Ron Damon

Rode on the Four Rivers path from Mungyeong to Yeonpung where I picked up the Ocheon path westwards to Goesan.
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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

Ron Damon

60km

PedalingWalrus

Crushing it!

Ron Damon

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74km

brooklyn_bike

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 !

Ron Damon

Hi, thanks. You'll wanna join one of the local FB cycling groups. This one is particularly good and active...

Ron Damon

Completed the Ocheon bike path








62km

Ron Damon

Ron Damon

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

Ron Damon

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...

Ron Damon

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

Ron Damon

...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

MNBikeCommuter

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.

Ron Damon

It is. South Korea is a very impressive place all around. This is my second time here and I come away just as impressed as in my first visit. Wow.

Thanks for taking the time to acknowledge. Cheers.

pakeboi

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 .

Ron Damon

Hi, the tires are Kenda Kontact 47-305 (16 x 1.85 equivalent) with 35/50psi front and back. They worked out great with zero punctures on this tour, a previous one in Bali and general riding around town at home in the last eight months. They are not hard wearing or long lasting, as the rear tire is a bit worn down though far from worn out. Manufactured locally, they are a steal at only $3 apiece.

The images below are of the tire when new.

Ron Damon

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.

Ron Damon

Roughstuff

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.

Ron Damon

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...

HappyAussies

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.

Ron Damon

Indeed. It's a very hassle-, trouble-free place. I never bothered about certification stamps or passports on neither my first not second visits, though. I simply rode and kept on riding. That was the only reward and acknowledgment I needed...

HappyAussies

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 :-).