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Jacco

@jaccosw

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Just a guy living in Rotterdam into restoring vintage bikes, tech and getting back into enjoying new music again.

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So...The end my of trip to South-Korea. I always like looking back at the end of my vacation at what I've done and what I would have done differently. How do I feel?

Well first of all, I feel fit! 10 days of cycling will increase your stamina however you want to do it, and the muscle soreness is a pleasant* reminder of what I've accomplished this year. 769 km of cycling and 5920 meters of elevation in 10 days was a good workout.

But I've also seen a lot of the country. Met a lot of interesting and wonderful people, even though most of the ones off the beaten path were harder to communicate with as neither of us spoke each other's language. But people were enthusiastic and willing to help me get going on the road. Drinks 🥤, fruit 🍑 and other small gifts were welcome.
From the English teacher, to the two friends visiting their hometown when I stopped in front of their parent's house to the old ladies in all the "business" hotels and the man with his son on the campsite that handed me an iced coffee first thing in the morning.

It became easier to talk to people when I was back on the main route again, and I was especially surprised how different most cities felt and how each solves their own local issues in their own ways.

The food was amazing, though South-Korea is definitely not for the strictly vegan people. They just really love their pork and beef and they know damn well how to make those taste amazing. 🤤

I would definitely recommend it for cyclists as well, especially if you stick to the main cycling routes designed by the Korean government. They're generally well signed, Safe and bring you to some amazing views. 🖼️
And though I definitely think they could use some research on maximum gradients that are comfortable for cyclists.

If/when I come back I would probably mix up the different terrain of the country some more. Travel along the coast, visit an island or two and take a day or two out of my schedule to do an actual hike in the lovely mountain parks they have.

But that's for next time.

Tomorrow morning I'm flying back home. 🏡
Let's see how European heat waves compare to Korean ones.

I'm already missing the AC and I want a water cooler 🚰 taken in Seoul, South Korea by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

Today I did some touristy things around town and explored a bit together with @mineaxit from the hostel.

They ended up going to Spa Land ♨️, one of the biggest spas in the country while I went off to take a gondola to a little peninsula and did some minor hiking.

Songdo beach ⛱️ was one of the first and most popular beaches in the country and you can tell Koreans love going there. Mostly covered up in wetsuits of course. And it seems like most of them can't swim so coast guards are keeping a close eye on everyone.

I met up with the two people from the hostel again and had dinner before we went over to the Blue Line Park to try and get tickets 🎫 for the sky capsule... but the lady behind the window really didn't feel like it. 😂 We walked along the track for a while looking at the skyline before heading back to the hostel.

Tomorrow I'll take the bus back to Seoul to prepare for the journey home and do some final sightseeing. taken in Busan, South Korea by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

Today was my last day of riding the long bike trail through South-Korea.

The weather was fortunately a lot less hot than the past few days and with an overcast sky it was downright pleasant. However pleasant 32°C can be for being active. 😆🥵

It was pleasantly winding along the river all day and I even spent some time talking with a family I met along the road. I was looking confused at my map and suddenly they were waving from the roof. 😂

Heading into Busan was its own little adventure. My hostel is located on the far side of the city so I got a good view of the entire town as I cycled through it. At speed mind you. 😋

I've got another day in Busan tomorrow before I find my way back to Seoul and prepare for the journey home.

I feel like some museums and fish market might hit the spot. 😉 taken in Busan, South Korea by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

Today I was absolutely terrorised by whoever designed this part of the bike path. Constant 13%+ climbs are not my jam. 😂 I even hit 18% in some places.

It also didn't help that it was my longest day yet, and it was the hottest day of this trip at 38°C. Though my GPS device would hit 47°C in the full sun.

Now that I'm following the route again I meet a lot more cyclists, get to talk to them and you can tell English proficiency is a lot better than in the mountains as well.

As the river gets wider so do the views and one perk of riding a long day is that I got to see the sun set with all the beauty of the golden hour. ♥️

Tomorrow will be the last day of riding as I arrive in Busan and then I've got a few days of being a tourist and travelling back to Seoul again. taken in 남지 by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

Not a big update today. I'm now back on the main cycling path and staying a single night in Daegu.

I lounged around in the coolness of my hotel room until checkout and then made the (relatively) short ride to Daegu. There were some art prints from @__tree_13 I wanted that were sold around here and I ended up finding them in a cool little bar/vinyl/print shop called @sim_place. Chilled a bit, listened to the city pop inspired music and listed after the vinyl records with cover art from Korean artists. Ah well, maybe next time.

Went for dinner with someone from the hostel and had a delicious kimchi + octopus 🐙 bibimbap.

Now an early bed because tomorrow I plan to get quite some distance in on the bike but it's also supposed to be 39°C. 🥵

Two more days before Busan! taken in Daegu by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

The mountains were beautiful these past few days but it was time to get back on the main trail again.

As I crested the first mountain a cool breeze greeted me and it stayed with me all day. Most of the day was downhill and I made some good time. Not that it was only smooth sailing, there were still a few steep climbs in between. These are the mountains after all.

At the end of the day I was rolling through wide fields filled with fruit trees and chillis.

As I crossed the wide river the sun was setting and I could see a ton of cyclists riding along its shores. You can tell that the main stream of cycle tourists ride along this route, not the self flagellating one I took. 😆

Checked into a little motel and had some dinner at a little Korean restaurant. I had to try the pork belly at least once this vacation and it was delicious. Talked for a while with the guy that ran the place and made my way back home afterwards.

Tomorrow I will only ride a short distance to Daegu for another rest day.

After that I have only two more days of riding left before I make it to my final destination along the route; Busan! taken in Waegwan by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

So I stayed one extra night in Daejeon to escape the worst of the heatwave and do some sightseeing. There is honestly plenty to see but probably more if it wasn't a Monday haha. All the museums and botanical gardens I wanted to visit were close. No matter, I went to visit the spa district and took a public footpath and just did some walking and shopping. Not a bad way to spend a day.

The day after I got back on my bike again. The plan was to camp in the Deogyusan NP camping ground but unfortunately the day had different plans.

Leaving Daejeon was easy enough, just follow the river. Getting out of the valley proved more difficult. After trying several other options and hitting dead ends I took the highway. After i left the highway I was making good time through the farmlands along a stream and over some pretty dykes under trees.

At some point however, my heart ran cold. Where was my phone! 😳 I must have lost it along the way and no amount of panicked patting down was going to solve that issue.

So I ended up backtracking several kilometers, eventually coming back to the place where I knew I had just taken a photo (the cover photo) but still no phone in sight. 😭

Then I remembered it was connected through Bluetooth to my GPS... but it was searching for a connection.
I ended up slowly cycling down the same road for the third time until it suddenly reconnected! After a few minutes I suddenly saw something glistening in the tall grass. My phone! A little worse for wear but at least not lost. 😅

So on I went but I had lost precious time searching for it. The heat was rising and I still had 40 km and quite some climbing to go.

Most of it along a beautiful river before getting to one of the steeper climbs of today.

It turned out to be an impossible to cycle washed out gravel path with deep ruts. I actually have a video of me talking about pushing it up a "small" mountain but it ended up being 13 minutes of seeing me suffer. 😆

After that I was clearly running out of steam and got to the small town at the foot of the final big climb. The entrance to the National Park. With 16 km and 400+ meters of ascending I ended the day. Got a cheap hotel and hunkered down. taken in Muju by @jaccosw

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2 months ago

From the mountains and the trees of Songnisan into one of the larger cities of South-Korea: Daejeon.

All of the climbing I did the past few days repaid itself, as today was mostly downhill except for a couple of spicy climbs around a large lake.

It took some effort to find a bike friendly road into Daejeon proper because it is a highly industrial city on the outskirts and quite a number of routes were dead ends.

I'll be staying an extra night to recover and wait out the hottest part of a heatwave. The prediction for tomorrow is 37°C

But at 1.5 million people it is larger than Amsterdam so there should be plenty to do.

But first... glorious sleeping in! taken in Daejeon, South Korea by @jaccosw

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3 months ago

Day 6 - Songnisan NP & Beopjusa temple

So I finally made it to Songnisan NP.

It was mostly a subtle climb all day and pretty much what I needed today. (Well, and maybe more rest)

The route up to the national park was quite nice and it felt good seeing more different shops again after the countryside all week.

Picked a campsite close to the temple and just strolled through the little village today. Which is absolutely filled with restaurants.

Koreans on vacation seem to love barbequing and the entire campsite was grilling one dish or the other. My direct neighbours were grilling as well, but the smoke was going through my clothes I had hung out to air... ah well. 😅

Went to the temple and just enjoyed myself. It was quite beautiful with the main complex being from the 1570's when it was rebuilt. Lots of water lillies 🪷 in buckets everywhere as well!

Tomorrow I will mostly be riding downhill to Daejeon. The fifth largest city in the country but apparently a major R&D hub.

#southkorea #bicycletouring #vintagebike taken in Songnisan National Park by @jaccosw

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3 months ago

Day 5 - To Songnisan

Every time I go on a trip like this there is a day that doesn't go according to plan.
Today was that day. 😶‍🌫️

I already warned myself yesterday that maybe 1300m+ of elevation was a bit much... It was. I partially blame jetlagged Jacco from a few days ago but let's put a pin 📌 in that thought. 😅

The route started out with crossing two "small" mountains where I would climb about 250 meters and go down again. What I didn't entirely realize is that those were 10-20% (!) gradients and I would be doing those at the hottest moment of the day.
Looking down at the road and seeing only the tiniest shadow of myself explains in part why I was chugging so much water. 🥵
Now, I can carry about 3.5L of water on my bike but I pretty much used up all of it in the first 25 km of riding! That's 1L of water per hour. An amount I usually don't drink unless I am hiking in the desert.

After that my energy was pretty much gone for the day and not even halfway to my end goal in Songnisan NP.

So I did the smart thing. Cut the day short, ate some food in a restaurant to regain my strength and look for the very first hotel I could find.

Got a cheap 'ondol' room with just a flat blanket for a mattress on the floor but at least it has AC and a private bathroom. Not sure the bathtub can hold water anymore though. 😂

Tomorrow I'll get up early to beat the heat and head over to my original plan. The national park.

Find a good spot to sleep and visit the temple on the mountain and do some hiking. 🥾

Oh, and I finally realised why my chain was making so much noise and I was so much slower than expected the past two days;
When I reassembled my bike I made the classic mistake of threading my chain incorrectly through the rear derailleur. There is always a piece of metal in the arm that keeps it apart. I've been grinding down my chain for the past 200 km. 😱
I mean, this problem would have fixed itself eventually, but as soon as I fixed it my average speed jumped up 3-5 km. 😑

We're back baby! 💪

#Southkorea #bicycletouring #vintagebike taken in 숲속의하모니 by @jaccosw

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3 months ago

by @jaccosw

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3 months ago

Day 4 - Off to Chengju
I woke up together with Oscar and Madita in a little park where we stealth camped in our tents. Only to find out in the daylight that there was a giant banner that it was forbidden to camp there. Whoops! 😅
As any good traveller will do we packed up as soon as the sun was up and took off so we didn't bother anyone.

One thing that has stood out to me these past few days here in #southkorea is that many shops will give us little gifts as we leave. A bottle of water, tomato juice or a little sandwich for example. Little signs of hospitality. It's cute and appreciated. ☺️

We continued through the mountains and along the rivers and lakes to the city of Chungju, where our paths diverged. They are on a longer world tour and intend to ride the regular cycling trail before heading over to Japan.

Me? I've foolishly decided I needed a longer tour than that 😆 so tomorrow I'll be heading to #songnisan National Park on my own. It will involve lots of climbing to get there so I'll have to get up early to beat the worst of the heat.

I might stay an extra night to hike a bit on Saturday but the place is known to be a bit crowded on the weekends.

We'll see. The way Komoot planned the route meant I would have otherwise dipped into Woraksan NP near the beginning of the day and then straight out but that would essentially turn that into a 40 km day... way too short for my tastes.

Let's see what I think of this brilliant plan tomorrow as I am grinding up a mountain! 🏔️ taken in Chungju by @jaccosw

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3 months ago