Okay, I’m thinking of doing something a little different this time: go to Pinglin for biking. Pinglin is an hour from Xindian MRT station by bus. We can rent bikes there. They won’t be great, but this is just for fun.
The bike path is through tea fields and along a dead end road that passes through a really fresh and clean valley. A clear flowing creek flows beside the road the whole time. At the end of the road (about 15km I think) we can follow the creek upstream for a little river tracing. A local told me there is a big swimming hole not far upstream. Haven’t had a chance to confirm but the guy lived right there at the end of the road so he should know.
seeker4, this would be a good place for you to check out some potential camping spots. In addition to a few very primitive paid spots along the river there are many clearings on the side of the creek that could be good for a tent.
If people are interested, pipe in by tomorrow and I will give times.
AWOL, any chance I could get a bike bag by Saturday so I can take my own?
[quote=“Muzha Man”]seeker4, this would be a good place for you to check out some potential camping spots. In addition to a few very primitive paid spots along the river there are many clearings on the side of the creek that could be good for a tent.
If people are interested, pipe in by tomorrow and I will give times.
[/quote]
Sounds interesting. Not sure if I can maneuver around some quasi-commitment to be free for it. Sunday isn’t an option I guess, mostly due to weather forecast?
If we got an early start, any chance of arriving back in Xindian before 4pm?
[quote]
AWOL, any chance I could get a bike bag by Saturday so I can take my own?[/quote]
Last resort, pillow case.
[quote=“seeker4”][quote=“Muzha Man”]seeker4, this would be a good place for you to check out some potential camping spots. In addition to a few very primitive paid spots along the river there are many clearings on the side of the creek that could be good for a tent.
If people are interested, pipe in by tomorrow and I will give times.
[/quote]
Sounds interesting. Not sure if I can maneuver around some quasi-commitment to be free for it. Sunday isn’t an option I guess, mostly due to weather forecast?
If we got an early start, any chance of arriving back in Xindian before 4pm?
[quote]
AWOL, any chance I could get a bike bag by Saturday so I can take my own?[/quote]
Last resort, pillow case.[/quote]
He he.
I want to leave Xindian before 9 so that would mean a 10am arrival. If you caught the bus around 3pm back to Xindian you would arrive at 4pm. So you would have about 5 hours with us. Subtract about an hour for getting to the bike rental shop and back (30 minutes each way unless there are rental shops in town now) and that’s still about 4 hours of biking and hopefully a swim.
I managed to “maneuver”. Tentatively count us in (2), weather dependent.
Trying to figure out how to take our own bikes. Seems impossible unless we drive. Hmmm. Maybe renting is the best method this time. Still thinking about it.
In an article on the cycling attractions of Pinglin that I clipped out of the Liberty Times a few months ago, it mentions that bikes can be hired from 金溪茶園營地 (Jinxi Tea Garden Camping Ground) at 平林鄉金瓜寮13-2號.
I’d have thought that a few other places, including some in the township, would have got in on renting out bikes now that Pinglin is being heavily promoted as a day-trip cycling destination for city-dwellers. I’m sure a lot of people will be rolling up there looking to rent bikes, offering a good business opportunity for the locals.
If I lived there, I’d certainly be tempted to buy a couple of dozen bikes for renting out – the capital outlay and maintenance costs are very low, and the returns potentially very high. In other places where people go to cycle, I’ve noticed that as soon as one business is seen to be making a bit of money from it, numerous others all around are quick to get in on the act and there are bikes for hire wherever one looks. I’ve often thought what a good idea it would be to do that in Wulai, which is a great place for cycling but where I’ve never seen any bicycles for hire.
So, I wonder if that means that we do or do not have anyone who knows exactly where to get bikes in Pinglin, their operating hours, and how to get there from where the bus drops us off? Long way to travel to find the rental place closed or out of business.
As Pinglin is quite a small place and its prosperity is now being so largely pinned on the promotion of bicycle tourism, you can be sure that it will be the easiest thing in the world to find bicycles for hire there. If we can’t actually see any when we get off the bus, we need only ask at one or two of the local businesses, or pop into the tourist information centre, and we’ll be directed to wherever they’re conveniently available.
I’m surprised that more people haven’t chimed in with an interest in coming along tomorrow. The weather bureau is forecasting clear and sunny weather, it’s an easy journey to get to and from Pinglin, and there can hardly be a better place for cycling so close to Taipei. There’s plenty of lovely scenery there, and as the catchment area for Feicui Reservoir it’s better protected from pollution than most other areas in Taipei County. The river trace offers oodles of promise, and the whole activity should be unstrenuous enough not to be daunting to anyone with enough mobility to pedal a bicycle.
I know. And the hours are all day. But if anyone has a Lonely Planet on hand, look up the number of the bike rental shop/campsite and call.
The campsite is about 20 minute walk from the bus stop. And as Omni said, Pinglin promotes itself as a biking destination. There will be bikes. They won’t be great, and for us taller folk a little small, but the route is not hard.
AWOL thanks, but I haven’t bought a lock yet, or helmet, or even tried out the bike (rain and sandstorms) so I’ll just rent. Also we will have to leave the bikes a few times to explore the river so I’d just as soon have a rented bike.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]I’d love to come but I had a knee operation a week ago, and another in a couple of weeks or so, so I’m out of the biking action for a while. Have fun.
[/quote]
Glad you got your knee worked on and hope you recover quickly, Brian.
As for the Pinglin trip, we’re going to bow out. Travel time alone for us is about 5 hours (to and from the bike rental place). Too much dead time for too little biking/hiking before a mandatory early evening return to Taipei. Think we’ll save Pinglin for a time when transportation allows us to bring our bikes and stay overnight on Saturday. This time, we’ll find something closer to home to do.
We will have to sort out some things, and see if we can allocate some time for this fun bike trip. If we come, we will be by car and bring our own bikes with. Where in Pinglin would we meet? I know where all the tea shops are on the main road right after the big entrance gate. Any ideas for a possible meeting spot?
Abou what time do you folks plan on getting to Pinglin. I’m thinking about joining up with you. Would someone mind pming with a mobile phone number so I can find you if we do end up arriving at different times? I’m planning to ride out to Pinglin via Shiding if any one would like to join me.
I hope you guys can make it. I’m sure there wouldn’t be any difficulty finding each other in such a small place. I’d think we could meet up somewhere like by the last tea shops on Highway 9 just before the big bridge, but as MM knows exactly where we’re heading for, he’d better be the one to decide on that.
MM was talking about taking a bus at around 9 and therefore reaching Pinglin by 10. I’m going to check the frequency of the buses a bit later, though that won’t help us too much in knowing exactly what time we can expect one to come by Xindian on the way out.
I’ll PM you my cellphone number, Feiren, and I expect MM will also PM you his. I hope we’ll get to see you there.
The bus to Pinglin departs from Taipei Train Station at 8:10 and 9:20. So I think we should be aiming to catch the 8:10. I guess it takes it somewhere in the region of 35~50 minutes to get from Taipei Train Station to Xindian MRT Station, so to be on the safe side, it would be best to be waiting at the bus stop outside Xindian MRT Station by 8:45 AM.
As the bus goes right past my home, I’ll probably catch it there rather than going to the MRT station.
The fare from Xindian to Pinglin is NT$68.
For the return journey, the bus leaves Pinglin at 2:30, 3:30, 4:10 and 5:00. The first of those goes only as far as Xindian, and the others all the way into Taipei. Ideally, I’d like to catch the 2:30 or the 3:30.
[quote=“Omniloquacious”]The bus to Pinglin departs from Taipei Train Station at 8:10 and 9:20. So I think we should be aiming to catch the 8:10. I guess it takes it somewhere in the region of 35~50 minutes to get from Taipei Train Station to Xindian MRT Station, so to be on the safe side, it would be best to be waiting at the bus stop outside Xindian MRT Station by 8:45 AM.
As the bus goes right past my home, I’ll probably catch it there rather than going to the MRT station.
The fare from Xindian to Pinglin is NT$68.
For the return journey, the bus leaves Pinglin at 2:30, 3:30, 4:10 and 5:00. The first of those goes only as far as Xindian, and the others all the way into Taipei. Ideally, I’d like to catch the 2:30 or the 3:30.[/quote]
I suggest we meet at Xindian MRT station by 8:30. 8:30 is when I will head to the bus stop. It doesn’t take long to get to Xindian from the train station.
Omni I will call you when we get on the bus to make sure you are ready.
Okay, we should be in Pinglin around 9:30-10. Rats and Feiren, meet us outside the Tea Museum at 10:00. That should give us time to get bikes and ride back or if the bus is late we will pass by around that time on the way to get bikes.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]I’d love to come but I had a knee operation a week ago, and another in a couple of weeks or so, so I’m out of the biking action for a while. Have fun.
Brian[/quote]
Too bad. Hope the knees heals up nicely. Will you be able to engage in more sports once they do?
