Seoul does not really end; it merges into one city after another, and Bucheon is one of them, a dense, busy satellite city of around eight hundred and fifty thousand people squeezed between the capital and the port of Incheon. Nearby Gwangmyeong and the southwestern districts of Seoul blend into it, and the whole area is a sea of apartment towers, shopping streets, factories and elevated roads. It is not a beautiful place to finish, but it is a practical one.
Bucheon has carved out an identity as a city of culture. It hosts the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival every summer, one of Asia's best-known genre film festivals, and it is home to the Korean Manhwa Museum, dedicated to Korean comics. Nearby, Gwangmyeong Cave is an old gold mine that has been turned into a strange and popular attraction, with light shows, a wine cellar and an aquarium deep underground, and it is a cool refuge on a hot summer day.
The ride back from Danyang is a long one. Danyang lies far to the south-east, on the Namhan river among limestone cliffs and mountains, and the passes and river roads there are among the best in the country. Coming back, it is worth knowing that motorcycles are banned from Korean expressways, so you must use the national roads and local roads, which means traffic lights, towns and slow progress as you approach the capital region. Plan for heavy traffic in the late afternoon, especially on Sundays when everyone returns from the countryside. Riders here are used to filtering, but it is not always legal, and police enforcement varies.
Practically, the area has everything. Fuel stations are easy to find, as are convenience stores, fried chicken shops, barbecue restaurants and noodle houses, and many places stay open late. If you are returning a rental bike or meeting someone, Gimpo Airport and the subway lines into central Seoul are close.
Treat this as a pit stop after the mountains. Find a restaurant with a parking spot for the bike, order a bowl of naengmyeon, cold buckwheat noodles in icy broth if it is summer, or a hot stew if it is winter, and let the noise and lights of the city wash over you.