Bike Rentals for Weekend Outings

By David J. Richter

With most people in Korea living in apartment blocks or one-rooms, not everyone has the space to easily store a bicycle at their home. And to be fair, within the city of Gwangju, biking is not always the most comfortable means of transport. Many bike lanes in the city are simply a sidewalk colored red, with pedestrians and cars alike not giving much consideration to the idea of bikes being a part of traffic flow. So it is somewhat understandable that one does not see too many bikes on a day- to-day basis or that someone might choose to save the money of buying a bike in light of these limitations.

“Riding in between all the crop flelds and mountains is incredibly beautiful and rewarding.”

However, once one leaves the city limits (or rides on the riverbanks within the city) biking becomes much more fun and much less of a headache. Following the riverbanks up to Damyang or south to Mokpo, or simply leaving the city limits and riding in between all the crop fields and mountains is incredibly beautiful and rewarding. Doing so also saves one from having to ride over too much elevation. Such bike trips could be a simple one-day round trip of only a couple of hours (as in the case of Damyang), or one could turn it into a multi-day affair and choose to go further (e.g., Mokpo). Either way, it is a ton of fun and something I would recommend everyone to at least try.

But buying a bike to “just try” to see if one likes this is a bit much. This is where bike rentals come in. With my family coming over to visit, I too had to look for a bike rental in Gwangju for the first time, and what I found was much better than what I had expected. It was both pain-free, simple, cheap, quick, and convenient, and the bikes were also really nice. There might be multiple bike shops around the city, but I have so far only tried one.

The shop is called MIL Bike (밀바이크), and it is located just west of Champions Field. Renting a bike is as simple as going to the store, telling them whether you want a mountain bike or an e-bike (plus helmets), and telling them for how long you want to rent them. Then you pay and you are good to go. If you want to make sure that the kind of bike you want is available, you can also make a reservation online through Naver. Regular bikes were 20,000 won for a day with e-bikes being 5,000 won more.

The bikes are in good condition and good quality. Returning them is as simple as riding up to the shop and securing them to the bike rack with a provided lock and reporting to staff that the bikes are back. Such a bike rental should be possible for just about anyone in the city and hopefully opens the door for some fun, exciting, and beautiful bike trips in the Jeollanam-do area and beyond for anyone who is willing to give it a shot.