Hi, couple of friends and I are planning to do a one day cycling tour in Hualien in March.
Our current plan is to start from Hualien City down south along Highway 11, cut across Highway 11A after Fengbin Township and back up north along route 193 to Hualien City once again. We’re hoping to spend some time chilling in Jici Beach along the way as well.
Total distance is about 100km.
We’re novice cyclists with no experience in cycling long distance or anything. What I hope to find out is if our planned route can be feasibly completed in 1 day or whether a certain degree of training is needed. Is our route mainly flat throughout or is it rolling?
Hope the more experienced people in the forum will be able to help me out here. Thanks alot!
[quote=“starbergporter”]Hi, couple of friends and I are planning to do a one day cycling tour in Hualian in March.
Our current plan is to start from Hualian City down south along Highway 11, cut across Highway 11A after Fengbin Township and back up north along route 193 to Hualian City once again. We’re hoping to spend some time chilling in Jici Beach along the way as well.
Total distance is about 100km.
We’re novice cyclists with no experience in cycling long distance or anything. What I hope to find out is if our planned route can be feasibly completed in 1 day or whether a certain degree of training is needed. Is our route mainly flat throughout or is it rolling?
Hope the more experienced people in the forum will be able to help me out here. Thanks alot![/quote]
The route is mostly flat with one small hill climb just out of Hualian (not sure if 11A is hilly). It’s very doable in one day but I’d suggest riding Taipei to Danshui a coupla times to get your legs in shape. Your biggest problem in March could be the weather.
[quote=“the bear”][quote=“starbergporter”]Hi, couple of friends and I are planning to do a one day cycling tour in Hualian in March.
Our current plan is to start from Hualian City down south along Highway 11, cut across Highway 11A after Fengbin Township and back up north along route 193 to Hualian City once again. We’re hoping to spend some time chilling in Jici Beach along the way as well.
Total distance is about 100km.
We’re novice cyclists with no experience in cycling long distance or anything. What I hope to find out is if our planned route can be feasibly completed in 1 day or whether a certain degree of training is needed. Is our route mainly flat throughout or is it rolling?
Hope the more experienced people in the forum will be able to help me out here. Thanks alot![/quote]
The route is mostly flat with one small hill climb just out of Hualian (not sure if 11A is hilly). It’s very doable in one day but I’d suggest riding Taipei to Danshui a coupla times to get your legs in shape. Your biggest problem in March could be the weather.[/quote]
Thanks for the advice…I didn’t know March was a rainy season, I checked from a travel book and they listed that March and April had the lowest average monthly rainfall in the year…is that wrong?
[quote=“starbergporter”][quote=“the bear”][quote=“starbergporter”]Hi, couple of friends and I are planning to do a one day cycling tour in Hualian in March.
Our current plan is to start from Hualian City down south along Highway 11, cut across Highway 11A after Fengbin Township and back up north along route 193 to Hualian City once again. We’re hoping to spend some time chilling in Jici Beach along the way as well.
Total distance is about 100km.
We’re novice cyclists with no experience in cycling long distance or anything. What I hope to find out is if our planned route can be feasibly completed in 1 day or whether a certain degree of training is needed. Is our route mainly flat throughout or is it rolling?
Hope the more experienced people in the forum will be able to help me out here. Thanks alot![/quote]
The route is mostly flat with one small hill climb just out of Hualian (not sure if 11A is hilly). It’s very doable in one day but I’d suggest riding Taipei to Danshui a coupla times to get your legs in shape. Your biggest problem in March could be the weather.[/quote]
Thanks for the advice…I didn’t know March was a rainy season, I checked from a travel book and they listed that March and April had the lowest average monthly rainfall in the year…is that wrong?[/quote]
April maybe but any time near Chinese New Year in Taiwan is rainy. Still since CNY is early this year you might be OK. I’ve done Hualian-Taidong-Hualian in late April and it was drizzly. Drizzly is better than high summer heat though which’ll cook your brain noggin.
If you never ride a bicycle, then 100km is a LONG day. I ride 50km regularly (once a week or so) and while I can do 80 fairly easily, I’m getting really sore at 100km. You’ll definitely want to do a few training rides.
If you never ride a bicycle, then 100km is a LONG day. I ride 50km regularly (once a week or so) and while I can do 80 fairly easily, I’m getting really sore at 100km. You’ll definitely want to do a few training rides.[/quote]
Is 15km/h considered a leisurely pace? If thats the case it will only take about 6 hours of riding to complete the 100km. From where I come from its abit difficult and dangerous for us to have training rides, our trainings will be limited to the cycling machine in the gym =( Any advice on a training method? Was thinking of maintaining a constant resistance and time throughout the sessions but increasing the rate of peddling, will that be effective?
It’s a long day but if you are in decent shape don’t worry about it. My first bike trip was a 11 day circumnavigation of Hainan Island. I had no experience with overnight trips and hadn’t ridden more than 50km in 20 years.
As for training, twice a week do a hard ride that gets your heart rate up to 70%. Do one long ride at 60% and one short interval training session at over 80% (in this you would warm up then ride like crazy for a minute or two, then slow for a minute or two, then repeat 10-20 times). You will develop better endurance than trying to ride long every time.
As for the weather, yes those months can be drizzly but overall the precipitation levels are lower than late spring and summer when you can get 2000mm a month.
But you can’t predict weather in Taiwan so just go. It’s still a magical landscape in a light rain.
Is 15km/h considered a leisurely pace? If thats the case it will only take about 6 hours of riding to complete the 100km. From where I come from its abit difficult and dangerous for us to have training rides, our trainings will be limited to the cycling machine in the gym.[/quote]
My point about it being a long day isn’t so much related to the physical exertion, as to sitting on a bike seat for such a long time. For me at least, how long I can comfortably sit is the main limiting factor on rides, and I need to “exercise” that perhaps more than I need to train my legs.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]It’s a long day but if you are in decent shape don’t worry about it. My first bike trip was a 11 day circumnavigation of Hainan Island. I had no experience with overnight trips and hadn’t ridden more than 50km in 20 years.
As for training, twice a week do a hard ride that gets your heart rate up to 70%. Do one long ride at 60% and one short interval training session at over 80% (in this you would warm up then ride like crazy for a minute or two, then slow for a minute or two, then repeat 10-20 times). You will develop better endurance than trying to ride long every time.
As for the weather, yes those months can be drizzly but overall the precipitation levels are lower than late spring and summer when you can get 2000mm a month.
But you can’t predict weather in Taiwan so just go. It’s still a magical landscape in a light rain.[/quote]
Got it…will probably start training next year in Jan/Feb. Thanks alot
Is 15km/h considered a leisurely pace? If thats the case it will only take about 6 hours of riding to complete the 100km. From where I come from its abit difficult and dangerous for us to have training rides, our trainings will be limited to the cycling machine in the gym.[/quote]
My point about it being a long day isn’t so much related to the physical exertion, as to sitting on a bike seat for such a long time. For me at least, how long I can comfortably sit is the main limiting factor on rides, and I need to “exercise” that perhaps more than I need to train my legs.[/quote]
Ah I see. For now I think my limiting factor would be my legs but thats a great point though
So I managed to email one of the more experienced cyclist who blogged about his Taiwan trip. He mentioned that “If you want to get to Route 193 from Hwy 11, you have to cut across a very difficult and tough mountain - so please bear that in mind. I would not suggest it if you are not a strong cyclist. You’d be pedalling at the speed of 4km/h just to get up that mountain. Besides, the sea view along Hwy 11 is a bit overrated - they are all blocked by factories and houses!”
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can confirm this…and I would just like to thank everyone who has replied to the thread so far, you guys have been most helpful!
[quote=“starbergporter”]So I managed to email one of the more experienced cyclist who blogged about his Taiwan trip. He mentioned that “If you want to get to Route 193 from Hwy 11, you have to cut across a very difficult and tough mountain - so please bear that in mind. I would not suggest it if you are not a strong cyclist. You’d be pedalling at the speed of 4km/h just to get up that mountain. Besides, the sea view along Hwy 11 is a bit overrated - they are all blocked by factories and houses!”
I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can confirm this…and I would just like to thank everyone who has replied to the thread so far, you guys have been most helpful![/quote]
If you take 11B over from Fengbin to the 193, you will need to climb up to 300 meters. I have trouble believing that an experienced cyclist in Taiwan would consider that to be a ‘very difficult and rough mountain’, but if you have never ridden 100km, you might find it challenging on a first-time ride. I think its doable, but it could be challenging. Also, remember that you will climb another 200 meters at Niushan (near Baqi) and that 193 is hilly back to Hualien. I’m not sure this is the best route for people who are training in a gym (no disrespect intended).
I would suggest that you consider riding up and down Taroko gorge instead for a first time ride IF you can arrange an early start (6am) to avoid the tour buses.
Here’s an alternative rideof 81km in the Rift Valley. For a little bit of a challenge and some good scenery, consider going up Highway 14 a bit (bring your ids or passports because you may need to check in at the police station).
I think your experienced cyclist has not been south of Hualien. The ocean views are spectacular and they are more assuredly not blocked by factories and houses.
Yes, agree with Feiren. The scenery along Hwy 11 is open and gorgeous. It’s dotted with a few houses and cafes but no factories. Just one pic will suffice: this is at Shihtiping (80km from Hualien), looking BACK toward Hualien along 30km or so of coastine.
As for the mountain connectors, yes, they are tough but the route you want to take is not that bad. And you have all day so if you need to walk a bit on the steep parts then walk. I did that often when I first starting riding in Taiwan as I wasn’t used to hills. No big deal.
:roflmao:
I DO NOT believe. It’s a hill. Some might call it a long slow hill, but if you can ride a bike, you’ll get over it - even if it takes you an hour or so.
Once again, thank you all for the enthusiastic response
That route looks pretty good, I will probably bring it up with my friends to see which one they prefer (coastal vs rift), only slight disadvantage I can possibly think of is the heavier traffic on Highway 9, correct me if i’m wrong.
I would like to ask, regarding my original route, how many hours of cycling (based on a not-very-well-trained cyclist’s pace) do you guys think is needed to complete the route? Is an average of 15km/h very difficult to achieve or is it something as easy as child’s play? My main concern would be that we will have very limited time to explore our intended places of interest such as Jici Beach and Fengbin.
15km/h average is not hard to achieve. But you do need breaks and you’ll stop for pics and what not so 100km is going to be more like 8 hours.
Btw, the tough mountain connectors I was referring to are further south, like the 64 and 23. They are really steep but still doable. The one you are talking about (the 11B) is just a hill.
And look, if you get tired, just head to hwy 9 and catch a train back to Hualien.
[quote=“starbergporter”]Once again, thank you all for the enthusiastic response
That route looks pretty good, I will probably bring it up with my friends to see which one they prefer (coastal vs rift), only slight disadvantage I can possibly think of is the heavier traffic on Highway 9, correct me if I’m wrong.
I would like to ask, regarding my original route, how many hours of cycling (based on a not-very-well-trained cyclist’s pace) do you guys think is needed to complete the route? Is an average of 15km/h very difficult to achieve or is it something as easy as child’s play? My main concern would be that we will have very limited time to explore our intended places of interest such as Jici Beach and Fengbin.[/quote]
I think if you look at my map carefully you will see that there are only a few km on the main Highway 9. Traffic should not be a problem. And remember what Muzha man said. If you get tired and can’t ride 193 all the way back on your intended route, just hop on a slow train back to Hualien at any of the little towns in the valley. I say go for it. BTW, there is nothing of interest in Fengbin as far as I know. Let me know if you find anything.
The 11-B is not a difficult ride. It’s a bit tougher going from the 193 to the 11 than vice-versa, but it shouldn’t present too much of a challenge.
The only place I’ve ever stopped in Frngbing was the 7-11. I’ve never seen anything remotely interesting there, perhaps there is. I don’t think you’ll be at a loss for interesting places to explore along the route. In fact, you are going to want to stretch your one-day ride to two–make sure you have a big memory card in your camera.
15 Km/h is a tad on the slow side. With the wind at your back (heading south) it shouldn’t be hard to average 20 km/h.
Hi guys, sorry I took so long to respond. I’ve been pretty busy - went for a tour with family in Taiwan even and managed to ride Highway 11 (on a bus though). Views are great, saw the ‘hill’ u guys were referring to as well as the tunnel which was mentioned in other threads (planning to take the old closed route), definitely looking forward to doing the ride in March. Taking on the suggestion of hopping onto a train if we get tired, this will be the route we will be attempting, with a choice of ending at either Fonglin or Shoufeng, depending on our stamina. However, given the spontaneous-ness of such a decision, would all the trains allow us to bring our bikes up since they are not foldable or do we have to make prior bookings? Thank you all once again!
