In my early research for this trip (I was looking for a place warm, cycling friendly, and accessible with OneWorld frequent flier miles in Business Class on the dates I had available) I soon found out about the huandao and was intrigued. The rest, as they always say, is history.
This blogpost is meant as a reminder to myself where I went, on a daily basis, and it also provides just a little bit of insight in the next few paragraphs into my equipment and some of the logistics. If you have followed me on Facebook during this trip, don't waste your time re-reading all of those cut-and-pasted snippets in the accompanying text below, underlaid in white. There are no new photos.
So, seriously, only read on if you want to know how one can do a trip like this financially and logistically.
Air travel was sweet and cheap, a product of flying exclusively on American Airlines for many years and having built up a tidy mileage account in the millions. It cost me 140,000 miles and about $80 in taxes and fees for my roundtrip Business Class ticket from Lubbock via Dallas, LA, and Hong Kong to Taipei (AA and Cathay Airlines) and then back from Taipei to Tokyo's Narita and over to Seattle (Japan Airlines) and farther along to Phoenix and back home to Lubbock; the SEA to PHX fight was in Economy. Boohoo! Airline status provided me with top-lounge access throughout the trip.
For my arrival and departure hotel I had chosen an IHG -affiliated property close to Taipei's international airport (TPE) in Taoyuan, the Holiday Inn Express. This choice was simple: an easy $15 Uber ride from the airport and award availability for three of the four nights needed for a measly 10,000 points each night. (Put into perspective, that's the lowest point redemption for IHG properties and left me with more than 400,000 points in my account; regular cost was about $80 a night, which I paid for that one revenue night.) I had a fabulous room, received breakfast every morning, and was able to leave my bike case/other luggage for the entire time of my bike trip. Similarly, my $170 room in New Taipei City on my last huandao-night was paid for with a ridiculously low number of Marriott points. I mean, ridiculous--don't ask.
My Ritchey Outback (that's my carbon gravel bike that I also took to the DR earlier this year) was set up with 40-mm Donnelly tires with somewhat of a hybrid tread pattern. I rode them at about 70 PSI for the whole trip. Even though the tires are, nominally, fairly light they just never seemed to roll exceptionally well. Maybe it was all the crap I carried along, but seriously, they just didn't have any spunk to them, like old Vredesteins, those Dutch beasts. Next time I'll try something else. But there were no flats or any issues, so I won't complain.
The gearing was, of course, built around SRAM's e-TAP electronic 11-speed shifting. There's nothing more intuitive or well-shifting that I have ridden, and I have three bikes with Shimano's Di2. Up front I used a 46/36 Ultegra crankset, and in the back I was running a whopping 11-42 SRAM cassette. To make all 22 gears truly and actually functional and rideable, I used a Wolf Tooth Road Link, a small adapter that connects the rear derailleur to the dropout. Not a single mis-shift. Not one problem. As I said, all gears were rideable. I thought that was truly remarkable. Still, I may get Shimano's new GRX crankset with a 46/30 ratio, to get just a tiny bit of lower end for those truly impossible hills.
To carry my crap around (way too much!!!) I used my trusted Tailfin carbon rack and T1 panniers plus the fairly new AeroPack. Google the stuff. It's pricey (the whole set-up is around $500) but it works, on any bike that you may own. Road, mountain, gravel, tandem, carbon, steel, titanium, with or without dropouts, anything and everywhere. Nothing else like it out there. And totally waterproof, easy to mount onto and take off the bike, just perfect. Google it: Tailfin. They're a British company, and I won't us anything else.
As I said, I packed too much stuff. I brought three complete riding kits but use--on a daily basis--only one since I washed out bibs, underlayer, and jersey every night. I could have easily lived with only two kits. Same thing goes for after-ride clothes: I could have cut by half what I thought was already minimal. Sad but true. I carried a worthless Lonely Planet hardcopy of Taiwan (and immediately returned it to Amazon after the vacation). I know, I had it on my smartphone as an eBook, too, but try to find anything on a smartphone in a 400-page PDF. But the guidebook was unnecessary anyway.
I didn't carry any camping gear because I had intended to stay in hotels or the like on all nights, and I did so. I had booked before the trip my first three nights after Taipei/Taoyuan because I wanted to see how things were progressing, and then I booked one or two nights ahead. I used the agoda.com website, which seems to have better results for Asia than Expedia, et al. To squeeze out a few extra dollars, I accessed Agoda.com via the topcashback.com website. Please let me know if you want a referral as it means serious dollars for you and me. TopCashback is much better than eBates!
All hotels were clean and safe, and all cost between $20 to $35, with some of the places that would fall into our luxury category (think the likes of a Hilton) sometimes being cheaper than the not-so-snazzy ones. Two or three were Airbnb-like; it's called a homestay. I preferred the hotel since you could tell where the place was instead of trying to find an apartment among many. All of them, without fault, provided toothbrush, comb, shampoo, shaving kit, and occasionally condoms. They also all had either a hot water heater in the room or some contraption in the hallway to allow you to use the two tea bags and the two powdered coffee/milk mixes. I honestly wondered whether this maybe a national requirement for any rental property. Oh, I almost forgot, all provided plastic slippers (or cloth ones, in the fancy places), so you can leave yours at home.
In regard to communications, I bought a Taiwan SIM card for my Google Fi-powered smartphone for $16 before I left the US, with pick-up at the TPE airport, through a website called klook.com. That gave me 15 days of unlimited data and some credit for local and international phone calls that I never needed. Even though all hotels had Wi-Fi it was easier to use the unlimited data from the SIM. I also used the phone to create a hotspot to have access with my Kindle to the 'net. (That's how I wrote the first two blogposts, via Kindle and a Bluetooth keyboard.) Make sure to get such a SIM before you leave the US. Similar deals are available also in other countries, so do your research.
For money, on this occasion I used my German DKB credit card. For cash withdrawals, regardless of amount, I had to pay a flat $3 per withdrawal (local fee that DKB doesn't refund, like Schwab, below, does), so $9 for the whole trip. I wanted to use some of my CADF earnings that go into my German account, and so I was willing to pay the "convenience" fee. I also had with me my Charles Schwab debit card which allows me to make totally free ATM cash withdrawals worldwide as CS refunds any external ATM fees. If you don't know about this incredible free card, Google it or shoot me a PM. I owe my friend Andrew for introducing me to this whopper of a card.
And finally, navigation was accomplished though the oft-mentioned Locus app, which works only on Android phones. Simply put, I never felt out of control regarding navigation, despite the language and script differences. Locus will get you there. I am proof. In my view, it's the best app of the decade because it doesn't let you down when you need it most. And its free (and the maps cost something like a buck or two, at most).
Overall, with flight, hotels, food (lots), beer (lots), Ubers, and a few trinkets and Christmas gifts, I spent $1,045 on this vacation. Not too bad for essentially three weeks of what most people would think the trip of a lifetime, which it was.
And now comes the day-by-day wrap-up:
Less than 36 hours after arriving here in Taiwan I have already ridden 60 amazing miles. First there was yesterday's warm-up loop around Taoyuan, where my hotel for the first two nights is located, and today I took the train to Taipei and did a sightseeing ride in Taiwan's capital before riding back to my hotel.
I have to say, everything is foreign and exotic, not only because I obviously can't read the signs or understand the language but also because the architectural style is so different from what one sees elsewhere--and that's not even counting temples and the like.
For right now I'll just post some pics as I will try to write a blog entry fairly soon and don't want to write things twice. I'm about to head for Taoyuan's night market to grab some local food. The plan for tomorrow is to leave the hotel fairly early, head to the west coast and then ride south to Hsinchu, where I have a hotel set up for the first night of what I hope will be a lap around the island. We'll see how far I'll get in my attempt at completing the huan-dao, as it is called.
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So, today was the first day of my attempt to circumnavigate the island of Taiwan. The weather was perfect, the winds were mostly favorable, and the bike trails and minor roads that I took were as pleasant as they come.
From Taoyuan I headed west to the coast and then turned south, following the coastline until I finally had to turn inland to hit my hotel in Hsinchu. Total mileage for the day came to just shy of 50.
The highlight of the day must have been the Gangkou harbor and its fish market. I have never seen anything like it! I had no idea how many types of shrimp and crabs there are! And except the fish, everything else was wiggling while in tanks or piled up in bins. I treated myself to yummy squid and wasabi.
Even if some of the stretches took me through some fairly industrial areas, most areas were simply lovely. People were out in droves enjoying their Sunday off by renting four-wheeled bikes for the whole family and riding along the seashore.
Once I made it to the outskirts of Hsinchu I was greeted by rice paddies and mint fields. I stopped at what looked like a drive-in temple and then rolled into the big city. My map program is fabulous: I found The Golden Swallow without a hitch, using the smallest backroads and alleys.
After a good shower I went out to the nearby night market, the Hsinchu Du Cheng Huang temple, and a meal of slimy, gelatinous oyster-based stuff that was simply delicious. I'm starting to learn to not be guided by what something looks like but rather by where the most customers are milling around.
What a great day!
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Day two of my trip took me south from Hsinchu all the way to Taichung. Thanks to a ferocious tailwind I was able to ride those 66 miles without keeling over. 😅 I'm sure I'll pay for it one of these days, at the latest when I'll have to ride back North along the east coast. There were long stretches along the seashore--the wind must have been going at 25 mph. Locus once again picked some choice one-lane roads for me, one of them leading me through what must have been a cemetery. Along the way, numerous temples. Traffic was light where I had to share the road riding in a bike lane, and non-existent elsewhere. Once again I was floored by the network of separated, elevated, and well-designed bike paths. Lubbock and most of the US should be ashamed. This bike infrastructure is what you may find in Denmark and The Netherlands.
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The third day of my anti-clockwise Tour of Taiwan lacked a bit of color. Overcast skies and riding for most of the day through urban and suburban areas swallowed the colors and settled a bit on the spirit. Still, there were cool moments, especially the celebration at one of the many temples that I passed. Scroll back to find the video clip.
Leaving Taichung was not difficult, but the constant drone of traffic around me was bothersome. After 15 or so miles of that I pulled over for a coffee, looked at the map, and chatted a new route, away from the official bike route. For the remainder of the day things were quiet while I was cycling along endless nurseries, rather crappy looking vineyards, and fields of lettuce, corn, and rice.
With the various detours it was once again a fifty-mile day. I'm in Huwei Township and just got back from a few hours of drifting around the 'hood. This is so much fun.
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Day 4 took me about 64 miles down to Tainan. Nice ride, totally cool city. Best so far yet for various reasons: intact old city; most vibrant night market so far; a real taproom with really fine beer but, more importantly, revealing conversation, with various people. Night market food? OMG. Fried quail eggs, roasted octopus balls, and fried squid. More on the blog before long (or so I hope). Best day of the trip yet, and my legs are screaming bc of all that riding and walking ...
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This was Day 5 of my bike ride around Taiwan, and finally it was a sunny day. My route took me from the center of Tainan out to the coast, along fish and shrimp farms with their agitators that provide oxygen to the ponds. In the first three miles I saw three temples and five Seven Elevens--ratio is similar to Lubbock's churches and convenience stores. I rode the shore bike trail for about seven miles before turning inland again, riding straight through the heart of Tainan's fishing harbor. Lots of cityscape after that with occasional surprise views of cool stuff. Happened to come across a ginormous statue and temple in 新生路 before crossing the two-mile long bridge that leads into Donggang. Gorging myself on the freshest seafood ever. May it stay sunny!
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Day 6 of my own little Tour de Taiwan is in the books now. In some ways this may have been the most interesting day yet, at least from a landscape perspective. The flat west coast, much of it rather arid and used for agricultural plots when not built up into cities or used for industrial purposes, had become a bit more lush since yesterday. Leaving Donggang this morning, on the south-west coast, I initially rode through a vast area of aqua farms. I had seen aerated ponds before but not to this extent. For days I had been wondering about occasional PVC pipes leading from the ocean across the seawalls, but it didn't click until today: That's how fresh sea water is piped into the ponds. Duh!
I was lucky to see workers harvest the crop, so to speak. Now I know where our tilapia comes from (unless it comes from China). Interesting, interesting, yet proper fishing villages do exist as well, of course, and I passed through several.
Soon hills and mountains started to rise up to my left, with beautiful ocean vistas on the right. The vegetation became subtropical, green, and dense. The road hugged the coastline mile after mile, and I finally arrived in the rather touristy Kenting, almost at the very southern tip of this immense island. From tomorrow I'll be heading north, a mountain range away from the western plains and the never-ending cities. So far I've ridden a bit more than 340 miles (see the green route on the map), and I'm looking forward to the next nine days.
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Time for a quick re-cap of Day 7 of my Tour de Taiwan, especially since my almost-finished blog update miraculously vanished into thin air last night and I'll have to go back to serious writing in a minute. The morning started in Kenting, where I had a nice hotel room right above a Seven Eleven. It doesn't get better than that! See, 7-11s are THE place to go for food, snacks, drinks, a clean bathroom, air conditioning, ATMs, friendly clerks, and anything that a cyclotourist could ever need. Did I mention beer?
Kenting is at the southern end of Taiwan, and just a few miles out of town I visited the southernmost point of the island. From here it's all north again! I followed tiny Highway 29, a total gem of a road that hugs the Pacific and provides simply stupendous vistas. The pavement is smooth as butter, as is the case for almost all roads that I have ridden, and there was almost no traffic at all. Cycling heaven!
After about 15 miles the fun was over and I had to turn inland to make it over the hills that divide the southern portion of the island from the north. It wasn't much, it seems in retrospect, only a ride up to 1,500 feet, but man was it tough. It's subtropical down here, and I might have ridden in southern Mexico or Costa Rica. I had spectacular views of the Pacific far below, and I even saw a monkey off to my right, cheering me on.
After miles and miles of climbing I finally topped out and was rewarded with a seven-mile run back down to the coast. The final six miles into Dawu were flat, and I found my Airbnb-like "homestay" without any major issues. After 62 hard but rewarding miles that shower felt heavenly, even if the handheld fixture was cleverly tied into the sink's spigot and there was nothing like a conventional shower!
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Day 8 of my cicumvelocitation of Taiwan was supposed to be easy, but thanks to unrelenting headwinds those almost 40 miles were much tougher than expected. The route to Taitung followed the coastline, on a beautifully paved, modern, wide road with little traffic and great vistas. The sun didn't poke out much, otherwise I would have taken even more pics.
The construction project of the new high-speed rail right next to the road is impressive. The old rail line is certainly not as streamlined.
Close to Taitung I came across a community celebration and had to pose for obligatory pics. From the stage I was acknowledged with "Hello Mister! How are you? Nice to meet you." Such friendly people.
I finally saw how Taiwanese sweet apples are grown and got to eat a ripe one. The evening brought more temple and night market action. Oh, so much fun!!!!
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It's pouring out there, at the end of Day 9. I left Taitung around 8:30, knowing full well that with 25 mph headwinds this was going to be ugly. And it was. But so many incredible views.
There was some real drama in the clouds. Now it is raining and I'm glad to have shelter.
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Day 10 of the Tour de Taiwan brought more headwinds,and there's no change to that in the forecast. It makes almost 60 miles in hilly terrain tough. Fortunately the downpour of the previous night ended in the early morning hours, and I even enjoyed a few hours of brilliant sunshine.
I wasn't really too sorry to leave my Airbnb bungalow in Changbin--for $30 I had expected a better place, especially after having been spoiled by $20 to $30 hotels. Breakfast consisted of some yummy roadside buns. Traffic was super light, and the road was its usual smooth self. This stretch of the coastal highway featured lots of small parks and lookout points, most of them adorned with impressive modern stone artwork. At some point I crossed the Tropic of Cancer and took a pic while cycling by.
Today I encountered my first tunnels, all well lit so that I didn't even bother to pull out the lights. Tunnel lengths varied from maybe a quarter mile to almost a mile. I climbed more than 3,000 feet today, but at least most of the climbing was kinda sheltered from the wind. I just put my head down and think of how pretty it is out here.
Ocean vistas were once again astounding. You need to ride this highway to believe it. If I could only switch off the wind and go at 13 mph instead of 9.5.... 😅 So, when I got to Hualien I was properly knackered. Nice, clean, modern hotel room! Gotta appreciate some of those creature comforts as my body is screaming. 😂😂😂😂
This was the 11th stage of my Tour de Taiwan, and frankly, I had been a bit worried since this truly looked like the Queen Stage. But, as it turned out, I made it just fine and lucked out in that there was some sun to accentuate the spectacular scenery.
Today may have been one of the most gratifying days of riding for me, ever. Look at the pics. Ride inches away from a two-foot high guardrail with a 600 foot drop on the other side while renegade dump trucks barrel by a few inches to your left. In some ways the tunnels felt safer... Not really.
I had anticipated much harder climbing, but the grades were moderate to steep but never insane. I had read reports of people bailing and taking the train to avoid the Suhua highway, but I'm glad I didn't give in to that temptation.
I ended up with 50 miles for the day, which included some riding around town in Nan'ao to find my host for the night. Three more days left. I don't think we're going to top this one.
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So here we go: Day 12 of my ride around the island. First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! Since I'm ahead by a day owing to how the international dateline falls, it was turkey day for me already. No worries, dinner was "Kimchi Seafood Organization." Outstanding! Never mind the Google translation.
It was a hard day, both physically and mentally. After leaving Nan'ao it was up, up, up--all of that in hard rain. Traffic was heavy, too, but predictable as there were some construction zones that helped hold up some of the traffic for certain intervals.
I had the right equipment in regard to riding gear, but after the last downhill my hands were still seizing up from laying on the brakes for four miles. Seriously, this wasn't much fun, but I stayed upright.
Hot food and tea in a Seven Eleven in Suao got me back to life.
The final 22 miles to Toucheng were straight into a 25 mph wind. Crawling along at 9 mph... It was all rather dreary because of rain, clouds, nothing special--had it not been for what I called "temple row." Major temples, one a mile. Somehow I found my hotel and was glad to meet my sit-in bathtub.
Hard day, but I got to see gods, pigs, and the cooperation between a 7-1 and Crayons. Happy Thanksgiving!
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It was Day 13 of my journey around Taiwan, and after a kinda sucky yesterday it turned out to be a fabulous today! When I got up it was dry, and the first few miles were wind free. Hurray! My route along the north-east coast took me through numerous small fishing harbors, all scenic and authentic. Still, it's a bit scary to see all those tons and tons of plastic fishing nets. I keep seeing lost ones along the shore. Actually, the amount of floatsam plastic that's on the beaches and among the rocks is mind-blowing.
My approximately 50 miles were mostly flat, with just a few gentle rollers. Nothing like yesterday. The two biggest climbs were to the Longdong scenic area and the Golden Waterfall where water is yellow-colored from ore contamination. It was getting late in the day and the colors were not as spectacular as they'd be with bright sunshine.
I rolled into Keelung, a large port city, fairly late. It is dark at five o'clock, and I was pushing 4:30. Finding my hotel in a tiny back alley was a bit tricky, but it all worked out. I mean, this alley in the middle of town wasn't even marked on Locus!
Dinner was at the Keeling Night Market, a culinary highlight of this trip. Oyster omelette, abalone, dumplings, shrimp soup, grilled oysters--you name it. I gorged myself. Gonna ride it off on my penultimate day tomorrow! NOT!!!!
A fortnight on the road--Day 14 and getting close to the end. All night it had rained in Keelung, but when I left the hotel things started to clear up for a while. (Later it started to rain again for a while.) Breakfast was this delicious oyster/fungus soup on the side of the road.
My route took me along the north coast of the island, and since there was no marker of the exact spot I used Locus to tell me when I was at the very northernmost point of Taiwan. Hard swells, a fisherman in thigh-high water, and a lovely tailwind.
Once back on the more westward-facing side the character of the coast dramatically changed. Civilization became evident, and people were out en masse in New Taipei City. The last climb from sea level to 800 feet was a beast--steepest pitch of the entire trip. Free luxury room thanks to Marriott points and a really exceptional dinner at brewpub Dalmatian with my new friend Mike Everett. Afterward I got to meet Morgan Britton Everett and their cool kids. Fabulous evening--thanks guys!
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Today I concluded my 15- day journey around the island of Formosa, as the Portuguese called Taiwan. Indeed, it is a beautiful island (think "hermosa"). All in all I rode something like 787 miles in these past two weeks and truly got to experience a country in a way that you simply can't emulate when driving a car. The smells, the sounds, the sights--that'll stay with me for quite a while. I lucked out in that I didn't have an accident, experienced not a single mechanical issue (not even a flat), found all my hotels and never got lost, had mostly favorable weather, and got to eat more weird shit than I have in a long time. Yeah, that tofu on the stick was actually pig blood cake.
The last day from New Taipei City back to Taoyuan provided one last smorgasbord of the various faces of Taiwan. My bike is packed and I have one more free day here to find more scrumptious street food and then on Tuesday (Taiwan time) I'm flying home via Tokyo. Don't expect another update until the JAL lounge and the famous beer machine!
Thanks for following me on on this journey. It's been a privilege to share, and Iet you know when I have finished my second Taiwan blog update..
Jürgen
