I made two small trips exploring the near area around Taipei. Both trips are covered here.

Sanchong District and Lazhou (1/2)

2024-05-14

Start: 15:45 / Arrival: 18:30
Distance: 36km / Gained height 165 hm

Due to the wonderful Reona Tap concert yesterday at Senko Ishha I started quite late.

So this was just a quick round circling around Sanchong District and Lazhou. I had already done this on my last trip, so this was rather a quick revisit. Also again: excellent cycling infrastructure and so close to my door. Nothing spectacular going on, but was a pleasant ride anyway.

At the end I also saw at Dadaocheng Wharf some rescue action, as someone had fallen into Tamsui River. Was quite impressed on how professionally the rescue team worked.

 

Xindian River (2/2)

2024-05-15

Start: 14:15 / Arrival: 18:30
Distance: 47km / Gained height 233 hm

Aaaand another trip on the fine surrounding bicycle infrastructure. It’s so convenient to leave the Taipei traffic so quickly behind one. As usual, smooth surfaces, top notch touristic infrastructure. Went to the Bitan Tourist Attraction which is basically pedal boats on a wider area of the river with some steep walls of stone. Had some headwinds and was a little bit exhausted from the heat and the last few days (hiking at the weekend to the temple with all those stairs did it for me cyclists don’t like climbing stairs) – so I skipped visiting the Taipei Zoo on the way back.

Rewarded myself with a nice soup in the end.

Oh, and just noticed: sportive cycling is super popular here with young people. So many youngsters riding road bikes. Completely different than in Germany.