Does anyone know the best route for cycling from Taipei to Yilan?
And are there any cycling facebook groups anyone can recommend?
thanks
[quote=“triceratopses”]Does anyone know the best route for cycling from Taipei to Yilan?
And are there any cycling facebook groups anyone can recommend?
thanks[/quote]
Define “best”.
Two of the common ways to get there are the No. 9 and the No. 7 highways. There are other routes too, but I’m not as familiar with them. If time and distance are not an issue, I recommend the No. 7, which is the Northern Cross Highway (Bei-Heng). However, it’s a long trip if ridden in a single day. The No. 9 (Bei-Yi) is much more doable in a single day, but you lose out on a lot of the scenery.
The cycling sub-forum is your friend!
scomargo has covered the routes going into and out of Yilan.
As for cycling FB groups, there’s the Yang Ming Shan Cycling Group. Consists of mostly expats living in the Tien Mu/Beitou area.
[quote=“scomargo”][quote=“triceratopses”]Does anyone know the best route for cycling from Taipei to Yilan?
And are there any cycling facebook groups anyone can recommend?
thanks[/quote]
Define “best”.
Two of the common ways to get there are the No. 9 and the No. 7 highways. There are other routes too, but I’m not as familiar with them. If time and distance are not an issue, I recommend the No. 7, which is the Northern Cross Highway (Bei-Heng). However, it’s a long trip if ridden in a single day. The No. 9 (Bei-Yi) is much more doable in a single day, but you lose out on a lot of the scenery.[/quote]
Bei-Yi is now pretty much a no-go IMHO especially at weekends as there are just too many big bikes on it.
Forgot the big motorcycles, what about the huge trucks that can’t go through the tunnel?
If you’re out there early enough, the race motorcycles aren’t an issue, but you still have to worry about the trucks. I don’t recommend it, but it is the quickest way down.
My preferred way to get to Yilan is via Shuangxi.
There are two ways to get to Shuangxi. The easier, more direct way is to take the 106 to Pingxi and then the 2丙 to Shuangxi. A more challenging mountain road to Shuangxi is to get to Pinglin (preferably by the 106乙 instead of the 9) and then take the 北42 from Pinglin to Shuangxi.
When you’re in Shuangxi, again there are two ways. You can take the 2丙 straight all the way to Fulong and then ride the coastal ride to Yilan. But there’s also a mountain road called 泰和街 which goes up, winds around for a while, becomes the 宜1 when you cross into Yilan county, and then descends into Daxi.
I’m not nearly in good shape to do both the 北42 and that 泰和 road on the same day, so I would choose one of them. Check either Google Maps or the segment explorer in Strava to see what the hell I’m actually talking about.
[quote=“alidarbac”]My preferred way to get to Yilan is via Shuangxi.
There are two ways to get to Shuangxi. The easier, more direct way is to take the 106 to Pingxi and then the 2丙 to Shuangxi. A more challenging mountain road to Shuangxi is to get to Pinglin (preferably by the 106乙 instead of the 9) and then take the 北42 from Pinglin to Shuangxi.
When you’re in Shuangxi, again there are two ways. You can take the 2丙 straight all the way to Fulong and then ride the coastal ride to Yilan. But there’s also a mountain road called 泰和街 which goes up, winds around for a while, becomes the 宜1 when you cross into Yilan county, and then descends into Daxi.
I’m not nearly in good shape to do both the 北42 and that 泰和 road on the same day, so I would choose one of them. Check either Google Maps or the segment explorer in Strava to see what the hell I’m actually talking about.[/quote]
Nice one, alidarbac. I’m going to put that on my list of rides to try. I knew the 106 could take you close to Yilan, but I’ve never gone much farther than the Shifen area. Here’s a ride profile for one of the routes alidarbac was talking about. I like Bikemap.net because they let you download the GPX files so you can have the route traced out ahead of time. Strava might do that too, but I’ve never learned how to fully use Strava’s features. I also don’t have a smartphone with a data plan.
Anyway, for anybody who’s interested, both Yilan City and Luodong have bus stations where you can put your bike on the bus to get a ride back to Taipei. The trains also work, if you know what you’re doing. I will likely try that route that I linked to above, and then ride down to the bus terminal in Yilan City to get a ride back to Taipei.
that 泰和街 road from Shuangxi to Daxi is fabulous. steep at both the ends, but fabulous. and deserted much of the time.
the easiest way to Yilan from taipei just hugs the coast. given the gradient on both Pinglin roads and the Bei-Heng, it might take about the same time, as it’s generally flat…
edit: Bei-Heng, i.e., Northern Cross island highway, not Bei Yi road (corrected)
(that Northern Cross Highway’s one hell of a ride, BTW, about 180 km to Yilan, and then another 120 back via the Bei-Yi. Barely doable in a day, but only barely and only for a very fit cyclist.)
#2 highway? That’s what i was thinking, very flat and looks like above-average quality paving.
Now have to figure out what’s the best way to get to it… I will start linking some googlemaps routes to it to save everyone time
Need to do number 9, but I’m not sure if I dare (I have ridden it a lot but motorized, and I know what’s going on there…)
men with incredibly small penises but large throbbing motors?
Ah, you won’t even feel me coming.
men with incredibly small penises but large throbbing motors?[/quote]
They invaded Xiwan Road for a while, but then there was a crackdown (police actually doing their jobs!). But they might be back because it’s been a while since I headed up Xiwan. There was a motorcycle wipeout compilation that someone posted on the Xiwan Bike group FB page. The scenes where they hit a cyclist from the back or take a cyclist out during their crash had me wondering whether I should just stick to the riverside paths.
Just curious, do you know what rule the police were enforcing for the crack down? Speeding?
Just curious, do you know what rule the police were enforcing for the crack down? Speeding?[/quote]
That must have been it. They had cameras set up and they were stopping them. I saw the police also stopping the lead car in a group of Ferrari’s once. It seemed like just a warning in that case. The motorcyclists use to race up that road so it must have been the speed issue.
men with incredibly small penises but large throbbing motors?[/quote]
They invaded Xiwan Road for a while, but then there was a crackdown (police actually doing their jobs!). But they might be back because it’s been a while since I headed up Xiwan. There was a motorcycle wipeout compilation that someone posted on the Xiwan Bike group FB page. The scenes where they hit a cyclist from the back or take a cyclist out during their crash had me wondering whether I should just stick to the riverside paths.[/quote]
We have a mate in ICU right now from a riverside path incident, so they’re not really safe either. The trick is to hunt out roads with no traffic, of which Taipei has plenty. 47-1 is a delight as is 42 Kuolai which can be accessed via Huafan Uni.
men with incredibly small penises but large throbbing motors?[/quote]
Dunno what to say… scooters can be small and throbbing.
What happened?
Can you link the 47-1 and 42 on google?
Map doesn’t show that you’re going through the Old Caoling bike tunnel from Fulong. That would be an oversight IMO unless you’ve done it before.
When you get past Toucheng & cross that large creek, there’s a coastal bike-bath (so east of the #2, right by the beach). Nicer than the road.