Riding / Touring Taiwan

stevenmh

Taiwan seems to be promoting cycling quite a bit and I have seen a few tours in conjunction with China Airlines.

Has anyone taken their road bike to Taiwan? Is the riding good worth travelling there?

I know China Airlines seem to be bike friendly although have not spoken to them yet but are there any airlines where I do not have to take wheels etc off?

andymiller

Hopefully [url=ttp://www.bikeradar.com/forums/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=409067]cycladelic[/url] will be along to answer your question. He might be on tour so you might need to bump this a couple of times.

GyatsoLa

I spent 3 weeks (more or less) cycling around Taiwan last December. Its a really interesting country for cycling - I can't say I'd recommend it, it depends on what you are looking for.

The nice thing about the country is that they are making a really big effort to promote cycling - even TV ads. The cities are pretty grim for cycling, but they are putting lots of leisure routes in and most of the main roads are fine for cycling - there is usually a hard shoulder which is well maintained. The big roads over the mountains that form the spine of Taiwan, in addition to the main roads that run along the east are great. The mountain roads usually have very light traffic. People are super friendly and helpful, although English is not as widely spoken as you might want. Towns and villages are a bit grim due to the history of uncontrolled development, but the people and the quality of the food does at least partly make up for it.

Due to the toughness of the climbs, its not somewhere I'd go with a heavily loaded touring bike. I took my road bike and went 'light and fast' (i left most of my stuff in a hostel in Taipei before setting off).

stevenmh

Its a really interesting country for cycling - I can't say I'd recommend it, it depends on what you are looking for

Thanks for the info GyatsoLa. From your post, it sounds like a pretty good place for riding which is what I was hoping, but you also say you would not recommend it. How come?

I always ride very light, but are there plenty of places to stop for the night en route or is it best to book a hotel or whatever and do a fully planned ride?

Did you ride from the airport or from the hostel? Encounter any problems on your trip?

GyatsoLa

Oh, sorry, i phrased that badly - I suppose what I meant is to say that whether I would recommend it or not depends on what type of touring you like. I was a tiny bit disappointed with it because it was a little 'tame' for my taste, no real adventure to it - Taiwan is a little too civilised for me! But I think its ideal for someone who just likes the riding part of it (the roads are great). Also, I mistimed my visit a little, it was colder and wetter than I'd anticipated, there was even snow on the high passes.

There is no real problem getting places to stay the night - the exception is up in the mountains where sometimes there might be just one or two hostels or hotels and these can book out during the weekends. There are cheap guesthouses in most villages, but they can be quite hard to find as they are rarely signedposted in English and its hard to get English speakers in small villages. Perhaps get someone to write 'can you direct me to the local guesthouse?' in mandarin would help! If you are very fit you should be able to get up and over the big passes in a day (I couldn't), but I would recommend staying at some of the higher villages and national parks, they really are very nice.

If you are not on a tight budget, i'd recommend stopping at the many spa resorts around - they are excellent and really good value midweek out of season (the prices zoom up on weekends and during holidays). They are really good, although some don't do food in the evening. A hot spring bath is a great way to start a days cycling!

I wouldn't ride from the airport. Its a long way from Taipei (assuming you want to go there, and I would recommend it - its a fascinating city). So far as I know, the roads are very bike unfriendly around the airport. I rode from a hostel in Taipei. Its surprisingly easy to get out of the city by bike - there is a network of cycle paths along all the rivers, also the underground system allows bikes in some stations (they are marked with a bike symbol on the maps).

I didn't have any real problems at all, although I had the benefit of a Taiwan friend I could call when I needed a translator. People are exceptionally friendly and helpful, although it can be hard to find English speakers. There are bike shops in most towns (just look out for the ubiquitous 'Giant' sign). Its a very low crime country so you don't have to worry so much about personal safety. Drivers are pretty good by Asian standards, although you do need to watch out for trucks near quarries (there are lots along the river valleys). Navigation is relatively easy, but be aware that they have not standardised their signposts in Roman lettering, so the same place might have what appears to be a very different name on different signs (e.g. Yilan and Ilan are the same place). Eating well as a solo traveller can be a little difficult in that like most Chinese societies eating is a social thing so restaurants are set up for big groups, they can get a little non-plussed when faced with a sweaty looking westerner turning up asking for a bowl of noodles. There are 7-11's nearly everywhere with a range of snacks that will get you through the day.

stevenmh

Wow that's a lot of great info. Thanks for taking the time to write it GyatsoLa.

GyatsoLa

no problem - I keep meaning to post some info on crazyguyonabike but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Drop me a mail if you have any specific questions, happy to help.

deal

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12640520

Bananaboy

I used to live in Taiwan and loved the rides around Chia-Yi county including Ali-shan. There are some spectacular routes through the mountains but they are very long and steep in places.

If you stay on the west coast where most of the population live in busy cities you will be ok. I think you can do a north to south ride e.g. Taipei to Kaoshuing comfortably in four days which is around 60 miiles perday.

Also on the east coast which is more rural there are a few hills and you can enjoy some nice rides from north to south. I wouldnt recommend crossing the mountains to go from east - west as the climbs are very long and steep. They can also be dangerous when the mountains can be prone to landslides and there can be long tunnels that are unlit.

The Taiwanese people are generally friendly and helpful and are used to seeing cyclists all year round. Best time to go is after the summer period say November to April.