I’m leaving on the 20th. I’ve planned nothing. Just one question… Should I go clockwise or anti-clockwise?
This has been discussed in other threads. Basically, riding around Taiwan is not very scenic compared to other routes and is downright dangerous in the section between Suao and Hualien.
I suggest that you go clockwise so that you don’t give up on the horrible west coast before you’ve ridden the east coast. Better yet, don’t ride around Taiwan, ride across it (northern, central, and southern cross-island highways). Or ride down the east coast from Hulien to Taitung on Highway 11 and then back up to Hualien through the Rift Valley (take 197 and 193 rather than Highway 9).
Riding around Taiwan means a lot to Taiwanese people, but the reality is pretty grim. The main problem is the industrialized west coast where you will be riding down big roads with lots of truck traffic, betel nut stands, and auto repar shops.
[quote=“Feiren”]This has been discussed in other threads. Basically, riding around Taiwan is not very scenic compared to other routes and is downright dangerous in the section between Suao and Hualian.
I suggest that you go clockwise so that you don’t give up on the horrible west coast before you’ve ridden the east coast. Better yet, don’t ride around Taiwan, ride across it (northern, central, and southern cross-island highways). Or ride down the east coast from Hulien to Taidong on Highway 11 and then back up to Hualian through the Rift Valley (take 197 and 193 rather than Highway 9).
Riding around Taiwan means a lot to Taiwanese people, but the reality is pretty grim. The main problem is the industrialized west coast where you will be riding down big roads with lots of truck traffic, betel nut stands, and auto repar shops.[/quote]
How about going down the East coast, then going up to GaoXiong and then up through the middle? Is that possible?
If you’re only going to do one cross island highway, make it the South… It’s the most spectacular and the least used, perhaps the toughest on a bicycle though I’ve never cycled it myself…
[quote=“jacktorrence”][quote=“Feiren”]This has been discussed in other threads. Basically, riding around Taiwan is not very scenic compared to other routes and is downright dangerous in the section between Suao and Hualian.
I suggest that you go clockwise so that you don’t give up on the horrible west coast before you’ve ridden the east coast. Better yet, don’t ride around Taiwan, ride across it (northern, central, and southern cross-island highways). Or ride down the east coast from Hulien to Taidong on Highway 11 and then back up to Hualian through the Rift Valley (take 197 and 193 rather than Highway 9).
Riding around Taiwan means a lot to Taiwanese people, but the reality is pretty grim. The main problem is the industrialized west coast where you will be riding down big roads with lots of truck traffic, betel nut stands, and auto repar shops.[/quote]
How about going down the East coast, then going up to GaoXiong and then up through the middle? Is that possible?[/quote]
That sounds like a much better idea. Instead of going to Kaohsiung though, take the southern cross highway (20 on the map) over to the west side of the island to Jiasian. Then take 21 up to Chiayi and then 18 past Yushan toward Taichung. Make sure you have some warm clothes…you will be up well over 2000 meters on both 20 and 21 and it will be cold in the evenings and the mornings.
[quote=“jacktorrence”][quote=“Feiren”]This has been discussed in other threads. Basically, riding around Taiwan is not very scenic compared to other routes and is downright dangerous in the section between Suao and Hualian.
I suggest that you go clockwise so that you don’t give up on the horrible west coast before you’ve ridden the east coast. Better yet, don’t ride around Taiwan, ride across it (northern, central, and southern cross-island highways). Or ride down the east coast from Hulien to Taidong on Highway 11 and then back up to Hualian through the Rift Valley (take 197 and 193 rather than Highway 9).
Riding around Taiwan means a lot to Taiwanese people, but the reality is pretty grim. The main problem is the industrialized west coast where you will be riding down big roads with lots of truck traffic, betel nut stands, and auto repar shops.[/quote]
How about going down the East coast, then going up to GaoXiong and then up through the middle? Is that possible?[/quote]Personally, I think the scenery on the west coast is sometimes unfairly maligned. There are some really nice bits of the No.3 provincial highway.
You could come up the middle, though. I think you’d have to go to Chiayi and then turn inland, climb up to Alishan then go on to Tatajia and Dongpu, head north to Sun Moon Lake, and then if you felt up to more high mountains, go east right up to Hehuanshan and on to Dayuling, then head north all the way down a very long valley that ends in Yilan County. For the last part, you could turn west-ish to head back to Taipei, though I’ve heard the traffic on that road can be quite dangerous. I guess if you wanted to avoid that you could go all the way down to Yilan instead and then back from there.
Yeah, Joe’s on the money, the 3 down South is quite nice, although it’s certainly not coastal and it’s more the Western coastal areas that have a deservedly crappy reputation… I usually come off the South-Cross 20 and keep going to YuJing then take the 3 up past ZhengWen Reservoir to ZhongPu, then onto the 18 up towards Alishan and Taichung as per Feiren’s suggestion… Scenically not much to choose from between the 3 and the 21 for that stretch, they’re both nice, but there may be less car traffic on the 21…
If you take 21 up to Sanmin, it is possible to connect directly to Highway 18 via the back roads through Chashan (茶山). You will come out at Longmei (龍美) on Highway 18 (be sure to get some baozi). Some notes here in reverse (see Saturday).
Ha, that’s what happened to me. Busted my knee somewhere around Yunlin county and had to take the train back home.
The #3 was surprisingly pleasant after Longtan, through Xinzhu and Miaoli counties. It was then that I made the mistake of heading towards the coast. The stretch of coast between Baishatun and Zhanghua county sucked ass.
KGB Kiwi Gourmet Burger (there is a thread on it somewhere here) has some adventure notebooks that people have written routes and descriptions of their trips - some with photos. Definitely worth a look. Good burgers, too. (Lotsa vegetarian options, too. And yummy banana milkshakes…)
I’ve gone around both ways (except for the Su-Hua) and down the West Side more so than the other way around, and if you choose your roads carefully, you’ll be riding in “the country” more often than one would think. It always amazes me just how much country road riding I can do heading south on the West Coast. I’ve got a West Coast cycling video somewhere that I should post up.
The # 3 is incredibly scenic but very tough. It is a very up-and-down circuitous bitch and it nearly broke me more than once. There are some great sections I’d ride again, but not all the way through.
The best way (for me) down the West Coast is via the # 61/17. Parts of it are for freeway traffic only and you’ll have to skirt around those. Plus you’ll get to be by the coast, which is quite a lot cleaner than a few years past. The #1 is a great road, if you plan your rides to go through the big cities at dawn and skirt around them during the daytime.
On the East Coast, I’d go via the #200/199 from Kenting and connect to the #9. Further up, between Da Wu and Tai Ma Li there are a couple sections where the road is barely 2 lanes wide with little or no shoulder. This is a scary section as thousand of gravel trucks ply that route daily.
From Taitung, there are many options. You could start on the #197, which would take you back to the # 9 from where you could make your way to the #195, which goes to Hualian. Or just go up the coast on the #11 to Hualian. Alternatively, you could go up the # 11 to Feng Bing and take the alternate #11 over to the # 195. that way you’d get both the coast, mountans and beautiful farming valley. I’d stay away from doing the whole thing from Taitung to Hualian on the # 9. It’s the main route and just too busy.
From Hualian, you could ride to the mouth of the gorge and catch a ride to Su Ao. Just throw your bike and gear in the downstairs luggage section of a bus, or you could throw them in the back of one of the many blue trucks that pass that way daily–if you are a praying man.
From Su-Ao, there are many options back , and all with a lot of traffic, but I’d stick to the #2 and the coast.
Good Luck!