Haulien Logistics

When reading about Taiwan, the East Coast always came up as the most scenic. With the country known for cycling, doing a three day cycling trip on the east coast seemed like the perfect way to explore it. Giant Bicycles, a Taiwanese company, rents out bikes and allows for pick up and drop off in different cities. We decided to do an approximately 180km trip between the cities of Haulien and Taitung, heading south.

While the online reservations we made a couple of months ago were not easy (involving Google translate, whatsapp and staying up til 2am), picking up the bikes in Haulien could not have been easier. After dropping off our rental car we used for Taroko, we showed up at the store at the end of the day, as it wasn’t open the following day, to get our road bikes equipped with panniers, lights, kickstands and locks. The only components they didn’t include were helmets and a cellphone holder which we got at a cheap department store down the road. We gave them our bags which would be taken to the Giant store in Taitung for us and parked our bikes in the hotel lobby for the night.

Day 1: Haulien to Rusui

With a 75km ride for the first day and daylight until 6pm, we were on the road by 7:30am. With a test ride the previous day through the city to the seaside bike path on the single gear free bikes the hotel gave us, we were feeling more confident getting out of the city. I had planned our route ahead of time, using a combination of street view, online maps and blogs, but had no real idea of what the infrastructure would look like on the ground. Once we were out of the city though we quickly found ourselves on bike paths weaving through countryside, with the occasional motorbiker and resident waving hello to us as we rode past. We also soon came to realize the ubiquity of cycling rest stops, most with washrooms, benches and water refill, all for free. Incredible.

Our first major stop was Liyu Lake, a scenic spot that must be packed in the summer but now had just a few people walking and biking around the car-free road that circulated the lake. This route took us more towards the mountains and away from the coast. With still no sun in sight, we stopped for coffee a few times and a hot lunch. With appealing country roads beside us, we tried used google maps for an alternative route to our next destination, using Cheryl’s phone as mine was depleting battery quickly. That decision turned out to be a bust, resulting in turning around due to dead ends from roads no longer and a slight crash when Cheryl’s phone fell out of the phone holder and I tried to save it to no avail. A few scratches on me and the bike, we headed back to the safe, planned route.

With Marieke now also getting sick, we pedaled into Rusui right at check in time and headed for the attached hot springs. It was one of the better facilities we had seen, with water massage chairs, massaging showers, and four different pool temperatures. Perfect after a long day of cycling. 

Done with the bikes, we walked to 7-11 for a dinner of instant noodles and found beer on tap! We already had beer in the room waiting for us (our first beers of the trip as we had been going to bed so early), so we passed this time, but added it to our list to find it again.

Marieke’s fever broke in the night and we set off around 8:30am after a big breakfast at the hotel. My route planning told us we only had about 65km today (the first day ended up being closer to 80km), but with a lot more hills as we had to get over the mountains and back to the coast. 

Day Two: Rusui to Chenggong

After our first decent hill, we stopped at the Tropic of Cancer marker for the requisite photo. We then cycled into the town of Yuli where I stopped at the Giant store as my wheel felt a bit misaligned after my crash. 15 minutes and $10 later, i was good to go and we reconvened at the 7-11 for another coffee and snacks. We then headed towards the mountain on an old railway track turned cycle track which was glorious, until it also became a dead end due to construction and we had to backtrack to the main road and share it with vehicles. Luckily, most people gave lots of space and soon we were winding our way very slowly up the mountain road. 

My route planning advised us to cut out a couple of km on a side road, but after our Google Maps misadventures, and some gesturing by a Taiwanese man nearby, we decided not to risk it, adding several kms to our already long day. Several rests later at 14% grade, we finally reached the top of the mountain where there was definitely no shortcut we could have taken and we entered a nearly 3km long tunnel. Out the other side, we found glorious views, steep declines awaiting, and a food truck selling local sausages. 

The next few kms only required breaks due to our hands being sore from braking so much and stopping for photos of the view. Reaching the coast, the road was freshly paved, wide bike/scooter lanes and rolling hills. We flew along. With our later start and harder day, we grabbed some calamari, snacks and breakfast food and pulled into our campsite an hour before dark. It was right on the coast with every amenity you could want, including hot showers, a charging point for Marieke’s e bike and a picnic table with a stunning view.

Day Three: Chenggong to Taitung

In and out of bed early, we awoke to the first sign of sun in days, last felt in Jiufen, rising right in front of us. Before leaving, I headed down to walk the black sand beach and felt the water. We were definitely heading south and it was warming up.  

We swapped pants for shorts and jackets for sunglasses and sunscreen as we headed out for an easier day around 9am. We stopped at numerous rest areas and attractions along the way, including the appropriately named “Water Running Upward” which featured a small canal that appeared to be moving, well, upward. We also added a few km on by trying to find a featured rock island, which we eventually got to see after we passed it. But it was fun exploring the coast, watching the surfers and the seaside towns in off-season.

With a much easier ride than the previous two days and everyone moderately healthy, we explored the urban forest park of Taitung for more easy cycling before heading back to the Giant store to drop off our bikes and grab our bags. We told them about our minor accident resulting in a handle being broken off and a crack on the e bike battery when removing it the first night to charge, but they didn’t seem bothered and we hopped in a taxi to our hotel for the night. We gratefully walked to dinner after what turned out to be a 226 km epic bike trip and were asleep by 8:30pm.