CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Goyang-si it runs 382 km to Goyang-si; allow about 6 h 35 of riding. The stops in between: Mausoleum of King Wang Kon, Yungneung Cluster and back through Mausoleum of King Wang Kon. It crosses from South Korea into North Korea - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea for over five hundred years, and its kings and queens were buried in carefully chosen spots around the capital, in tombs designed according to Confucian ritual and the principles of geomancy, with a hill behind, water in front and mountains framing the view. In 2009, forty of these tombs were listed by UNESCO as the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Jangneung, in Gimpo, just west of Seoul, is the tomb of Wonjong, the father of King Injo, who was elevated to royal rank after his death. It is a quiet, wooded place, with a grassy burial mound, stone statues of officials and animals, and a T-shaped shrine where ancestral rites were held.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jangneung Cluster is where the day begins. Next is Mausoleum of King Wang Kon.
Wang Kon, the founder of Goryeo, was a merchant's son from the coast who became a warlord and then a king, and he took the throne in 918 after the collapse of the earlier Silla order. The kingdom he built gave the modern word Korea its name. When he died in 943, he was buried on the hillside west of his capital at Kaesong, and the tomb has been rebuilt more than once. The present mausoleum, called Hyonjongnung, with its stone figures and a mound looking over the hills, was extensively restored in the 1990s, a fact that guides sometimes mention and sometimes do not.
Read the complete Mausoleum of King Wang Kon write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mausoleum of King Wang Kon comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yungneung Cluster.
Yungneung belongs to a tradition that most visitors to Korea never see: the royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty, forty of them scattered across the country and listed by UNESCO in 2009. This cluster lies south of Seoul near Hwaseong, a short way from Suwon, and it holds the tomb of Crown Prince Sado and, nearby, that of his son, King Jeongjo. Sado is the tragic figure of the dynasty. In 1762 his father, King Yeongjo, had him sealed inside a rice chest, where he died after eight days, after years of tension at court.
Read the complete Yungneung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 191 km into the recorded legs you reach Yungneung Cluster. Next is back through Mausoleum of King Wang Kon.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mausoleum of King Wang Kon write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Mausoleum of King Wang Kon, late in the day. Next is Jangneung Cluster.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jangneung Cluster write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Jangneung Cluster. That is the ride.
Jangneung Cluster → Mausoleum of King Wang Kon is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mausoleum of King Wang Kon → Yungneung Cluster is 130 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Yungneung Cluster → back through Mausoleum of King Wang Kon is 130 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mausoleum of King Wang Kon → Jangneung Cluster is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.