Cycling in Taiwan

This page contains some general information and links about cycling in Taiwan. Please also see Cycling in Taiwan at Taiwanderful and the posts in the cycling category at David on Formosa.

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More photos in Taiwan Cycling

Taipei International Cycle Show

The dates for Taipei Cycle 2014 are from March 5 to 8 at the TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall and TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 (near Taipei 101).

Taichung Bike Week

Taichung Bike Week is held annually in November. The dates for 2013 are 5 to 8 November.

Tour de Taiwan

The Tour de Taiwan is held annually in March and usually coincides with Taipei Cycle. More details on the Tour de Taiwan website.

Cyclists on Ren'ai Road during Car Free Day in Taipei 2006.

Critical Mass

Bike Smiling (微笑單車上路) is Taipei's version of Critical Mass. It was held regularly from 2007 to 2009. The Bike Smiling blog is mostly written in Chinese but it contains a good archive of reports about past rides and many issues related to cycling and sustainable transport in Taipei and Taiwan.

Bike Smiling 微笑單車上路 blog - Critical Mass for Taipei and Kaohsiung
Bike Smiling - discussion at Google Groups (Chinese language)
Bike Smiling - photoset at flickr

More recently some Critical Mass rides were held around Taiwan on 20 April 2013. For more information see the @criticalmasstw Twitter account.

Bike hire

There are numerous options for hiring bikes in Taiwan. These range from cheap hourly hire to fully equipped touring bikes for multi-day tours. Jeff's Taiwan has information about Giant's rental program for touring bikes. I have used this service and it is excellent although it requires some advance planning.

Public bike sharing system in Taipei.

Public bike sharing system in Kaohsiung.

Taipei and Kaohsiung both have public bike share systems. The system in Taipei is known as Youbike (or U-Bike) and in Kaohsiung it's known as C-Bike. See the links below for more information.

Bikes on trains

Taiwan in Cycles has compiled detailed information in English about taking bikes on trains.

Cyclists approaching the Presidential Office on "Bike Day" in 2008.

Interesting articles about Taiwan cycling

Start a new cycle of commuting and it's all downhill from there - China Post editorial, 29 October 2012
Action Speaks Louder Than Words: Kaohsiung's Cycling To Success Away From The Spotlight - Taiwan in Cycles on why Kaohsiung is the number one cycling city in Taiwan
A figure of eight loop around Taiwan - bicycle tour diary
Taipei Cycle 2013: A Post Mortem Post - Taiwan in Cycles with photos and commentary on Taipei Cycle
Taiwan: A Cycling Paradise - great article by Michael Turton at the Huffington Post
Head for the hills - Taipei Times article about cycling on Yangmingshan
Kaohsiung embraces cycling - by Mark Caltonhill in Taiwan Today
Brake away bikes - Taipei Times article about the fixed-gear bicycle fashion trend
Fashionable and Famously Forgettable Fixies For Formosa - Taiwan in Cycles responds to the Taipei Times fixed-gear article
Treatise On Superfluous Things: Giant "Woos" Women - Taiwan in Cycles looks at the marketing of bikes as a gender issue
Taiwan's Unofficial KMT Mouthpiece Touts Cycling - Taiwan in Cycles on how cycling is used to construct "Chinese culture" in Taiwan
Tour de Formosa Behind the Scenes - Bikedan in Asia on the race for deaf cyclists

Taiwan cycling photos

Taiwan Cycling - group at flickr
Bikes and cycling - David's Formosa Photo Gallery
David's cycling collection at flickr