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This is the stage 3 of our Cycling Around Taiwan in Multiple Stages. We were to cover Taitung, Hualien and Yilan.
Designing the Trip
Here are some considerations when I was planning this part.
From Taitung to Hualien, there are two routes to choose from, the rift valley and the coastal route which sandwich the Coastal Mountain Range. The rift valley is more populous with vast paddy rice fields and many interesting places to visit. Supplies and places to stay over are easier to find. But the coastal route offers stupendous views of the Pacific Ocean which shouldn’t be missed. In a perfect world, I would plan the route to cover both the rift valley and the coast by starting from Taitung heading north to Ruisui in the rift valley and then switch to the coast using the Ruigang Industry Road (花 64 or HL64). By doing so, you will get the best part of the rift valley and the coastal route. The most famous part of the rift valley is found on the Southern half of the rift valley and the best views of the Pacific Ocean are found on the northern part. And the direction is important, too. By travelling northwards, you find yourself closest to the sea because we drive on the right side of the road. Most interesting stops are on this side making it safer to visit the places without having to cross the road.
Then after Hualien City, there is the Taraoko Gorge, the starting point of the Central Cross-Island Highway transversing the Central Mountain Range which brings you to the altitude of 3,275 metre at the Wuling Pass, the route for Taiwan Kom Challenge. I would plan a short detour climbing to Tian Xiang Recreational Area (Altitude 485m) to get a taste of the challenge before heading north to tackle the tricky Suhua Highway which brings you to Yilan.
The Suhua Highway
Why is the Suhua Highway so tricky? It’s a topic not to be taken lightly whether to cycle on this section or not. Not only does the route have a total ascent of 1,451m in 78km from Xincheng to Su’ao, many parts of the highway is built right next to a cliff with the width merely enough for two vehicles to pass. High steep slopes are found on your left to the peak of the mountain. Frequent earthquakes loosen the rocks on the slopes making them ready to fall onto the road. There could be landslides to block the whole road after heavy rains or typhoons. Besides, there are around 9 tunnels to cycle through which means poor air condition and visibility inside. And noises produced by the motorised vehicles are trapped inside to blast your eardrums non-stop.
Nonetheless, most people who have done it would say that it is worth the risk. I myself have not done it yet but I had goosebumps just by looking at the Street View on GoogleMaps when researching for this itinerary. And there has been a good development. The traffic condition has improved a lot after the Suhua Highway Improvement Project is completed in 2020. New wider segments are built to straighten the highway. Travelling time is reduced. Bikes are not allowed on these new segments but those heavy vehicles and cars would then be drawn to the new route (Provincial Highway 9), making the old one (Provincial Highway 9丁 or 9D) less busy, more enjoyable to cycle. In fact, big trucks are not allowed on the old route. Only trucks carrying dangerous goods such as gas and flammable liquids can use the old route and are forbidden during these two periods: 7:00 – 9:00 and 16:00 – 19:00. But please note that there are still segments where the old Suhua Highway and the new one overlaps.
So, In favourable weather conditions, I would do it when I cycle around the island. If you want to skip it, you can take a train from Xincheng Station to Suaoxin Station.
Heading north on the old Suhua Highway, after climbing the 5th peak of Suhua Highway, we would then descend to the plain of Yilan which is an alluvial fan formed by the Lanyang River. There are lots of hot spring hotels in Jiaoxi. It would be nice to plan a longer stay to chill out there by having a day with less distance to cover. Most people would then head north east and climb two peaks on the Beiyi Highway (北宜公路 Also a segment of Provincial Highway No. 9) to get back to Xindian in Taipei to finish the whole trip. But the coasts on the north and north east are too good to be skipped. I would just head north to Fulong and stick to the coasts.
Isn’t it a nice plan? But this is exactly what we did not do. This is only good for those who do it from May to September when the wind is not coming from the north. Or for those who don’t mind cycling against the wind.
We did this stage in January when there was the prevailing wind coming from the north. We needed to heah south to make the wind work for us. We started from Fulong, the north east tip of the island, and spent the first day covering Yilan. Then, we skipped the Suhua highway by taking the train to Hualien from Suaoxin Station. Since we were heading south, there were not many benefits of cycling on the coast route. We stayed in the rift valley the whole time from Hualien to Taitung. Here are the details of the itinerary
Day 1 Fulong to Xincheng Taroko, Hualien (54km, Ascent 143m, Descent 128m with a train ride from Suaoxin to Hualien)
To get to Fulong from Taipei, we took a 1.5 hour early train (No. 4148), which allows whole bikes on board. Two of my friends boarded from Wanhua station first. On that weekday morning, it was so packed that it required some courage to force into the train with such big pieces of luggages. Then it got much better on the next station of Taipei Main Station where more passengers would get off. When it’s my turn to board at Songshan station, we have even much more space. There are 900,000 commuters to Taipei each day. When the train is leaving the city, it gets empty. It may be a good idea to use Songshan Station or Nangan Station for trains heading north. Please refer to this post for more info about taking bikes on public transportation in Taiwan.
Everything went perfectly well except the rain. Not pouring down but enough to wet everything and flood all the potholes. We decided to complete the trip as soon as possible. I tried to lead the group to some dedicated bikeways but they seemed muddy. It’s better sticking to the main road. Water was sloshing in my friend’s shoes (I wore slippers). Each time we stopped for a break, they had to take off their shoes and shocks and pour the water. They have waterproof jackets but once water got hold of the internal layers sticking outside on the sleeves or waist, it seeped inside and drenched everything. All the clothes in the bags were drenched too. A disposable raincoat sold in the convenience stores would solve the problem, though it is thin and torn easily.
We made it to the Suaoxin Station early. There weren’t any shops inside the station. Neither there were any shops around the area except for a 7-Eleven and several food stalls we missed 1 km away. We swapped the tickets for an earlier train and got back to the 7-eleven for lunch.
This train ride was nice. We had the whole car to ourselves. We did not stay in Xincheng because we did not plan to have a detour to climb to Tianxiang and the hotels around Xincheng Taroko Station are a little pricier. I planned our stay further south, the Beipu Station. My friend realised their clothes in the bags were drenched too after checking into the B&B and getting ready for showers. Those bags claim to be water resistant or waterproof are destined to leak after a couple uses. So, I always pack my clothes in zip lock bags. I don’t mean to be gleeful but just to let my readers know the differences. We then ended up spending the afternoon in a coin operated laundry to wash and tumble dry the clothes (and ahem… shoes).
Routes:
- Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/96915494
- Velodash: https://velodash.page.link/mj9d
- komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1023787614
NOTE: To use the routes, please install the App on your smartphone. The App will launch and load the route automatically after you tap the above links on your smartphone’s browser. For Garmin Connect, you can then use the APP to send the route to your garmin device. If your Garmin device is not purchased in Taiwan, you will also need make sure you have the Taiwan map on your device. Here is our blog post on this topic.
Day 2 Xincheng Taroko to Guangfu (72km Ascent 530m, Descent 435m)
We were sticking to the rift valley route instead of the coastal route in Hualien. But there are two routes in the rift valley to choose, the Provincial Highway No. 9 and the County Highway 193. The former one is wider, flatter but with more traffic. There are more supply stops. The latter one is smaller, some short climbs but quieter with less traffic. We voted unanimously to cycle on County Highway 193, which turned out to be a great choice. Once we left Hualien and turned into County Highway 193, we had the whole road to ourselves. It was so quiet and we could chat relaxly while cycling. It’s still raining on the 2nd day. The surface is totally wet but there were no other vehicles to splash muddy waters on us. The only inconvenience was that there were only some small grocery stores along the route. Not quite probable to get a decent meal and choices of snacks are very limited if you find one that’s open.
We reached the B&B late after lunch with empty stomachs but we needed to clean our bikes first. Lucky that the B&B has a big yard with a hose for us to rinse the dirt from our bikes. Then everyone rushed to their rooms for shower and I went for a quick lunch with another member who had the same priority as mine: food.
That evening, we managed to find a fancy restaurant serving really nice meals.
Routes:
- Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/97184229
- Velodash: https://velodash.page.link/7KEh
- komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1023790077
NOTE: To use the routes, please install the App on your smartphone. The App will launch and load the route automatically after you tap the above links on your smartphone’s browser. For Garmin Connect, you can then use the APP to send the route to your garmin device. If your Garmin device is not purchased in Taiwan, you will also need make sure you have the Taiwan map on your device. Here is our blog post on this topic.
Day 3 Guangfu to Fuli (65km Accent 424, Descent 310m)
Sun finally came out. We stayed on Provincial Highway No. 9, which is flat and wide, except there is a short climb of 150 metres to the Wuhe Terrace where you can find some tea shops and a Tropic of Cancer Marker. After descending from this terrace, there were two bikeways running parallel to our route. The first one, Fuyuen old railway bikeway 富源舊鐵路自行車道, started from the Fuyuan Station running southwards. It is converted from the old railways after a new one was built elevated. Then there was this Yufu bikeway (玉富自行車道) brought us from Yuli to Old Dongli Train Station, a place for chill out and taking pictures. Apart from the two bikeways, we cycled on Provincial Highway No. 9. It’s a wide flat road with a shoulder dedicated for scooters and bicycles. After leaving the 2nd bikeway, there is a farmer’s association outlet selling local products on the Provincial Highway No. 9. Sometimes you would find some sculptures made of the hays after the rice is harvested here. This was an easy day. We checked into the B&B early and drank some beer before sunset. Fuli is a very small town. There was only one restaurant with dine in option.
Routes:
- Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/112384670
- Velodash: https://velodash.page.link/wLbV
- komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1023792643
NOTE: To use the routes, please install the App on your smartphone. The App will launch and load the route automatically after you tap the above links on your smartphone’s browser. For Garmin Connect, you can then use the APP to send the route to your garmin device. If your Garmin device is not purchased in Taiwan, you will also need make sure you have the Taiwan map on your device. Here is our blog post on this topic.
Day 4 Fuli to Taitung (60km Ascent 324m, Descend 517m)
This is the last day of our trip. Only 60km left to cover. There was this famous Brown Boulevard laid ahead of us in Chishang where the finest rice of Taiwan is cultivated. The part of Provincial Highway No. 9 was equally great. After a little climb of around 100m, we descended to the Taitung Train Station to have our bikes shipped back to Taipei. We managed to find a SPA that lets us use their staff’s shower room if we spend some money for their services. It was so nice to get refreshed before boarding a plane there to get to Taipei.
Routes:
- Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/120621143
- Velodash: https://velodash.page.link/YYHj
- komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1023794602
NOTE: To use the routes, please install the App on your smartphone. The App will launch and load the route automatically after you tap the above links on your smartphone’s browser. For Garmin Connect, you can then use the APP to send the route to your garmin device. If your Garmin device is not purchased in Taiwan, you will also need make sure you have the Taiwan map on your device. Here is our blog post on this topic.
Conclusion:
After completing this stage, we’d still need to cycle from Taipei to Fulong to complete the loop of around the island but my friends were already claiming that they had accomplished the challenge because they had cycled to Fulong by themselves for some weekends. So, that’s it for the around Taiwan trips. But there is still more to explore on the island, especially in the mountains.