Just came back from Taitung where my daughter and I rode from the center of town to Guanshan. We found a bike shop on Cheng Chi Rd between cross streets Nanjing Rd and Bo Ai Rd, 2 blocks NW of the Sheraton. When I asked for rental road bikes with dropped bars, the owner sighed and walked to the back of the store and pulled a new Giant SCR and a new (but lesser) Merida off the back wall and said that he’d rent me the Giant for 600NT and the Merida for 500NT for the day with helmets.
We took Geng Sheng Rd to Hwy 9 and out on a mostly gentle climb for the first 7 km or so followed by a long curving downhill just before Luyeh. Then another long downhill that takes you into the East Rift Valley. We had started out at 10 am, but there was more truck and tour bus traffic than I expected. At least it was cool, around 68F/20C.
There weren’t many cyclists on the road, but we saw (and reciprocated on) the usual thumbs-up and heard a few “Jia-yo’s” while climbing. It’s a nice cycling community feeling that I haven’t experienced while running here.
We stopped at a biendang place right off the Guanshan train for lunch, and decided to turn around when it started to rain. The ride back to Taitung was faster (Guanshan is at 340 m elevation). Total mileage was 82 km.
Would I recommend the ride? Unless that stretch of road is part of a longer ride, the I’d say no. You’d be riding with traffic for all but about 3 km on the edge of Taitung, and until you drop down into the Valley the ride isn’t interesting. I also was hoping to avoid the level of traffic that I’ve seen on Hwy 11 along the ocean, but for short-distance rides north of Taitung Hwy 11 will probably be more interesting. Plus, you can stop for paella and a good beer in Dulan.
The tunnel under the airport is actually off limits to bikes. I would take it only if it was at the ass crack of dawn with minimal traffic. Ramp going down is ok, but you’d congest traffic when going up. Be careful if you ever take it.
All my local friends jump at me when I even mention the idea of going through the tunnel under the airport.
I think from the north/Binjiang Rd. side, there’s a sign, but I haven’t noticed it from the Fuxing side for no bikes allowed. It’s odd because the rule of thumb is cyclists can go wherever scooters can go.
This is kind of the same for the Keelung Rd tunnel that goes under Taipei City Hall. No signs, but everyone highly suggests you go around it. Unlike the tunnel under the airport, I have ridden this, but also at the ass crack of dawn where I was the only one on the road.
@urodacus , if I remember, you’re in Okinawa? I’ve just put in my deposit for the Tour of Okinawa in November later this year. Any chance I’ll see you out there?
I ride through the tunnel when I’m in a hurry. It cuts off a solid 10-15 mins of ride time to meet up.
If you’re traveling from Dazhi Bridge up Bei An Rd. during busy times, I highly highly suggest you roll a right turn at the light before the circle. I’ve had some bad close encounters going up the little hill leading up to the tunnel in the roundabout and never suggest it.
Here’s an alternative:
Right turn on Dazhi Rd then a left on Min Shui Rd. There’s not too many cars on Dazhi Rd and you can make a direct left onto Min Shui. Take the pedestrian crosswalk across Min Shui and wait for the ped light at Bei An. It’s a quick loop around that will add a bit of time, but better safe than sorry. I personally don’t like the light at the base of the roundabout. There’s like a 90% chance of you stopping at it.
Yup, scooter lane is fair game. The (rush hour) traffic pattern is in your favor if you took the route that I suggested, which is good since you don’t have to worry about scoots zooming pass you at top speeds.
I revisisted @IbisWtf land with @okonomiyaki in tow (actually more like he towed me) yesterday to make up for the extremely lazy week I had.
Since most of us riding lived north, we decided to take the “long” route to Ping Lin and climbed 106乙 instead of riding on the 9 from Xindian. Despite a bump descent, this was a very good idea. Having to ride less with the red/yellow plates and speedsters on the 9 is always a plus.
We arrived at the city line and saw that weather wasn’t as good as it was a month ago during CNY. Nonetheless, weather like this in Yilan is not something you see everyday.
Since most of you guys know what my bike looks like…here’s one of @okonomiyaki 's
Let’s be real…you want to see our bikes together right?
Our ride back had the temp cool down a lot with the sun creeping behind the clouds. This was in our favor since the climb back up on the 9 is a scorcher if the sun is out. We arrived back in Xindian at around 5.
Rumor has it that okonomiyaki ate two dinners after getting home.
Was going to go out for a nice leisurely century around Fulong and then back to Taipei via the #9 this morning. With fairly cool weather on the forecast I thought I’d leave at the reasonable hour of 8am or 9am and take the full day to ride a bunch of km’s at a nice slow pace.
Invited @ranlee along which ended up being a huge mistake because he countered my relaxing day ride with an invite for a no-stops 3 Peaks group ride.
So my leisurely 9am cruise around Northern Taiwan became a masochistic 5am race up and down YMS three times.
For those who don’t know, the famous(ly painful) 3 Peaks ride starts at the bottom of Yangde Boulevard and takes you straight up to Xiaoyoukeng, over the other side to Jinshan, then winds through the hills up to Fengguizui. You then ride down Fengguizui past the panting hordes (pointing and laughing is not encouraged, but cocky grins sometimes get a pass), and finally up the infuriating LSK sufferfest.
There is even a Strava segment for the whole thing, so you can see how you stack up against all the other connoisseurs of torture. I highly recommend the 3 Peaks ride for anyone who enjoys the feeling of a thousand knives stabbing into your legs, or for those who cherish the moments in life where you feel like perhaps no longer living would be a preferable option to continued existence in this cruel, cruel world.
After the ride I stumbled into Jiantan Station in my tights, dragging my bike behind me up the steps by one wheel, hallucinating, probably drooling, and muttering “bathroom” in Chinese (or perhaps some other language) to the station staff. Alarmed, they threw open the emergency gate and led me to the men’s room for a splash of cold water on my face. A Chinese tour group watched the spectacle with something between disgust and repulsion.
Feeling slightly farther from death, I coasted into Zhongshan for a couple of pork n egg sandwiches at Comida (highly recommended) and a large iced latte. Then it was home to fall asleep in the bath. My legs thanked me.
Is there anyway to get details of rides like these before they happen? I’ve done the 3P old, previous and new a few times so know it’s a good route and pretty hard. Would have been nice to do it again today too.
I’m looking for a few routes to try out and wanted to see if you guys had any recommendations in Taipei:
Fairly easy 50-60km route (is the best route the riverside area from Songshan up to Tamsui and back?)
Hill climbs, I did the ride from Yangde to Xiaoliukeng once and that was brutal for a beginner like me. Any other places I can check out, preferably starting near Raohe night market.
For any of the routes not on the riverside bike path, what time do you guys recommend staying off the roads for safety? After 8am?
I sometimes post rides there and also on this thread:
You can set the notifications settings for the above thread to “Following” so you’ll get notifications. Not a lot of conversation happens after I post the ride, so the thread gets pushed down on the feed. However, the quickest way is to join the LINE group, I will send the info there after I’ve posted on the forums.
For rides like @okonomiyaki and I did on Saturday, I tend not to extend an invite to everyone. As his write up states, these rides are just not fun and I hold myself responsible if members get lost or don’t have a good time.
If it’s the first time meeting new people, I prefer to host a bit of a more leisure route or pace, that’s when I will post a meet up time/location and route.
