Three-day cycling on Taiwan's mountain trails

Part of this comes down to an image misconception with many people simply knowing very little about Taiwan and what it has to offer besides computers, bikes, and a pollution clogged western belt. Get outside the bustling cities however and you will find one of the best adventure playgrounds anywhere on this planet!

In Motion Asia, a private adventure organizer based in Taipei, regularly leads trips throughout the island and during the recent Dragon Boat long weekend organized a special 4 day mountain bike tour for a group of 6 eager adventurers who were keen to see what Taiwan had to offer.

The fun started in Lushan (盧山), situated at an altitude of around 1100m on the Central Cross Island Link. Whilst still bearing the scares from the previous typhoon season, Lushan is a delightful mountain village with scenic hot springs, strong local Aboriginal culture and an enchanting landscape. Lushan is also the gateway to the high mountain hikes of Chilai (奇萊山) and Nenggao (能高山), and offer the 2 wheel adventurer some of the best single-track in Taiwan!

Our first days ride consisted of around 42km including a tough 13km climb with just under 1000m of attitude gain. While not for the fainthearted those prepared to do the hard work are treated to a smorgasbord of pristine scenery and enchanting high altitude vistas. The trail was originally built by the Aborigines and expanded upon during the Japanese occupation as they fought to subdue the local people.

The trail is well maintained and has good signage along the trail allowing for timely stops to rest, read up on the local history, and enjoy the terrific scenery. The hut at 3000m was once a grand winter retreat but due to successive fires is now nothing more than an overnight stop for the many hikers wanting to push on to the top peaks. For us however is was more great riding out to the impressive 'light monument' before turning around and bombing back down this wonderful trail to the waiting hot springs at Lushan!

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