March 29, 2022
Fun with maps
it's a small world after all
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This is mostly sticking to official bike paths:
- The 4대강종주길 (4 Great Rivers cross-country path), which is a bit of a misnomer, because it only traverses the 한강 (Han River) and 낙동강 (Nakdong River). The other two rivers are separate paths that we would love to explore but will have to leave for next visit. Anyway, this is the cross-country route that everyone knows about. It runs from Incheon to Busan. There's a side trip to Andong that we will skip.
- The 동해안자전거길 (East Sea bike path) runs from north of Pohang to the 고성통일전망타워 (Goseong Unification Observatory Tower) , which I believe is the northernmost point in South Korea we can cycle to. Pretty neat!
- The 북한강자전거길 (Bukhan River bike path) will take us from Chuncheon to Seoul.
Here's how we're going to cover the missing links:
- Incheon airport to the start of the bike path at Ara West Sea Lock - We're going to beg the station attendants at the airport to allow us to take our bikes on the Arex train to the 청라국제도시 (Cheongna International City) stop. This is very close to the sea lock! Our backup plan is to stay overnight on the island and take the ferry to Wolmido the next morning. Either that or find a limousine bus off the island. They're building a third bridge to the island that will include a bike path, but it won't be completed until at least 2026!
- I found a GPS track from Busan that hugs the coast all the way up to Pohang. We may stick with that, or we may go through Gyeongju (one of my favorite places), or if we're running behind schedule, we may just take a bus from Busan to Pohang or even some place north of there.
- Once we get to the north end of the East Sea bike path, we'll retrace our route to Sokcho. There we will definitely catch a bus to Chuncheon, or if we're running short on time, all the way to Seoul. As much as I would love to blaze a trail through the mountains, I don't think there are any safe, or even legal, routes for bikes. My guess is that the tunnels en route don't even have sidewalks, let alone bike lanes.
There will be pit stops! A few days in Daegu to hang out with the in-laws, a day or two in Busan, and hopefully two or three days in Seoul at the end.
The combined distance is 1479 kilometers / 919 miles. Even if we manage 80km/50mi per day, it's going to be a pretty tight squeeze. Those potential shortcuts are already starting to sound pretty good.
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