Cycling Chungju to Jeomchon

This was a fairly long ride from Chungju to Jeomchon which featured two significant hill climbs! It was a beautiful ride with gorges, streams, a waterfall, mountain-top views and acres of lush green/yellow rice fields. The return home was pleasant too as I found a cool Italian bakery cafe on the Han River. Naver Map link of the Saejae Bicycle Path (새재자전거길): naver.me/FUQDhhx1 I stopped at Jeomchon

Click to the Four Rivers Cross-country Bicycle Path main page.

Day 1 – Chungju to Jeomchon 20 Oct

To get first available bus out of Seoul I had to leave my house by 4 am! It was a little chilly but made it to the terminal in plenty of time. There was a small panic as I saw the bus stop to Chungju had freight boxes and bags all piled up waiting to be loaded onto the bus! How was I going to get my bike in?! Well, as it turned, out by sliding the bike across the top of some polystyrene boxes… This was the first time I’d used a Premium Bus; the seat are the same width as other three-across buses, but the difference is the extra legroom. The seat are automated and go back very far. They also have curtains for privacy and a monitor in front like on a plane. I didn’t really use any of the features, just slept. It was very comfortable.

The 6 am bus got to Chungju at 7:45 and I was on the cycle path by 8:06! The plan was to take it gentle and make more stops. I also had an idea this part of the path went over a mountain so I’d probably have to take that quite slow, even walk it, so the earlier the start, the better. Anyway, I was off to a good start. It was about 6° so the chilliest I’ve been for a whole! I passed the sewerage plant from my previous outing and continued on past some small river- and roadside houses. Very pleasant.

Soon after I got to a section of riverside with a pebble beach and people car-camping. Across the water was a waterfall between a small gorge with a bridge running over the top. Cool. I walked to the water’s edge to take photos.

I cycled on along road and back into farmland and then eventually to the other side of the waterfall. There, you could park up then take stairs to the top of the gorge and the bridge over the waterfall. I spent about five minutes there looking back down to the beach I’d just left!

Back on the road and through more farmland of mainly rice paddies. I’d seen a couple on their bikes riding a similar pace to me and we were passing each other at various points, and were at the ‘nodding and waving to each other’ stage.

After the rice paddies I got to the first stamp booth of the trip at Suanbo. This was about 10:30. I took a longer break here and had a sandwich. There were a couple of cycling groups resting and chatting. A few minutes later, I had a quick chat with three people travelling from Germany; a mum, dad and their daughter. Their bikes were fully loaded for the long ride!

Out of Suanbo there’s a small downhill section, a roundabout, then the beginning of the first (of two) climb. I started cycling it and realised it wasn’t so steep it was impossible, BUT I also knew I’d be knackered, so I pushed the bike most of the way. In hindsight, this was the right move because what I didn’t know then was there was another, bigger climb to follow! It was on the climbs that the couple I’d seen earlier passed me by. The downhill section of the first climb was lovely, but then the second climb took longer, again, mostly pushing my bike. These sections really added to the time it took me but it was worth it in the end.

I got to the top at about 12:40, a good two hours after Suanbo! The place is the Ihwaryeong Rest Area (이화령휴게소). I stopped here for about 40 minutes, getting my second stamp, a cappuccino, and eating the rest of my sandwiches. I also finally chatted to the couple who it turns out were from Australia or New Zealand (forgot to ask, so just going off of accents). While there, some super buff tanned guy cycles up full speed, shirt off, fully masked with really loud techno blasting from his Bluetooth speakers. I’d have been annoyed ordinarily, but the sight was just too bizarre. No, I didn’t get a photo, the guy looked too intimidating! It was anyway, a great place to relax with views down the valley where you could appreciate why it took so much effort to get up.

At 13:20, I left the mountain top for one of the longest, fastest downhill rides I’ve ever experienced, truly amazing! In this weather and pretty much zero traffic, you couldn’t have asked for better. Not wanting to burn through it all at once, I made myself stop a few times to get photos of the mountain views and extend my time up there!

At the bottom, you pass through Mungyeong (there’s a bus station, accommodation there and some sights there but I didn’t stop) and then into rice farm land. The main trail actually takes you along a river but there was construction work on the road so I had to detour through the gorgeous yellow rice paddies with mountain backdrops. With the sky and lighting as it was, it was truly breathtaking. So, go through the rice fields and rejoin the trail later is my advice, depending on the season!

A bit further, I passed Gomosanseong (고모산성), a decent sized attraction but I didn’t stop. Next was the next booth at Buljeong Station (불정역), so I stopped there for about ten minutes. It’s an old closed railway station that’s now a museum and photo point. After the station was another attraction I missed, Chulleong Bridge (출렁다리), so I’ll have some things to check out next time I’m down this way!

There was a bit of confusion later following the trail. The road signs were going a different way to the route shown on Naver Maps. I cross referenced with Kakao Maps and got a slightly different route! It turns out there’s a damaged bridge on cross-country section. In the end I followed the road signs and flipped between map apps and took the slightly longer riverside route into Jeomchon and W Motel. That was 16:40.

The hotel was fine, no frills. After a shower I headed out to the quiet town and went to Frank Burger. Then I got snacks and beer for my room and watched the beginning of 28 Years Later on Netflix before dropping off. Home to the bus terminal: 18 km. Chungju to Jeomchon: 80 km. = 98 km today!

Day 2 – Bus to Seoul – 21 Oct

I got a morning bus out of of Jeomchon and was in Seoul about 11:15. I didn’t need to be at work until much later, so I searched online and found a promising looking cafe to stop at on the way. It was pretty close to the river and I think it’s a new favourite: Nuovo Italia, an Italian cafe. It looked pretty legit with lots of pizza options, desserts and great looking sandwiches. I read there for a bit and liked the art deco vibe and food so much, I did a full round two of coffee and food! Unfortunately, as of writing this, they have had to close because the building is being knocked down. Hopefully their new store will open in February as is mentioned on their Instagram page, but who knows in this city!