Taiwan Archives - Two Wheel Cruise

The Best Cycling In Taiwan | Taroko Gorge With Giant Rental Bikes

Cruise — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 13:57:00 +0000

Today was my favorite day from our recent trip of cycling in Taiwan. My wife and I will be cycling through the Taroko Gorge. We rented some flat bar road bikes from the Hualien Giant store, and were quickly on our way. Words can’t explain how incredibly beautiful the surrounding area of Hualien is and we saw so many stunning sights within the Taroko National park as well. By far one of my favorite days of riding in my entire life and highly recommended if you’re planning to do some cycling in Taiwan.

I’ve been wanting to cycle in the Taroko Gorge ever since I first heard of it from the Taiwan KOM challenge a few years back.. The footage I saw had to be some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen someone ride their bike through.. Today, that dream is finally coming true.

We arrived in Hualien (花蓮), Taiwan last night by train after my wife Thuong arrived in Taipei. We quickly woke up and went to the nearby GIANT Bicycle store to pick up our rental bikes to begin our Taiwan Cycling Trip. In today’s ride, we’re riding from Hualien to the Taroko Gorge in the Taroko National Park.

There were so many beautiful sights to see and attractions along the way, so this video is a bit longer than normal..

Our bicycle rentals only cost about 1,700 NTD for 4 days, and we later used those for our ride down from Hualien to Taitung. You can pick them up at one store and drop them off at another (highly recommended service)

On today’s ride, we visited many of the attractions within the Taroko Gorge, including the Eternal Spring Shrine, Swallow Grotto, and more!

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Taiwan Cycling Trip – 2 Weeks Riding Around Taipei

Cruise — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 08:29:15 +0000

In the Winter/Spring of 2017, I decided to bring my bike to Taiwan/Taipei for 2 weeks to get some warmer weather cycling in and explore the awesome country that is Taiwan. I first visited Taiwan back in 2016, but deeply regretted not bringing my bicycle and vowed to come back again with my bike. This led to me planning my Taiwan Cycling Trip.

The entire time, I stayed at the Meander Hostel in Ximen, Taipei, which had reasonable rates, a nice open public space for working, and space for me to store my bicycle.

I ended up making videos for most every day of the trip. While most of them are cycling focused, some of them are not since I did want to experience some regular tourist attractions as well. Here they are in order.

#1: Arrival in Taipei, build bike & ride to Tamsui (台北 – 淡水）

#2: Taipei to Fulong, pepper bun & bubble tea (台北、福隆、胡椒餅、波霸奶茶)

#3: GoPro chest mount test on Taipei river paths to southern mountains

#4: Taipei to Shiding, two peaks ride & beef noodles (台北、石碇、牛肉麵)

#5: Mini “velodrome” in Taipei? (likely speed skating track)

#6: Workout at Taipei Wanhua Sports Center (台北市萬華運動中心)

#7: Yangmingshan national park & Tian Yuan Temple (陽明山國家公園,天元宮)

#8: Hiking Elephant Mountain 象山 + New Logo!

#9: Exploring Taipei’s Attractions + Din Tai Fung & Oolong Tea

#10: Spirited Away in Jiufen

#11: Taipei Grand Hotel + Bento + Portable Toilets

#12: Ride to Wulai Falls From Taipei (烏來瀑布)

#13: My Favorite Bubble Tea + Street Art in Ximen

#14: Last Day in Taipei | Ride to Dongyanshan 東眼山

Final Thoughts – Taiwan Cycling Trip

This trip is easily one of the most memorable trips I’ve taken throughout all of my travels. Taiwan is a paradise for cycling, and dare I say I enjoyed the cycling here more than I do living here in Japan (minus the scooter exhaust in the city).

If you are considering traveling to Taiwan for some cycling, I strongly recommend it! Even though I have not really been outside of Taipei area yet, I hear the other areas are also really great and have some big cycling communities.

One of the things that I really enjoyed the most about cycling in Taiwan was seeing the large number of people cycling all over the place. From large group rides of regular cyclists to regular pedestrians riding on their commuter bikes, it was great to see a country full of people using bikes. Another great thing to see was all of the female rides in Taiwan, which is a bit of a rare sight in Japan in comparison.

I’m definitely planning on going back sometime for Taiwan Cycling Trip Part II so I can ride in and experience the cycling in other parts of Taiwan. Heck, if I can get enough vacation time, I might even try and cycling around the whole country 🙂 One day…..

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Cycling From Taipei to Wulai Waterfall 烏來瀑布

Cruise — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 08:06:30 +0000

Part 12 of my Taiwan Cycling Trip was possibly one of the best days of the entire trip! I started the day by doing a big ride from Taipei to Wulai Waterfall 烏來瀑布, which is about a 40km ride from the city center.

First step, navigate through the city traffic..

Next step, hop onto the awesome Taipei river cycling path to escape the city to the South.

I proceeded to get lost, as you can see from my cycling route on Strava, but I did eventually find my way to Wulai Waterfall 烏來瀑布.

After making it back to the hostel in Taipei, I met up with my travel buddy, Natalie, and we went exploring around Da Nang Park before grabbing some dinner.

After dinner, we found a craft beer shop and went to town on some great craft beers during the happy hour.

Be sure to watch the video to enjoy all of the fun from this day and great Natalie moments!

Full Taiwan Trip Playlist

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