This ride goes through the back country of Taipei County through Pinglin (坪林) and out to Fulong (福隆). A short second day doubles back to Shuangsi (雙溪) and then down to Dasi 大溪 on the wonderful Shuangtai access road. See Robert's posts on hiking in this area.
From Taipei, ride out to the Taipei Zoo. My preferred route is to ride up to Fudekeng from Liuzhangli. You can also take Wolong St. (臥龍街) out to Jungong Rd. (軍功路) and left on Muzha Rd. Section 5 (木柵路).
Either way, you will want a look at this map when you reach Wanfu Bridge (萬福橋). After crossing the bridge, turn left onto Xinguang Rd (新光) Section 2. There is a little blue arrow on the map that gives the correct direction. Cross under the freeway, staying on Xinguang Rd. until it loops back onto the much larger Wenshan Rd. (文山). Here is a map of this confusing area. Stay on Wenshan Rd. all the way until it crosses underneath Freeway No. 5 and joins Taipei County Route 106. The advantage of this route is that you quickly bypass the horrors of traffic-choked Shenkeng on the other side of the Jingmei River.
On 106, you will quickly come to a junction with a couple of convenience stores, food stands, and, in weekends, a crowd of motorcyclists and bicyclists. Most people will be turning left and heading east to Pingsi. You want to go south on 106B (106乙) toward Shiding (石碇). Here is a map of the junction area. At the junction in Shiding, keep going straight on 106B. Here 106B is locally the Fengtian Rd (豐田道路). Actually you can also go right at this junction and end up on the Beiyi Highway (Highway 9) about 10 km from Pinglin.
I still prefer 106B, despite the fact that this once beautifully isolated road ( early 1990s) has been widened beyond recognition and now winds below the freeway. On the map of the area, it appear that 106B disappears, but if you zoom in you will see that it just goes under the freeway. The climb on 106B goes up to 600 meters on a forgiving grade in this direction. The downhill section into Pinglin is almost completely untouched by the freeway building in the area and the really nice parts of this ride begin here.
Just before Pinglin, turn left and go under the freeway exiting on a small road known locally as Shengsheng Road (上昇). Stay on this road and it turns into the Pingshuang Rd. (坪雙). This dreamy little one-laner is devoid of traffic. Stay to the right at the big Y junction and watch for signs for Shuangsi (雙溪). Map.
After about 15km of riding these hills at around 400 meters, you will descend into the Shuangsi valley and join Highway 2C (2丙). Take this through the impoverished town of Shuangsi all the way out to the coast and enjoy a few well-deserved beers on the beach.
Day 2
Ride back to Shuangsi on Highway 2C. Just before Daping Road (大平) crosses the river, turn left onto the Shuangtai Access Road (雙泰產業道路). Here's a map of the turnoff. If you get to the high school, you have gone too far. There is a fairly difficult climb up to nearly 500 meters, followed by a fairly flat section through a beautiful, isolated valley and then a sharp descent down into the surfer town of Dasi. From Dasi, you have a boring, flat ride on the coast onto Highway 2. In Toucheng, stay to the right and get on Highway 9, which will take you straight into downtown Yilan where you can catch the train back to Taipei and ship your bike back. A stop off in Jiaosi for a soak in the hot springs might be in order to break the dull riding after Dasi. Hint: soon after getting on Highway 9, take a right on Deyang Rd. (德陽) in Jiaosi just after the train station (map). This give access to some backroads that make for nicer riding. Much of the Yilan plain is a pit.
Showing posts with label Yilan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yilan. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Great Taiwan Bike Rides VI: The Northern Cross
Taipei-Sanxia-Baling-Yilan
We did this ride of medium difficulty at a leisurely pace by leaving Taipei on Friday evening. If you are an experienced rider in reasonable shape, you can do this ride in two days if you leave Taipei by 10am. Leave earlier in the summer to beat the heat.
We started off from Taipei at about 6pm on a gorgeous early May evening. We crossed the Zhongzheng Bridge 中正橋 over to the Taipei County side and rode on the bike paths out to Tucheng 土城 along the Xindian and Dahan 大漢 Rivers.
From Tucheng, there is a nasty 5 km or so along Highway 3. I'd recommend spending the night in Sanxia if you are on a budget. We headed up 7B (7乙 aka 北橫公路) over to Chajiao 插角 on the opposite side of the Dabao River 大豹溪, but the few B&Bs up there are quite expensive (c. NT$2,000/night) although nice. We stayed at Green Light about 2km up the road from the school and big hotel.
The next morning we were on the road by 7am. After getting back on Highway 7, we had breakfast in Sanmin 三民. Sanxia to Sanmin doesn't have too much traffic, but Sanmin to Fusing has a bit more than one would like. This section can be a real mess with traffic heading back to Taoyuan on Sunday afternoons. Sanmin to Fusing is a long steady climb with a 2km downhill just before Sanmin.
If you are coming straight from Taipei, one pleasant lunch option just before Fusing is the Swiss Village --nice views and (not bad) Taiwanese-style western food.
The traffic thins out on the long downhill to the Luofu Bridge 羅浮橋. You begin the real ride after Luofu. We stopped mid-morning for some overpriced coffee in the garden at Star of the Northern Cross (北橫之星 Beiheng zhi xing). A bit later we lunched on down home Atayal food at a pleasant semi-outdoor roadside cafe in Gaopo 高波. Good food, friendly people. We narrowly averted being drawn into what undoubtedly would have turned into an afternoon-long drinking session with an extended family visiting relatives in the village. This place is right on corner as you cross the river that plunges down the mountain and through the village.
After resting for a few hours in the afternoon heat, we slowly cycled our way up the vast river canyon that forms the headwaters of Fusing Reservoir. There is a coffee truck about 10km out of Baling at Ronghua 榮華 with excellent coffees. You may want to ask them not to add sugar. Great views of the dam below.
As usual, we stayed at the Beiheng Hot Spring Hotel (北橫溫泉山莊), which is about NT$1,500 for a double. We had originally planned to cycle up to the Galahe (嘎拉賀) hot springs about 10km up the road in Xinxing (新興) village. This is an undeveloped hot spring in a beautiful gorge, but it involves about a 500 meter climb up from Baling and a steep hike down into the gorge so we passed this time.
The next morning we cycled 20 glorious kilometers between Baling and Mingchi 明池. This is one of the prettiest sections of road you will see in Taiwan. The climb up to Siling 四陵 takes you up about 600 meters from Baling over 10 km or so. It's a bit of a slog but so beautiful you may not notice. There is another undeveloped hot spring in the river below Siling.
If you can make it to Mingchi by 9:30am, you can score a buffet breakfast in the cafe until 9:30am for NT$150 including brewed coffee. Make sure you bring enough food and water for the 20km between Baling and Mingchi. There is nothing but glorious nature on this section of the road.
There is a gentle climb of 2 or 3 km after Mingchi followed by a long downhill into Cilan 棲蘭 where you join the Yilan branch of the Central Cross Highway. It's about 25 km mostly downhill and flat after a few riverside rolling hills into Luodong 羅東. We put the bikes on the train at Luodong and caught the train back to the city.
Taipei-Sanxia-Baling-Yilan
We did this ride of medium difficulty at a leisurely pace by leaving Taipei on Friday evening. If you are an experienced rider in reasonable shape, you can do this ride in two days if you leave Taipei by 10am. Leave earlier in the summer to beat the heat.
We started off from Taipei at about 6pm on a gorgeous early May evening. We crossed the Zhongzheng Bridge 中正橋 over to the Taipei County side and rode on the bike paths out to Tucheng 土城 along the Xindian and Dahan 大漢 Rivers.
From Tucheng, there is a nasty 5 km or so along Highway 3. I'd recommend spending the night in Sanxia if you are on a budget. We headed up 7B (7乙 aka 北橫公路) over to Chajiao 插角 on the opposite side of the Dabao River 大豹溪, but the few B&Bs up there are quite expensive (c. NT$2,000/night) although nice. We stayed at Green Light about 2km up the road from the school and big hotel.
The next morning we were on the road by 7am. After getting back on Highway 7, we had breakfast in Sanmin 三民. Sanxia to Sanmin doesn't have too much traffic, but Sanmin to Fusing has a bit more than one would like. This section can be a real mess with traffic heading back to Taoyuan on Sunday afternoons. Sanmin to Fusing is a long steady climb with a 2km downhill just before Sanmin.
If you are coming straight from Taipei, one pleasant lunch option just before Fusing is the Swiss Village --nice views and (not bad) Taiwanese-style western food.
The traffic thins out on the long downhill to the Luofu Bridge 羅浮橋. You begin the real ride after Luofu. We stopped mid-morning for some overpriced coffee in the garden at Star of the Northern Cross (北橫之星 Beiheng zhi xing). A bit later we lunched on down home Atayal food at a pleasant semi-outdoor roadside cafe in Gaopo 高波. Good food, friendly people. We narrowly averted being drawn into what undoubtedly would have turned into an afternoon-long drinking session with an extended family visiting relatives in the village. This place is right on corner as you cross the river that plunges down the mountain and through the village.
After resting for a few hours in the afternoon heat, we slowly cycled our way up the vast river canyon that forms the headwaters of Fusing Reservoir. There is a coffee truck about 10km out of Baling at Ronghua 榮華 with excellent coffees. You may want to ask them not to add sugar. Great views of the dam below.
As usual, we stayed at the Beiheng Hot Spring Hotel (北橫溫泉山莊), which is about NT$1,500 for a double. We had originally planned to cycle up to the Galahe (嘎拉賀) hot springs about 10km up the road in Xinxing (新興) village. This is an undeveloped hot spring in a beautiful gorge, but it involves about a 500 meter climb up from Baling and a steep hike down into the gorge so we passed this time.
Galahe (嘎拉賀) hot springs
The next morning we cycled 20 glorious kilometers between Baling and Mingchi 明池. This is one of the prettiest sections of road you will see in Taiwan. The climb up to Siling 四陵 takes you up about 600 meters from Baling over 10 km or so. It's a bit of a slog but so beautiful you may not notice. There is another undeveloped hot spring in the river below Siling.
If you can make it to Mingchi by 9:30am, you can score a buffet breakfast in the cafe until 9:30am for NT$150 including brewed coffee. Make sure you bring enough food and water for the 20km between Baling and Mingchi. There is nothing but glorious nature on this section of the road.
There is a gentle climb of 2 or 3 km after Mingchi followed by a long downhill into Cilan 棲蘭 where you join the Yilan branch of the Central Cross Highway. It's about 25 km mostly downhill and flat after a few riverside rolling hills into Luodong 羅東. We put the bikes on the train at Luodong and caught the train back to the city.
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