I go swimming there often. It should be nice to go for a swim then cycle afterward without getting on the main road. And you can park your bike indoors. They’re very cool about that. A very accomplished triathlete coaches there (but not so often now).
Wait, the Lohas Club is on the opposite side of the river, so I’ll have to cross the river first to get to that closed road and then cross the river again after the Lohas Club to get to Baifu Station? If the road traffic on the tunnel side is not too bad, you might as well take the more direct route on road to Baifu to avoid that detour.
No, cross the river after the closed road to go to LOHAS.
Also, cannot go through this area.
Is this the entrance of the closed road?
Whenever I hear things like closed roads, as a cyclist, I feel a bit of trepidation, as that’s where ferocious stray dogs tend to congregate. Over the years I’ve been chased by stray dogs in various sections of the riverside bike path. That’s when you put all the years of hard riding to the test.
Yes you can see the road blocks in the back of the picture that’s where it is closed to cars.
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I guess this has been posted before, but by far the most enjoyable endorsement for Taipei riverside bike paths.
Guy has some rather interesting video’s on life / biking in Japan, as well as his trip around Taiwan.
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I’ve seen some of his vlogs and they are pretty good. I think he was an English teacher in Japan and then got a job with BMC.
He’s been to Taipei a few times and always has really good informational videos to share like t his one
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That’s the wrong reaction, they think you’re pray. Just stop and they stop chasing.
@ericinformosa and @ranlee, thanks for those - nice reminder that we’re really lucky with the cycling here.
1800m of climbing in a day. Damn. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to do that.
Had to laugh at how hot they felt in February. But he’s not wrong - I think it was Tuesday this week I was out at lunchtime, and thought to myself that I probably should have headed out a bit earlier in the day. And it’s not even spring yet.
Exact, go slow, whistle if you approach them and they don’t see you (yet), and talk to them.
22 yrs of Taiwanese stray dogs, never ever attacked.
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Well, you gotta have some balls to stop in your tracks and start whistling when you’re being chased full speed by a pack of feral dogs gnashing their teeth at you.
In other bike path news, there’s a cool new bike/pedestrian bridge in the New Taipei Metropolitan Park that connects the two banks, so you can ride from Sanchong MRT station to Xinzhuang without touching down in the park.
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I’ve never reached the stage of being chased for any length of time. I’ve had dogs stand and start growling or barking. I’ve slowed down and talked to them (“你好小狗!”), and they calmed down. Once or twice in the foothills they’ve been aggressive enough that I’ve gotten off my bike, walked by them with the bike between us (while chatting as amicably as I could, given the adrenaline flowing through me), and then moved on after they calmed down. Once a dog came out of nowhere behind me and started chasing; I started talking and slowed down, it slowed down, I got off my bike, it stopped chasing and stood barking while I talked for a few seconds, walked away a few meters, then rode away.
And, OK, at least once in the mountains dogs have gone full-Gandalf with me with a “You … shall … not … pass … bark bark bark”, and I indeed did not pass but rather chose a different route.
Oh, and as @ericinformosa already suggested, I avoid surprising them. If I see dogs by the side of the road up ahead, there’s always a big friendly “Hello puppy!” Which certainly gets looks from passersby.
Caveat: I have almost zero faith in my ability to ride faster than a dog can run. Especially given that they know the terrain and I usually don’t. Others may find speeding away a more logical choice.
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Should I say it in Mandarin or Taiwanese?
Well, given my own inimitable (in a bad way) pronunciation of Mandarin, I strongly suspect the language doesn’t matter!
Based on what I see in the local park and the zoo, all animals speak English so you should speak English to them.
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Can anyone confirm that local dogs understand English? Or badly spoken Mandarin?
No, my dogs understand Flemish and English. 
Perhaps badly spoken English is best, seems to be what the locals use when talking to animals.
The floating bike path in Bitan is gone. No, there’s no typhoon coming this time, but according to locals, the pontoons are cracked and need repair. Yup, the bike path that was newly built just a few months ago is now broken. The repair work will last till the end of March.
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It’s unfortunate but not unexpected. Despite all the signs and loudspeakers telling people to dismount and push their bikes most decided they knew better and cycled on it. The pontoons at the ends of the ramp areas cracked due to idiots launching themselves down the ramps and bouncing the pontoons at the bottom, something they were never designed to withstand. Hopefully once the repairs are completed they’ll include some form of barriers to enforce the no cycling rule.