Welcome to Taiwan, we will meet you at the Landis Resort in Taipei early morning. After breakfast and a debrief on our trip, we will assemble our bikes and load luggage and bikes on our support van. Our bike bags will remain at this hotel until our return.
We will do a short ride around Yangmishan to check our bikes and legs.
In the evening we will enjoy dinner at one of the great night markets in Taipei, another great experience.
Day 1
26km / 905m
HOTEL: Landis Resort
Is not a joke! in the north of Taipei you can do a ride with the palm shape that covers most of the great riding in the Yangmishan N.P.
As suggested by our local friends we will ride anti-clockwise, alternating climbing with short moments along the coast. We will stop for coffee and local food during our ride, this is a great part of the experience when riding in Taiwan!
For dinner tonight we will head to a traditional dim-sum restaurant where we will try a good number of local delicacies.
Day 2
114km / 2,870m
CLIMBS: Multiple climbs in Yangmishan N.P
HOTEL: Landis Resort
We have a short transfer out of Taipei to Guang Ming Temple where we will start our ride today.
It is amazing how quickly you get from urban areas to rural and mountainous roads in Taiwan. Today’s ride will take us into Taipingshan National Park. But to get there we will have some great climbing on very sinuous roads.
Our riding for the next three days goes through central Taiwan, a very mountainous part of a very mountainous country!
We will reach our hotel in Qilan and stay for two nights there, this will give us time to explore this beautiful National Park.
Day 3
106km / 3,000m
CLIMBS: Multiple climbs on our way to Taipingshan N.P.
HOTEL: Qilan Resort
Staying two nights in the same place gives us the opportunity to explore the area we visit in more depth. Definitely, Taipingshan N.P deserves our extra day, but of course, to enjoy the best of this region “we must” climb!
We can assure you that the climb up to Cuifenghu, 42km long with 1,800m of vertical climbing and close to 40 switchbacks, will be fantastic!
Once back at our hotel, time to relax before enjoying a great dinner. Time to carb up for tomorrow.
Day 4
84km / 2,000m
CLIMB: Taipingshan climb.
HOTEL: Qilan Resort
There’s no easy way from Taipingshan N.P to Puli, our final destination today. Riding in central Taiwan is not meant to be a stroll in the park, but that’s why our clients love to come on our trips…isn’t it?
With the support of our expert local staff and Tony’s experience in rides with a lot of climbing, we will get through!
The climbing today could be considered the third way up Mt.Wuling. But at one point instead of heading to the tunnel that takes you to the top, we will descend to Puli. It is going to be a memorable day and we are not even climbing Wuling yet.
To show a bit of compassion we will stay two nights in Puli and tomorrow we will do a kind of recovery ride.
Day 5
159km / 3,970m
CLIMBS: Multiple climbs.
HOTEL: Puli Ease Hotel
This morning we will ride around Sun Moon Lake. After yesterday’s effort, we will offer the option to transfer by van to the start of the lake loop, otherwise we will ride from our hotel in Puli. This is a beautiful and scenic ride around this popular natural spot in the middle of Taiwan.
After our ride and enjoy of the Sun Moon Lake surroundings, we will ride or transfer by van to our hotel back in Puli. This is very convenient for our early ride start tomorrow!
Tonight’s dinner is at a restaurant near the hotel, expect a lot of food and variety, time to carb up for the next couple of days.
DAY 6
71km / 1,585m.
HOTEL: Puli Ease Hotel
A very short ride from our hotel will take us to the monument that marks the geographic centre of Taiwan, from there we will start our first attempt to conquer Mt.Wuling, this time from the East side. The climb to the top is 55 km long, so pace yourself! On our way up we will ride through Qingjing Farm, a very good place to have a rest and have some food. Continuing our way up, the climb gets harder and more scenic the closer to the top.
Reaching Mt.Wuling is an amazing achievement. Descending towards Xincheng is another experience to remember, 88 km downhill!. The road is in very good condition given its remoteness, enjoy! The ride through the Taroko gorge is really spectacular.
Day 7
114km / 2,870m
CLIMBS: Mount Wuling from Puli 3,275m
HOTEL: Liiko Hotel
The big day! Today we will follow the route that is becoming popular thanks to the KOM Taiwan event. Starting at sea level, the first section of the ride goes through the Taroko gorges, views are amazing in any direction you look. In total this climb is around 84 kilometres.
Around km 21 we find the Tianxiang recreation area, this marks the start of a more demanding section of the climb with 6-8% parts. The landscape and views continue to change until the last 10km when we find the steepest ramps of the climb, 15-20% of segments can be painful at this stage. At one point you can see the summit, you will reach it after passing the Hehuanshan lookout, with the last km to go we are now very close to the top. Arriving at the top of Mt.Wuling for the second time in three days, goal achieved!
We will descend as far to Puli, basically where we started our first Mount Wuling ascend. Our hotel is in a centric location, near great restaurants where we can celebrate our achievements.
DAY 8
142km / 3,600m
CLIMB: Mount Wuling KOM Taiwan side 3.275m.
HOTEL: Puli Ease Hotel
DAY 9: After breakfast, we will travel back to Taipei, our trip ends here! We strongly suggest staying at least another day in Taipei, enjoying the attractions that this city has to offer and tasting some delicious food, that abounds all around.
MORE INFORMATION
PRICES:
TWIN room: 3,900Euros pp
SINGLE Supplement: 750 Euros
Rental bike: Check with us.
PAYMENT TERMS:
600 Euros when making the booking. Balance to be paid 90 days before the trip starts.
INCLUDED:
8 nights accommodation between 3 – 4 Stars
ALL MEALS INCLUDED.
8 breakfasts.
8 lunches, picnic-style on longer days.
8 dinners, including wine.
NOT INCLUDED:
International flights.
Travel insurance.
Hotel extras: mini-bar, spa, massage.
Tips for the staff.
SUPPORT:
We will have ride leaders and at least one mechanic on our trip.
Our staff/client ratio is 1:4 staff.
Our passenger vans come fully equipped with all necessary to give the best support during the rides.
We carry gels, energy bars, powder mix, water, fruit, riding food, tools, pumps, spare tubes and tyres to make sure our first-class support helps you through the trip.
Professional first aid kit.
CANCELLATION POLICY:
Adapting to our current COVID-19 pandemic, and incoordination, with most of the hotel’s terms and conditions, we are adjusting our cancellation policy accordingly as follows:
If there’s a travel ban from your country to travel to the country you are doing a trip with us, you will receive a full refund on any payments you have made to SFIDA Cycling.
For any other reasons not related to COVID-19, the following will apply:
61 days before the trip starts – the return of your deposit.
60 days before the trip starts – the return of the full amount of the trip less 300 Euros cancellation fee, plus any amount that we can’t recover from Hotels and other costs that we have already incurred in the trip preparation.
Less than 30 days before the trip starts – no amount will be refunded. We will, however, try to credit as much as possible towards a future trip. This depends on the amount that we can get back from the hotels and other costs that we have already incurred in the trip preparation.
We understand that it is difficult to commit too much in advance given the situation we are all living in.
For this reason, we won’t be holding any spots until the full deposit has been paid.
Hotels are now more strict with how many rooms they are willing to have on hold for groups, so until deposit payments are made we won’t be able to confirm your spot.
