Around the Island - 環島 (huán dǎo) - Part 6

In the East Rift valley we mostly rode on small quiet roads. This is on the way to 5th night stop that we spent in a spa hotel equipped with natural hot sources.

Around the Island - 環島 (huán dǎo) - Part 5

Food in Taiwan is wonderful, tasty and healthy. There is only one thing I complain: hotel buffet breakfast. Seemingly there are many things to eat, but when I look closer, I hardly find anything I want to eat. There is no bread, different kinds of bread, no cereals, no cheese, not familiar meat products, no porridge. They have this:

Around the Island - 環島 (huán dǎo) - Part 4

This is the day many of us have been waiting with fear. How are we able to pedal over the mountains to the Pacific Ocean? The aborigine statues do not give much comfort.

Around the Island - 環島 (huán dǎo) - Part 3

In spring time, when the sun start to shine more, european young ladies run to the sunlight and compete who will get tanned more quickly. That is not the case in Taiwan. Ladies protect themselves against sunlight as much as they can. Sometimes the results is interesting like this. Still to this day I don't know what this person look like even though I was riding bicycle with her for one week. This photo is so cool.

Around the Island - 環島 (huán dǎo) - Part 2

The around the island ride continues southwards from the Tropic of Cancer. I understand that some people would criticize the trip organizer of bringing us to ride on the national highway number 1. It is a busy road and goes through cities and industrial areas that are not the best places for cyclists in Taiwan. It can be dangerous, too. But if we want to ride around the island in 9 days only, that is the only viable option. I know Taiwan has many more beautiful places, but these busy roads, big cities and industry is also part of Taiwan, that I am happy to see. One day I hope to do some more sophisticated bike rides. Maybe in the near future.

I am not falmiliar with all the culinary specialities, but I know this. This field, sort of, or pond, is the place for growing Water Caltrops or Chinese water chestnuts, Latin: Trapa Bicornis, Chinese: 菱角 ling jiao).The fruit looks like a head of a bull with two hors. Inside the hard cover there is a starchy seed, a bit like chestnut. Not very tasty. During the stone age a similar plant called vesipähkinä or Trapa Natans (latin) was used as food also in Finland. It was much warmer then. More info and photos of Trapa bicornis.

Around the Island - 環島 (huán dǎo) - Part 1

Some time ago I had the pleasure of participating in the "huan dao", around the island bicycle ride ion Taiwan. The idea was to ride around the island of Taiwan in nine days, that is almost 1000 kilometers! Unfortunately my flight back to Europe was scheduled too soon and I could do only 6 days, or 640 km, or roughly 3/4 of the around the island trip, counter clock wise.

The organizer of the trip was The Bike Family. With experience they led a group of cyclists from Taipei down to the south following the west coast national highway number one, then across the mountains to the Pacific Ocean side of the island and again up to the north through breathtaking scenery. I quit the group in Rui Shuei, just south of Hualien, and took train back to Taipei and to the airport.

The Bike Family provided almost everything, including good Merida bicycle, Garmin GPS, meals, hotels, snacks, instructions and even a torch for tunnels and vaselin, which is essential stuff for riding comfort. The only thing I needed to bring was clothes and helmet, and lots of motivation. Daily rides were looong, between 60 and 123 km. Break every two hours with salty and sweet snacks kept the blood sugar and minerals in the right level for extended effort.

The best thing was the team. Lovely people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China (PRC), Singapore and some other places was a thrilling experience. Some knowledge of Chinese is a big asset for the participants, but not absolutely necessary.



Start is in the down town Taipei.


The team from Da Lu, mainland China, is packed with enthusiasm. Little did they know how tired they would be...