Being cleared is one thing, being odorless is another. I remember going out riding along the river shortly after a typhoon one year. The path was cleared all right, but the smell of the detritus under the hot sun was unbearable.
I love the smell of detritus in the morning.
I love the smell of detritus in the morning.[/quote]
Smells likeā¦tofu.
Random thought for the day, even before it stopped raining I started to smell the leaves in the air and very soon a slight rotten smell as millions of tonnes of vegetation started to break down. It was the smell of Taiwan.
Very helpful info guys.
rofl
fwiw, the two debris fields from Nangang to Rainbow Bridge on the South side have been cleared off.
most of the dirt on the path has been sprayed off.
The Taipei Bridge (čŗå大ę©?) cycling path is closed for construction from now until Dec. 23, or at least thatās what I think the signs say - thatās the bridge a bit north of Dadaocheng Wharf.
Bad news bears for all those cycling from Sanchong into Taipei City.
Yeah, Iām not sure about alternate routes. Is it possible to get on the two bridges that are further north? Itās certainly not obvious how to get on them from the riverside paths. Would that giant long freeway bridge farther south, the one where youāre sort of in a cage under the freeway (Xinbeihuanhe?), be the closest? Iām glad that bridge is there, but itās so damn long that it destroys any momentum you may have.
The closure is mildly annoying for me - south from Danshui, going down one side of the river and back up the other, crossing at the Taipei Bridge, is a nice 50km route thatās become my default - but for anyone commuting, ugh, itās a big problem. But note that the bridge itself is still open, so I suppose cyclists can just join the scooters.
Wow, no posts in this thread for two months?!
The Taipei Bridge cycling path is now open again, and itās wider too, so thatās nice. Signs still say construction will continue for another month, so maybe itāll sporadically close again, but things look pretty complete.
The bridge/causeway near Guandu Temple is also finally open. Itās nice that you can skip the slowed down stretch around the temple, and the view over the harbor and mangroves is surprisingly pretty, but itās never struck me as a particularly necessary piece of construction. How about widening that stretch of the path behind Hongshulin Station instead?
And maybe everyone else knew about this, but thereās now a U-bike station at Danshui MRT, so those who cycle out here are no longer stuck needing to cycle back to Beitou.
[quote=ālostinasiaā]Wow, no posts in this thread for two months?!
The Taipei Bridge cycling path is now open again, and itās wider too, so thatās nice. Signs still say construction will continue for another month, so maybe itāll sporadically close again, but things look pretty complete.
The bridge/causeway near Guandu Temple is also finally open. Itās nice that you can skip the slowed down stretch around the temple, and the view over the harbor and mangroves is surprisingly pretty, but itās never struck me as a particularly necessary piece of construction. How about widening that stretch of the path behind Hongshulin Station instead?
And maybe everyone else knew about this, but thereās now a U-bike station at Danshui MRT, so those who cycle out here are no longer stuck needing to cycle back to Beitou.[/quote]
You seem to like to resurrect a lot of old threads in here LIA. No complaints bc I got and update that I forgot about too!
The bridge between the Costco and Xiki train station has been completed. I know that for awhile it does have a scooter lane so you can cross it via the street, however, since weāre so used to exiting before the bridge, Iām not sure whether the cycling path has been opened. I know once you get past Nangang that you kind of have to cross the river multiple times to continue on the riverside paths.
Rumors of a complete network of riverside paths to go all the way into Keelung? It would be nice, but the No.5 isnāt all that bad to cycle on.
[quote=āranleeā]The bridge between the Costco and Xiki train station has been completed. I know that for awhile it does have a scooter lane so you can cross it via the street, however, since weāre so used to exiting before the bridge, Iām not sure whether the cycling path has been opened. I know once you get past Nangang that you kind of have to cross the river multiple times to continue on the riverside paths.
Rumors of a complete network of riverside paths to go all the way into Keelung (Jilong)? It would be nice, but the No.5 isnāt all that bad to cycle on.[/quote]
The cycling path from Xike connects all the way through now to Costco and beyond (check out my Strava ranlee from about two weekends ago). Itās nice being able to get on the cycling path so close to home. You have to cross the road twice while on the path but that isnāt too bad for the early morning times I usually ride. Then there are two sections with scooter bars on both ends of each section. You have to slow way down to navigate through the bars but you donāt need unclip if youāre careful.
I havenāt tried the other way going toward Keelung but I may try that this weekend. It would be nice to swim at the pool at the Baifu Train Station area then jump on the bike for a long ride headed west after that.
[quote=āmarasanā]
The cycling path from Xike connects all the way through now to Costco and beyond (check out my Strava ranlee from about two weekends ago). Itās nice being able to get on the cycling path so close to home. You have to cross the road twice while on the path but that isnāt too bad for the early morning times I usually ride. Then there are two sections with scooter bars on both ends of each section. You have to slow way down to navigate through the bars but you donāt need unclip if youāre careful.
I havenāt tried the other way going toward Keelung (Jilong) but I may try that this weekend. It would be nice to swim at the pool at the Baifu Train Station area then jump on the bike for a long ride headed west after that.[/quote]
marasan, I know a straight shot across that bridge and the road turns into Xi Wan, before crossing it, thereās an entrance to the southern bike path, however, I remember you have to dismount bc thereās steps entering the path. Correct me if Iām wrong.
Iām still not a fan of having to cross the river to continue on the path. However, Iām curious as to what the path looks like with that bridge finished.
Thanks for the heads up!
No, you can ride the whole way. I actually dismounted and carried my bike up the stairs the first time (going back home after my ride) before realizing the path loops around for an easy (but slow) ride.
Thereās a bridge you need to ride across a few kilometers west to get to the north side of the river.
What I like the least are the two roads you need to cross in the area around Costco. All these things mess up your average speed but it is nice being able to completely avoid cycling with the cars on normal roads.
Iām slightly confused. Is it now possible to ride all the way to Keelung on the bike paths?
Unfortunately thatās a no.
The current situation is after Wudu the riverside paths are very inconsistent. Some of them require you to exit onto the road and re-enter the riverside only to have to exit the riverside path after 1-2km. When there are paths, they seem to be only on one side of the river as well, so you not only have to keep exiting and entering, you also have to cross bridges.
Best way is still the No.5. Gets busy, but at least in most parts the road is very wide.
Sorry about the confusion. When I used language like being able to ride āall the way,ā I was referring to a straight shot on the bike paths to Xiwan Road starting from a point west of Xizhi. I havenāt been farther east than that on the bike paths. I see that the path does continue, but I guess as ranlee said, there are some problems with the bike path in this direction.
Iāve ridden on Xintaiwu Road in the direction toward Keelung. The road is wide with a large shoulder, but things do narrow down starting from before Chidu. It got so bad for me, as a matter of fact, that I turned around the one time I went that far.
The new bridge with a dedicated bike ramp/path that connects Yingge and Sanxia is now open. I found this out during my recent ride up Dahan riverās left (facing downstream) bank. The ramp, built under the bridge, is fairly steep since the bridge is very high, but the grade is still rideable if you have 18 or more speeds. Itās such a high climb that theyāve installed benches (with lights) along the way for cyclists/pedestrians to rest. So now you can shoot straight into Sanxia without competing with car traffic like you do on the right bank.
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Theyāre building what looks to be a bike / pedestrian bridge over the Jingmei river, where it passes under a bridge at Muzha Road.
Only one road to cross now from Xizhi to the paths in Taipei (previously two roads). They were almost finished with a small pathway under the road the last time I was on the paths. It should be finished by now. I hope they do the last remaining road sometime. But at least the road there is far less crowded and actually has a pedestrian crossing with a light and button you can speed things up with.
This should make things easier for people coming from Taipei on the paths and wanting to ride up the famous Xiwan Road.