First Taiwan Club Race of 2011

Well the season will soon begin. There is a club race (Taiwan's highest level of racing) on the north coast on March 12-13. March 12 is a 25 km ttt and March 13 is a 55 km road race. 55 km? Really? C'mon, make it more difficult! Anyway, enough complaining. Check out the details here.

Nantou Racing

There is a 75 km race coming up on January 22 in Nantou. Brrr.It starts in Puli and takes a long way back to Sun Moon Lake. There is an elite category and age group categories as well. The info is here.

Pingdong Race

There is a Christmas day race down in Pingdong. It is 113 km long and has a hill climb finish. I have heard good things about this race. I might check it out, as it would likely have nicer weather than the race the week before in Yilan. Here is the link with more info (in Chinese, as usual).

Yilan RR

There is a race coming up on 12/19 in Yilan. Apparently the road will be fixed by then (after it was destroyed by a typhoon-caused landslide). Here is a link to the info about it. The sign up deadline is November 30. It is about 77 km. I'm guessing that the weather will be pretty awful for this one-cold and rainy. Of course it will have been a while since there was any race, so it might be good to break up the routine.

Highway 3

This is a good out and back route. Here is the map. You make it about as hard as you want because there are a lot of smaller hills (3-5 mins). Once you get out past Freeway 72, there is very little traffic. There are some places to stop along the way for refreshments, but not a lot so stock up before you need to.

Where To Ride Your Road Bike #2

There is a famous hill climb on route 136. This is a map of the ride.

It starts out as a gentle climb and then rises to about 700m above sea level. You can do it as an out-and-back ride, or do a loop. I like doing the loop because the descent down the back side is one of the best that I have found. Since they put in freeway 6 a couple of years ago, the ride back on highway 14 used a lot less, so it is much nicer.

Where To Ride Your Road Bike #1

There is a nice ride that you should try. This is the link to the Google map.

It is an out-and-back ride that starts in Changhua with a mid-point out in Nantou. In total it is about 60 km and there are a couple of climbs which makes it a little difficult. There are usually not too many cars and there are only about six stoplights total. There are plenty of places to stop for water and food, most importantly, near the top of climbs.

Taiwan Cup Race

There is a race coming up on October 24 in Hualien. Details can be found at this site. There are races between 50 and 210 km.

This race is on a Sunday, meaning that you won't have to miss any days of work. Also, the weather should be pretty good. Most amazing of all is that the race starts are at a reasonable hour!

Time Trial/Team Time Trial

There is a race coming up on October 3rd in Yunlin. There is an individual time trial as well as a team time trial. More information can be found on this website. If you need help with translation or signing up, my contact info is listed below.

Tianmu Race

There is a road race coming up on August 28th. There are two categories: citizen and elite. There is a 200 person max, so sign up soon! More info can be found on this site.

Group Rides (Taichung)

It can be difficult to find people to ride with here. Often group rides are slow or end up stopping for lunch, snacks, tea houses, special attractions, 7-11s and so on. If, however, you are looking for something with a moderate to fast pace, there is a group that might suit your needs.

If you are interested in riding with this group, they meet at the corner of Wenshin Road and Taichung Gang Road (WenXin and TaiZhongGang on the Google map) at the Family Mart. On the map it is the green, white and blue icon.


View Larger Map

They meet at 6 am, Saturday morning in the summer and 7am, Saturday morning in the winter. Lately they have been doing 90km rides but I have been promised that the distances will increase to 140km. As these are group training rides, you should bring your road bike and be ready to ride.

If you want more info, contact Attie at (886) 0922 495 511.