Taiwan, Cycling, Expat life, Photography, Spicy Food
Location: Yunlin Distance: 54km Elevation gain: 1,900m I would propose this as the best cycling area in Taiwan, the spider web maze of roads that connect the three counties of Yunlin, Nantou, and Chiayi could be combined to make multiple stages of a Grand Tour.…
Location: Hualien/ Taitung Distance: 180km Elevation Gain: 1,600m In our series, we have decided to cover two roads that connect Hualien to Taitung: The Rift Valley, County Rd. No. 193, (#048 in our series) and in this installment Provincial Highway No. 11, which follows the coast and is known…
Location: Hualien Distance: 110km Elevation gain 894m When asked to choose their favorite part of Taiwan it was no surprise that Taiwanese picked the Rift Valley. I would be inclined to agree with this opinion. In this post we cover County Road No. 193 in…
Location: Taichung Distance: 130 km Elevation Gain: 1,360m This might be regarded as one of our more obscure inclusions in the ‘Top 100’ rides of Taiwan, however, it has been included for the reward of a distinctive feature in a picturesque environment. As the title…
Location: Nantou – Dirty Formosa 100 Distance: 45km Elevation Gain: 1,400m+ Located in the center of Taiwan and the only land-locked county, Nantou is a cyclists and hikers’ paradise. As such, it should be no surprise that more of our rides are focused on this…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 140km Elevation: 1200m Regardless of which county in Taiwan you live in, every rider has their go-to loop. For Kaohsiung Duona is arguably one of the best rides to get out of the city for a few hours. Naturally there are multiple…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 85km Elevation Gain: 800m Pingtung, the most southern county of Taiwan, is one of the less mountainous parts of the country, but despite this, there is no shortage of great rides on undulating terrain that will give the rider a good workout.…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 131 km Elevation Gain: 1500m Pingtung, the most southern county of Taiwan, is one of the less mountainous parts of the country, but despite this, there is no shortage of great rides on undulating terrain that will give the rider a good…
Location: Chiayi City/Chiayi County Distance: 45km Elevation Gain: 1,400m In previous posts, we have stated that Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties have some of the best riding in the country. A virtual spiderweb of never-ending interconnecting roads that will take the rider deep into the…
Location: Hualien Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 1,000m This is our series’s third and final episode covering the roads connecting the East Coast and the Rift Valley in Hualien and Taitung. The logical place to start this ride would be from Hualien city, however, the nearest…
Location: Hualien/Taitung Distance: 150km Elevation Gain: 2,000m The East Coast and the Rift Valley of Taiwan are often touted as the premier riding locations in the country and that is why we have included 3 rides that form loops to connect the two. The first…
Location: Hualien/Taitung Distance: 150km Elevation Gain: 2,000m If you happen to be in Taitung this is one of the best loop rides in the county. It has been named ‘Double 23 Loop’ as the two main roads involved are numbered ‘23’. The first is Tung…
Location: Yilan Distance: 40km Elevation Gain: 1,600m There are a total of 19 NFRAs in Taiwan and the roads leading up to some of them are spectacular for mountain scenery. Alishan in Chiayi County at 2,100m is the most famous of these and is covered…
Location: Nantou/Yunlin/Chiayi Distance: 41km Elevation Gain: 800m The No. 149 road is interesting to riders for several reasons. For one it’s an excellent access point to some of the best roads in the country that we have covered in other posts in our series. The…
Location: Chiayi County Distance: 82km Elevation Gain: 1,200m There are only two county roads in Taiwan that travel from sea level to over 1,000m. The first is covered in #018, Guanwu, of our series which is in Hsinchu, north Taiwan. The only other road which…
Location: Hsinchu/Taoyuan Distance: 48km Elevation Gain: 1,800m There are now several rides in Taiwan that we have covered in the Top 100 which have been given specific names to alert riders to their prominence. The ‘Taiwan KOM’ #001 is our series, the ‘Hand of Buddha’…
Location: Hualien/Yilan Distance: 108km Elevation Gain: 1,200m The Su-Hua Highway is arguably the best section of coast road in Taiwan. Although not a continuous climb there is enough ascent in it to justify its inclusion in our series of the Top 100 Climbs of Taiwan.…
Location: Kaohsiung (Qishan)/Tainan/Kaohsiung Distance: 117km Elevation Gain: 1,000m Provincial Highway No. 3 is one of the longest roads in Taiwan and is 435km end to end. It starts in Taipei and ends in Pingtung. Also known as the Inner-Mountain Highway the road travels through mountainous towns in Western Taiwan. Doing the…
Location: Chiayi/Tainan/Kaohsiung Distance: 170km Elevation Gain: 1,900m Provincial Highway 3 is one of the longest roads in Taiwan and is 435km end to end. It starts in Taipei and ends in Pingtung. Also known as the Inner-Mountain Highway the road travels through mountainous towns in Western Taiwan. Doing the road from…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 30km Elevation Gain: 1,600m The rider should be aware that the following is actually two different rides. From the bottom, it’s approx 17km ascent to the village of Jiufawan. (This is a historically significant village of slate houses that has guesthouse options)…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 27km Elevation Gain: 1,600m Jinshuiying is unusual to include in this series since the road is far more well-known as a cross-island hiking trail and arguably the best downhill ride in the country. It has a fascinating history dating back to the…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 21km Elevation Gain: 1,200m The name Beidawu will be familiar to most hikers as it is one of Top 100 Climbs (Bai Yue) with the peak at 3,092m, it is only peak over 3,000m in Pingtung. For cyclists it is also a…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 42km Elevation Gain: 1,500m There are a total of 18 NFRAs in Taiwan and the roads leading up to some of them are spectacular for mountain scenery. Alishan in Chiayi County at 2,100m is the most famous of these and is covered…
If a rider hasn’t got transport in the form of a car or van using the train is an excellent way to travel around Taiwan with a bike. The system isn’t perfect and it can involve a learning process to understand how Taiwan Railway Administration…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 29km Elevation Gain: 2,000m Xiaoguan Mt. was, and to some extent, still is one of the best MTB routes in Kaohsiung. Located in Baolai Village, Kaohsiung it’s not so easy to access without your own transport. I was denied access to the…
Location: Nantou Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 2,700m A 50km ride to a lake at 3,000m is the highest off-road route in Taiwan. By far the most remote and difficult to access of the Top 100 climbs by bicycle has to be the Danda Forest Road.…
Location: Nantou Distance: 34km Elevation Gain: 1,600m Xitou and Shanlinxi or Sun Link Sea are both Forest Recreation Areas (FRA) but not National Forest Recreation Areas (NFRA) The two closest train stations would be Ershui if traveling from north Taiwan and Linnei if traveling from…
Location: Nantou Distance: 64km Elevation Gain: 2,300m For most of the Top 100 Climbs, the focus has been on those accessible by road bike, but there are several off-road routes that ascend over 2,000m which should be included. The Taiwan KOM (road bike) is covered…
Location: Yilan/Taichung Distance: 130km Elevation Gain: 3,500m This is one of the best rides in Taiwan because of the variety of scenery. Starting in Yilan at the 0km marker on the North Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway No. 7). There are actually 3 roads combined in…
Location: Chiayi Distance: 97km Elevation Gain: 2,800m Provincial Highway No. 18 (also known as ‘The New Central Cross-Island Highway or the Alishan Road’ starts at 0km in the center of Chiayi City – 10 to 15mins. ride from the train station. After the initial 10km…
Location: Tainan & Kaohsiung Distance: 140km Elevation Gain: 3,000m There are four Cross-Island Highways in Taiwan, three of which traverse the island from west to east, the fourth, ‘the New Central Cross-Island Highway, is a north-to-south traverse that skirts the Central Mountain Range. Of the…
Location: Nantou Distance: 58km Elevation Gain: 1,800m The Nantou No. 89, also known as the Li Sying Industrial Road, is arguably one of the toughest rides for a road bike in Taiwan. It has gained prominence in recent years because of its inclusion in the…
Location: Taitung Distance: 54km Elevation Gain: 2,500m There are four Cross-Island Highways in Taiwan, three of which traverse the island from west to east, the fourth, ‘the New Central Cross-Island Highway, is a north-to-south traverse that skirts the Central Mountain Range. Of the four it…
Location: Hualien Distance: 90km Elevation Gain: 3,500m Mission Statement: It is well known among mountaineers in Taiwan that the country has some 270 peaks over 3,000m, making it one of the highest concentrations of 3,000m peaks in the world. Of these, 100 were selected as…