A coworker told me that Busan reminded him of San Fransisco.  He was referring to the steep slopes through the city.  Busan surrounds several mountains and most point-to-point drives in the city are not straight lines.  For cyclists, it seems a tough city.  I can probably get to the in-laws and home without any major climbs (I’m not sure because I take a toll-highway) but my university and the elementary school I work at are both far up crazy steep mountain slopes.  It is challenging enough just stopping and starting in my manual-transmission car on these roads.  I have had not problems in the month or so that I’ve been here but I consistently tense when rushing from brake pedal to accelerator.

Still, I will soon be cycling in Busan.  I live near the Nakdong River, which has a good bike path beside it and I will be able to really learn about my neighborhood.

I am mentioning all this because of an article at streetsblog, via Boingboing, about Urban cycling.