Cycling in Korea: Routes & Microfinancing ideas for adventure cyclists

 Kitting a baby carrier with a seatpost rack (do this for only light weight children cautiously!)

 Mountain bike touring with two children in South Korea - It can be done ^^!

 Cycling the East Coast, Sokcho-Gangwondo to Busan, Gyeongsannamdo, Korea 2007

 Cycling first day with Cho In Gwang in 2007. We also bicycle toured the West Coast of Korea 2008

 Do you have this feeling? Better start cycling if the answer is - NO!!! ^^

 South Korea's northeastern coastline (East Sea and across the sea is Japan)

 Get fit, stay positive, keep cycling!

 In Korea, the roads are paved like Silk, bicycle touring here is as easy as 1-2-3

 Hwy 7, 475km route along Hwy 7 from Sokcho to Busan. See Google Maps for details*

 Making friends on the journey, makes the journey more than a journey, it's a friendship!

 Finding Buddhist temples en route, discover Cycling in Korea

 Andong Masks, Cho In Gwang took another route around Korea starting in Anyang

 Korean crafts and pieces of their cultural heritage

 Bike-lite MTB touring, it doesn't have to be expensive to impress anyone -just ride and enjoy!

 This is a Korean Jim-Jil-Bang (Public Sauna/Family accomodation coed style, $6 a night)

 Fire station in Gyeongju, Gyeongsannamdo. Definite place to visit is Seokguram and Bulguksa located on Mt. Tohamsan nearby the route from Gyeongju to Ulsan to Busan, Hwy 7.

 "Muu" for sale in the Sokcho street markets

All you need is love, and a bicycle to travel on

 Rice is abundant on the fertile plains surrounding Mount Tohamsan, Gyeongju

 Seokguram grotto in Mount Tohamsan, Gyeongju, Korea

 Bul-guk-sa, a gateway to Korean Buddhism

 Enjoy the rain on a long tour in Korea

 East coast of Korea is my Lucky "7"

 Gyeongju, Gyeongsannamdo, Korea is a UNESCO World heritage site.

 UNESCO site. Tombs in the distance.

 Cheongseongdae Observatory, early Korean observatory for the stars

 Cosmos flowers, one of my favorites around the fall season in Korea

 Three story pagota. Pagota is also a language franchaise and publisher in Korea

RE: Michael Rosenfield Raising money for charity...Do you have any idea how to go about raising money for charity on short notice?

I think you website amazing!... BTW
-Mike..October 8, 2009

Brian Perich:

Hi Mike,

I'm glad Jenn Pedde introduced you. Well, short-notice fund-raising...??? I think you should consider setting up an account with http://www.kiva.org/ - A microlending organization, then you set out to make a Facebook group and Website about your tour in Japan. I haven't even started the charity fund-raising yet, as I am training for the big ride and getting media attention well in advance. Kiva is simple, and you can raise money in Korea with a few poker tournaments or other activities, but on short-notice, it won't be easy. You want the message out there, and you should canvass all your friends and family to make a small donation. Later, when you finish the tour, you can take the funds in the Kiva account, and loan them to various entrepreneurs in developing countries, I think this is your best strategy on short notice! Keep me posted on your cycling and charity campaign, & I wish you an excellent bike journey!!

Brian Perich 010.3037.5126
Kiva - Loans that change lives
www.kiva.org
Kiva enables you to loan to small businesses in developing countries...Share..

Michael Rosenfield: June 4, 2011

Brian, I have friends in Ansan near Oido station - how do you normally bike from Ansan to Seoul-what routes? I haven't biked there yet but lived there for a couple months.
-Thanks
Mike
P.S. I listened to your radio interview it was pretty cool. I guess I am a couple years late. You did that 2 years ago-right?..

Brian Perich:

Hi Mike, yeah really the same interview...same plan. From Ansan, good cycling is actually found south of there. Ansan to the park that runs south from Haundaeup Station (Hanyang University in Ansan) towards Sungloksu Station, but continue south in the park, follow the rice fields, there are paved paths throughout and you pass a number of green houses, some main roads, eventually a large overpass you take with the bike and continue towards Suwon (signs for Osan) and you run parallel to the subway train route, finally Suwon, Pyeongtaek, and Cheonan (1/2 way to Daejeon), you can take the subway train back into Ansan, you just cycled 80km or 50 miles. If you spend a night in Cheonan (jim-jil-bang, Public Sauna/Co-ed Guesthouse), the next day you can actually ride to Boryeong-Daecheon beach -where the famous 'Mud Festival' is held every year. They have a wonderful campground in the off season too (now), that distance is approximately 110km. Continuing south, you can cycle all the way down to Buan-gun and Byeongsanbando National Park, or continue the longer haul to Mokpo in Jeollanamdo Province. As far as cycling to Seoul from Ansan, you would follow the subway line from Incheon (Ansan, Siheung, Incheon over to the Han River...or Ansan, Gunpo, Anyang, north through the satellite cities). Enjoy the rides, I lived in Ansan for many years (korean years, 4 in total). I'm preparing a MA dissertation and preparing for an expedition across western China's Takalamakan Desert and Tibet, the Himalayas. Hopefully, a new interview when I get back to Korea.
Peace and thanks for this message, will post to korean-world.blogspot.com

Critical Mass: Bikes activated & riders get ready!

Common Interest - Activities

Description:

한국말 잘 하시면 이 웹사이트에 가주시기 바랍니다: http://bike.jinbo.net

Ride daily, celebrate monthly!

발바리 (bal-ba-li) is Korea's version of Critical Mass, the bicycling event held monthly in over 300 cities around the world. Events are held in cities across south Korea.

Full and up-to-date information is available in Korean at http://bike.jinbo.net

This Facebook page is to assist those who find it easier to read English than Korean and would like to take part. I'll post details of upcoming rides and try to answer any questions. Please write any queries on the wall.

The Seoul ride starts here: http://tinyurl.com/342b9wr -- see the events tab for more info.

Seoul Monthly Bicycle Ride

Date:	Saturday, June 19, 2010
Time:	4:00pm - 7:00pm
Location:	Meet at Gwanghwamun

(Seoul Critical Mass Rides, 3rd Saturday of every month!!!!)

This is the meeting point, at the location of the marker: http://tinyurl.com/342b9wr

If you can get your bike onto a train, there are three nearby stations:

경복궁 / Gyeongbokgung on line 3

광화문 / Gwanghwamun on line 5

종각 / Jonggak on line 1

View of the entrance to the area where the ride meets up:

http://tinyurl.com/34jfkqy

The ride starts at 4pm (or a bit later) and ends an hour or two later at the riverside in Youido.

Join the Facebook group:

Korea's Critical Mass (발바리)

When is it?

Answer: Critical Mass rides are monthly - 12 rides per year, various locations around the country. Take a look at these, join the FB group for updated information & meeting places...

1. Suwon - 4th Saturday of each month.
2. Pusan/Busan - Fourth Saturday of each month.
3. Seoul - Third Saturday of each month.
4. Chuncheon - Second Saturday of each month.

Cycling West - Daebudo Island on the Yellow Sea, South Korea - Virgin Tour on the Blackcat, Gunshot flats, & 5 hours of riding...

Sometimes we should expect the unexpected, and it will happen on a Virgin Ride! I've changed rides again this year, now riding a Blackcat MTB which is Korean-branded but Made in China. The Shimano is Made in Malaysia, it does it's part without complaint (a few burps and missed indexed shifts, to be tweaked out). Funny part of this this ride was taking the 5km ride through Siheung Gongdan (factory zone, or Hell, same place if your a human) and took the Shiwa Tide Embankment, a causeway connecting Ansan/Siheung with neighboring Daebudo Island. It's a highly recommended ride in Korea. From factory Hell, to wetlands and marsh estuaries, it's a stark contrast on both sides of the ride, the latter taking in nature and open roads around the island itself. Two options here, you can choose straight through the Fish Restaurant Zone once you reach the actual island (12km bridge, or you can cross the bridge, take a sharp left, 20 meters right, and 20 meters turn left at the main intersection, that is the bypass route, which traverses amazing wetlands and offers plenty of miles uninterrupted. No traffic lights, just travel to the end of the road (distance uncalculated), turn right when it forks, the right leading to a newly paved roadway, turn left at the river, continue to the Harbour. From that intersection (the first and only to have a traffic light) you turn left to ride towards Suwon City, you turn right to cross rolling terrain back into Daebudo Island and around the countryside towards the Shiwa Tide Embankment bridge. Either way is a winner, I've done both directions. Plan B, is to ride directly through Daebudo Island passing many fish restaurants and circle around the island, crossing a few mountains and tunnels towards Suwon or Hwaseong City, those options are good for more hills, fossilized dinosaur egg exhibit if you track back towards Hwaseong City and finally pitch the bike towards Ansan Gongdan area. There is a bridge under construction, traffic is restricted, but you can go for it, as I have done several times and make it back to the mainland. It's a great ride and relief from the smog in this area, you've never seen a factory until you've lived and survived here!!! We're moving in 4 months, I'll hold my breath and keep pedaling into Daebudo Island.

97 Posts - Every place should have - South Korea by Bicycle

The Bridge- a focus of returning from Daebudo Island.



Took a trip on the SOLD Colombo 4.0 (will include a headlight for the extra use!^^) and cycled around a peculiar island off the west coast of South Korea. From a busy land bridge that spans over wetlands and reclaimed tidal areas, it opened into fertile farming areas, open rice fields, and finally wetlands with chirping crickets and bugs in my eyes (I love nature!^^). I rounded the Island, rode through a few nice tunnels (Gubong was one), then saw signs for Suwon and finally turning at a fork in the road toward Namyang Village. I was heading South, then I was heading East toward Namyang after the junction. The roads began as tarmac, turned to dirt outside Gojeong-ri, where I discovered the remains of a fossilized dinosaur egg (lol), and it was closed, the hard-pack dirt road continued through the wetland, two cars past in the hour cycling out there, another fork in the road, I went into a small farm village, asked directions, pointed towards Ansan, which was now just across the water, I flagged down a worker leaving the bridge project area, he gave me a lift across the bridge, and 20 minutes later I was home? Funny...it took 4 hours to get there and the last people I saw suggested the gate was closed [across the bridge, but my BONGO driving friend drove me across the waters and opened the doors], Ansan City was indeed right next door. This road project [photo top] is a reclaimed tidal wetland that will become another future city in South Korea as populations expand and the demand for greater area cities becomes more imminent. Preservation of the ecosystem generally isn't the topic of conversation in this concrete-building world, Korea is bound to change and with it nature will be a hard-pressed place to roam. For now, it remains a delicate and peaceful wetland, excellent for Cycling into the unknown, it's so good! ^^.Thank you for visiting this site & enjoy more @ my Cycling Hitlist [right selections] for more information about Bicycle World Touring. ^^Peace. Goodnight. Thank you for visiting my - http://korean-world.blogspot.com ^^.