Adventure Cycling in Taiwan (Part 1)

“Kan Yi Kan”

Fifteen days in Taiwan was all we had. So fifteen days is what our cycling adventure had to be. Yearning for a brief respite from Shanghai’s deceptively cold weather and a chance to get on the bikes again, my riding partner, Zhang Wei Lei, had a touch of travel fever and were itching to get out on the open road. Over a couple of frosty pints of Guinness in a noisy western bar, we sealed the deal and the fix was in.

Zhang Wei Lei and I possessed no definite plans. We had nothing special to see other than to explore Taiwan by circling the island on our bikes to “kan yi kan” or “take a look” and see what there was to see.

Our plan was simple: Fly to Taipei, build the bikes, and ride south along the coast while keeping the Pacific Ocean on our right shoulders until we circled the island and were back in Taipei. Our little island foray would be a journey of discovery in the purest form — just two kindred soul who shared a love of travel cycling together on the road again taking whatever adventure it had to offer.

Here are a few highlights from Part 1 of our adventure…

An Adventure Cycling Gem

Taiwan is a little known, often overlooked cycling paradise offering breathtaking mountain scenery, stunning ocean vistas, and local color replete with hospitable Taiwanese people to meet and tasty cuisine to keep your belly fueled and your taste buds happy. Most all urban surface streets and connecting highways have protected or unprotected cycling/moped lanes and turning boxes.

The island has an extensive cycle touring network consisting of several National Cycling Routes sure to please the beginning and seasoned cycle traveler alike. Traffic is often light on roads that don’t have dedicated bike paths. Some may find riding in the cities a little intense, as the riding tends to be congested but drivers are generally polite, don’t toot their horns much, and will make room for you on the road.

Time for Exploration

Our intent was to keep the daily mileage manageable, allowing plenty of time to stop and explore along the way. With morning starts around 0700-0800 and riding about 100-130 kilometers (60-80 miles) a day, there would be plenty of time meander along and see interesting sites along the way. Riding from city to city or village to village added just enough structure to our itinerary to be back in Taipei in two weeks but no so much that it restricted our freedom of movement or stifled any spontaneity or serendipity of the road. We were free to putter along and check out the island, to meet the people and make new friends, all while sampling the tasty local fare along the way.

Island Geography and Climate

Taiwan, historically called Formosa which is Portuguese for “Beautiful Island,” is located about across the Taiwan Strait about 180 kilometers off of the southeastern coast of mainland China in the East China Sea. The island straddles the Tropic of Cancer delineating the boundary between the Tropical Zone to the south and the Subtropical Zone to the north.

The island is approximately 400 kilometers north to south and about 145 kilometers wide east to west with about 1500 kilometers of coastline — most of which can be ridden by bike. Rugged heavily forested mountain ranges run along the island’s east coast while generally flat rolling plains make up the western third of the island. Major urban areas are located mainly on the west coast and the eastern side of the island consisting of smaller towns, agriculture, and some fishing.

January is the low precipitation month for the year with the weather usually cooler and wetter (14-20℃/83mm) at the northern end of the island in the subtropical zone, while a little warmer temperatures and less moisture (17-23℃/14mm) prevails farther south, making the overall cycling quite pleasant. A prevailing north/northwest wind makes for a quick tailwind heading south but for a steady but bearable headwind coming back north.

The population is mainly Han Chinese with several smaller ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples.

Ocean Vistas and Mountain Views

Cycling along the coast provided us to endless views of the Pacific Ocean. Any pedaling inland consisted of low rolling hills through dense tropical forests and built-up urban or manufacturing centers. The northern portion of the eastern coast contained the most climbing with more than 2000 meters of elevation gain in one day. Golden sunrises and sunsets were daily treats — weather permitting.

The southern tip of the island and eastern coast offered us the most stunning views, reminiscent and every bit as beautiful as the sweeping ocean vistas new Big Sur along California’s Pacific Coast Highway.

Every day on the island was a new adventure, always wondering what was over each hill and around every bend in the road. Friendly locals were always eager to speak with us and ask about our cycling journey. By its nature, adventure cycling keeps you in the moment. Rarely does my mind wander off and I find myself wonder if I’ve paid the gas bill or not.

Riding at night is almost a daily staple for Wei Lei and me. Frequent photo stops, especially at sunrise and sunset, occasional side trips, and moderate riding distances results in us riding several hours in the dark, which is something Wei Lei and I are accustomed to doing. Our Taiwanese sojourn was no different. Continual stops to take in the ocean views or rich mountain vistas or to chit chat with locals kept us on the road after dark and checking into the hotel after hours. Unnerving to some, cycling a few hours under a star-studded sky is often a pleasant affair.

West Coast Riding

Riding south along the west coast was generally a fast wind-swept affair interspersed with occasional rain showers as a stiff daily tailwind pushed us forever southward from town to town. The days blew by (pun intended) and it seemed like nothing to cover 100+ kilometers on a day’s ride.

Inner cities were often a labyrinth of narrow streets jam packed with cars, buses, mopeds, and pedestrians, all just squeezing through long rows of shops and noodle stalls built out to the pavement’s edge. Pungent odors assaulted our olfactory organs big time. I read once that one can never really know a place until you’ve smelled the place. Well, like most of the cities in Asia I’ve visited, I know most of the cities in Taiwan.

Swarms of mopeds congested urban streets, often sweeping us up in their never-ending flow as scooters and bikes coalesced at the street’s edge. Numerous times the pulsing, surging crowds of wheels, steel, and people separated Wei Lei and me to the point I could only catch fleeting glimpses of his helmet among the bustling throngs of people and automobiles.

As beautiful and scenic as the countryside is, so is the intensity and excitement of exploring the inner city streets that are a wonderful spicy mishmash of humanity. There is just as much, if not more so, to be discovered there.

One of our first destinations was Old Sanxia Street (Three Gorges) in New Taipei City, a narrow cobblestone street lined with noodle stalls and tourist shops in housed in red brick buildings dating back to the 1920’s. The arched hallways and traditional architecture gave us a little taste of “the old days” while still under Japanese purview where local businesses sold tea, dyes, and construction materials to the then burgeoning island community.

Ubiquitous 7-Eleven stores dotting the landscape quickly became a cycling mainstay for shots of hot coffee, sugary drinks, and semi-tasty microwave meals required to fuel our bodies on down the road.

More than one time I stopped at a local 7-Eleven to shovel my mouth full of a plate of microwaved curry and rice chased by a couple of liters of chocolate milk to prime me for the next climb or rolling stretch of road.

Unlike most convenience stores found in the U.S., Taiwanese 7-Eleven stores are clean, well-lit, have clean restrooms, and are free of riffraff. Most of the stores usually had sizable seating areas inside and out to eat or drink coffee, which served as a local hangout for young students socializing or doing their homework.

Dogs live interesting lives in Asia. They seem to be highly independent of humans and often indifferent to the world around them with many of them laying down in the middle of the road without a carry in the world and totally uncaring about car tires whizzing by inches from their heads.

On a few instances dogs mounted loud but innocuous attacks on Wei Lei or me as we rolled by, unlike the eye-bugging, heart-pounding assaults visited upon us by Tibetan mastiffs in the northwestern reaches of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

The Journey Continues in Part 2…

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