Bikes in Taiwan
March 3, 2017 - Willie Weir blogs for Adventure Cycling every other Friday.
Odds are that your bike, or something on your bike, was manufactured in Taiwan. Giant Bicycles alone produces over 5,000 bikes a day, and most of those bikes leave the island. As is the case in the United States, bicycles are vastly outnumbered by motorized transport. The Taiwanese prefer the scooter.
But there’s a bike resurgence in Taiwan — more kids and adults on bikes, more bike lanes and bike paths.
And Taiwan is getting a well-deserved reputation as a great place to bike tour. Adventure Cycling’s executive director paid a bike-travel visit in 2016. Here’s to more and more bike riders, and bike travelers, in Taiwan!
Photos by Willie Weir
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SIGHTS AND SOUNDS is posted every other Friday.
Willie Weir is a contributor for Adventure Cyclist magazine. His books, Travels with Willie and Spokesongs, will inspire you to hit the road and might change the way you approach bicycle travel. He lives in Seattle with his wife Kat. You can also find him at WillieWeir.com, Facebook, and Instagram.
Comments
Ahhhh, need to make a comment about this article.
I am an American expat who has lived in Tsiwan for about 9 years, and I am an advid cyclist.
You make it seem that cycling is bike here and like that of the Netherlands. It is far from it.
Although cycling is here, it is along the lines of a few US cities. But not much more. You can rent nicycles from stands around cities, but you are taking chances with your life.
Unlike most U.S. citites, a bicycle rider here is nothing more than a nuscience. Cars, scooters, buses, taxis, and trucks go ny you clise enough that you can easily touch them without needing to extend your arm. And there is no real laws protecting a cyclist.
You might think one can ride on the sidewalks and be fine. That is a dangerous ifeas as nearly everyone has their face buried in their smsrtphones chattingvaway, updating FARCE-book (Facebook), etc. Thus if you hit some one while riding your bike on the sidewalk, you can expect to pay some serious money to "the victim."
As far as bike touring here, there is not much to see and again, a touring cyclist is a "road pest" like a dig and if you get hit, well, you should have been laying attention.
Taiwan a great cycling place? Far, far, FAR from it......
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