Okay, the weather forcast has finally announced a nice weekend ahead and I was wondering if this would be a good option to do a go-kart outing on Saturday. As go-karting is usually more fun, the more people are on the track, I wanted to share my thoughts.
The tentative plan is this :
Meeting in Zhunan at Amici for a Ferrari lunch and pre race briefing
Racing fun at the track for a couple of hours
Afterwards some cool down laps at the beach
Head back with a pitstop at the Belgium Kitchen in Sanxia for a winners dinner
I’m not sure where the Italian restaraunt is…but I’ve posted directions to the track before. The track is a little bit outside of the main town. But I’m guessing you can just follow signs to get to the main town…from either the costal road (15/61) or from the main freeways.
Directions to the track coming from Hsinchu or anywhere north of there:
Head over to the West Costal Highway (number 61, scooters allowed) go south. (This road is very enjoyable and has little traffic. Alot of speed traps so stick to the speed limit. This trip takes a little under an hour from Jung-li, but would be a fun ride even for people from Taipei.)
South of Hsinchu you will come to a rest area on the right hand side with 3 very large flags and a parking area along the road…impossible to miss. Shortly after it (heading south) you begin to see the giant windmills that make electricity.
Continue on to the next big intersection with a 4-lane road with divider to the left. There will be signs saying that the #3(or maybe the 1) Highway entrance is to the left. Go left on that intersection over a small bridge that has gas stations on either side of it then take the first right which is the #13.
Continue along the #13 to the second 7-11 on the right hand side (about 4 minutes up the road). Turn right into the smaller street directly beside the 7-11.
This part is difficult because you are on small streets now…but you’re only 1 minute away from the track so ask for directions if you can. If not then follow the street beside the 7-11 to a right hand turn with a green sign with the word “small” in Chinese on it and an arrow pointing right. The sign says “small race track go this way” You probably will only recognize the word small. Anyway, you turn right onto that then the first right after that (which will also have a sign)…follow that to the end and then a quick left, right…then up a hill to the track.
So in brief…at the 2nd 7-11. Right, right, go straight…then left, right.
From the three big flags at the beach stop area…it’s only about another 5-10 minutes to the track.
If heading from the SOUTH (Taichung…etc.)
You could just head north on the Costal Highway until you reach the “3 FLAG” rest area. Then make a U-turn and follow the directions from there.
I found out that a group I know is going karting at 10:30am on Sunday morning. Looks like I’ll be there on Saturday AND Sunday. I think I’ll just race three times total…so as to not destroy my body…and my budget.
I’m not sure where the Italian restaraunt is…but I’ve posted directions to the track before. The track is a little bit outside of the main town. [/quote]
It is a couple of blocks away from the train station if I recall correctly. It is one of those
places I have only been twice myself, where I can find it, but I am at the moment not
able to give exact directions. The place should be within the yellow box of the below
Google Earth image. There is a suggested meeting point shown as well, as I know for
sure that the brand new bridge in the upper right corner is along the route that I
usually take from work. I will also post their business card during the day.
To Namahottie, if you want to take the train from Taipei, you should be able to get off
in Zhunan train station, and we can phone each other and you might be able to catch a
ride with us from there. I still have not decided weather I take the car or the bike. But
it will probably be the car, since we want to go to Belgian Pie’s place afterwards. Or if you
are serious, you could come to Linkou and go with us from here. But we do have to sort
out the transportation first.
Still not sure how to get there from Taichung. Could you give directions to the go kart area if I were to leave from Taichung Gang Road and Wenshin Road. I’m not sure where the Coastal Highway is. Thanks for any extra directions.
[quote=“stare”]Still not sure how to get there from Taichung. Could you give directions to the go kart area if I were to leave from Taichung Gang Road and Wenshin Road. I’m not sure where the Coastal Highway is. Thanks for any extra directions.
stare[/quote]
If you take the car from Taichung, you can probably take freeway #3 North and take the Zhunan exit. Hwy 61 should be marked on the signs there, but I am not 100% sure as I am not that frequently in that area. But if you look at a map, Freeway #3 crosses Hwy61 at the coast by Zhunan. Freeway #3 makes a turn away from the coast at the intersection.
I just checked mordeth directions on a map, and they actually pass by the train station very closely, just on the opposite side of the restaurant. So when you come into Zhunan, you will see a rather new, large bridge on the right that goes over the train tracks. Go over that bridge follow the ring road which bends to the left. Here it gets tricky. I think there are little blue signs for the train stations, turn left. If I remember correctly, the roads narrows down by a 7-11, turn right there, this should be the road with the restaurant. But if you get close to the train station, give me a call.
Go-Karting was fun. Thanks for the challenging race mordeth, it is really hard to keep up with you. I think I will have to loose 20kg before next time.
Also thanks to L & A for joining us, was nice meeting you, and the swim after the race was just perfect.
yes, go-karting was awesome. now that i have that tip about how to take that curve, i really want to go back. and, yes, the next day my back and arms were sore.
Well, us Taichungers are still up for a “Speedy Hour” Forumosa go-kart gathering at Rosso’s place in Taichung, and it would be great to see you people down here for that!
