Tag: taiwan

Taiwan North Coast Cruising

The North Coast is rewarding ride around the north coast of the island. Easily reachable from Taipei or Keelung, and making a nice loop if wanted it offers sea views and quietish roads.

I start this ride in Sijhir and head west through Donghu then on to Shilin and Danshui. The first section from my house to there is the usual city stuff, but in the morning it is quiet enough. The roads are still busy as there are very few alternative routes when travelling to Danshui from the city.

Sometime before Danshui the No. 2 heads off Northwards over a few rolling hills, nothing very steep. These can be avoided by instead continuing to Danshui and sticking to the coast more, however Danshui is fairly busy most of the time. The last time I tried this alternative and stuck to the coast I got slightly lost, but managed to find my way back to the No. 2 in the end, just head northish.

The road continues with only slight rolling hills, there’s usually very little wind and when summer comes around that little wind would certainly be appreciated. It’s at this part where you will start to see the groups of university students out on their scooters. Unlike the middle Taiwan scooter hooligans, these groups are mostly guys on their scooters with their girlfriends on the back. There’s a good chance you will bump into the same groups a few times as they pass ahead, stop to enjoy a site where you’ll pass them, and then they’ll pass you later as you continue onward. I’ve managed a maximum of three leapfrogs in this manner.

When you hit the most Northern part you can see the sea, which, after being stuck in the city, is nice in itself. There is an area for kite-flying, or so is depicted on the large painting on the wall holding back the mountain and landslides. There’s a large rock with a big hole in the middle that I noticed for the first time on this ride, I’ll take a picture next time.

The riding from here is pleasant until you read Wanli.

The section from Wanli to Taipei is not very nice. There are lots of cars, lots of motorbikes and would be considered only slightly more pleasant than inner-city riding. Weekends might be different, but during the morning rush it’s pretty busy. There is an alternative, which I’ve read is really good, to go over the mountain from Wanli to Sijhir which I’ve never tried, but could save you the headache of going through Keelung. I at least know the last part of that alternative is a really quite road for the most part.

This is certainly my favorite metric-century ride and is a nice loop. Nice views, pleasant weather and generally flat riding.

Here’s a map of the ride.

View Ride (102 km) – Taiwan North Coast in a larger map

The Challenge

I enjoy riding.

I’ve always enjoyed riding a lot. Being out alone with my thoughts, with the challenges of the ride, the scenery and the people I pass. It all adds together for the most satisfying sport I’ve ever done; that I’ll ever do.

Long distance riding lets me take in the scenery and landscapes, moving from my neighborhood, out through the city and into the more rural areas until there are no houses or people left.

This is where I have peace.

Being out in the quiet darkness of the early morning on the road with absolutely no traffic, the bright, orange sun rising over the horizon, just my legs turning over in that rhythmic, rolling pattern.

Heaven.

And I mostly get that, and the variations and contrast of different scenery, when I ride a long way. But I’ve never taken that on as a challenge directly.

Until now.

Brevets

There is a race known as a brevet, which is 1200km long, and based on a ride that originally went from Paris-Brest-Paris. It’s easier now with better roads, but the concept lives on. Ride a damn long way as quick as possible.

This is not a tour. The difference is that overall speed does factor in here, and although the going is relatively slow compared to most road racing, the slower speed is mostly because of the huge endurance needed to simply complete the race. No 100km for the day then take a break; rests are likely and still on the clock.

The Challenge

Ride around Taiwan in under 72 hours. The distance is about 1200km, so with two 6 hour sleeps, that’s 60 hours of pure riding at 20km/h average to make it under that time.

I’ll have to sacrifice sleep, massive amounts of time and energy, change my eating habits and daily habits to make it. The training will start first, and will be part of the platform for testing foods, diet and other training.

The training will culminate with 600km training rides and finally the 1200km round country ride.

A New Focus

Compared to previous long rides. I know I can’t do this at the moment. I have only tackled up to 200km in a single day before, but I knew I could make it. This time I have to train myself to make it, and I’ve had no single, major target before.

I won’t be able to do this alone. Although I’m riding on my own, the motivation and help from others will make this more likely to succeed.

This blog is a platform for recording and tracking all of those efforts.

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