I haven’t been back to Taiwan since 2002 (lived there from 1993-99), so we’re due for a trip next year. Lately I’ve been missing Taiwan, and Mordeth13’s motorcycling videos haven’t been helping matters. This one in particular, In mountains tired - part 1 of 4, though, got me to thinking about doing some bicycle (road) riding in the mountains next time we go back*.
Could anyone suggest some mountain routes, absolutely anywhere on the island? I’m thinking of trips between 80-120 kms (there and back in total), so between 3 and 5 hours or so. I’d be renting a car and driving the bike somewhere into the mountains for a starting point, as I’m thinking I wouldn’t want to ride in urban areas. Climbing isn’t a priority, and indeed, I’d be happy to do a couple of mostly horizontal hours.
*This might entail actually purchasing a bike in Taiwan to use and then fly back with me to Canada. My impression from glancing at bike shop websites is that prices are no cheaper in Taiwan, but I wonder what the used market might be like? In North America it’s as easy as sin to find the very used bike that you want, either by watching Craig’s List or Ebay.
East coast, Hualian to Taidong, something I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t had the chance. Ask Feiren. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to give you all the details.
pretty much stopped riding in yang ming mountain for the winter now as it is too cold /wet /rainy /foggy/ windy /plain miserable, but we will be doing some stuff on the north coast/fulong area in january. also all the country roads that feed into provincial 9 (old ping lin road) are pretty cool.
Now to the roadies out there…erm, can I assume that a standard double-crank is fine for any hill/mountain-climbing out there, assuming one is a road cyclist of a given ability and fitness level? I must admit I hold the de rigeur prejudices against having a “granny gear” on a road bike. Funny thing is, though, that back in 1993 when I rode a mountain bike to my ESL classes I did a minor bit of riding up into the mountains (with Phil from Liverpool, a 35-year-old chain-smoking borderline alcoholic who eventually left Taiwan because he’d been working since he was 16 and was simply tired of working, he had 6 brothers back in Liverpool who were on the dole and he meant to go back and join them, the dole would be one way of quitting smoking in any case, and would give him time to do more studying, particularly of Esperanto, Phil was certainly a real character among characters, he said he’d left the UK for Colombia at the age of 16 after seeing a film about drugs and ended up being a courier for a cartel, this started off a lifetime of hijinks with stops in Nepal, Japan, Taiwan and gawd knows where else, according to him, but I digress…), and I had three cranks up front and damned well made good use of the “granny gear” on those switchbacks.
Am I answering my own question here? Kind of. The answer is, I probably do need a granny gear for climbing, but my ego will prevent me from getting one!
I’d like to know if the riders involved in The Big Climb (Youtuber “Outdoor75”), a video travelogue about a trip some 150+ kms into the mountains outside Kaohsiung, all had doubles?
I think you probably will want the granny gear. Remember, Taiwan has some of the world’s steepest mountains and grades to match. You could probably get away without one if you stuck to the main mountain highways like the north, central, and southern cross highways, but for smaller side roads and rests while climbing, I’d recommend getting one.
[quote=“porcelainprincess”]Now to the roadies out there…erm, can I assume that a standard double-crank is fine for any hill/mountain-climbing out there, assuming one is a road cyclist of a given ability and fitness level? I must admit I hold the de rigeur prejudices against having a “granny gear” on a road bike. but I digress…), and I had three cranks up front and damned well made good use of the “granny gear” on those switchbacks.
Am I answering my own question here? Kind of. The answer is, I probably do need a granny gear for climbing, but my ego will prevent me from getting one!
I’d like to know if the riders involved in The Big Climb (Youtuber “Outdoor75”), a video travelogue about a trip some 150+ kms into the mountains outside Kaohsiung, all had doubles?[/quote]
[quote=“porcelainprincess”]Now to the roadies out there…erm, can I assume that a standard double-crank is fine for any hill/mountain-climbing out there, assuming one is a road cyclist of a given ability and fitness level?
I probably do need a granny gear for climbing, but my ego will prevent me from getting one![/quote]
i thought about this for a while when i built my new bike last year, and am now more than happy with a compact crank (50/34) even paired with a 11/23 cassette. gets a bit tough on 18-19% grades, of which there are a few, but comfortable for everything else. the top 50:11 ratio is higher than a standard 53:12 too, so you can still ride fast, and the bottom ratio is fine for high cadence climbing except on the steepest grades, when you have to get out of the saddle and grind. better than my old 52/40 with a 27 cog, but then the new bike is a lot lighter too.
the idea of a triple was nice but you have to drag an extra couple hundred grams around, unless you don’t like grinding and would rather sit and spin.
you will have to get pretty fit to do much climbing here, but it is well worth it in such great climbing country with some excellent routes. just watch your speed on the descents, they can be pretty dangerous with the crazy traffic and the bad road surfaces. i did notice the other day though that they have just banned heavy vehicles from the 101 Bailaka highway over yang ming shan which is good…