PedalingWalrus

I will try to create posts for 6 days of the trip here. Please try not to comment until day 6 is posted. Here we go:

PedalingWalrus

We arrived at the Incheon Airport with our bike cases.

Previously we planned to assemble bikes at Incheon, put bikes into storage and pedal out. This plan changed due to a couple of circumstances. One was a medical condition of one of our participants and two was a forum message telling us that bicycle traffic on the bridge from Incheon Airport to mainland is prohibited and three that bicycles are prohibited on trains during workdays Monday thru Friday. (Later on we met a South African bike tourer who did not know this information and it proved to be to his benefit. He assembled his bike at the airport, put bike box into the storage at the airport and pedaled out. When he reached the bridge there was a sign directing him away from the bridge to a small ferry that safely took him across to the mainland.)

We navigated the logistics of getting a T-Card (required to ride Subways in Korea), loading it with money and using it to get into the subway and eventually we arrived at Itaewon station where our hostel was. Hostel agreed to store our bike boxes during our bike ride for the exchange of booking accommodation with them on the return. This did not work 100% but the outcome was generally positive. The crux was in the fact the hostel had no space to store a full size bike box and the solution was to leave it leaning against the building out back. If You can imagine a gritty expat neighborhood in a city of 20 million people you would understand the anxiety. Alas, all was well on the return the box was there...

The next day we assembled our bikes, stashed our bike boxes and pedaled out of the city. First we needed to navigate Seoul traffic to make it to the river. The river has a dedicated bike path.

The FOUR RIVERS TRAIL is South Korea most famous bicycle trail. It 90% fully separate and dedicated trail that traverses South Korea lengthwise along valleys of 4 rivers. The trail runs from Seoul to Busan (SoBo) or Busan to Seoul (NoBo). Here is an unofficial route I used in Ride With GPS offline mode. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40990434 The challenge in South Korea is that neither Google Maps or Apple maps seem to work 100% and in most cases trying to run directions will fail. This was not a problem for me as I never really use navigation. I only use ride with gps in offline mode to match my location dot with the trail to make sure I stay on the trail. Initially I thought google maps would not work at all but it ended up working to search and find a location and then utilize that knowledge without the aid of navigation.


Starting our bike ride from Itaewon, Seoul

On the way out of Seoul I noticed a few things: Soul residents love spandex type of biking. We saw high bicycle traffic on the trail. The trail was nicely paved and very well marked. There were restrooms just about every half a mile, clearly indicated and marked. There were outdoor exercise machines just about every mile on the trail. There were coffee shops popping up often alongside the trail.



Bicycle infrastructure was superb

Eventually by the evening we noticed a campground availability and we ended up camping there. Hot showers. Yay!

PedalingWalrus

Day Two

Next day we continued following the trail. The good news was the Seoul crowds from the previous day thinned out dramatically. The bad news was there was rain in the forecast and it did rain all day.




At the end of the day we found a dry site to camp on

PedalingWalrus

Day Three
There was no rain in the future forecast and that was welcomed by both of us. Especially since the day eventually require to make a crossing over a small mountain






At the end of the day we found a wonderful camp spot by the river. Good to clean up and do some wild laundry

PedalingWalrus

Day Four


Day four continued a nice sunny weather which resulted of both of us picking up a significant sunburn. Tip: bring a sunscreen. None of the grocery stores or convenience stores carried sunscreen creme. Supposedly because this is mostly available in drugstores but more importantly because the South Korean way is to cover the entire body by clothing when out in the sunny weather. I have a feeling a sun protection creme is not considered adequate.








We completed day 4 with another nice campsite next to the river






Day 5 took us again through lovely River valleys and a few wonderful temples old and active










We finished day 5 with a proper climb

and then there was the climb at the very end that we chose not to take ... and instead chose to sleep on it:

PedalingWalrus

Day 6
Day 6 was a mad dash to reach Busan. The weather was again wonderful and the sights were never dull














We ended up reaching our hostel in Busan at around 7pm (ish)

PedalingWalrus

Mileages from Strava:
Day 1: 47.39 miles, elevation gain: 1178 feet
Day 2: 66.36 miles, elevation gain: 1757 feet
Day 3: 53.27 miles, elevation gain: 2441 feet
Day 4: 65.71 miles, elevation gain: 1657 feet
Day 5: 65.89 miles, elevation gain: 2649 feet
Day 6: 66.28 miles, elevation gain: 2090 feet

PedalingWalrus

Ok this was the trip in a nutshell. Feel free to ask any questions and I will answer to the best of my ability. I have more photos that I may post alongside with my answers but I thought this was sufficient to get the thread started. Cheers!

tcs

Great trip - thanks for posting!

Hey, just wondering about interaction with the lovely folks there...

Fluent in Korean?
Can jabber a bit
Can't speak a word
Not much of a problem to find someone who could speak English
Used electronic language translator
Point It, the book, was useful

PedalingWalrus

I am not fluent in Korean. The only thing I learned while out there was: 1. Hello 2.Thank You 3.Coffee
While near big cities there were people who spoke some English but not much. While in the country it was 0 chance someone spoke English. They would just keep talking Korean to me and smile.
I used Google Translate with a photo recognition feature. I would take a photo of the menu, use the translate and then point to what I thought I wanted.
Also I would take a photo of the menu and in my annotation circle what I want and show them my phone
Also I would type into the translator things like: Please help me choose breakfast and show them the translation

Also 7Eleven or Nice2CU stores were great for free internet and easy grab to eat. I would buy onigiri or kimbab right there and eat it outside at a picnic table

pakeboi

Thanks for posting !
What was your avg. speed ?

PedalingWalrus

Between 10 and 11 mph

djb

you know, its funny but it seems to me that in all the years that I have been touring, my average speed pretty much has stayed about this, about 16, 17kph.
Sure, there are days a bit faster and easier with tailwinds or whatever, and certainly a lot of days when carrying a crapload of stuff and climbing all day where it's a lot slower, but I still use this 16kph 10mph moving average speed as a pretty good estimate for covering a given distance.

and thanks for putting this up, neat to see and hear how it went.

Ron Damon

I did that haul (plus the one eastwards to Chuncheon, then the one to Andong to Hahoe village) over the span of two weeks in 2018. Loved it. So chill and pretty. Great infrastructure with motels everywhere so I did not bring any camping stuff. I traveled light on a folding bike. Here is my own thread Tour-de-Korea 2018.

What rural Korea would have looked like in the late Joseon period.

For navigation, Kakao Maps and Naver Maps are the way to go in the ROK.

Guess what? The climate window for touring in Taiwan has closed so instead I am going back to the ROK for a second tour in a week, this time to traverse the East Coast path and the three western bike paths. I am particularly curious about the islands off the western coast (not Jeju). Nothing is set in stone except that I fly out of Busan on June 2...

In 2018 I brought my bike (packed and folded) on the AREX train out of Incheon airport to Seoul central. Folding bikes are allowed on the AREX train every day and without prior reservations. 👍🏼



My folder on the Busan - Seoul KTX.

PedalingWalrus

It is allowed on the weekend, Saturday amd Sumday but not Monday thru Friday

Ron Damon

Yes, that applies only to non-folding bikes. Folding bikes are permitted in the train every day as I myself attested in 2018. The policy hasn't changed.

A.gutii

Looks amazing!

PedalingWalrus

Also from my observation...on the subway...the last train car is usually marked with a bicycle logo and there is space for bicycles

pakeboi

"The climate window for touring in Taiwan has closed..."

What is the climate window for touring Taiwan ?

Ron Damon

That window closes during typhoon season, and when it becomes too hot and humid, more or less April to September. Note that a good part of Taiwan is within the tropics so the heat can get cha. On the other hand it's quite mountainous so it can be quite chilly too. I toured Taiwan in March and that was good. The window is October to March.

I reckon the window will begin to close in the ROK in about six weeks when it will start to get really hot at mid-day. In 2018 I toured in late May, early June and wished I had come two weeks earlier. Which is what I am doing on my upcoming trip.

This is all personal, of course. If you are prepared to withstand the elements you can tour in both places year-round.

pakeboi

When I visited Taiwan several years ago I arrived in November .
It rained continuously for 14 days straight !

Ron Damon

Taiwan can be quite torrid and unpredictable. When i arrived in March, I caught a cold from the near freezing days. Then it warmed up overnight and it was good.

gerryl

Thanks for the report, quite inspiring. Finally someone confirms that there is indeed a ferry to the mainland - I even managed to find it on google maps!

TiHabanero

I was in ROK back in 1980 and felt like an oddity there. The ROK Marines were at the train stations, cab rides were seriously scary, and anything left in a hotel room would not be there upon your return. Nice to see the country has righted itself and looks amazingly beautiful.

PedalingWalrus

While walking the streets of Seoul I dropped some banknotes out of my pocket. Someone noticed, picked it up an ran after me to tap me on my shoulder and hand it back.