Tour-de-Korea 2023
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Day 13: Mungyeong to Goesan
Rode on the Four Rivers path from Mungyeong to Yeonpung where I picked up the Ocheon path westwards to Goesan.
Great place to stop for a gigantic Tonkatsu meal. Ate here in 2018, sought it out again today. Did not disappoint. https://maps.app.goo.gl/j9Vk6tPq6fEZJez68
Made quick work of that mutha'.
Rolling into Goesan
66km
Great place to stop for a gigantic Tonkatsu meal. Ate here in 2018, sought it out again today. Did not disappoint. https://maps.app.goo.gl/j9Vk6tPq6fEZJez68
Made quick work of that mutha'.
Rolling into Goesan
66km
Last edited by Ron Damon; 05-24-23 at 06:24 AM.
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#28
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Crushing it!
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i love this thread thank you for continuing to post. i'm probably re-locating to seoul this year with my family so i'm carefully looking over this info. safe riding !
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Day 17: Rest day in Gunsan
After four days straight in the saddle and a bit of rain outside, today I stayed put to rest. Tomorrow, the plan is take the bus to Gwangju and jump on the Yeongsang river path...
Gunsan to Gwangju
Visited the Gunsan Modern History museum, Gunsan old town and Dongguksa Temple.
Gunsan to Gwangju
Visited the Gunsan Modern History museum, Gunsan old town and Dongguksa Temple.
Last edited by Ron Damon; 05-27-23 at 03:52 AM.
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Day 18: Gunsan to Damyang
Arrived in Gwangju on a two-hour bus haul from Gunsan. Jumped on the Yeongsang bike path and rode to Damyang from there. Damyang is a lovely town.
Waiting for bus to Gwangju in Gunsan
Cloudy, drizzly day
Late lunch at Noodle Street, a row of noodle shops with seating by the river and bike path.
Noodle Street
Damyang house
38km
Waiting for bus to Gwangju in Gunsan
Cloudy, drizzly day
Late lunch at Noodle Street, a row of noodle shops with seating by the river and bike path.
Noodle Street
Damyang house
38km
Last edited by Ron Damon; 05-28-23 at 11:02 PM.
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Day 19: Rain suspension
Miserable day with heavy drizzle in the morning and rain at mid-day so I did not ride today. It only let up at around 3pm. Later once it let up, I visited Damyang's renowned bamboo forest.
Ended my day with a repeat visit to Noodle Street...
Ended my day with a repeat visit to Noodle Street...
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Day 20: Damyang to Gurye
Headed northeast out of Damyang on the Yeongsang River bike path. At Geumgol Crossing, I jumped on the roads that connect the Yeongsang River and Seomjin River paths. About two hours later I was on the Seomjin River, headed southeast for Gurye.
All paths and roads are very quiet, with only a handful of through-cyclists. No convenience stores at all. Just quiet country roads. Pack a lunch and snacks.
75km
All paths and roads are very quiet, with only a handful of through-cyclists. No convenience stores at all. Just quiet country roads. Pack a lunch and snacks.
75km
Last edited by Ron Damon; 05-30-23 at 07:38 AM.
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#37
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Day 20: Damyang to Gurye, continued.
...so I finished the tour by taking an 18:30 bus out of Gurye, putting me in Busan at 21:30. And here's where a folding bike proves its worth. I simply took a taxi to my hotel from the bus station.
I fly out of Busan on Friday. The tour is completed without incident, having traversed in part or whole all of the official bike paths.
A bit of gravel
I fly out of Busan on Friday. The tour is completed without incident, having traversed in part or whole all of the official bike paths.
A bit of gravel
Last edited by Ron Damon; 05-31-23 at 07:10 AM.
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Thanks for sharing your trip with us! It's a beautiful country, and I hope to some day see it for myself. Preferably on bike, but even a tour if need be.
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Thanks for taking the time to acknowledge. Cheers.
#40
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Thank you for sharing your trip .
What tires are you riding and how are they working out on this route .
I'm thinking of doing the 4 Rivers on my Brompton that currently has Continental Urban Contact , 16 x 1.35 , semi slick .
Looks like I may need to install more of an "all-roads" tire .
What tires are you riding and how are they working out on this route .
I'm thinking of doing the 4 Rivers on my Brompton that currently has Continental Urban Contact , 16 x 1.35 , semi slick .
Looks like I may need to install more of an "all-roads" tire .
#41
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Thank you for sharing your trip .
What tires are you riding and how are they working out on this route .
I'm thinking of doing the 4 Rivers on my Brompton that currently has Continental Urban Contact , 16 x 1.35 , semi slick .
Looks like I may need to install more of an "all-roads" tire .
What tires are you riding and how are they working out on this route .
I'm thinking of doing the 4 Rivers on my Brompton that currently has Continental Urban Contact , 16 x 1.35 , semi slick .
Looks like I may need to install more of an "all-roads" tire .
The images below are of the tire when new.
Last edited by Ron Damon; 06-01-23 at 06:53 AM.
#42
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Bike boxes at Busan's Gimhae airport
Asked my hotel to call me a taxi to Busan's Gimhae airport. I arranged for a fixed price of KRW25000. Upon arrival at the airport, I noticed that the meter read KRW16500, but I said nothing. The driver got out and unloaded my packed bike out of the trunk/boot. For payment he requested only KRW20000 which I thought was fair. As I've said before, the ROK is hassle- and hustle-free. Kinda like a much bigger, more populous Singapore, if you know what i mean. Gimhae is no Changi, though. 😉
This is my second time staying in the Busan Station area, and recommend it for its central location, transport options and range of services and hotels. It also hosts a KTX train station if you need to haul it back to Seoul and to the piers with ferries to Japan.
On the third floor of Gimhae airport international departure, there is a luggage storage, wrapping and boxing service. They have bike boxes and bubble wrap. The gal attendant spoke pretty decent English.
Finally, a note on mobile internet service. In one word: flawless. Everywhere I went, no matter how quiet or rural I got strong, fast signal every time.
This is my second time staying in the Busan Station area, and recommend it for its central location, transport options and range of services and hotels. It also hosts a KTX train station if you need to haul it back to Seoul and to the piers with ferries to Japan.
On the third floor of Gimhae airport international departure, there is a luggage storage, wrapping and boxing service. They have bike boxes and bubble wrap. The gal attendant spoke pretty decent English.
Finally, a note on mobile internet service. In one word: flawless. Everywhere I went, no matter how quiet or rural I got strong, fast signal every time.
Last edited by Ron Damon; 06-03-23 at 06:50 PM.
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#44
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I did a lot of those tour routes, except not the southern Island. I like to wild camp which was a bit awkward in Korea; but I still enjoyed the tours.
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Yeah, I studiously avoided the resort island of Jeju (is that the one you meant?) because, as I live in another resort island, I wanted nothing to do with tourist crowds. There's actually a slew of islands on the west and southwest coasts with exploring. I'd like to go back and ride those. I'd also like to ferry it from Busan to Fukuoka in Japan...
#46
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South Korea is EPIC for cycling
Just saw your fabulous post. My wife and I spent all of October in South Korea. In all we rode 1,567.02km - Incheon to Busan, then up the East Coast Busan to Goseong (and up the the DMZ), then cross country from Goseong back to Seoul. Cycle touring in South Korea is fabulous. Food is fantastic, accommodation easy to find and relatively cheap. We used Kakao for navigationg and finding accommodation along the way, We had most overnight stops generally planned but unbooked, and had all of the Certification Centres logged so we could colect all of our certification stamps.
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Just saw your fabulous post. My wife and I spent all of October in South Korea. In all we rode 1,567.02km - Incheon to Busan, then up the East Coast Busan to Goseong (and up the the DMZ), then cross country from Goseong back to Seoul. Cycle touring in South Korea is fabulous. Food is fantastic, accommodation easy to find and relatively cheap. We used Kakao for navigationg and finding accommodation along the way, We had most overnight stops generally planned but unbooked, and had all of the Certification Centres logged so we could colect all of our certification stamps.
#48
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Haha, I get it! But I must say my wife and I loved the playful challenge of getting our Passports and visiting the Certification Centres. For us it also helped map out the routes. We would go back to South Korea to ride in a heartbeat :-).