Progress, what progress?

Some kind soul posted a note asking where this has gone. Frankly nowhere. I don't care to spend a lot of typing time while coming off down as on Korea but there are some pretty hard barriers to cross with this type of project. The following are the three main reasons for the stall. As you can see, it's not largely direct issues with Koreans so so go calling ma a hater, far from it. It's just the way stuff goes.

1) In October of 2008 the economic downturn sent quite a few well funded and staffed foreign managers of the Songdo City project back to their home countries. This is unfortunate as their skills and management ability were valuable as was their interest and support for the project. This is the largest reason for the stall.
2) I was warned that, in Korea, projects that reap intrinsic value or community good-will often crumble when there is not fast cash to be made for someone. I saw this play out when we tried to secure land access in a big park to make trails only to be told we would be charged upwards of 10 million Won ($10,000). You want US to PAY YOU to make public trails. Right...
3) The concept of "Singletrack" or ideals like "Sustainability" are like showing a wrist watch to a hog. I showed picture after picture of singletrack, took people on walks on trails, and did PowerPoint presentations only to asked how we intend to get the concrete mixer back in the woods.

So, now Incheon continues to put waste tax money puting in wooden stairs on every mountain (Likely to thwart bicycles) and ignore the loss of soil underneath or the loss of revenues from MTB sales and tourism.

Bending with the Breeze

This morning I got some bad news from my contact with Incheon Fair 2009. She informed me that the mountain that we have targeted for sweet singletrack will be developed into residential high-rise apartments. I admit that I am...was bummed. My fantasy of having the international school affiliated with outdoor education now has a snag. Also, if they put high-rises to the East of MY building the sun will effectively rise for my house at about noon and set at the end of lunch due to the buildings to the West. I changed my diapers and decided to push on as my contact and another official were still interested in the pitch for sustainable dirt squirting.

Fast forward to 5:00 PM

The meeting with Incheon Fair 2009 went very well and presented some very cool opportunities for trails.

• Many of the mountains in the West of Incheon are a patchwork of ownership. We could spend years pushing for permission for access. If we go to the municipalities first we risk intimidation of the land owners (I can't blame them).


• The best mountain for trails would be Munhaksan (San - mountain). The problem is that it is divided in half and run by two municipalities. This would be a crushing amount of red tape and politics.


• The executive director started making phone calls to old contacts. The guy was magnificent! I watched as his eyes lit up several times. After he was done calling he asked me if I know of Wolmi-do. It is an island off Incheon port that was a navy installation. It is now a park. I know it is very small but could be ideal as a sanctuary of MTBing. I will scope out the land by this weekend and then report to them my conclusion. I think it's safe to say we don't want to start a project with less than 10km of dirt. This option is super close to the airport and Songdo, easy to get to from Seoul by car and subway, is cooler in the summer, and has less hikers. Hmmmmmm...


• The other option they gave was on a more GRAND scale but it's best to keep that hushed for now. If we resort to it you will be dazzled!

So, in summary, the original plan has been charred but a new, better one is emerging from the ashes. My contact has proven to be a strong advocate for Incheon Fair 2009 as well as the people around it. We have friends in good places.

Here we go!

Welcome to MTB trails for Incheon. The purpose of this site is to share information about the progress of MTB trails in Incheon South Korea. Korea is likely the country with the most opportunities in all of Northeast Asia for MTB trails and related tourism/commerce. However, at this time there are no trails that were built with MTBs in mind. Most trails were very utilitarian in origin but now accommodate the massive crush of hikers that Korea enjoys.

When the Incheon bridge finally connects to Songdo next year it will be possible to arrive at flowing singletrack in as little as 20 minutes after you leave the airport, all without a car!

What's in this for everyone involved?

•Expanded marketing opportunities for the city of Songdo and the participating organizations
•Addition of businesses and tourism
•The international school will be associated with the trail as part of their outdoor education curriculum.
•Increase the image of outdoor life and environment in Songdo
•Greater options for recreation
•Increased awareness of fitness and sport
•Potential for ongoing high-profile competitive events


On Thursday we will present to the IFEZ (Incheon Free Economic Zone) members in Songdo. The goal is to gain support in the push for access to add 10k of sustainable multi-use trail on a small, but convenient, mountain only about 1km from downtown Songdo. Check out the list of supporters already on board. More to come!