Hi,
Is there a good bicycle rental place around Hualien or Taroko National Park? My travel companion is tall (185.4 cm), and I am short (155 com), we need to find two very different size bicycles. How about recommendations for riding from Hualien to Taroko National Park? The travel guide I have states that day trip to Tienhsiang and back is popular. I am assuming that is from Hualien? What is the roundtrip distance from Hualien toTienhsiang? How about riding beyond Tienhsiang, what is the next logical stopping point? What is the route like and the distance? Would it be a day trip? Are there other recommended rouates? Thank you.
[quote=“karstine”]Hi,
Is there a good bicycle rental place around Hualian or Taroko National Park? My travel companion is tall (185.4 cm), and I am short (155 com), we need to find two very different size bicycles. How about recommendations for riding from Hualian to Taroko National Park? The travel guide I have states that day trip to Tienhsiang and back is popular. I am assuming that is from Hualian? What is the roundtrip distance from Hualian toTienhsiang? How about riding beyond Tienhsiang, what is the next logical stopping point? What is the route like and the distance? Would it be a day trip? Are there other recommended rouates? Thank you.[/quote]
There is a Giant rental bike shop right next to Xincheng Station at the entrance to Taroko Gorge. The number is (03)8610479. Call to ask about bikes in advance.
Otherwise, there is another rental Giant shop at Hualien station with a god selection. Again you need to call and book in advance because this is popular. I suggest you go from Xincheng. Arrive in the evening and then leave just before dawn to enjoy the Gorge before the tour buses arrive. Highly recommended.
Feiren, thank you for the information.
How far is Xincheng from Hualien? Is it on the way from Hualien to Taroko National Park? How far is the ride from Xincheng to the Park, or from Hualien to the Park? I cannot find that information in the travel guides. My understanding is Hwy 8 in the Taroko National Park is very windy and narrow with lots of large tour buses zipping by without slowing down. Is riding on Hwy 8 in the Taroko National Park a concern?
[quote=“karstine”]Feiren, thank you for the information.
How far is Xincheng from Hualian? Is it on the way from Hualian to Taroko National Park? How far is the ride from Xincheng to the Park, or from Hualian to the Park? I cannot find that information in the travel guides. My understanding is Hwy 8 in the Taroko National Park is very windy and narrow with lots of large tour buses zipping by without slowing down. Is riding on Hwy 8 in the Taroko National Park a concern?[/quote]
Xincheng is about 20km from downtown Hualien. Xincheng is the stop for Taroko Gorge. It’s about 3km from the beginning of the gorge.
Highway 8 is narrow and windy. There are lots of tour buses. That’s why I recommend getting up very early and riding up the gorge at dawn before all the tour buses get there around 9AM. It’s usually OK until noon. You will be coming down and they will be going up. If you can get up early enough, I highly recommend this spectacular and not too difficult ride.
Otherwise, if you are really worried about traffic, I suggest that you ride Highway 193 in the Rift Valley south. You can always take a train back to Hualien. Or bo all the the way to Taidong in 2-3 leisurely days. I have posted a lot of info about this in this post and thread
rank.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to … nners.html
Also see Michael Turton’s detailed with many great photos
michaelturton.blogspot.com/2011/ … -east.html
Come back with questions after you have read these.
Feiren,
Again, thank you so much for your help. I was able to get in touch with the bike shop via phone to reserve bikes. Unfortunately I was informed that they do not have rental road bikes small enough for me; the rental road bikes fit individuals that are at least 165 cm tall. This is a total surprise, and I am terribly disappointed. 
I was really looking forward to some good riding in Taiwan and was already imagining myself riding from Hualien to Taitung. I do not think I want to ride a mountain bike from Hualien to Taitung.
Well, like I said, good thing you checked.
As long as the mountain bike doesn’t have knobby fat tires, I think it should be fine. I know many people who have done Hualien to Taidong on some type of mountain bike. I agree that at least slicks would be better. Maybe the shop could change the tires for you?
Well, like I said, good thing you checked.
As long as the mountain bike doesn’t have knobby fat tires, I think it should be fine. I know many people who have done Hualien to Taidong on some type of mountain bike. I agree that at least slicks would be better. Maybe the shop could change the tires for you?
There is a Giant shop in Hualien as well as Xincheng so try the former. If you are using the Lonely Planet guide the number and email for Hualien is wrong as they moved from the Parkview Hotel to near the train station (and didn’t bother to keep the same number :fume:).
But yes, it’s difficult to get the multi-day tour bikes this time of year unless you book months in advance. You should be able to get a bike small enough though. They certainly have them.
If you are planning to ride Hualien to Taitung you can also consider renting a bike inn Taipei and taking it down on the train.
Thank you for your input, Feiren and Mucha Man.
I got in touch with both bike shops and was informed by one that they do not have road bikes for rent and by the other that they do have road bikes but not in my size. Their rental road bikes are for individuals who are 165 cm or taller. Renting bikes from Taipei and take it with me to Hualien could be an option, unfortunately I am not familiar with Taipei at all to figure out the locations of the bike shops and the directions to get there, especially on public transportation. At this point, I am resolved to having to rent a mountain bike for the 2+ days we are in Hualien. Hoping to stay dry.
Oh well. I’ve done a two week tour on a mountain bike. It’s not that bad.
Feiren,
I read the posts about riding from Hualien to Taidong and am wondering if you could give me some ideas regarding the distances between the towns. Lots of good information. Thanks! At this point, we are not planning to spend a night in Taidong due to logistics, so I am trying to figure out a good turn around spot to head back to Hualien. It sounds like the connection between Dagangkao and Ruisui is a not-to-miss. What is the distance from Hualien to Dagangkao/Shihtiping via 11? How about from Dagangkao/Shihtiping to Ruisui? Is Haulien to Dagangkao/Shihtiping to Ruisui and back the same way feasible in one day? Do you have suggestions for alternate routes back to Hualien? If this is not feasible in a day, what would you suggest as a good point to turn around to head back to Hualien?
If I am able to get the logistics worked out to spend a night outside of Haulien, is there a place north of Tiatung to spend a night? Is the approximate distance between Hualien and Taidong 150 km? May be riding to just north of Taitung, turn around, and head back towards Hualien to get as close to Haulien as possible so we would have ample time to ride back to Hualien the next day and not miss the train out of town. Boy, I hope the rain stays away…
Thank you.
It would be useful to pick up a guidebook, especially the latest Lonely Planet (disclosure, I wrote it) as it covers all your questions and especially the east coast chapter was written with cycling in mind (so distances, places to stay, etc). You can just buy the east coast chapter as a pdf or ebook.
It’s about 75-80km to Shitiping, another 22km along the 64 to Ruisui and 70km or so back to Hualien. Hualien to Taitung is around 180km. Not possible in a day in other words for most people.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]It would be useful to pick up a guidebook, especially the latest Lonely Planet (disclosure, I wrote it) as it covers all your questions and especially the east coast chapter was written with cycling in mind (so distances, places to stay, etc). You can just buy the east coast chapter as a pdf or ebook.
It’s about 75-80km to Shitiping, another 22km along the 64 to Ruisui and 70km or so back to Hualian. Hualian to Taidong is around 180km. Not possible in a day in other words for most people.[/quote]
True. But you could put your bike on the local train at Ruisui and then go back to Hualien. If you are in good shape and ride often, this would be a good long one day ride. Get an early start!
Thank you for everyone’s input, very helpful information. Feiren, I do have the latest copy of the Lonely Planet, however my friend has it, therefore I currently do not have access to it.
It would be a long ride, but the ride from Haulien to Ruisui via Shihtipling does not sound too too bad on a road bike. However since I do not know what kind of bike or tires I will end up with, as much as I would love to ride down to Shihtiping and ride the connection between Shihtiping and Ruisui, I may have to turn around before reaching Shihtiping ane make it into an out-and-back trip.
Here is what I have in mind. If anyone sees something wrong the routes or something unfeasible, please let me know.
Hualien to Tianxiang and back to Tianxiang - It seems as long as we could find my way out of Hualien, it is simply taking 9 to the entrance of the Taroko Natioanl Park where we would pick up 8 to Tianxing. (I read a post about following old roads, but I am not clear on the locations of the turns and the connection back to 8, so maybe staying on 8 to Tianxiang so not to get lost would be better?) From what I could gather, it is about 20 to 30 km from Hualien to the park entrance, and another 20 to 30 km to Tianxing for a total of approximately 50 km? Does anyone have suggestions regarding routes out of Hualien (using Hualien Station as the starting point for orientation) to head north for Taroko?
Hualien to Ruisui by bike and Ruisui to Haulien by train - Does anyone have suggestions on routes out of Hualien to head south towards Taidong? Should I take 11 or 193? Should I switch from one to the other? Will there be any problem taking the bikes on the local train. One of the older post mentioned puttinng bikes in big plastic bags for train. Would we be able to take the bikes on the train as is, wihout bike bags?
We get to Hualien on Monday in the early afternoon, so it looks like an early start on Tuesday for Hualien to Ruisui by bike and Ruisui back to Haulien by local train, and another early start on Wednesday for roundtrip from Hualien to the Taroko National Park. We need to be back to Hualien in time for our train in the late afternoon/early eavening. Does anyone have any suggestion regarding a place to shower before we board the train?
Thank you.
distances are 20km Hualien-park entrance, further 20km to Tianxiang. So 40-45km, inc getting out of Hualien.
once on the 8 in Taroko, you can’t get lost by following the old roads. They always lead back to the new road eventually. Try here for pics of the turn-offs:
http://forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=134&t=104122&start=37
and don’t ride the 9 to Taroko, it’s rather dull and busy, trucks etc. Try doing the reverse of the route in my 2nd post on that link i.e. going north up the coastal 193.
And when riding around and out of Sanzhan, you want to turn left onto Minxiang Rd, which is a cool back-road to the cement factory at the foot of the 8.
have a great time! I’m in Hualien, if you need any more local pointers.
Just want to add this as it might be useful. Spent the past couple days in Taroko both hiking and biking. Stayed at a very nice B&B hostel in Xincheng, a couple km from the park entrance and about 1km from the Xincheng train station (the station before Hualien). The B&B has about 20 decent bikes, and range from mountain bikes, a road bike or two, and a few 18 gear folders. People do rent these for multi-day trips.
Anyway, the really great thing about this place, besides a good breakfast, friendly and eager to please hosts, mix of western and taiwanese guests, and so on, is that for NT700 he’ll rent you a bike and drive you up to any point within the gorge.
Serious riders of course don’t need this, but if you want to spend the day in the gorge it is ideal. This morning I got a ride up to the Wenshan-Lyushui Trailhead. My bike was dropped off at the trail exit. Spent a couple hours riding down in near traffic-free conditions, with a side trip up to Buluowan.
Oh, and I was able to store my bag at the B&B until I returned at 3pm and even grab a shower before heading out to catch the train back.
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