On 25 July 2015 I met 5 other Busanites to join forces and cycle together from Haeundae to Jinha Beach.  To be honest I'm not a big fan of Facebook, but it has it's practical uses, one of which made 5 strangers meet up at 08:00am in front of Starbucks to cycle together. 

The purpose of the cycle was social and not performance based, and so we ended up being a very diverse and interesting group.  And yet everyone's open mindedness and support for each other is what made the ride great!

Here's a slide show created by one of the participants:

Start: Haeundae
Finish: Gijang and back to Haeundae
Distance: +/-40km
Elevation: mostly flat with a steep hill on Dalmaji road
Road surface: mostly car road, a small section of cycling track. 
Transportation: Take the subway to Jungdong station on the green line, Exit 7
Transportation back: There is an option of a train between 15:00 and 16:00 from Gijang or any other East coast station back to Haeundae or Dongnae station. It has 5 bicycle seats. 

After a bit of a lull in my cycling I'm back and I've been out and about lately revisiting some favourite routes. A lot of construction has been going on near Songjeong beach and Gijang, due to the development of the East Coast Tourism Complex. A huge Lotte mall has been built and they are still busy building a theme park, water park, hotels, retirement villages and golf courses.  Some of this construction is resulting in new roads, tunnels and routes that did not exist before. 

I've also been noticing the signs going up for the new East coast cycle route, starting at the top of the East coast of Korea. It seems down here near Busan, they are simply adding signs for the route and not really creating any new cycling roads. Also some of the route seems to follow the busy road 14, while there are other lovely coastal alternatives available.  I was really hoping the old train track would be converted into a cycling track going round Dalmaji, but it will be left as an old train track for tourists to walk on, while Dalmaji hill has become part of the East coast cycling route. I guess for the long distance cyclists it will become that last climb before descending into Busan and Haeundae.

Another change is that Dalmaji road has been re-paved, almost 100%. This is great news! It's been part of my commute in the past and now many of those nasty potholes and uneven bits are history! There's also some markers installed near drain covers that stand out, which is a nice touch.

Above is the route I would recommend for the first 30 km up the coast. There are subtle changes. 

• Descending from Dalmaji, turn immediately right and go straight over the old train line to Songjeong beach.
• From the end of Songjeong past Lotte mall up to Jukdo coastal town has a dedicated cycling lane.
• There are two new connecting roads and a cycle friendly tunnel between the coast and road 14 just after Lotte mall and before Jukdo coastal town. (However I would just try to avoid road 14 if possible.)
• For a fast finish and a loop ride, you can cycle up the coast to Gijang and then just take road 14 back. Just be aware it will have traffic and buses.

A lovely 50km flat ride along the river and you can take a train from Miryang back to Busan at 18:20 with a bicycle rack. 

I've cycled up the Nakdong river many times, but this time I decided to veer off the dedicated cycled route and try to make my own way to the town of Miryang. However to my great surprise I found a dedicated cycling path all the way to Miryang. What was even more surprising is that this path is not even indicated on Naver maps, it's completely empty of other people and all between the farmlands. This was literally the perfect 50km if you just want to cruise along with the wind in your hair or try to reach top speeds.  ( I chose to cruise.)

Of course you can cycle to Miryang and back for a perfect 100 km.

Start: Yangsan
End: Miryang
Distance: 50km
Elevation: very flat
Surface: cycling road all the way
Transport to Yangsan: Take the subway to Yangsan station or take a bus to Yangsan
Transport from Miryang: Take a train to Busan station (18:20 only train with cycle racks) or take a bus to Sasang.