Taiwan is a Road Cyclist's Paradise

The more I explore different roads around the Taipei greater area, the more I believe that Taiwan offers a lot for the discerning road rider. You have plenty of options on any given day, depending on your training/ride goals for that particular day. There is just an amazing network of roads waiting to be explored and for the most part it is very safe riding. Unlike in many Western countries (except for Europe), Taiwanese drivers are used to two-wheeled vehicles (scooters and bicycles) and are not bothered by them. There is very little road rage here - in contrast to what you'd experience in the US or New Zealand.

If you have been following my blog over the last couple of months, you will have seen my articles and photographs of the wide variety of riding routes I have completed. That should be enough evidence to support my claim that Taiwan is in-fact a Road Cyclist's Paradise! Several American expats who live here also attest to this fact. You can find plenty of mountain climbs all ranging from 20 mins in length to more than 60 minutes long in the Taipei area. Other parts of the Island boosts climbs that go for 50+ kms if you are looking for that epic climb. There is a climb here that has Asia's highest paved mountain road, which I will try and find and ride before leaving Taiwan! You can also find plenty of flat and rolling types of terrain if you don't fancy all the climbing!

Today was the coldest day out on the bike for me, a nippy 59F (15C degrees) so I wore my Champion System  arm warmers and knee warmers for the first time. The custom-made garments worked very well and kept me feeling warm, light and aerodynamic. If you are needing custom-made uniforms for yourself or for your team, I recommend taking a look at Champion System simply because they make one of the best quality uniforms at the best value-for-money. If you are only a one-man team, you can still get custom-made uniforms done for you at a very reasonable price! You can click on your country flag at the top of the CS home-page here.

The route that I chose today was on the Northern Cross Highway (#7), a spectacular mountainous route that crosses to the East Coast of Taiwan. A great description (plus photos) on this route can be seen on Rank's Blog. This is a route that normally takes two full-days to do the loop starting from Taipei. However, I only did part of the Hwy 7 route as an out and back ride.  I spent the first hour riding along Highway 3 through Yonghe City,  Banqiao City, and Sanxia City to get to Highway 7A. The traffic thinned out immediately after I made the turn onto Highway 7 and it was a good 30 minute climb (310m) over 14km to the top. I had a refreshment stop at the 7-11 in Sanmin (had my favourite Milk Tea drink) and cycled onto Fuxing (400m) before I turned around to head back to Taipei City.  I was buzzing during my ride and wished that I could have kept going to attempt the full loop via Yilan City on the East Coast and back up Highway 9 through Pinglin to Taipei. Apparently it is more than 250kms for the loop and would definitely make for a big day!

The key to doing well on big rides is to ensure you are hydrated and fueled for the ride duration. Today's ride was almost 4 hours for close to 100kms and I was feeling strong at the end. I was able to do some sustained efforts close to time-trialing pace. I even did a fair bit of motor-pacing behind trucks and scooters on the way back along highway 3.

Here are some tips for ensuring that you do not bonk on long rides:

• Drink 600-700mls every hour. For the first 2hrs I was drinking REV 3 energy drink. Once I got to the 7-11, I had a 600ml bottle of milk tea and then topped up my bottles with plain water.
• Ensure you eat adequately so that you can continue to ride strongly without fatigue. My nutrition for this particular ride consisted of:
• 1 x Hammer Gel containing 90 calories
• 1 x USANA Oatmeal-raisin bar containing 170 calories
• My pre-ride meal was a bowl of eggs and noodles (good source of carbs for fuel)
• Another good choice for food is bananas
• Ensure you train consistently week-to-week, building up to bigger miles gradually so that attempting the longer rides will not shock the body.

At the end of the training ride, I still had plenty of energy to do more riding! Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to attempt the 250km loop in one day!


Google Map of Today's Route (roughly - does not include the little diversions down small roads along the way)

Training Peaks file here

Route 106 to Ruifang

Riding on Route 106 towards Ruifang City offers some stunning mountain scenery alongside the Keelung River as you pass through a couple of old townships (Pingxi and Shifen) that make for some interesting exploration.

Once out of Taipei City via Muzha it was raining for the most part of my 100km ride, however it was quite enjoyable and peaceful. The only real hills was the 3-4km climb up to Pingxi Township (250m) and then the longest climb (500m) occurs after Shifen before it drops down to Ruifang. After riding to the highest point, I turned around to ride back. It was quite a tricky descent due to the narrowness of the road and a number of switchbacks to negotiate in the wet.

HIGHLIGHTS

Pingxi Township

Pingxi is worth the stop for an hour or so if it is your first time through and  you have time. You can explore the old cobble-stoned streets, check out the market; and see evidence of what was once an important coal mining town in the early 20th century. If you have to have caffeine during your trip, you have come to the right place as it has many tea plantations in the area.  On my way back, I stopped at a local restaurant at the crossroads for big plate of pork, egg and vege fried noodles for $60NT ($1.85US). Good feed after spending half the day exploring in the rain!

Shifen 

After passing through Pingxi, it is a very easy ride alongside the Keelung River to Shifen. It is highly recommended to spend at least half an hour checking out the Shifen Waterfall (十分瀑布) and the surrounding mountains. It is has been dubbed as the "little Niagara of Taiwan" as it is the country's broadest waterfall being 20 meters in hight and spanning across 40 meters. The rain gave the area a misty romantic quality that was refreshing. The actual waterfall viewing deck is currently closed to the general public due to some safety issues.  However, there was no-one to be seen, so I jumped over the fence next to the rail-way line to walk over and snap a few pictures of the awe-inspiring waterfall.

The entire area is surrounded by mountains and bush with numerous waterfalls cascading off the mountainsides onto the road.  On a normal day, it is a very popular route for both cyclists and motorcyclists alike; often very crowded with weekenders. However, due to the rain there was only the occasional cyclist to be seen and I mostly had the place to myself, especially after Shifen. According to the 2007 Lonely Planet, this area of Keelung River receives more than 6000mm of rain a year and for this reason, there is more waterfalls than any other river system in all of Taiwan. There is another smaller waterfall - Eyeglasses Waterfall that you can view as  you walk over the bridge.

If you have an interest in Coal Mining history, there is the Taiwan Coal Mine History & Cultural Hall that you can check out. This used to be a real fully operational coal-mining station, so everything on display is real authentic mining equipment. There is apparently a 1km train ride you can take into the mining tunnel (Lonely Planet 2007).

To view the google map of the ride, click here. This map just shows the starting point at the Shiding area and maps out just over 20kms. I came from Taipei which adds another 15-20kms to your journey each way and then depending on how far past Shifen you go, it makes for a good half-day ride. It is not too difficult to do and there are plenty of sights to see along the way. If you are feeling adventurous, I would randomly choose a couple of the small one-laned roads that branch off the main 106 road, you never know what you might find! 

Getting there from Taipei

Excerpt from Rank: 

Pingxi/Pinglin (via Shiding).
Cross the bridge toward Taipei Zoo and turn left onto Xinguang Rd. Stay on Xinguang Rd. as it loops under the freeway and continue on straight down Wenshan Rd until it ends. Now cross the river and you will be on Beishen Rd. Having bypassed the unpleasant downtown Shenkeng. From here you can continue onto to Pingxi and Pinglin via Shiding. It is also possible to take a small access road over the hills to Nangang and then loop back to the cemetery on Yanjiuyuan Rd ( Pingxi/Pinglin (via Shiding)
NB: Photos are now clickable for viewing




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