We’re through the mountains and following the smooth, flat bike lanes along the river that will deliver us to Busan. Or so we were led to believe...
The day started with a downhill that led us close to the river which zig-zagged around mountains, ducking under busy highways and following an old train line. We eventually made it to the farms and there wasn’t much to see around, just some farms with tame mountains in the backdrop.
We then bumped into some other foreign riders doing a similar ride, either in a group or by themselves and had a nice little break swapping stories and handing out tips for what’s to come ahead. Amongst the riders, 2 men from Australia also doing Seoul to Busan but aiming for 7 days; a lady from Brazil doing her first leg here in South Korea before heading out to Japan, Malaysia and finishing off in Thailand. There was also a Serbian lady doing the ride in reverse, starting from Busan and finishing in Seoul. Funnily enough, she warned us on upcoming uphills but we just thought it would be small bumps in the road that we would cycle over with relative ease. We couldn’t be more wrong...
These uphills were short but extremely steep, easily over 25% gradient with loose leaves on the side, making it impossible to zig-zag up the hill. These really took a toll on both of us and cut the day shorter than what we hoped for, we were planning for another 20km today.
For tomorrow, we will play it by ear, listen to the legs and cycling as far as we can without overdoing it. We’re both feeling great and excitement is brewing as we get closer and closer to Busan, our final destination on this South Korea Cross Country.