Cycling story

Part 10 of 10: Into Seoul

Dates: 29 March–27 April 2025
Distance: 2,304 km1,432 mi
Climbing: 18,902 m62,014 ft
Riding days: 20
Countries: Japan, South Korea

This part's Dates: 26–27 April 2025
This part's Distance: 248 km154 mi
This part's Climbing: 1,621 m5,318 ft
This part's Riding days: 2

Full route

Privacy-trimmed; some starts and finishes are shortened.

A high aerial view over dense central Seoul towers and streets

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Into Seoul

On to the last day of Korea, and of the trip. As it was the last day, I decided I could put a bit more effort in, not as if I needed to save the legs. It was a bit longer, but I knew the ride into Seoul would be on amazing cycle lanes, so why not go for it? Not that I just put my head down and time-trialled it; I still wanted to enjoy it.

Still wanted to enjoy it.

A calm reservoir framed by low hills under an overcast sky — Still wanted to enjoy it.

So many bridges along the way, always delightful even the old ones.

So many bridges, always delightful.

I did have a minor issue: I was racing up to the top of a bridge, as they can sometimes be steep, and didn’t notice all the steps on the ascent. So I rolled over a few before I nearly got bounced off the bike. Thankfully no damage to the bike, or me for that matter. Just laughed it off and started walking up.

A long flight of concrete steps rising beside a bridge approach — Didn't notice all the steps on the ascent.

Then, finally, arriving in Seoul.

A bird flying past the tall, tapering spire of a Seoul skyscraper — Finally, arriving in Seoul.

I swear seeing it appear was a feeling of coming home, a bit, for me. I’ve been here I think three times before, one of them living here for nearly half a year, so I really love this city.

A wide river view with the Seoul skyline visible hazily on the horizon — Finally, arriving in Seoul.

Only thing left to do was retrieve a box for the bike (I’d emailed a local bike shop near my hotel months before, so they knew I was coming and were super helpful!), enjoy a few days in Seoul, and get on a plane home.

A bike partly packed into a cardboard box with protective wrapping, ready for the flight home — Retrieving a box for the bike.

A close-up of the cardboard bike box being taped up before the flight home — And on a plane home.

What an amazing trip. Perhaps impossible to ever beat, and I’m so glad I did it. It was a huge amount of work to plan, a big chunk of investment to do, but my god was it amazing. And all my previous trips really added up here: so little went wrong, I had backup plans in place when it did, and I could really just enjoy it. I’ll never get enough of amazing views of mountains and rivers, I will 100% need to go back to both countries for more cycling trips!