Giant Tour de Taiwan group ride

I’m coming to Taiwan mid-July for 5 weeks (my wife is Taiwanese) and am thinking of doing the Giant Tour de Taiwan group ride.
Has anyone here done it? What’s it like?
If I do it, I’m slightly concerned about the weather - presumably they don’t cycle in the middle of the day?
Thanks!

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Download Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration’s app.

Don’t know about this particular group ride but lots of group riding around Taiwan including middle of day and lots and most of them wear clothing that covers their skin including long biking sleeves and pants. Also continue to ride in the rain and they have support vans if it gets to inclement.

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They have a mini-van (or 2) following the group.
You can stop anytime and get liquids, food, etc.
For a completely relaxed, let others plan the round-Taiwan bike trip, Giant is probably the way to go.
Some of the rides may go into middle of the day if you or others are slow, especially around southern tip of Taiwan. I wouldn’t worry about it. They got you covered up in all kinds of protective clothing.

A six year old child could do that ride.

6 yo cycling in 40*C “feels like” temperature? Prove it.

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You can step off into a support vehicle at any time. Those rides are not challenging.

Why not? Plenty of people would find them challenging enough.

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For those like me who were curious just what’s being discussed, below is a link for one of the tours on offer:

  • 910km over 9 days, starting Saturday August 17.
  • Days range from 80km to 122km; biggest day of elevation is 1600m.
  • The itinerary doesn’t include times, but they talk about stopping for lunch and riding after that, so yeah, that looks like heat of the day. In general Taiwan culture is pretty big on lunch happening from 12 noon to 1pm, not before, not after.
  • E-bikes available for a surcharge, which I like to think I wouldn’t use, but they’re certainly useful insurance for those who are unsure if they’d be able to complete the rides or not.

I dunno, I think I could do it, but I certainly wouldn’t call it easy. Most of those single days would count as a moderately long ride for me. I doubt I’ve ever ridden as much as 140km on two consecutive days before, so I’d certainly have to do some training just to get used to that many consecutive days of riding.

I’d have near-zero interest in doing this in summer heat. Spring or fall, hm, I didn’t know these existed and now I’m interested. A big reason I haven’t done longer rides like this is because I haven’t bothered to figure out transportation or a rack & luggage for my bike.

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Multiple days of 80km+ cycling with elevation in mid summer…regardless thats hard cycling, especially given the heat and humidity. Spring/Fall/Winter are much better seasons to cycle these distances in Taiwan. Support van is nice, but isn’t the reason for the trip cycling vs. sitting in an air-conditioned van…

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The reason for my cynicism is I’ve had a load of work mates sign up for these things and they aren’t cyclists and don’t really train for it. The option of taking a half hour rest in an air con van is a game changer.

I’ve done it, the organisation is excellent, would certainly do it again. I would never consider doing it in the summer. I did it at the end of Nov/start of Dec and once you get below HsinChu it was hot and sunny. I went through suncream so fast I ended up having to look to buy more on the trip. Giant personal were superb, 2 vans following at all times (unless one had to take someone off somewhere). There was another group around 30mins-1hr ahead of us with 3 vans and we often joined with them for lunch.

They pick roads with very little climbing on them, I think something like day 5 we had a 200m climb and the last day we ‘climbed’ back from ShiFen to Taipei but even then they took some back roads to keep the gradients down.

I had a fantastic time, if you do it then don’t wear road shoes as you do alot of standing around waiting for others. I wore mountain bike shoes and they were perfect, if I didn;t have them I would use flats instead.

Lunch was usually 1:30-2hrs, which given some of the out of the way places we ate seemed far too long but I guess it was also to try to keep out of the heat somewhat.

If this is your only chance then go for it, if then then wait until winter.

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That’s weird, because back roads in Taiwan usually mean higher gradients.

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Back a decade ago when I did two round-Taiwan rides, I bumped into Giant bikers going up and around the southern tip. Some of the countryside roads are steep and long.

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I’ve done the east coast one in June I think. I think one day had like 500m of climbing with the rest relatively flat. They are well organized and generally my wife and I had a good time and didn’t need to think or plan. The riding was easy but hot… different routes are probably more challenging.

Some things that weren’t great…

Most of the people in the group had no idea how to ride in a group. They obviously don’t want you passing the group leader. We pushed him as much as we could to create some buffer, but it was slow going and sometimes a little dangerous because the group was so inexperienced.

The breaks can be annoying if you just want to get on with it. Lunches were fairly long in particular. For me, the starts where too late, around 9 am if memory serves.

The hotels and food weren’t the best each day. Some good, some marginal at best.

I never did it again because we grew our network of riding partners and planned private supported trips instead. Often with better food and hotels for the same price or cheaper.

For someone without that, I think they’re a fairly good option.

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I’ve lived and cycled in Taiwan for decades. I have not done this or any group rides. Solo rides only. 1. 100km - 40*C heat is too hot for me. 2. Farm roads are best but steep and slick if there’s green moss on them. 3. Theoretically Any tourist visiting from a subtropical country “could”adjust to cycling in August Taiwan weather easier than someone from a more temperate country. But combining jet lag, August weather, and 100km / day = no thanks no matter how flat it is. Instead I’d rent a car, do day rental rides, and if desired mix with locals because Taiwanese are friendly. Flexibility is key. Taiwanese Group anything just isn’t my thing. Just my .02.

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This is the other problem. The concept of drafting is foreign to new cyclists here, not surprisingly.

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As someone who has never ridden in a group, yeah, this worries me because I too have no idea.

Also a concern for me. At this time of year I’d rather be on the road by 6am, and probably done for the day by 11am. Different outside summer months, of course.

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Drafting? That’s quite an advanced concept for a group like this. Many don’t even understand simple principles of rider safety when riding near others or in traffic.

The more I remember the more I think it’s not worth a recommendation. :joy:

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I don’t believe you. Are you sure you’re talking about Taiwan?

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