Photo: Dan Milner

In September 2018, I joined mountain bikers Harald Philipp, Max Schumann, and Tom Bodkin for a 12-day trip in North Korea. We were driven by curiosity, not only to see how the trail riding would be but also whether the novelty of arriving with mountain bikes could break through expected cultural barriers in North Korea as it has in so many other places we have visited.

Photo: Schumann and Philipp ride from the summit of the 9,002-foot dormant volcano of Mount Paektu. Located in the far northeast corner of the country, Paektu is the highest point on the entire Korean peninsula and is considered sacred by the Korean people.