I got this idea of cycling through Taiwan years ago when I first heard people were doing it... the roads were good, the reach was not too far, the places were safe and familiar… why not?
So when I heard a guy of my age was doing it for a good cause and for his 60th birthday last December, I decided it’s “now or never”, time to “shut up or sign up”, and did the latter with a “Tour de Taiwan” organized by Giant, the world-renowned bicycle manufacturer from Taiwan who’s been promoting and orchestrating events like this for years.
Here is the journal of my 9-day journey with the tour:
Day 1
The meet and start point was at a train station towards eastern side of Taipei, so it took us--40 riders, 6 crew members, 2 minivans--a while to navigate southwest out of the city, after getting our bikes and helmets and a brief instruction (there was a full pre-tour Q&A session the day before) from Giant.
Two major uphill climbs leaving Taipei basin served as the prep-up runs for the tour to come, I supposed, and I went through them with... huffing and puffing... but no more and no less ghastly than many of this mostly younger looking crowd around me.
I struck conversations with two fellow riders at a rest stop: Stewart was a 31-year-old from Hong Kong, biked every day after work and brought his own gear for the tour; Quinn, 51, was an LA born Chinese American who actually grew up right up my alley in south Orange County--a Dana High graduate (his parents still live in Laguna Niguel), and had worked and lived in Tokyo and Beijing and Shanghai for the past 20 years before recently moving back to Taipei with his Taiwanese wife.
We pedaled for 93 km to reach our first destination city Hsinchu in mid-north Taiwan in the evening. I took a stroll to a famous local night market for delicious Taiwanese “small-eats” for dinner and turned in bed early.
Day 2
The start of our west coast ride came with light rain and chilly wind, but the roads were level and no climbing was required except for a few bridges along the way.
Some haphazard mighty winds, however, could sweep up unexpectedly and one of them might have contributed to the fall of my newly acquainted companion Stewart and his bike when they were crossing an open intersection. He hurt his bones during the fall and after a hospital checkup had to be sent home, alas.
According to the route plans, our rest stop could take place after a short 7 km or a long 20 km run. At each rest stop, the minivan that also carried our light luggages would open up its back gate and offer unlimited supply of snacks and fruits and supplements, besides water. You could actually gain weight through the tour if you were not careful watching what you took in all the time, they said.
Day 3
A calm and easy ride on the west coast plain. I began to appreciate the serene beauty of some tree-lined unknown little towns we passed through that I probably wouldn’t even know exist were I not on a cycling tour like this.
But the highlight of the day was the crossing of the Muddy River (濁水溪), the longest and widest river in central Taiwan. We took photos at the river bed after the crossing, and had lunch at the legendary town 西螺 nearby that was known for its produce and folklore heroes.
We reached Jiayi 嘉義 at dusk, the city me and my wife
visited with my college friend two years ago where we had its famous “chicken bowl” (雞肉飯) local cuisine special at a famous eatery. This time I went with two fellow riders, both high school teachers, for another chicken bowl place, and a tofu pudding stand, following the tips they got through their Google search.
Day 4
The weather was cooperating, the skies were cloudy but dropped no rain, showing occasional rays of sunshine even. I put some sun screen on my face as I began to notice the shade lines between my cheeks and sunglasses covered eye sockets.
We had a nice lunch stop at Tainan, the political and cultural center of old time Taiwan. Heading south into its modern day big brother metropolitan Kaohsiung, I experienced some allergic reactions--teary eyes and sneezing nose, either due to the sun screen sweating into my eyes or the pollutants coming from the air, riding through this heavily industrial region of south Taiwan.
Fatigue fell on me when we reached the hotel. It was a long 130 km ride, after all. One 20-year-young man pulled his leg muscle, and a woman aggravated her knee, both had to be put in the van for a ride that they could no longer do on their own.
Day 5
A surprise sunny morning accompanied our way out of Kaohsiung City, this southern behemoth not only had grown grander and fancier since the time I was stationed here for my military service decades ago, but also featured a nice design bike path network, might be worth visiting again sometime in the future.
As we traveled around different towns, Giant had tried to arrange local specialty cuisine or delicacies for lunch or as extra treats at rest stops to enhance our overall tour experiences. Today, for example, we had a yummy shaved ice bowl at a rest stop at Chaozhou 潮州, and a juicy “tea pot chicken” (茶壺雞) dish for lunch at Fangliao 枋寮, after leaving Kaohsiung and entering Pingdong 屏東 county.
The afternoon ride along Pingdong coast was scenic and uneventful, if not for a young woman falling from her bike and had to be taken to the hospital for exams.
We reached Hengchun 恆春, the very southern tip of Taiwan at dusk, after logging 103 km for the day.
Day 6
We got our first taste of the east coast seasonal wind as the road turned northeast, into the mountainous region, roaming ever deeper and steeper, through a dam and a village, culminated with a continuous 2 km climb and more, reaching the 450 meter summit that was the high point of the tour. Then a non-stop 12 km descent, a series of up/downs on a treacherous coastal highway, and another 2 km climb before we reached the hotel at the end of the day.
Feeling totally exhausted!
Day 7
Body was still aching from yesterday’s atrocious ride, but felt energized again after a few km ride in the morning. The road was not as undulated as yesterday, but the seasonal wind had become an averse factor, dragging you down if you didn’t pedal harder.
With a group size of 40, it’s easy to be segregated into subgroups as it proceeded. Though I mostly stayed within the leading group of 10 to 20 riders, at times I found myself the forerunner of a 3 or 4 rider pack, or riding all by myself when the formation was stretched far out.
Being in a large group might require constant jostling of positions with others, and being a leader of a group put extra pressure on you trying to keep up the pace and watching out road conditions for others. The sweet spot position probably was being the 3rd or the 4th rider in a small group, where you just pedaled and turned as your predecessors did, and got the extra benefit of their bodies shielding the wayward winds for you, as aerodynamic studies would tell you.
Or being a solitude rider, with no one in front or behind, you could slow it down or speed it up, turn your head and see the scenery around, sing a song and nobody else would hear you!
You might also chat with your fellow riders (though discouraged by the crew for safety reasons), like I did with Quinn about our common
Japan experiences, SoCal, China, Trump, his unique dieting methodology that made him 15 kg lighter in 2 months... and others who had rich geographic and historic knowledge about the places we just passed by...
We crossed the Northern Tropic Line (a white mark in front of a town police station) that we did 4 days ago when heading south on the other side of the island, back to the subtropical region of Taiwan again.
Day 8
A cold, rainy 70 km ride in the morning muddied up the bike, helmet, jacket… all over, but a smooth and expedient run nonetheless.
I hadn’t blown my tire during the tour so far, but many did. The proficiency and efficiency of the mechanic crew was impressive: I once saw these young men replace a blown tire in less than 10 seconds right off the road, and repair 6 blown tires in 3 minutes at a rest stop today.
After lunch, we boarded a train, along with our bikes, to our next destination at northeastern Taiwan, skipping the notorious coastal highway that connects the east and the northeastern part of Taiwan that was deemed too dangerous to ride under current weather condition.
Day 9
The long predicted cold front finally arrived, in full force, for our coming home ride. Pelting rain coupled with gusty wind and freezing cold made this meandering run from northeastern plain through the coast through the tunnels through the hills a hellish ordeal instead of a scenic ride had it been weather of another kind!
I regretted not bringing wet protecting pants to wear and felt buck naked from waist down, with the rain and the cold encroaching and chilling all the way to my bones. But some who did wear rain protection suit told me it’s of not much use anyway. We all just had to brave it through and soldier on, for 100 km, until that familiar train station building we left some 9 days ago finally appeared!
Then elation, followed by a quick certificates awarding ceremony, then an even quicker scramble to Home Warm Home!!
For more photos and details of the tour, go to
I found these rallying songs they played at morning start and rest stops quite enjoyable, you might like them too:
