2018 Taiwan Cycling Challenge Events Thread

In continuation of last year’s thread:

I will be posting some info on cycling challenges all throughout Taiwan just as an FYI. Feel free to ask any questions you may have if I hadn’t already covered it!

Tataka/Yu Shan National Park
塔塔加/玉山國家公園

Sign up start/end: January 5, 2018 - February 4, 2018
Event date: March 3, 2018
Start Location: Shui Li (水里)
End location: Tataka Visitor’s First Parking Lot
Total distance: 75km
Total elevation gain: 2200m
Route: Never Stop探索新中橫-塔塔加 - 路線 - Xplova - 探索,, 記錄, 分享 (水里商工→台16線→台16/台21共線→台21線→補給站一(台21線116.5K)→東埔隧道128.2K(無照明)→同富隧道131.7K(無照明)→補給站二(台21線132K)→塔塔加第一停車場)
Registration Fee (early bird before January 14): 900NT/person
Registration Fee: 1100NT/person

EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED!

My team boss posted this yesterday, if it’s of any interest:

http://www.tpe-bike.org.tw/

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Thanks @ColT , I’ll get around to posting the schedules from the major orgs in a bit. Thanks for the reminder!

Sorry for the hiatus! Here’s another popular event happening along Taipei’s north coast.

There’s two distances! 100km and 76km. The 76km rules out the brutal climb in the hills of Wanli/Jinshan. Here’s the Strava segment for those that might be curious https://www.strava.com/segments/1685981 . I remember seeing 15% on my Garmin at some points of the segment. No shame in walking, you still have roughly 50km’s to go for the return trip!

Both of the distances are great for beginners, but the 100km one might be a doozy because of the bit of climbing you do in the hills. I think the hardest part of this race is battling the temperatures in June. All of the north coasts sees no shade and once you get into the mountains…you’re climbing! Not much time to cool down except for the downhill back onto the coast.

Sign up start/end: Now - April 20, 2018
Event date: June 10, 2018
Start Location: Dan Shui (淡水) https://goo.gl/maps/NcZ7gdLg8XT2
End location: same as start (https://goo.gl/maps/NcZ7gdLg8XT2)
Total distance 1: 100km
Total elevation gain 1: 950m
Total distance 2: 76km
Total elevation gain 2: 488m
Route: http://tour.xplova.com/routeDetail/?GUID=C7462DF8-7D4F-281E-B0BF-EDD28B8612E4

IMAG4248

If you needed an excuse to cycle the Taroko Gorge. This is your excuse!

The annual Maxxis Challenge has just started registration. If you guys have heard of the Taiwan KOM, this is a similar route, but cuts out the 10-15km of neutral flats from Hualien to Taroko. So, the total distance is roughly 90km (from Xin Cheng).

What more is their to say about this route? June in Hualien is normally warm, but not wet. So, it’s likely we don’t have to worry about rain. You’ll start in 25-28C and at the peak, it will be 15-20C. Which is much better than it would be in early/late spring.

Sign up start/end: April 9 - May 18
Event date: June 24, 2018
Start Location: XiuLun Junior High School/花蓮縣秀林國中 (Google Maps)
End location: Wuling Peak (Google Maps)
Total distance: 88.83km
Total elevation gain: 3270m
Route: N/A

::EDIT::

There’s two distances that you can sign up for. However, don’t kid yourself, you really going to make the trip and ride halfway up?

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A lot of cyclists that come to Taiwan ask, are there any “races”? There used to be plenty until people living on the race routes started complaining about the road closures.

Now, there’s just the Taiwan KOM, Hualien <–> Taidong race and Wuling Cup. Lucky for you, Wuling Cup just started sign ups!

Spots are limited to 1000 participants and you are not allowed to sign up individually. So…best to find a friend that wants to enter in the sufferfest and find them quick! This is one event in which the locals put in high regards. Top spots overall and in age groups get trophies and prize, so there’s no participation medal like other events!

Unfortunately, the org doesn’t do much to close the road, but it isn’t that bad since the start time is at 5AM. You can expect the roads to be pretty quiet at that time.

Sign up start/end: May 25
Event date: September 9, 2018
Start Location: Below Highway No. 6 (Puli Interchange)
End location: Wuling Peak (https://goo.gl/maps/Riwpa5E6vpP2)
Total distance: 57km
Total elevation gain: 2870m (Max elevation 3270m above sea level)
Route: https://www.bikemap.net/en/r/1683207/

http://www.letsgobike.com.tw/events/ins.php?index_id=47

Any events coming up in October or November?

Up north and under 100km would be ideal. Not crazy on the elevation would be good, but this wouldn’t be a deal breaker (I assume up north and with a cap of 100km wouldn’t be too bad anyway- bad assumption?).

bad assumption. there’s the annual triple peaks challenge (or some name like that). Up and over YMS three separate ways in an afternoon… can’t remember when it is, but i did it a few times years ago. that’s only 75 km.

Maybe I need to add another condition of 2 peaks max! That one sounds painful. I basically ride Xiwan Road and Xiding Road (separately on different days). I’ll be doing Fung Gwei Dzui plus Xiding in two weeks (what is that, 800m elevation?).

So I guess I’m signing up for this one. I gave my info to someone who will register us as a group. I"m going to do the shorter 58k, 1111m elevation route. I have no idea what to expect. We will all have chips, so does that mean I’ll have a placing (overall and age group)? I have no chance in hell of placing well, but I’d still like to see how I fare against others.

http://bao-ming.com/eb/www/activity_content.php?activitysn=3240&contentsn=16663

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It’s just a fun ride, not a race. They may have timing…if so, you’ll probably get a sheet of paper with the details you mention.

Thanks. I do see now info about placing. But it looks like two groups only- male and female. There will be timing chips used, too, it seems. Oh well, looking forward to it. Only my second cycling event.

Yeah, the timing is just for fun…so have fun!

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Nice! Maybe I’ll see you there!

Route starts off flat and then rolls onto the 106乙 for a 6k(ish) climb in the sun. Followed by a very fast and narrow decent into Ping Lin. You turn left at the bottom and head into your second climb that starts with some rough stingers. As you start your descent you’ll be directed left onto 北43, which I hear is a nice road, but quite a long climb back to the 106.

Your final 15k will be rolling hills back to the start. Be ready for headwind in your return trip.

Make sure you bring enough food to eat and stay hydrated. This route is rough since there’s not too many parts with shade.

Thanks for the rundown on the route. I imagine you’ll be doing the longer of the two routes.

Maybe we can plan to ride the shorter one together. My schedule is free starting in September (I’m going on vacation soon).

Does anyone know how someone from abroad can register into one of these activities?

It seems all the payments to enter need to be done via TW convenience stores.

Maybe someone else can help. This is only my second event. For triathlons I always do the convenience store payment. But it seems credit card is an option for triathlons. For this event, I don’t see that option (of being able to pay with a credit card).

Yes I see that too. It was the same case for the 3P challenge last year. I happened to have two trips planned to TW just before that one so I could sign up during one visit.

My guess is that they don’t want non-residents to join due to insurance reasons.

That’s too bad if true. In the world of triathlons, it’s very common to travel to another country to compete (although I haven’t personally done this). Hotels, food, activities. Lots of money to be made, I would imagine. Personally, I think it would be good fun to bring my family and make a vacation around a race. Why not also with cycling? Hmmm.