffic and no regard for red lights. I was trying with all my ability to keep up but it was really starting to get dangerous. At one point my hip rubbed against a car's bumper as I was lane splitting to get up to the intersection. It was hair raising for sure. But the funny thing was after 2 hours of riding like that you get use to is so quickly that you couldn't even imagine riding the normal way. The moment that I knew Erick was very comfortable on a bike was when we were all riding down the street he all of a sudden stopped in the middle of his lane and got his girl friend to buy a watermelon from the back of a truck. The funny part was neither him or his girl dismounted. It was funny sight to see someone shopping and paying for a watermelon that way. Erick even says that his disregard for safety gets so bad that he sometimes has a smoke while on his cell phone while riding. That being said I really had some fun on a bike in Korea and if I decide to stay here longer I will definitely get a bike.