Hello folks,
Currently I’m staying as a student in Taiwan and will finish my lecture period by middle of january. From then on I will be free for some cycling and I wonder wether it is a good idea to do this in winter time. I am quite nuts for cycling and have already done a round-trip of Taiwan by the end of summer 2014. At that time I remember the costal area was very hot, but the mountain area inside of the country was very nice to ride. Occasional rain was not a big problem as I just took a break until it stopped. Now I heard from various sources that Taiwan by wintertime can be very humid and cold, even with occasional snow in the mountain area. So how bad is it really, how much rain should one expect? If it is normal in the winter period to have weeks of just rainfall than I rather plan to head for urope, get my stuff done there and do a bicycle-trip in the summer instead. I would also love to ride the high mountain passes of Taiwan, yet I do not know how well that can be done in the winter time.
So I am looking forward to any suggestions on this!
With best wishes,
I really depends on what mountain passes you decide to take. In terms of rain, expect it to go on and off on the west coast and probably lots of rain on the east. However, it wouldn’t necessarily be a round the island tour if you cut through the mountains, right?
Well, who am I to judge what “around” Taiwan means. Here’s my advice:
For mountain roads, the ride up should not be an issue since you are constantly pedaling and keeping warm. You should be more concerned about your limbs getting cold on the way down. Anything under 1000-1300m elevation and within 30-40minutes descending should be bearable if you have wind and/or water proof gear. There’s always the option to duck into a store for refreshments on the way down if you’re not in a hurry.
I will specifically mention, 合歡山 Héhuān shān (Wuling), in which I do not advise unless you have a support car of some kind with you. Doesn’t matter if you’re going up via Hualien (east entrance), Wuling Farm (north entrance) or Puli (west entrance), the last 10-15km to the top is very steep and your average cadence will drop. This means your body will not be able to keep warm. There’s also no indoor shelter at the peak except for a small restroom. There’s also a very high chance of snow at 3275m above sea level. So temps could be well below zero. Some of the locals that are in shape and do insane things like take a Youbike up Yang Ming Shan don’t even dare to conquer Hehuan Shan in the winter.
If you really want to get out of wherever your studying and do a cycling trip, heading down to Kenting and cycling up through Kaohsiung or Tainan is not a horrible idea. That area of Taiwan usually sees pretty warm and sunny weather in the winter months. There are some spectacular routes that aren’t very high in elevation, but are very popular cycling routes down in Taizhong and Jiayi too.
Hey there,
Thank you for the answers, that was quite helpful. Actually I will stick to the advice and do only some cycling at the southernmost tip of Taiwan.
I would also love to ride the high mountain passes of Taiwan, yet I do not know how well that can be done in the winter time.
